I’m black, if you haven’t figured it out. I consider myself black because that’s how I’m perceived. I’m technically half, as my mom is white and my dad black. However, my experiences have dictated my association with being black. I’ve been called nigger. I’ve been followed in stores, for fear I may clip something from the shelves. I’ve had girl friends whose fathers ban their daughters from dating me. I am seen as black and therefore am treated as such.
I give you this brief background as context because I’m about to go off and you deserve the context.
I’m am so tired of the race debate in this country. Race discussions and relations have been held hostage by the fringe. I’m over it.
Many blacks in this country are still bitter. We are still not taking care of our own shit. The Shirley Sherrod comments at an NAACP function are a perfect example. If we had our shit together and acted as we expect whites to act she would have been smacked off the stage. Yes, I get it. There are still ton’s of racist people out there, but that is NO excuse for allowing it in our own ranks. Being the victim of oppression or racism does not give anyone a license to reciprocate. It’s time to stop pointing fingers, blaming 250 years of institutional racism for our plight and our own individual challenges. We have a black president, black CEOs, black Congressman, black business owners. In my opinion, the US has spoken, institutional racism has been eradicated.
NAACP, your time is up. The enemy is no longer “the system.” It’s time to change your charter or shut down.
Jesse Jackson, Dan Gilbert was not being racist in expressing his feelings towards LeBron’s defection. Jesse you were, by assuming his comments were racially motivated on the sole data point that LeBron is a brother. Jesse, when the enemy was “the man,” when systematic racism was embedded in the fabric of this country, you were a leader, a deliverer of sorts and you did your job well. You pulled away “the mans” grip on the system and set the path for a black President, black CEO’s like Richard Parsons Ursula Burns and Kenneth Chenault and for that I thank you and we area all indebted to you. But, it is now time stop. Your approach is outdated. It is ineffective and misaligned. It could be argued, your outdated approaches are setting us back as they continue to operate from the fact the system is racist. This assumption is offensive to the millions of white Americans who aren’t racist, those who support diversity and have been part of the solution for years. Enough Jessee, the NAACP, and my fellow brothers and sisters who are still angry and are fighting yesterdays fight.
It’s time for us to stop looking outward and expecting the world to change for us. It’s time to stop blaming history, the system, the man, and everyone else. We were dealt a shitty hand. Efforts have been made to correct it. No matter how clumsy, or ill-conceived, changes have come and today’s environment affords us anything we WANT to commit to getting. Our focus should no longer be getting more, it should be taking advantage of what is afforded us today. Our new fight should focus on increasing black graduation rates, reducing our percentage of poverty, increasing black voter turnout, reducing the number of unwed mothers, increasing college attendance, increasing the number of black owned business, etc. The environment is different now, it’s time to take advantage of it. Jesse, NAACP, Shirley, Al Sharpton, and all the old school brothers and sisters who are still railing against the man; thanks for what you’ve done but it’s time to let go. You’re only hurting us now.
I am also over race relations in this country because of the dismissive nature of so many non-black people/white people. If another person on Twitter tries to defend the Tea Party I’m going to puke. The tacit acceptance of racial slurs, signs and more is inexcusable and is not justified by saying the NAACP is doing it too.
We’ve made progress as a country. A racist system has been, for the most part, destroyed. I thank all the white people who participated along side of Jesse and others; LBJ, John Brown, John F Kennedy, Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner and more. We owe you a debt of gratitude too. Despite these efforst, your work isn’t done. You can’t wash your hands of it all. Racism still exists, today it is subliminal, individual and tacit approval racism and whites in this country are not doing enough to eradicate that.
A friend told me the story the other day of how a childhood friend told him how they used to go “fag rolling.” My friend, who is white, didn’t know what that meant. So he asked. The answer was; fag rolling is when you go out looking for gays, find one and lure him into the car. When he get’s in, you kick the shit out of him and then while the car is still rolling you toss him out the door. After describing the antics of “fag rolling,” the childhood friend raised his hand for a high-five. I asked my friend, who was, as clearly disgusted as I was upon hearing the story, what he said to this guy. The answer was nothing. He sat in disbelief, but did and said nothing.
