Wow I just noticed how long it's been since I last posted on here. My apologies to my two readers. :-) Life's been crazy. I hope all is well with you.
I came across an interesting piece you may or may not have seen on Yahoo. Check it out, it is about the rise of "bi-racial" Americans and how important the 2010 Census will be for documenting just how much our society has become more Mixed. Worth the read.
Here it is.
Showing posts with label racism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label racism. Show all posts
Monday, December 7, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
People Have Simply Dispensed With All Pretense
I just had my latest Huffington Post piece published today. You can see it directly here. But here it is as well.
___________________________________________________________
SOME WHITE PEOPLE HAVE SIMPLY LOST THEIR MINDS
There is no other way to say this but to put it all on the table. Some white people have simply lost their minds because they are besides themselves trying to figure out how in the world they slipped up and let an African-American man in the White House, as President of these not so United States.
While thankfully there are a few whites who have been willing to speak up about what is really bubbling up, or more like, spewing forth lately, people like former President Jimmy Carter, Tim Wise and some other bloggers here on The Huffington Post, most people simply have tiptoed around the huge white elephant in the room. The outrageous incidents, which seem to be increasing in frequency -- Glenn Beck's obvious racial appeals by saying Obama hates white people, Sen. Joe Wilson's unprecedented outburst before the world yelling at the President, the birther's refusal to accept the truth, the almost mob like town hall meetings where some people openly carried signs that were perfect for a Klan rally, Rep. Lynn Jenkins' "White Hope" remark, 'tea party" leader Mark Williams referring to President Obama as "an Indonesian Muslim turned welfare thug and a racist in chief," the uproar over the President of The United States daring to give an inspirational speech to America's school kids -- I could go on but you get the point -- these are nothing more than the ugliest of racism that has simply boiled over the sides of our famed and mythical melting pot.
Right-wing whites have simply reached the point where they cannot take it any more. And the message seems to be that they will say and do whatever it takes to de-legitimize this President. And they seem to be certainly saying "never again." The saddest part about all of this is that it was just a few moths ago that many of us in the multi-ethnic coalition that banded together to usher in the Obama era were celebrating what looked like the start of a new seemingly post racial America. But just nine months later, I have to say I don't think I have seen a time when the bitterness and seeming us against them mentality was more evident. And by "us against them," I mean whites against the flood of people of color that are seeming to challenge the idea of what it means to be America and American. All you had to do was look at the faces of some of the Congressman in the crowd at President Obama's speech to see the venom that was only thinly veiled. It almost matched what we saw and heard from some of the people in the crowds at the recent town hall meetings.
The irony in all this is the challenge the Rep. Wilson's, Glen Beck's, Sean Hannity's and Rush Limbaugh's throw down by trying to intimidate the rest of us by daring us to call out this racism and to call them what they are -- silly men, and some women, who have seen the future and realize that the future is one where white men are not the only ones with a seat at the table anymore. And this scares the hell out of them. So they spew this crap and dare us to stand up to it and speak the truth. But we have to let them know that we will not back down, that we will not go away, that we will indeed call them out, no matter how many times they target a Van Jones, or whoever is next since they can't get to Obama. This country is changing, for the better, whether they like it or not, so they might as well accept it and find something else to do. The Republican Party can only make a fool of itself for so long before it completely implodes. And no attempt to put a Black mouthpiece like Michael Steele in front can disguise the fact that the Party is losing control of itself and some of these formerly disguised racists that pretend they are not anti-Black. No just anti anything from an African-American who dares actually have the gumption to call himself President and dare to do what he promised he would do when the country duly and fairly elected him.
I know President Obama is in a tough place and he can't really call these people out. He has to be "Presidential." But we can speak up. The issue is not health care reform or President Obama being too far left, because we have had people on the left run this country before. And we have had battles over health care, social security and other issues before. What we have never witnessed, at least when it came to the respect afforded our country's leader, whether it was former Presidents George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan or Bill Clinton, is this level of disrespect and overt vitriol directed at a President. All Presidents have had their opponents. But when you think through what has been directed at Obama, and his family for that matter with some of the truly low things that have 'slipped out" of people's mouths, like the South Carolina Republican activist, Rusty DePass, who said an escaped gorilla was probably Michelle Obama's ancestor, there is no denying this is beyond civil disagreement.
