Unreal

Unreal

Thanks to the John McCain/Sarah Palin supporters who condemned the extremist FREAKS at a McCain/Palin rally recently.  This is unreal.

These FREAKS were not only anti-Muslim, they were also anti-reality.  See for yourself; follow this link and scroll down for the video.  

Talking about the Divide

Talking about the Divide

Cheers to The Day’s Chuck Potter, who, in his column yesterday, confronted a reader that questioned why Potter, an African-American, frequently—not always—addresses race.

I’m always dumbfounded why white folks think IT’S not o.k. for African-Americans to talk about race. I’m equally dumbfounded why some whites think IT’S not o.k. for African-Americans to examine race in a way that might perhaps implicate others who aren’t as 1% more conscious as they could be in terms of how racism may affect their very lives. White folks that transparently cloak their own racism by generally characterizing an African-American who talks about racial conflict as a racist him- or herself are only fooling themselves. Isn’t the role of the “overseer”—even of dialogue—a ghost of America’s past?

Hopefully, many of us have learned from the liberation movements, which gained more traction in the ‘60s, that silence = death. We will never move forward as a civilization if we don’t confront—in one way or another—the “isms” and “phobias” that plague us as a people and that plague our democracy. Talking about these “things” is very important. Talking about these “things” is one of many ways to reach across the divide.

A Different World

Over the past few days, the news has been saturated with what has been taking place in Jena, LA. Umm, finally? I first read about the story in early July, and there have been kids sitting in jail since December 2006. People seem to be catching on, which is nice for the Jena 6. I guess.

But now we have the "I'm not racist, but..." crowd coming out of the wood work. I am of the opinion that, as a country, we need to discuss racism to ever have the hope of overcoming it, but I am already so exhausted by the ignorance and insensitivy currently on display just about, oh, I'd say... everywhere?

Adrianne Curry, whose claim to fame is winning America's Next Top Model, Season 1 and marrying one of the Brady Bunch brothers, Christopher Knight, recently composed a moving Myspace blog, calling for the boycott of BET and Black History Month. Her reasoning? Black history is American history! All Americans have suffered! What about the Native Americans? Where's their month?! (It's November, for those who were wondering.) And she's not racist, because she once dated a black man in high school. Slavery and segregation are over! She just wants us to all stop looking to the past and move forward. Unite as one. Etc.

It would be one thing if it were just some ex-reality star on their internet soapbox. But a lot of people in this country really feel that way. These attitudes are emerging from every crevice of our society in the current time of renewed racial tension. Moving forward with blinders on to the very OBVIOUS way the past is shaping the present is what has gotten us into this mess in the first place. If racism was not running rampant in places like Jena, LA, the nooses never would have been hung, the white students never would have received such minimal punishment for the clearly hateful act, there never would have been a series of violent confrontations that culminated in that particular beating of the white student and the black students would have never ever ever ever ever been so let down by the justice system that is supposed to protect them. But, c'mon everyone, let's just plow forward blindly. We'll just ignore the evidence that minorities, even after all the progress we've supposedly made in race relations, still need safeguards in place to make sure they receive the most basic equal treatment. We're all Americans, one and all! Hooray!

Oh, ignorance. What a happy home you've made here.

CAN'T OR WON'T?

CAN’T OR WON’T?

I’ve been mesmerized by white Americans’ responses to the Imus incident that’s unfolded these past two weeks. For the record and as I’ve indicated in the comments section of the previous entry, I think it’s good for Americans to talk about racism because it still metastasizes our country, like it or not. And albeit Imus’s comments were both racist and sexist, it’s important to note that the national debate about the remarks centers more on racist language and what it means; but I don’t want to suggest in any way that his comments weren’t also sexist.

There’s no need to rehash in detail Imus’s long-standing history of being a shock-jock, of using defamatory language, or of him being a good man because he does great things for charity. Suffice it to say, it’s unfortunate that he said what he said. I’m more interested, though, in the patterns of white peoples’ responses to this incident, which range from the truly sympathetic to the truly inquisitive to those truly in denial to those who are truly insane. I’ve found that white people—and I’m considered white myself— fall into one or more of these categories. My non-scientific, anecdotal analyses come from what I’ve read, what I’ve seen in the media, and what discussions I’ve had with friends, family, colleagues, and students.

The truly sympathetic include those folks who express—to one degree or another—a sense of perspective thinking about the targets of Imus’s remarks and about the redemption that Imus seeks. Put simply, we’ve all made mistakes, sometimes big mistakes, and many of us have been truly sorry for what we’ve done and whom we’ve hurt. Those that seem to recognize this engage in some sort of perspective thinking, demonstrating the ability to think or see things, as Atticus Finch suggests, from someone else’s shoes. It seems that more of us need to revisit the lessons of To Kill a Mockingbird.

The truly inquisitive include those folks who are raising legitimate, non-racially charged questions, like why Imus? Why now? What’s corporate America’s involvement in all this? What about the other hate-mongers out there? Why is it important to determine what’s appropriate and when? The good news for America, at least, is that it seems many folks have raised similar questions that beg a consideration of not just Imus and his misstep, but moreover, what it all represents. Questioning is good for America, it’s good for this incident, and it’s good for racism.

The truly in denial group, which seems to be overwhelmingly populated, include those folks that solely rely on shifting the focus form the incident itself to blaming rap music, popular culture, and black folks themselves. I’ve heard everything from blaming Russell Simmons to conflating the Imus incident with Nelly’s lewd videos to the inane charge that if black people address each other with certain terms that unequivocally permits everyone else outside of their racial context to use those terms AGAINST them. A BROAD, open discussion on decency in all facets of American culture is something most people, I believe, would welcome. But let’s not deny Imus’s serial bad behavior by shifting and blaming all over the place in an effort to avoid the obvious: racism is alive and well in America—just ask black folks, and the Imus incident is but a minor representation of it. Let’s be honest.

Last but not least is the truly insane group. These folks include the lunatics, supremacists, and hate mongers who unabashedly take such actions as, oh, sending the Rutgers female basketball players hate letters. Nice. These folks just don’t get it, and maybe they never will. Three cheers for Deirdre Imus who was particularly courageous and effective in her charge to these folks to send the letters to Imus rather than terrorizing these young women. Clearly, looking at the response of Mrs. Imus further indicates the seriousness of Mr. Imus’s misstep and the importance of talking about race to avoid something like this from happening again.

All this observing, pondering, and analyzing about the Imus incident has forced me to consider the following major question, for which I don’t have an answer: is it that most Americans can’t or won’t be honest—with themselves and others—when we talk about racism?