Many of my white friends still refer to their landscapers or housecleaners as their Mexican or Black housecleaner. Not that race or country of origin has any bearing on the story. To illustrate the point, I was at a party a few years ago when one of my white friends was describing how the Mexican landscaping company he used, screwed up his backyard. He went on and on continually inserting the Mexican identifier. I questioned him on why the fact they were Mexican mattered and why it had any bearing the story, as I felt it was racist to do so. He quickly labeled me too sensitive and said their goes Jim again. I’m known for calling people out on their shit. Besides, he said; They WERE Mexican.
As dinner progressed, others shared their home contractor failures, some using the racial profile of the offenders and others choosing not to. Figuring this was fair game, I shared mine. It went like this:
“I hired this white guy to redo my stairs and he completely fucked it up, and that was only two weeks after these two white guys screwed up the tile job in my foyer.” You can imagine the looks and response I got. My point however, was made.
There are still racist people in America. Blacks and non-whites still have it difficult to in comparison to whites. White people in this country have and continue to benefit from 250 plus years of a system set up to their benefit. To suggest otherwise is disingenuous.
Blacks have to stop railing against the system and blaming whites for their problems. Whites have to get their head out of the sand. Tremendous damage was done to the black community over 250 plus years. All that damage was not eradicated by the civil right act of 1964. We are barely a generation through that. The system has been addressed but, the individuals need to get on board.
White people, you need to stop expecting blacks to just get over it. You need to stop defending organizations and people who tacitly support or embrace racial language and actions. White people you need to become completely intolerant to those who display racist, homophobic, sexist, language. You need to stop pretending that because the system has been rid of racist underpinnings you have now done your job and you can wash your hands of it all. It doesn’t work like that. Stop inviting that neighbor who always has the black and jew jokes to the yearly party and tell him, to his face, you don’t want that trash in your house. Tell the old friend who brags about fag rolling to get the fuck out of your face and that you don’t ever want to see him again. Stop describing your house keeper, your manicurist, your lanscapers by there ethnic background. IT’S IRRELEVANT. It has no bearing on the story. Be intollorent, not to the slow pace of blacks to grab hold of the progress made so far, but of the white people around you who still haven’t made progress.
White america, you have just as much ownership in the bullshit racist climate that still exists in this country today as blacks. Stop pretending you don’t. Stop acting as if it’s all better and that you’ve done your job. Stop pointing the fingers at the brothers. Yes, we’ve got our own crap to clean up, but so do you.
I’m tired of today’s race discussions. They are rarely discussions, but rather blame games and grandiose efforts to one up each other trying to prove who is more engaged in racist actions.
The fringe is holding race hostage in this country and until the majority of us, those not on the fringe, those of us who don’t accept the behaviors of our fringe groups become intolerant, nothing is going to change.
I commit to you to do my part. .
Being half white and half black and not being on the fringe I am going to take the liberty to talk out of both sides of my mouth.
From my black side, to my fellow brothers. Enough! Stop worrying about the man, the system and what your being given and go take advantage of what’s there already. Capitalize on what this country has to offer. Allow Dick Parsons, Ken Chenault, Ursula Burns and Obama to represent what a blacks can accomplish. Let go of the “ghetto” as a self-defining trait. Embrace a culture of intellecualism and move forward. Look “in” for change now. Jesse, NAACP, Martin Luther King, and others changed the outside. It’s now our turn to change the inside. It’s a new fight.
From my white side, to my fellow white friends. Stop! Stop trying to minimize the impact of 250 years of slavery and Jim Crowe. There is real impact to that legacy, one you should feel blessed you haven’t had to live with. Stop allowing people to tell jokes, or express their racist tendencies without calling them out. Your refusal to call them out only allows them to walk away feeling they are not alone in their pathetic beliefs. Call them out. Call them out in public, throw them out of the party right in front of everyone. Let it be known you don’t roll that way. Stop allowing our nicety, don’t rock the boat culture to continue to allow racism to fester under the covers. Stop defending organizations who allow racist ideologies or people to sit within their ranks, EVEN if the organization itself isn’t racist. We are who we hang out with. Stop expecting blacks to “get with the program.” You have ownership in this too. Stop defending yourself. Stop saying you didn’t own any slaves. Recognize you are part of the problem. Stop blaming and look in. Evaluate your language. Look at what you teach your kids. Assess your passive and subtle prejudices, get real with how you look at others. Stop kidding yourselves. It’s not over just because you freed the slaves and passed a law. It takes time and effort.