But I for one am not going to be intimidated into silence and I will call these racists what they are. I can accept and respect differing viewpoints, but what President Obama, and the rest of us, don't have to accept is racism disguised as patriotism. Let's call it what it is, racism born out of a fear that those darker skinned people have taken over. This is just not the America they expected, at least not so soon.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
We Are Not Post Racial Just Yet
I am cross posting this from my blog over at The Huffington Post (published on Jan. 20).
What a fantastic few days this has been. I am still on a natural high as John Denver would say. Now that President-Elect Obama has gloriously become President Obama we can finally turn our attention to the real work of getting this country back on track and into that famously promised "post racial America."
I, like most people, am realistic enough to know that President Obama cannot fix everything that is wrong with our economy and country. Sure there will be those who are looking for him to fail, waiting for those first missteps. But I think even they can't expect one man to fix in a few months or even a few years what has taken eight years to mess up. But I am indeed amazed at the number of people, in the media and that I know personally, who truly do expect America to be now and forever free of its ethnic, religious and racial differences. And this is not coming solely from White Americans who some might think are doing a bit of wishful thinking that minorities can now stop complaining about getting a fair shot. I have also come across some Black Americans who seem to believe that President Obama is going to make everything OK for everybody, or that all Black people's credit scores are now raised as one comedian joked... Doesn't Obama doesn't have enough on his shoulders?
But frankly I have to admit, I too used to think the success of one Black man (and I refer to him as Black since he himself chooses that descriptive) would mean that all Black people would rise with him, that when strangers looked at me from now on, they would think Obama and not Willie Horton or some other more recent negative association. I clearly remember the day after Obama's surprising win in the Iowa caucus, the win that caused most of us to believe that where we are today was possible, how when I was out in public I walked a bit taller, a bit prouder, feeling that everyone who saw me surely must be thinking positive thoughts about me and all Black people. After all, the Obamas proved that all of us were not bad, that some of us were even educated and people to be admired. But that feeling did not last long for me. As the campaign waged on and all the ugliness of the Jeremiah Wright affair, the rise of PUMA, the William Ayers mess, the Bill Clinton coded words after New Hampshire and in North Carolina, after all that, any notion that race was not going to play a factor in Obama's life, and mine as well, was washed away for the most part.
And still, like so many others, I couldn't help myself, there was still a bit of hope, of the belief that the oft-mentioned post-racial America Obama was supposed to usher in, was real. Is it real? Is it coming?
Well, I can definitely say that it is not here yet. But that doesn't mean that it's not on the way or that the inauguration of President Obama, and the multiracial coalition of people who helped him get to this day, are not signs that our nation is indeed moving on a path to that promised land. I do believe that we are undeniably closer to that ideal now than we have ever been in our country's history. And that is certainly worth celebrating.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves here. Post racial we are not. Even President Obama has acknowledged that one man, one term of office, is not enough to change our history and the stain of race. The very fact that a whole new level of heated and passionate racial debate has arisen in the blogosphere related to whether Obama is America's first Black President or whether he is our first Mixed or Bi-Racial President is proof that race still matters to many people. To many the distinction is incredibly important, some believing the debate itself to be another example of those in the majority trying to take something away from Black people by denying that Obama is fully Black. But whatever one thinks about the debate, the fact that it is being waged is the key. And as I said before I have even encountered blacks who act like President Obama's swearing in and triumph means that they have the right to demand anything they want. I have seen examples of this on more than one occasion. The most recent involved a young Black man who was hawking his band's music CD to passersby on the street in downtown Burbank. When people, including me, wouldn't stop and heed his call to buy his CD, he actually invoked Obama to try to shame us into buying. He addressed me particularly, angrily actually, that times were different and Obama's election meant that I should feel obligated to support him as a sign of solidarity. The fact that he was being an ass or that I, and others passing, simply might not be interested in his music at that time weren't even considerations to him. All that mattered was his expectation that Obama's victory meant that we should all want to buy his album since he was, like Obama, Black.
