explaining racism…

// March 19th, 2008 // Uncategorized

I read an article today, quoting Barack Obama about racism…..and his view. After reading it, I feel like he articulates very well, some of the same feelings I have about the issue…this snippet is from the LA Times by Johanna Neuman

So when they are told to bus their children to a school across town, when they hear that an African American is getting an advantage in landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committed, when they’re told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudiced, resentments build over time.”

White resentment, like anger within the black community, “have helped shape the political landscape for a generation,” he said. Now, he added, both black and white have to “move beyond some of our old racial wounds.”

“The profound mistake of Rev. Wright’s sermons is not that he spoke about racism in our society,” he said. “It’s that he spoke as if our society was static, as if no progress has been made.” Instead, he said, “America can change. That is the true genius of this nation.”

Noting the Constitution signed just across the hall, Obama said the document the founders produced “was eventually signed but ultimately unfinished — stained by the nation’s original sin of slavery.” Now, he said, whites need to acknowledge that the legacy of racial discrimination does not just exist in the imagination of African Americans but that it is real, and to acknowledge this by investing in schools and providing “ladders of opportunity.” And blacks, he said, need to be respectful of their history, without becoming victims of it.

Urging a moratorium on speech “as fodder for the nightly news,” Obama urged the political culture not to “pounce on some gaffe” by a supporter for rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton or speculate on why white men are voting for Republican John McCain.

“We can do that,” he said. “Or, at this moment, in this moment in this election, we can come together and say, ‘Not this time.’ ” Calling instead for a discussion of issues and a renewed national effort to overcome racial injustice, he concluded, “As so many generations have come to realize over the course of the 221 years since a band of patriots signed that document in Philadelphia, that is where the perfection begins.”

Just the other day, the same thing occured that seems be be occuring in more frequency to me….

I was getting gas at the gas station, when a driver drove in front of me and yelled in a really sarcastic snide tone, “que pasa! amigo!!” Now, seeing that he just wanted to point out that I apparently spoke spanish, and could not talk in english, I just simply nodded, gave him a smile and kept pumping my gas.

But the feeling….that feeling of being judged or misunderstood was bleeding from my thoughts and I felt like I couldn’t hide my fear of him coming out of the gas station and actually saying something to him in english. The simple fact that I am not hispanic, nor do I really speak good spanish and how when he found out his assumption was wrong. How would he react? Would he care?

Some times I am enraged when this happens, and sometimes I simply think it’s funny (i do tend to joke about it) or extremely sad. For instance, my roomates….Darren has a ringtone of an oriental chime as my ringtone, and I know that it’s in jest and that its just funny, but the same instance a few months ago also comes to mind when Kim was referring to something I cooked (lumpia) having dog/cat meat in it. These stereotypes, although sometimes used for levity, are like sand paper to me. And I know/realize they have no intention of offending/making fun of me….you sometimes can’t understand it.

You have to take it in stride sometimes when you think about it….as people are scared confront the issue for fear of offending. Part of it, I feel for stereotyping or judging based on looks, are just survival instincts to make judgements and avoid situations. You make stereotypes to make quick decisions when needed, and people naturally do that….I do as well. I guess I just wish people would try to dig deeper, learn more about others and embrace everyone’s differences, diversity….not just racially, but other ways as well.

No Responses to “explaining racism…”

  1. Jessica says:
    March 19, 2008 at 4:51 am

    I admire your ability to turn the other cheek, as you did to that snarky driver at the gas station, but I think that in the end, it only hurts you to do so. What would you lose by saying something in perfect English? What would you lose by asserting your identity, by proving that man wrong? Who cares if he cares? Who cares how he would react? He was mistaken in his judgment, and if he reacted negatively had you corrected him, so what? Shame on him, and maybe he’ll learn to think before he dares disrespect another person he knows nothing about.

    Humor is an excellent coping mechanism, something you’ve obviously developed in spades, and I hope you don’t take it to heart when I or my family tease you about your race. I know I’m more guilty of that than others, but it is all in jest; when I see you, I see Calvin; end of story.

    I don’t think race or any other difference should be ignored, but I do think that every person should possess the ability to see beyond it, to look deeper into who a person really is. I also think that if people in general, but politicians specifically, cannot grow a pair of bollocks and confront the issue of race boldy, bluntly at times, and delicately at other times, then our society may just become static, and no real progress will ever be made.

    And now, it’s time for me to get off my soap box; these shoes are killing me! =D

  2. Cal Sr. says:
    March 21, 2008 at 7:38 pm

    People fear what they don’t understand. Some people grow up in an atmosphere of racial bios and bigotry. They’re conditioned to strike out. These racial slurs are a means, albeit a poor one, of coping too. Those who are bold enough to quote some derogatory racial comment should not be made to feel they can do this with impunity, though.

    Responding in kind is definitely not the way to go. You might reply with something like (with a Southern accent) “Sorry partner… don’t speak no French – only ‘merican”, or maybe (in perfect English “I don’t speak Irish”. You could also just look at them as if you haven’t got a clue what they’re saying. If you could think of a way to turn it around where the perpetrator looks like a fool without direct confrontation, you have accomplished three things. 1) You don’t fit the stereotype, and 2) The perpetrator is ignorant or not as smart as they think, and 3) They cannot make such remarks without consequence. If this happens at a workplace (theirs or yours) you can and should file a complaint.

    I agonized over these incidents while you and your sisters were going through school. Each of you coped differently, but it hurt me to see you all going through it. Sometimes people at work or in other social settings feel like, because I’m white, that I’m “with” them when they make racially charged comments. They find out very quickly that I do not tolerate it at any level. I am not silent and neither should others be.

    I think it’s important to try to change the way people consider color/race, but you can’t let it consume you. Better to focus the energy on moving onward and upward. Nursing your anger only sucks energy and focus from the things that are important to you. The only good use for anger is to use it as a catalyst for taking positive action.

    …on the topic of close friends:

    While racial comments may be said in jest and not have any malicious intent, they do cause harm. Even if the recipient of the jest doesn’t appear bothered, you may just be seeing a “coping mechanism”. Even if the recipient is truly neutral, the act of making such comments tends to legitimize them as “harmless” to yourself and others within earshot. I object to ANY racial slurs being made in my presence, whether they’re aimed at me or anyone else, and whether they’re made by someone from the same slurred ethnic group or not. Some words just do not belong in the English language… period.

    I prefer to focus on the things that we all have in common rather than the things that we don’t. I love the diversity we have in America, though. We should celebrate the subtle differences in perspective that come with social, economical, theological, political, intellectual, and ethnic diversity. I respect everyone’s opinion but reserve the right to argue my own. When someone else is offering theirs, however, I try to take their side and find the logic from their standpoint. In other words, I listen.

    Alright now, see what happens when you get me started?

    That’s my $0.02 worth anyway! :-)

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