Enough already. NAACP, you’re done. Get with the times or fold up. Tea Party, stop defending yourself. Both of you, vicioulsy and publicly distance yourself from those people who allow race to enter the discussion. They are there, stop offending people by saying their not.
The majority of you who are reading this; black or white I suspect are not the fringe and my hope in writing this and throwing down the gauntlet is you will go back to your community and tell the rest of the folks, stop pointing fingers, stop blaming, it’s time for us to take care of our own back yard. It’s the only way this thing is going to get any better.
There I said it.
UPDATE:
Now that the truth has come out about Ms. Sherrod’s case, I am a bit embarrassed that I got caught up in the back and forth. I should have dug a little deeper and maybe even waited a bit longer before posting this. It is clear now why the audience DIDN’T “smack her off the stage”. Good for Shirley for being woman enough to grow from her earlier life experiences. This being said, my point does not change. We need to stop pointing fingers and clean up our back yards first.
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1
Jim,
Masterfully expressed.
What happened to empathy and kindness? Who is teaching compassion? Racism is at the surface of the problem. What lies beneath is the ugliness of selfishness and ignorant behavior.
We use race and sexual slurs to mask our emotional inability to see beyond our own bias. And then we try to make it all completely “logical” with excuses and ridiculous ideology.
The Glenn Becks of the world have made us desire “fight” over “future”. And our drive for avoiding compromise and tolerance (as signs of insincerity) border on neurosis of the worst kind.
Who will we fight next? That's the scary question.
At one point in our history, we quoted Bible verses to convince ourselves that black people deserved inferior treatment. Now we use the foolish actions of terrorists to categorically mis-label almost an entire continent of people. We bully the gay-and-lesbian community, because they are an easy target.
Regardless of your religious persuasion, you have to agree that the situation we have created has become unacceptable. Change is demanded. And it is us who must draw the line in the sand.
What breaks through this absurd behavior is kindness.
Let's try practicing that.
Dan Waldschmidt
an ordinary dude with an outrageous vision…
http://www.DanWaldschmidt.com
Comment by Dan Waldschmidt — July 20, 2010 @ 11:13 pm
2
Nicely said. I wish all people were this open minded and held themselves accountable for their own lives. When do we stop supporting the Tea Party and their repressed views? It is time to move forward, black, white, gay, straight, women, and men. We certainly can't say this day and age won't allow it.
Comment by Ellenkeenan — July 20, 2010 @ 11:42 pm
3
Jim:
You can't see this, but there are tears in the corners of my eyes as I stand here giving you the ovation you deserve for having the guts to not only write this post, but to share it with the world. GREAT job!
I agree with Dan: when kindness and compassion return to their proper place, not only in American culture but in the world at large, that's when we'll make the breakthrough and all this nonsense will stop.
The folks on the fringes are there for a reason; let's do what we can to keep them there.
Again, GREAT post, and thank you for sharing it.
Jerry
Comment by Jerry Kennedy — July 21, 2010 @ 12:36 am
4
Jim,
This exceptionally straightforward and honest post prompted me to add you to a select group of people I recommend associates and connections read here http://bit.ly/bs1pB5 (click next at the bottom of the images).I truly respect people with the courage of their convictions to truly say what they feel – unvarnished. My compliments Sir.
Dan
Comment by Dan Collins — July 21, 2010 @ 1:02 am
5
Jim –
Great article. I really hope someone from a major paper sees it and has the courage to run it.
Todd
Comment by Todd Billiar — July 21, 2010 @ 1:26 am
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Jim,
First let me thank you or starting a necessary debate. As a Canadian I look at it with some wrinkles. For context I am Jewish, son of an Auschwitz survivor, married to a Black woman of American descent, so my kids get niggered and Jewed all at once; and since apparently I “don’t look Jewish”, I often get to hear the ignorant class tell me how they “Jewed down their Jew lawyer”, in addition to the racial remarks you highlighted.