It matters greatly that we now have, in The White House, a person and a family that has dark skin pigmentation, if only because it allow us to tell our kids that they too can be President some day and really mean it. We can now say America has indeed, at least in this case, in this ideal, lived up to its promise that anyone can ascend to the highest office. But incidents like the guy on the street and the recent police shootings of young black men in San Francisco, Houston and Philadelphia, are certainly proof that the mere existence of President Obama cannot lull us into believing that we have reached the pinnacle of racial progress in America. It is true that the only time we will surely know we have become post racial is when the election of a Black person, a Hispanic person, a Muslim, or a woman, is not really newsworthy by itself. Oh, do I look forward to that time.
But for now I am, like most of you, thrilled that we have at least gotten to where we are today, able to witness what we saw on Inauguration Day. We may not be post racial yet and Obama hasn't solved our economic crisis in his first days in office, but what we are witnessing every time we see him and Michelle and those darling girls actually living in The White House is a seismic shift that, at the very least, lets us know if we continue to work at it (and we all have to do our part as Obama said) that the America we want, that post racial America, will get here, and maybe even sooner than we expect.
What a fantastic few days this has been. I am still on a natural high as John Denver would say. Now that President-Elect Obama has gloriously become President Obama we can finally turn our attention to the real work of getting this country back on track and into that famously promised "post racial America."
I, like most people, am realistic enough to know that President Obama cannot fix everything that is wrong with our economy and country. Sure there will be those who are looking for him to fail, waiting for those first missteps. But I think even they can't expect one man to fix in a few months or even a few years what has taken eight years to mess up. But I am indeed amazed at the number of people, in the media and that I know personally, who truly do expect America to be now and forever free of its ethnic, religious and racial differences. And this is not coming solely from White Americans who some might think are doing a bit of wishful thinking that minorities can now stop complaining about getting a fair shot. I have also come across some Black Americans who seem to believe that President Obama is going to make everything OK for everybody, or that all Black people's credit scores are now raised as one comedian joked... Doesn't Obama doesn't have enough on his shoulders?
But frankly I have to admit, I too used to think the success of one Black man (and I refer to him as Black since he himself chooses that descriptive) would mean that all Black people would rise with him, that when strangers looked at me from now on, they would think Obama and not Willie Horton or some other more recent negative association. I clearly remember the day after Obama's surprising win in the Iowa caucus, the win that caused most of us to believe that where we are today was possible, how when I was out in public I walked a bit taller, a bit prouder, feeling that everyone who saw me surely must be thinking positive thoughts about me and all Black people. After all, the Obamas proved that all of us were not bad, that some of us were even educated and people to be admired. But that feeling did not last long for me. As the campaign waged on and all the ugliness of the Jeremiah Wright affair, the rise of PUMA, the William Ayers mess, the Bill Clinton coded words after New Hampshire and in North Carolina, after all that, any notion that race was not going to play a factor in Obama's life, and mine as well, was washed away for the most part.
And still, like so many others, I couldn't help myself, there was still a bit of hope, of the belief that the oft-mentioned post-racial America Obama was supposed to usher in, was real. Is it real? Is it coming?
