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NOUN:
1. The belief that race accounts for differences in human character or
ability and that a particular race is superior to others. 2.
Discrimination or prejudice based on race.
* * * * *
I
once knew someone who took great pains, during any conversation that
seemed to broach the subject of race, to proclaim that he was
color-blind. My friend repeated this statement so often that I started
to wonder if he was trying to convince others or if he was really
trying to convince himself. To twist a phrase from Shakespeare -- my friend did protest too much, methought.
I
didn't hold these frequent protestations against my friend. I actually
applauded him for trying so hard. Many people don't make that much
effort. I never told my friend that he was missing the point. The goal
is not to be color-blind. The goal is to see and appreciate the
differences in color (gender, religion, culture, etc) without attaching
a value judgment.
My friend was not a racist, a long way from
it. He was just someone trying to integrate the values of his culture,
his personal beliefs and his life experiences with living in a
multi-racial, multi-cultural society. And isn't that the story of the
United States. Not to be a melting pot but a rainbow.
Most
Americans aren't overt racists. They're just people struggling to live
in a world that includes people who are very different than the nuclear
family and community in which they were raised. On most days they're
people who are kind, loving, generous and fair. Yet they're often
people, who given the right nudge, can think, say and/or do things that
shock even themselves. Racial understanding is a journey and some
people are a lot further down the road than others. Unfortunately, the
2008 Democratic presidential primary campaign has proven that as a
nation we're not as far down that road as most of us thought.
During this campaign I have heard statements from some of my Black, White and Hispanic associates that have (forgive me for saying this) shocked the sh!t out of me. And I'm a very hard person to shock.
Yes,
we all knew that there is a segment of our society comprised of card
carrying Aryan Nation, KKK, Neo-Nazis. And yes, most of us knew that
there is an element in the GOP that views anyone whose ancestors didn't
arrive on the Mayflower as a drain on American society. But did any of
us realize that there was a dark under belly to the Democratic party?
Or, that this ugly little secret would become so visible during a
primary election season that should have exemplified everything that
the Party was supposed to stand for?
In many cases the
Democratic presidential primary campaign, and the media coverage of it,
has been both subtly racist and sexist. Both campaigns have, in their
own way, manipulated the racial divide while simultaneously declaring
that the voters are "better than that".
On the other hand, the media coverage (mainstream media and the partisans in the blogosphere)
has been there to give the faithful just the right nudge. Can you count
the stories devoted to Bill Clinton's comments in South Carolina,
Michelle Obama's "proud to be an American" comment, Geraldine Ferraro's
stumble, Jeremiah Wright's sermon, bitter Pennsylvanians -- need I say
more?
Meanwhile, virtually all serious discussion of the
issues (like the Iraq War) has been put aside. And has any of this lead
to an open and honest discussion of race relations in America? Judging
by the following story, not really.
excerpt from:
Racist Incidents Give Some Obama Campaigners Pause
By Kevin Merida Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 13, 2008; Page A01
For
all the hope and excitement Obama's candidacy is generating, some of
his field workers, phone-bank volunteers and campaign surrogates are
encountering a raw racism and hostility that have gone largely
unnoticed -- and unreported -- this election season. Doors have been
slammed in their faces. They've been called racially derogatory names
(including the white volunteers). And they've endured malicious rants
and ugly stereotyping from people who can't fathom that the senator
from Illinois could become the first African American president.
The
contrast between the large, adoring crowds Obama draws at public events
and the gritty street-level work to win