I think the reason the discussion is being hijacked by the fringe is that there is a lack of “new leadership” and/or leaders to ensure the debate is current and relevant based on where we are now. I think if there were the fringe would be pushed back to the fringe. But the void created by the lack of new people able to extend the debate previously driven by Jesse and the NAACP, rather than dismissing the institution, it needs to be led to the level needed in 2010. I agree that we have made great progress, but there is a great distance to go yet. I still get called a “nigger lover” yes in Toronto, I still have people step between my wife and I on escalators at the mall, I guess they think that “hey, those two can’t be together”. So there is a need for new intelligent champions who can extend the discussion.
The only thing I can add to your great post is to challenge the next generation to step up, acknowledge the progress made by their predecessors, and drive the issues forward, because without that it will become stale and allow the fringe to set the agenda, an agenda we cannot afford.
Tibor
Comment by Tibor Shanto — July 21, 2010 @ 1:51 am
7
Terrific post Jim. I agree with all of it. We need to begin a new chapter of race relations in this country, and your post could be the foundation of it. The majority is ready for it, for the majority largely sees beyond race and they also largely take responsibility for their own accomplishments or lack of them instead of blaming things on the wrongs of the past. Kudos, Jim.
Comment by Skip Anderson — July 21, 2010 @ 2:23 am
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We do need a new chapter, and new leaders to bring in this new era.
Comment by Keenan — July 21, 2010 @ 4:24 am
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We do need a new chapter, and new leaders to bring in this new era.
Comment by Keenan — July 21, 2010 @ 4:24 am
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If it would create change, I'm all for it.
Thanks Todd
Comment by Keenan — July 21, 2010 @ 4:25 am
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If it would create change, I'm all for it.
Thanks Todd
Comment by Keenan — July 21, 2010 @ 4:25 am
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Tibor,
You are absolutely correct, we need new leadership. We need it desperately. This new leadership will need followers as this is no easy effort, they will need support. It's not easy to blame ourselves. Accepting change needs to happen from with in is an entirely different ball game. There is no hiding, there is no pointing fingers, there is no “it's them, not me.” Leadership that can turn people in that direction will require a movement.
You have a great story, thanks for sharing it.
Comment by Keenan — July 21, 2010 @ 4:34 am
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I'm honored Dan.
That is an impressive list you've built. Thanks for including me.
Comment by Keenan — July 21, 2010 @ 4:36 am
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Kindness, compassion, I like to think they are still there, we just need to extend them to everyone.
Comment by Keenan — July 21, 2010 @ 4:39 am
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I hope what lies beneath is NOT ugliness and selfishness, I HOPE it is nothing more than fear. It is a lot easier to change a nation of fear than it is to change an ugly, selfish, ignorant nation. That is a much more difficult task.
Thanks Dan!
Comment by Keenan — July 21, 2010 @ 4:42 am
16
I agree whole-heartedly wtih you Jim. It's sad we still have to call people out. I can't even imagine what life was like being black 50, 25 years ago or even today. It's doesn't even seem real to me, obviuosly. However, i feel that the mainstream media and the government works hard to keep racial tensions high. I mean, really, who is this lady and do we really care? Or should any of us give a damn about some poor, inbred, white trash at a Tea Party rally (supporting limited gov't). Unfortunatley, the answer is yes.
You're right, we do need to point these people out and let them know we don't share their beliefs. Make sure “our” movements aren't ransacked by idiots, and the purpose is overshadowed.
But…i do disagree with your statement that you need to be focusing on increasing black voter turnout or black college attendance. How about increase overall voter turnout or reducing overall poverty. I think you said it best that mankind is better off if we can educate the masses. That doesn't mean just focusing on “my” people unless you are talking about humans.
You know my feeling on racism is centered on people being more culturalist than racist. I'm not afraid to admit I don't want to be around uneducated, loud, showy, obnoxious, precocious, materialistic people (besides you). If that happens to follow a color line, so be it. But be sure it has nothing to do with color.