Well, I can definitely say that it is not here yet. But that doesn't mean that it's not on the way or that the inauguration of President Obama, and the multiracial coalition of people who helped him get to this day, are not signs that our nation is indeed moving on a path to that promised land. I do believe that we are undeniably closer to that ideal now than we have ever been in our country's history. And that is certainly worth celebrating.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves here. Post racial we are not. Even President Obama has acknowledged that one man, one term of office, is not enough to change our history and the stain of race. The very fact that a whole new level of heated and passionate racial debate has arisen in the blogosphere related to whether Obama is America's first Black President or whether he is our first Mixed or Bi-Racial President is proof that race still matters to many people. To many the distinction is incredibly important, some believing the debate itself to be another example of those in the majority trying to take something away from Black people by denying that Obama is fully Black. But whatever one thinks about the debate, the fact that it is being waged is the key. And as I said before I have even encountered blacks who act like President Obama's swearing in and triumph means that they have the right to demand anything they want. I have seen examples of this on more than one occasion. The most recent involved a young Black man who was hawking his band's music CD to passersby on the street in downtown Burbank. When people, including me, wouldn't stop and heed his call to buy his CD, he actually invoked Obama to try to shame us into buying. He addressed me particularly, angrily actually, that times were different and Obama's election meant that I should feel obligated to support him as a sign of solidarity. The fact that he was being an ass or that I, and others passing, simply might not be interested in his music at that time weren't even considerations to him. All that mattered was his expectation that Obama's victory meant that we should all want to buy his album since he was, like Obama, Black.
It matters greatly that we now have, in The White House, a person and a family that has dark skin pigmentation, if only because it allow us to tell our kids that they too can be President some day and really mean it. We can now say America has indeed, at least in this case, in this ideal, lived up to its promise that anyone can ascend to the highest office. But incidents like the guy on the street and the recent police shootings of young black men in San Francisco, Houston and Philadelphia, are certainly proof that the mere existence of President Obama cannot lull us into believing that we have reached the pinnacle of racial progress in America. It is true that the only time we will surely know we have become post racial is when the election of a Black person, a Hispanic person, a Muslim, or a woman, is not really newsworthy by itself. Oh, do I look forward to that time.
But for now I am, like most of you, thrilled that we have at least gotten to where we are today, able to witness what we saw on Inauguration Day. We may not be post racial yet and Obama hasn't solved our economic crisis in his first days in office, but what we are witnessing every time we see him and Michelle and those darling girls actually living in The White House is a seismic shift that, at the very least, lets us know if we continue to work at it (and we all have to do our part as Obama said) that the America we want, that post racial America, will get here, and maybe even sooner than we expect.
Friday, January 9, 2009
The "N Word" Resurfaces
You know how you can be doing and feeling so good some times and then one seemingly little thing can bring you down?
I had one of those incidents not long ago. My wife and I were walking back from somewhere to our condo, down a fairly busy street in downtown Burbank. It was, as usual, a beautiful day in Southern California and my wife and I were enjoying the weather, our conversation and life in general.
As we neared one local movie rental shop, an older homeless woman, I think she is Anglo-American, a regular in this area and probably the only homeless person we ever see around Burbank, was camped out at a bus stop in front of the store. We didn't think anything about her as we'd seen her before and though we knew her to be a bit grumpy, we knew she was harmless. So we kept on talking and walking on our path that would take us past her seat at the corner stop. To our complete surprise, she looked up as we were about to pass her and proceeded to yell quite loudly, "GET OUT OF HERE NIGGER! GET OUT OF HERE!"
Now imagine our shock. I hadn't personally heard anyone call me that directly since I was in junior high in Texas during some racial strife at our school. The last thing I expected was to hear it on a street in Southern California, and from a homeless woman no less. It's something when even a homeless person thinks they are better than any black person. You just have to shake your head sometimes. And the funny thing is Dianna thought the woman was talking to her, and Dianna is Mexican-American. So I'm still trying to convince Dianna the words were not meant for her.
Needless to say, Dianna and I kept on walking and didn't stop to say anything to the woman. What would be the point? She is clearly a bit not right in the head and there would be nothng to gain. But I have to admit, hearing those words definitely shook us up a bit and its hard to get them out of your head. Dianna and I soon went back to our conversation but of course the incident has remained with us. In some ways, I think it was more upsetting to my wife than to me. I'm not sure Dianna has ever really heard the word used so forcefully and so negatively, and targeted so directly.
