The Don Imus matter has opened a sore in American society and demonstrated to me that racism still exists and more to the point White Racism. In fact, this form of mental illness is so persistent that those who either practice is or support those who do have worked to steer the focus away from the identification of and reduction of White Racism and on to ....Black rappers.
Wow.
What's all the more upsetting is that Jason Whitlock and Carol Swain -- both Black writers -- have allowed their own self-hate of Blacks to spill over into their appearance on CNN and The Today Show to talk not about White Racism but Black Rappers.
And in Jason's case, his Black self-hatred even caused him to treat a Black family at the Las Vegas Airport like they were animals to be feared and challenged, rather than people who deserved respect.
I'm really disppointed in them. But the task remains -- Racism is a mental illness and White racism must be stamped out. Now, since Whites are the majority and have majority economic power, any talk of Black racism in some weird attempt to even the argument is plain nuts. Plus, Whites are 77 percent of the U.S. population. That's almost eight of every ten people. You can't argue that racism is an "equal" problem if there are more Whites and Blacks, or anyone else!
Plus, the decades past since the passasge of the civil rights amendment have seen African Americans struggle with an inferiority complex that says "You're not good enough because you're not White and were enslaved."
Both ideas are not true, but they're borne of the extreme prejudice that Blacks in America have suffered; a prejudice that comes from White Racism. It's not a Black problem or a White problem; it's our problem.
Lest you think this division between Black and White views is not along color lines, research Technorati by typing in "Jason Whitlock" and reading the difference. Many African Americans don't like what Jason wrote, whereras many Whites do. It's a wake up call for those who think America's grown. It's got a long way to go. Also, it's was shown in a recent study that Whites react more negatively to Blacks than to Whites.
The seeds of what drive Don Imus to make the comment he did, are right there. This pattern of thinking must be unlearned or the problems that stem from it will continue.
Also, by writing this, I'm not referring to everyone who's White or Black, so don't even try to water down the argument with that presentation. Anyone an everyone knows there's a problem.
There's not so much Black racism as Black anger over White racism. Thus, when White Racism is eliminated, Black anger too will go away. You can bet on it.
What Don Imus said was pure White Racism. In an effort to deflect the blame from him, he threw up the Black Rapper claim and those who are White jumped at the device Don Imus himself crafted to defend himself. Now they had something to fight back with and turn the matter away from White Racism.
And that's sick, because we're still stuck with the problem of White Racism. The one best way to eliminate it is diversity. Diversity must be a new public policy objective. We must retrain the people of America to expect this, to walk in room full of Blacks or Whites and ask why there are not more different kinds of people in the room? This should be our objective. I certainly know it's mine.
I also know its the objective of many people, White, Asian, Latino, and on. It's just not a matter of national importance and it should be, plus you've got White conservatives like Tucker Carlson launching senceless rants against it when they get the chance.
Now that's one guy I'd love to debate; I'd make him look ridiculous.
Hey Zennie,
ReplyDeleteI agree 100% with you. Until the white sterotype about African-Americans can be eliminated, blacks deserventley have the right to be angry.
It's not fair or right because each person is entitled to equal opportunity under the law and no one person should think there better than another because of their skin color.
After watching Jason on countless occassions on the SportsReporters & other programs, I knew that he was very outspoken, but I never thought he had that much vent up anger about his own race.
I live in a predominately Jewish community, Plainview, and as a whole 90% of the people are white and the rest are mostly Asian, not many blacks. There view point is skewed because they have the mentality of a white racist and I hate that.
Through different experiences, I learned that African-Americans are extremely nice people, many being much more appreciative and nicer than many whites that I run into every day. It's just unfortunate that the deplorable comments from Imus, who has said nasty comments in the past, has been used to bring light to the white sterotype of black rappers and blacks in other professions.
Instead, his comments should demonstrate the white racism that is still very relevant in society and thst not enough is being done to implement diversity in our country.
Lennie, you say White racism must be stamped out. Yes, it must, but so must all racism. Now, how can that be accomplished? As I see it there is only one permanent way to end racism - all of it: to start at infancy, start when kids are still in the cradle, learning to walk, talk and think. I have twin 3-year old granddaughters who attend a pre-school that is truly stamping out racism within their confines. If all preschools and schools and parents did that, we would have our first generation that is truly without prejudice.
ReplyDeleteTo expect hard-boiled old geezers to make some sudden inner shift is unrealistic. My mother, for example, is in her 80's, is from Europe and is Jewish. She doesn't like Obama she says, because of his very Muslim middle name. That is what she says. I suspect it's more to do with the color of his skin. She denies that when I press her.
My father, an Englishman and an officer in the Royal Air Force all his life (and now dead), once told me that "they" (Blacks) don't have hair, they have wool on their heads. I was in my early 30's when he said that, and I flew at him in outrage. He was amazed at my vitriol, he expected his offspring to think as he did. Well, I didn't. Nor did my brother. Our parents' prejudice managed to not flow down to us.
I once spent 5 months living in St Thomas; and there I experienced racism inasmuch as that St Thomas is roughly 90% Black. I had dengue fever for most of those months and was alone and very weak. While the majority of Blacks varied from hostile to indifferent toward me, one very large and very kind Black woman came to my house, unbid, and proceeded to cook for me and help me clean up. She had seen me struggling my way round the local market, and followed me home to see, as she told me, "if anyone was looking after that skinny White girl". That woman was later castigated by her husband for doing what she did, he told her it was unseemly to appear to serve a White person. But that one kind woman did more to heal rifts than anyone else did on my 5 months of being a minority.
So, in short: education and kindness. That is the way to heal these sores.
Maureen
Hi,
ReplyDeleteFirst, thanks David. Second, Maureen, I'm sorry to learn of your experience in St. Thomas. But my response is two fold -- first, when did that happen? If it was more than five years ago, I respectfully submit that the climate undoubtedly has changed. Second, I'm really interested in what I call the "American Standard" -- establishing an advanced level of social expectations for our America.
I disagree that older people can't be swayed. I have argued with my Mom over the years on matters of racism and over time her views have softened and that's due in large part to my counterarguments and the good friends I have had over time of many backgrounds.
So everyone can be swayed.
David, yes, the St Thomas experience was about 12 years ago.
ReplyDeleteLet me tell you of my days when I was a kid living in what was then Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe: I was around 9 and we were staying with my Uncle who ran a large general store. One side was carpeted, clean and well laid out; the other side had a concrete floor, was haphazard and uninviting. Yes, the carpeted side was for the Whites, the concrete for Blacks. I asked my Uncle why this was, his reply was to the effect of, "that's what they're used to."
One day I fell off my bike while riding down the main street. A passing Black saw me on the ground crying and spat at me. And you know what? Even at the tender age of 9 I understood his reaction. It was unkind of him to be sure, but it was his gut reaction. To him I represented a small fallen oppressor.
Soon after that I was sent to stay with an Aunt who owned a vast tobacco farm. She and her husband had no kids so they spoiled me rotten. But I had no one to play with. The cook had 3 sons, black as coal, all around my age. They were named Knife, Radio and Bicycle (I kid you not!). I asked my Aunt if they could eat supper with me in the kitchen as I hated eating alone. She agreed. So each evening Knife, Radio, Bicycle and I ate dinner together at the kitchen table; we laughed, we teased each other, I helped them with their English, we were firm friends for the months I was there, and I wept when it was time for me to leave them. The sweet part of the story is that after that the 3 boys continued to eat supper in the house as my Aunt had grown so fond of them.
What does this have to do with racism? Not much, I suppose, except to act as an illustration that children can break those moulds far quicker than adults.