Monday, November 20, 2006
It Might Just Be Me
Does anyone get the distinct impression that we’re taking steps in the wrong direction when it comes to race relations in the United States?
Or is it just that in an over-politicized, information-saturated culture, the Mel Gibson Jew hating incident and Kramer latter-day KKK moment along with the Crazy Guy on C-SPAN who advocates exterminating all white people news is amplified by an echo-chamber of indignation, magnifying the infrequent idiocies of just a handful of people until the problems seem insurmountable? Does the focus on those outbursts steal so much attention from the far more numerous wins that we still manage to feel like we’re losing?
Because, I have to tell you, in my private life and in the lives around me, I don’t see that kind of bigotry and haven’t since I was a kid. But when I surf the Internet and turn on the TV, I’m presented with a view of my country that doesn’t match my experience.
I don’t advocate sweeping these things under the cliched rug; we should be outraged by behavior that is outrageous. We should scold and shun because these are powerful tools for building a society that reflects our common values. Silence only encourages bad behavior. But I wonder how healthy it is to imagine that these varied instances of true racism are anything other than the exception to the rule. Regardless of voting records, thoughts on reparations, or beliefs about affirmative action, I don’t imagine that any sizable portion of black America truly wants to kill all white people, for example. This is why I feel no urge to scurry to my own defense, trying to justify my place on the planet. I’m not overly worried that the next black person I meet on the street will be involved in some pogrom to rid the planet of the white pestilence.
Political and cultural successes are often quiet things and the failures get far more media coverage. But, regardless of the problems that we do have, we shouldn’t let our outrage blind us to the very real steps that American society has taken toward equality.
Either that or I am terribly naive.
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People tend to be more outrageous on the net, but what you don’t see in every day life are the small indignities. You may work with someone and not realized that they are not making as much money as you would think, or have not been offered a promotion. You wont hear them tell you that they couldn’t catch a cab late a night or when you hear it you think its an anomaly. I heard of an incident recently, where a prominent Kenyan academic was ask to leave his hotel by an employee who thought he was out of place. You go to a theater in one neighborhood and are required to be searched and the same theater in another and they don’t. You think incidents like these don’t keep reminding me that I’m black. I don’t start the day thinking of a world of racism, but something usually happens to remind me. Somethings I’ve mentioned may seem unrelated to racism, but when you only see a certain group of people stay in the same jobs whereas others move on, you think it is related. When you are black, you don’t see other blacks as incompetent unless they are. Interesting when I had discussed reparations on the net and said what I wanted was respect; I got history lessons, much name calling and accusations that I was playing the race card and the victim. I thought, they would probably give me money so they could bitch and say how I was the stereotype, rather than give me any respect.
Certainly there’s racism in our society. For example, it’s a core belief of the Democratic Party that all fashionable minorities (and women, of course) are incapable of competing on a level playing field, so need a head start in every race. When people get told that all the time, it’s not surprising that some of them believe it.
OTOH, if you treat people as peers, that’s usually the way they act. And most of society is less racist than the Democrats.
(I think I’ll pass on discussing “reparations” right now.)
Interesting, most of those comments I spoke of were from the right. Racism comes in all political stripes. It must be fashionable now to blame the Democrats. I have been around a long time, I remember when desegregation was a states rights issue and guess who’s philosophy that was. If we had gone that root, there would still be Jim Crow. Funny, how blacks were the only ones who were suppose to wait for liberty. Most blacks, believe or not, think they can compete on an even playing field; until one gets on that field. You don’t notice, because its not you. Many of us do the best we can trying to compete and we don’t ask for help. We try to play the politics, or whatever else it would take to get ahead, realizing at time we have a hand tied behind our back. Now there are the lucky ones, who are able to play on that field and of course they say, no problem. But you know, in the places I’ve been, they still could not get a cab at night.
This Dave Chappelle routine isn’t that old. (You may want to skip to 3:45.) He also had a bit where he did a mocking impression of a teacher saying “...now, racism is a thing of the past.”
It would be nice if racism were a thing of the past. I think Tony Snow is sincere in his belief that it is (as are many of the people who say that), but they’re mistaken.
As for Michael Richards, it’s clear that he only said those things because the Jews made him do it.