The old woman is still on the street and we have walked past her since, though we take a wide berth and avoid going directly in front of her if we can. Some might argue why let her get away with that, even causing us to alter our path in anyway. But I think this is one of those sitations where there is nothing to gain in dealing with a possibly mentally ill person. Were it a different individual and a different situation, no doubt we would take a different action.
But you know since that happened, I do ask myself, how whould I have responded if my kids had been present when the lady said something like that? In that case, I think I would have had no choice but to confront the lady directly, or a least say something back to her, not name calling of course, but some comment to let her know her words were stupid and uncalled for. And of course I would have had to have a conversation with the kids about her words and action. But since it was just me and Dianna...
But it does make me think that though we have warned our kids about the existence of stupid people out there, knowing that sooner or later, they will definitely hear something ignorant said about and to them, can it ever be enough to prepare you. Like I said, Dianna and I are older and wiser and we were still literally shocked to hear those words directed at us/me.
Oh well, I take the incident as a reminder that we have to stay aware that ignorance is still alive and well and that it exists everywhere. But it is still so disturbing to have something like that happen to you.
I had one of those incidents not long ago. My wife and I were walking back from somewhere to our condo, down a fairly busy street in downtown Burbank. It was, as usual, a beautiful day in Southern California and my wife and I were enjoying the weather, our conversation and life in general.
As we neared one local movie rental shop, an older homeless woman, I think she is Anglo-American, a regular in this area and probably the only homeless person we ever see around Burbank, was camped out at a bus stop in front of the store. We didn't think anything about her as we'd seen her before and though we knew her to be a bit grumpy, we knew she was harmless. So we kept on talking and walking on our path that would take us past her seat at the corner stop. To our complete surprise, she looked up as we were about to pass her and proceeded to yell quite loudly, "GET OUT OF HERE NIGGER! GET OUT OF HERE!"
Now imagine our shock. I hadn't personally heard anyone call me that directly since I was in junior high in Texas during some racial strife at our school. The last thing I expected was to hear it on a street in Southern California, and from a homeless woman no less. It's something when even a homeless person thinks they are better than any black person. You just have to shake your head sometimes. And the funny thing is Dianna thought the woman was talking to her, and Dianna is Mexican-American. So I'm still trying to convince Dianna the words were not meant for her.
Needless to say, Dianna and I kept on walking and didn't stop to say anything to the woman. What would be the point? She is clearly a bit not right in the head and there would be nothng to gain. But I have to admit, hearing those words definitely shook us up a bit and its hard to get them out of your head. Dianna and I soon went back to our conversation but of course the incident has remained with us. In some ways, I think it was more upsetting to my wife than to me. I'm not sure Dianna has ever really heard the word used so forcefully and so negatively, and targeted so directly.
The old woman is still on the street and we have walked past her since, though we take a wide berth and avoid going directly in front of her if we can. Some might argue why let her get away with that, even causing us to alter our path in anyway. But I think this is one of those sitations where there is nothing to gain in dealing with a possibly mentally ill person. Were it a different individual and a different situation, no doubt we would take a different action.
But you know since that happened, I do ask myself, how whould I have responded if my kids had been present when the lady said something like that? In that case, I think I would have had no choice but to confront the lady directly, or a least say something back to her, not name calling of course, but some comment to let her know her words were stupid and uncalled for. And of course I would have had to have a conversation with the kids about her words and action. But since it was just me and Dianna...
But it does make me think that though we have warned our kids about the existence of stupid people out there, knowing that sooner or later, they will definitely hear something ignorant said about and to them, can it ever be enough to prepare you. Like I said, Dianna and I are older and wiser and we were still literally shocked to hear those words directed at us/me.
Oh well, I take the incident as a reminder that we have to stay aware that ignorance is still alive and well and that it exists everywhere. But it is still so disturbing to have something like that happen to you.
