Sep 20 2008
Racism in America: When Do We Say ‘Enough!’?
This morning, I find it compelling that within the span of five minutes, I received two very different perspectives on Racism in America via electronic media.
First was the much debunked “Atta-Boy Andy Rooney” fake rant that has been circulating the Internet since 2003. As Snopes.com appropriately points out, Mr. Rooney has denied and disavowed the email and its contents. Too bad good Americans are not willing to take him at his word; but perpetuate thus validate, this vile piece of garbage. My question is: how do you define “complicit”? When one forwards this garbage, does one not take ownership of personal complicit-ness toward the advance of Racism in America? There are two striking points in this particular email that really caught my eye: “When 70% of the people who get arrested are black, in cities where 70% of the population of black, that is not racial profiling; it is the Law of Probability.” Interesting how empirical science just got used to justify a racial bias e.g. it is not Bias; it is Science.
It goes on, “I know a lot of black people, and not a single one of them was born in Africa; so how can they be African-American? Besides, Africa is a continent. I don’t go around saying I am a European-American… I am proud to be from America…”
1. The label African-American is a demographic label, placed upon a group of people in order to designate separate groups in demographic studies. There is a case here for inherent divisiveness in quantitative research within the social sciences.
2. Actually, European American is exactly the label du jour for Caucasians.
3. To the point “Africa is a continent”: SO IS NORTH AMERICA! Does it not bother anyone that the citizenry of the United States acts justified and entitled in appropriating the term “American”?
Then the second email: Had I seen the newly released AP/Yahoo News/Stanford University Study on Racial Views conducted August 27-September 5, 2008? This about finished me off…A couple of quick points: The AP summarizes the findings to include, “…40% of all white Americans hold at least a partly negative view toward blacks, and that includes many Democrats and independents.” Coupled with, “The survey broke ground by incorporating images of black and white faces to measure implicit racial attitudes, or prejudices that are so deeply rooted that people may not realize they have them. That test suggested the incidence of racial prejudice is even higher, with more than half of white revealing more negative feelings toward blacks than white.”
As I scanned the actual PDF of findings and saw that 14% of the 2, 227 survey participants identified Barack Obama’s religion as Muslim (p.14); I had to ask, “When do we say, Enough!”?
UPDATE: Whose Values are These?
November 4th.
Never. As long as there are those that make a living off of pedaling racism and strife it will be around.
That being said, the study must be wrong anyway. After all, we know Democrats aren’t racist.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122178554189155003.html
Don’t mind Ginny, she’s just living in 1955. I’m sure things look much different in Stepford.
My chance to chime in. I grew up in the military. Born in Germany right after War II and raised in the states, Germany and lots of foreign places such as Georgia and Arkansas.
I lived in Arkansas during the integration of Central High School in 1957. I rode busses, I signed up black voters in the south, and my biggest thrill was to stand with thousands at the Lincoln Memorial and listen to Dr. King’s “I have a Dream” speech. And in my 60+ years of living here in These United States and other parts of the world that I’v visited (Russia, Finland, Sweden, France, Austria, Panama, Ecuador, Belize, Mexico etc., etc., and etc.)I can say we can strangle racism, but we will never be able to kill it. People everywhere, sadly, have to have someone to look down on. And that makes me sad!