I will do my part to watch my jokes, comments, and be sure to callout those who don't. Thanks for being willing to listen and express without fear.
Now have you heard the one about the black guy, the mexican and the Rabbi. it's great!
Comment by Larry Caschette — July 21, 2010 @ 7:02 am
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I believe Glenn has done a great service with his “Founding Fathers” series to teach people about black leaders that have been forgotten by our history books. I am a pretty avid Glenn listener and don't get “fight” from him, but “learn and educate”. Albeit, i'm sure it is mostly self-serving PR. But I did learn about some pretty amazing black historical figures that I've never heard of before, thanks to him.
Comment by Larry Caschette — July 21, 2010 @ 7:09 am
18
Rethink your concept about fear being easier to change. Why do you think religion and governments have controlled the human race for as long as history knows? Ugliness and selfishness are usually rooted in ignorance, but fear is used as a tool. I'm afraid to call someone black, because i've been told that is insenitive. I'm afraid to call someone Mexican, because somehow, even if they're from Mexico, that is a negative connotation. I'm afraid to speak out against big government spending because that portays me as ruthless and uncaring for those in need.
Comment by Larry Caschette — July 21, 2010 @ 7:13 am
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Larry,
You are probably right about Glenn. I don't watch TV. Just read a few of his books.
Dan
Comment by Dan Waldschmidt — July 21, 2010 @ 11:53 am
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First off, by way of introduction, I am not a Tea Party member. I support their underlying goal of smaller government, but I am not 'registered' in any Tea Party organization, nor newsletter or anything of the sort. I am a Conservative, who proudly cast his first vote for Ronald Reagan.
I don't personally know anyone who makes the kinds of jokes you mentioned; I know *of* comedians on TV and in clubs who make these jokes, and most often they are people of the race they're joking about (exception: George Carlin, who busted on *everyone*). I prefer to have nothing to do with racists of ANY color.
In our tweets I tried to point out (as best anyone can in <=140 characters) that while there were fringe idiots holding signs at Tea Party rallies, that was far and away the minuscule exception. You can't point to any speech by anyone saying such intolerable filth in a speech.
Case in point: your insinuating that the Tea Party is tacitly condoning those nuts is as relevant as any person of color being painted with the New Black Panther Party brush (Google: 'NPBB “Kill the crackers”'). I am not suggesting you are condoning NBPP, but using your logic anyone who DOESN'T condemn them is as guilty as you perceive the Tea Party is; it shouldn't work that way.
On the flip side, the Breitbart video of the speech before the NAACP was met with murmurs of acceptance: no one there called the speaker out for her abject racism.
Just because the news media camera show a few idiots holding racially inflammatory signs in front of a Tea Party event doesn't mean they'll show anyone calling them out. Judging that so many people are repeating the lines of how allegedly racist the Tea Party, I'd say too many are getting their news by the same 'journalists' who were a member of the http://www.journolist.com , which this week has become so widely exposed for their extreme bias.
Comment by CharliePATpk — July 21, 2010 @ 4:00 pm
21
Charlie, very well formulated reponse. In complete agreement. Let's not also forget that there is a $100,000 reward for anyone who can furnish any hard evidence of racial slurs at the Tea Party Rallies. I would think with as much video as is being taken today, that if there was some blatant racism at a party it would have been found and published by now. But, I will also say that I wouldn't be surprised to see some idiot taking advantage of the movement to get some publicity for there stupidity. Did anyone else here the cheers from the crowd when she expressed that she decided to not give the farmer her full force of assistance? Now that was racism.That scared me more than what she said.
Comment by Larry Caschette — July 21, 2010 @ 6:22 pm
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Charlie, Larry,
Let's not lose site of my post. There is racism within the Black Community and it needs to stop, there is racism in the white community and it needs to stop.
My point is; let's stop pointing fingers. I commit to calling out the brothers and the sisters and chastising them for not casting off those with hateful, racist messages and I hope you and Charlie can do the same (Larry, I know you, so I know you do) Pointing out where others are racist only inflames the argument as we are both guilty.
Let's clean up our own yard and stop worrying about the other side.
Comment by Keenan — July 22, 2010 @ 8:29 pm