Friday, April 6, 2007
A Truly Double-Edged Sword
The most recent edition of Sports Illustrated features a very interesting article regarding the 50th anniversary of the Little Rock Nine, as the nine brave black students were called, and the integration of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas back in 1957. The reason the article is in Sports Illustrated is because the story is actually about the little known story of the boys on what was then considered to be possibly the best high school football team in the country, obviously an all-white one, and how the events swirling around Central High impacted their lives and their quest to extend a record win streak. It is an interesting look at another side of this historical event and what the writer tries to get across, and does to some degree, is how hard it was for so many of the white kids during this time of just wanting to fit in and be accepted, to do anything but keep their mouths shut and go along with the sentiment of the crowds clamoring for blood outside the school. Indeed this had to be incredibly difficult for these young boys, who certainly did not want to end up on the wrong side of the anger of the throngs of adults, including their own parents, threatening anyone who dared change their way of life. The underlying question being how many of us, especially as teens, would have stood up and taken a stand against that level of hatred, when the safest tack was to do nothing.
It is an interesting question. There is a part of me that agrees wholeheartedly with the writer and his clear sympathies with those boys whose historical football feat was being overshadowed by the political and social upheaval going on around integration and the troops patrolling their school grounds. And yet, it is also hard to overlook a situation where people, of any age, turn a blind eye to not only injustice but outright brutality. And let's be not mistaken, what the Little Rock Nine endured was brutality pure and simple. Frankly it is hard to feel a great amount of sympathy for a ruined football season, when you see pictures of little girls walking through legions of military troops with guns at the ready, all surrounded by crowds clamoring for their life, literally.
And at the same time reading the article does remind me that the stupidity of racism does not just hurt the object of the venom, but also the people who spew it and act on it, as well as all of the people who do nothing to step up and try to make a difference. There is no doubt that the young men of that football team were harmed tremendously by the outrageous and vicious bigotry that they witnessed from their own parents and neighbors. They were harmed not only because racism is a contagious sickness that many of them fell victim to, but also they were harmed because for those who choose to stand by and do nothing, to go along with the crowd, or even to stand in the shadows and keep a low profile, there is no escaping the deep, impossible to ignore knowledge, whether admitted or not, that what was going on at that time, was simply not right. Proof of the damage done even in this way was evident in many of the old men interviewed for the piece, who to this day were haunted not by what they had done, but more importantly by what they had not done, had not said, to either be a friend to one of those black children who so needed a friend, or said to any of their own peers who did take active roles in making the simple act of getting a decent education so difficult for any of those nine innocent children.
But do not get me wrong, I do have empathy for people caught in situations like this. And I do believe it is especially difficult for teens. But even when it comes to my own kids, I have to tell you, I intend to make sure they understand that the bar is high when it comes to stepping up and doing the right thing in the face of injustice. The stakes are just too high, not only for them but for all of us. Stepping up is indeed hard, but not stepping up is a cop out. We all have much too much at stake.
It is an interesting question. There is a part of me that agrees wholeheartedly with the writer and his clear sympathies with those boys whose historical football feat was being overshadowed by the political and social upheaval going on around integration and the troops patrolling their school grounds. And yet, it is also hard to overlook a situation where people, of any age, turn a blind eye to not only injustice but outright brutality. And let's be not mistaken, what the Little Rock Nine endured was brutality pure and simple. Frankly it is hard to feel a great amount of sympathy for a ruined football season, when you see pictures of little girls walking through legions of military troops with guns at the ready, all surrounded by crowds clamoring for their life, literally.
And at the same time reading the article does remind me that the stupidity of racism does not just hurt the object of the venom, but also the people who spew it and act on it, as well as all of the people who do nothing to step up and try to make a difference. There is no doubt that the young men of that football team were harmed tremendously by the outrageous and vicious bigotry that they witnessed from their own parents and neighbors. They were harmed not only because racism is a contagious sickness that many of them fell victim to, but also they were harmed because for those who choose to stand by and do nothing, to go along with the crowd, or even to stand in the shadows and keep a low profile, there is no escaping the deep, impossible to ignore knowledge, whether admitted or not, that what was going on at that time, was simply not right. Proof of the damage done even in this way was evident in many of the old men interviewed for the piece, who to this day were haunted not by what they had done, but more importantly by what they had not done, had not said, to either be a friend to one of those black children who so needed a friend, or said to any of their own peers who did take active roles in making the simple act of getting a decent education so difficult for any of those nine innocent children.
But do not get me wrong, I do have empathy for people caught in situations like this. And I do believe it is especially difficult for teens. But even when it comes to my own kids, I have to tell you, I intend to make sure they understand that the bar is high when it comes to stepping up and doing the right thing in the face of injustice. The stakes are just too high, not only for them but for all of us. Stepping up is indeed hard, but not stepping up is a cop out. We all have much too much at stake.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Who's More Racist?
I just thought about something I have heard on at least two occasions that I find to be incredibly ridiculous. It was said, by different people on different occasions, that black people cannot be racist since we have no power.
What an incredibly silly, and erroneous, concept. I was reminded of this idea, harbored by not a few people, because of someone I saw on a talk show who clearly held a similar viewpoint. While the technical definition of racism may well include the notion of power coupled with bigotry, the common idea, and therefore the practical definition of a racist is simply someone who bases their perception of other people, and therefore their actions toward them, on their racial or ethnic make-up. And under that concept, believe me, I have met quite a few black racists. Indeed, I would put some of the black racists I have met on level footing with some of the white ones I have encountered or heard of.
Bigotry and stupidity are not owned by whites. While they have certainly been in a better position to enact hardships on those who they perceive as less than, it is unfortunate but true that many minorities have adopted mirrored beliefs and behaviors, and for those that have, I have no doubt they would act no differently if given the power and opportunity to demonstrate their biases.
What an incredibly silly, and erroneous, concept. I was reminded of this idea, harbored by not a few people, because of someone I saw on a talk show who clearly held a similar viewpoint. While the technical definition of racism may well include the notion of power coupled with bigotry, the common idea, and therefore the practical definition of a racist is simply someone who bases their perception of other people, and therefore their actions toward them, on their racial or ethnic make-up. And under that concept, believe me, I have met quite a few black racists. Indeed, I would put some of the black racists I have met on level footing with some of the white ones I have encountered or heard of.
Bigotry and stupidity are not owned by whites. While they have certainly been in a better position to enact hardships on those who they perceive as less than, it is unfortunate but true that many minorities have adopted mirrored beliefs and behaviors, and for those that have, I have no doubt they would act no differently if given the power and opportunity to demonstrate their biases.
Friday, February 2, 2007
The Genesis
Starting this is kind of hard. Not because I don't know what to say. Actually it's because I have so very much to say that I don't know for sure where to start. So why don't I start with the personal motivation behind this blog.
I am married to a Mexican-American woman and we have two beautiful children, a 9 year old son and an 8 year old daughter. By the way, I am a black American, or African-American if you prefer. So our children are, depending on how you view the world, black, Hispanic, mixed, black-Hispanic, black-Mexican, bi-racial, multi-ethnic, mulatto, or any number of other interesting terms our society has come up with to put a label on who they are. It truly is funny in some ways how important it is for people to have a label they can hang onto when defining people. And yet in many many other ways it is not funny at all.
Which is the point of this blog and this particular posting. While putting a label on our, and other children whose parents are of different ethnic groups, is important to others for reasons that are political, racist, ego driven and just to make things easier for some, it is not important to me and my wife. What IS important to us is that our kids be proud of who they are and what they represent. Which is both sides of their heritage - both all that it means to be black and of African descent AND all that it means to be Hispanic and of Mexican descent. And of course all that it means to be American and all that that means as well. Though this sounds simple enough, and logical, it is amazing how many people do not see things this way.
Most of us are familiar with the "one drop rule" that says if you have even one drop of black blood in your veins, no matter how far back you have to go to find that drop, then you are black, end of discussion. What amazes me about this notion and the fact that it is still widely accepted today, even by black people, is that most proponents of this idea have no idea how racist the notion is and that it is rooted in the idea of a pure white "race." It is based on the notion that one drop of black is so pervasive and tainting that it overrules everything else. How stupid and silly. And worse, that black people back the idea is even more crazy. But I bring it up to say that my wife and I aren't crazy. We understand that with such idiocy as the root of our notions of "race" our children will be pushed simply to identify and be identified by most who carry this outdated notion, as being black. As if half of their genetic pool does not exist. It reminds me of something I read the other day that sums up the idiocy best. The phrase was something like "in this country, a white woman can give birth to a black child but a black woman cannot give birth to a white child." Does that not bring home how crazy this is?
And I need to make sure something is very clear, the point here is not that I am not proud of being black because believe me I love my culture and what we have brought to the world and I will make sure my kids are proud of that as well. But I believe that racism is stupid. And I believe that if we are ever going to rid ourselves of that stupidity, we will not do it with laws and whatnot, we will do it by blowing up the notion of race. Race is just a convenient way to label people. There is only one race with many different cultures and ethnic groups. My goal is that we get past these labels. And it starts with these kids. Interracial is a misnomer since its root is race, I prefer mixed or bi-ethnic if not the more accurate black-Hispanic in the case of our kids. In the end none of those labels matter anyway, except to be able to identify. In the end, ours kids and the thousands that are out there, are just people. Gloriously though, they are people who just may help destroy our notions of race.
I am married to a Mexican-American woman and we have two beautiful children, a 9 year old son and an 8 year old daughter. By the way, I am a black American, or African-American if you prefer. So our children are, depending on how you view the world, black, Hispanic, mixed, black-Hispanic, black-Mexican, bi-racial, multi-ethnic, mulatto, or any number of other interesting terms our society has come up with to put a label on who they are. It truly is funny in some ways how important it is for people to have a label they can hang onto when defining people. And yet in many many other ways it is not funny at all.
Which is the point of this blog and this particular posting. While putting a label on our, and other children whose parents are of different ethnic groups, is important to others for reasons that are political, racist, ego driven and just to make things easier for some, it is not important to me and my wife. What IS important to us is that our kids be proud of who they are and what they represent. Which is both sides of their heritage - both all that it means to be black and of African descent AND all that it means to be Hispanic and of Mexican descent. And of course all that it means to be American and all that that means as well. Though this sounds simple enough, and logical, it is amazing how many people do not see things this way.
Most of us are familiar with the "one drop rule" that says if you have even one drop of black blood in your veins, no matter how far back you have to go to find that drop, then you are black, end of discussion. What amazes me about this notion and the fact that it is still widely accepted today, even by black people, is that most proponents of this idea have no idea how racist the notion is and that it is rooted in the idea of a pure white "race." It is based on the notion that one drop of black is so pervasive and tainting that it overrules everything else. How stupid and silly. And worse, that black people back the idea is even more crazy. But I bring it up to say that my wife and I aren't crazy. We understand that with such idiocy as the root of our notions of "race" our children will be pushed simply to identify and be identified by most who carry this outdated notion, as being black. As if half of their genetic pool does not exist. It reminds me of something I read the other day that sums up the idiocy best. The phrase was something like "in this country, a white woman can give birth to a black child but a black woman cannot give birth to a white child." Does that not bring home how crazy this is?
And I need to make sure something is very clear, the point here is not that I am not proud of being black because believe me I love my culture and what we have brought to the world and I will make sure my kids are proud of that as well. But I believe that racism is stupid. And I believe that if we are ever going to rid ourselves of that stupidity, we will not do it with laws and whatnot, we will do it by blowing up the notion of race. Race is just a convenient way to label people. There is only one race with many different cultures and ethnic groups. My goal is that we get past these labels. And it starts with these kids. Interracial is a misnomer since its root is race, I prefer mixed or bi-ethnic if not the more accurate black-Hispanic in the case of our kids. In the end none of those labels matter anyway, except to be able to identify. In the end, ours kids and the thousands that are out there, are just people. Gloriously though, they are people who just may help destroy our notions of race.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
