An Inauguration Invitation
copyright © 2009 Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org I am asking you to believe, not just in my ability to bring about a real change in Washington, I'm asking you to believe in yours. The invitation arrived in an electronic mail. As much as America wishes to be hopeful, I had none. I saw the communiqué and thought it would not be possible. I would never be selected to attend the inauguration. Of all the millions who are moved by this historic occasion, while I am amongst these, my anecdote is and would be far less remarkable. My personal reflection on the Obama election, would not be tragic. Nor would any thought I might muse of move a reader to say, "Yes. She should be seated at the swearing in ceremony." Whatever I might communicate is certainly of little interest to most, if not all. Surely, the saga of a grandson, or grand-daughter, of a slave, one who worked as their ancestors had, might mesmerize more, or at least a legend such as this would enthrall me. Indeed, it did. Only yesterday, I saw and heard a film essay on James "Little Man" Presley. This steady man in Mississippi began his career when he was six [6.] On camera, this glorious gent recounted his reality of fifty years of work in the cotton fields. He shared his sorrow; as a Black man, he was barred from restaurants and royalties that might be awarded to a white man. "Little Man" Presley also presented his pleasure.
~ Barack Obama
Once again, as I stood blubbering, I bemoaned what I had faith I had no right to feel. Regrettably, I would not be able to attend the official observance. The installation of Barack Obama into the Oval Office would be one I would miss. It was true; my yarn could not compare to the composition an elderly man or woman, coal in color, might submit. Some of these individuals never felt their tally counted. For many, it did not; not until the Voters Rights Act 1965 was passed into law. Yes, a request for my narrative could not negate the truth of my tale; it was nothing in contrast to what others might tell. My complexion had always made me more privileged and that is wrong.
To my core I felt and continue to feel if the new Administration offers free transportation and tickets to the event, they should not be given to me.
I had never, through my actions, given up on the country I love. I had no reason to. Granted, I frequently felt there was no hope for my homeland. However, these moments were fleeting. Prejudice did not permeate my very existence. Nor did bigotry shade my second-by-second experience. Every thought I might express was not filtered through a truth I could never forget, for I was not dark as pitch. I did not realize repercussions for nothing more than my race.
I am an activist. My current age does not make my participation worthy of note, at least not in the year 2008, or 2009. I am one of millions. Four or perhaps more will readily appear in the Capital Mall in Washington, District of Columbia. Almost all will reach the destination without assistance from the Obama Administration. Why should I not do the same?
For me, without tickets, which I vigorously tried to obtain through conventional means, I would not truly be part of this momentous occasion. I would be disengaged, detached from the essence that bonds me and helped me to believe. I imagine as one in a crowd of countless, all I would see would be projected onto a screen. I would feel separate, not equal to those more worthy of the honor of an invitation.
Surely, the historic significance would be not be as I hoped. Were I to go, as a one amongst the masses might, I would grapple with what has long haunted me. I would not feel as connected to what means so much to me.
Hence, each time the invitation appeared in my mailbox, the opportunity to pen my prose, to state why this inauguration was so very important to me, I submitted what I knew was not enough, not special, and not unique.
Each time, I did not request what I hoped for, in many ways, more so than accommodations to the services. My dream was not to merely be welcomed to the Capitol. I wanted to find what was, and still is lost to me. The people I think of as parents, biological proxy to me. My desire was the President Elect and his staff might make a personal dream come true. Thus, I engraved and placed into the ethereal Internet for weeks.
I know not how to best express what this inauguration means to me. Attendance at the investiture would be the fulfillment of a dream, a desire to return the love that was given to me. Perchance, a bit of historical context might help to explain why this occasion moves me. My beginnings were not humble. Some might say that my childhood was filled with hurt. However, for me, the circumstances were joyous.
My parents had been together for years. They prospered financially. Yet, as a family they were disconnected. My birth was accidental and a source of anything but delight. It was decided another person, and her family would raise me. Mary [Hazel] Washington, and her husband, Arthur, thankfully took me into a world that was not my own. I became the white child who was far more accepted in a Black world, than she was in her own Caucasian community. My complexion was light as was my heart when with the persons who truly cared for me.
Later, at an age younger than Natasha Obama currently is, I witnessed an extraordinary event. My natural mother and father were home, together, in my presence. The two had grown farther apart in my five years on Earth. As they spoke of the 1960 election, they argued. The conversation was animated, more so than any I had heard in the past. My Mom, the ultimate Progressive mentioned she would not vote for the Republican candidate, register in the Grand Old Party; nor would she lie to the man whose bloodline I share and say she had. I was intrigued and remained so forever.
The two, Mommy, and her husband whose home I lived in, but rarely saw, and never really knew, divorced. However, sadly, the Washington's exited. Much occurred in the time of transition. Mary and Arthur had reason to believe they were no longer needed. Oh, what they did not know was how wanted they were, how honored I was to be raised in their world.
The people who did not reject me, taught me to trust. Mary mentored me in empathy. Arthur, her spouse, and their offspring, through their actions, helped me to understand the principle, love thy fellow man.
I never forgot how safe and sane I felt when with what felt to be my family, the persons who served as my surrogate parents. I could not have had a better home, more love, or been as welcome as I was in the neighborhood where residents did not appear as I did. At the age of eleven or twelve, I had an opportunity, the first of many, to stand up for the rights of the people who gave me more than a physical presence in the world. I marched for equality, civil rights for all. With Civil Rights leader Father Groppi, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, I was among the many who said and sung, "Set my people free."
As I aged, I searched for Mary [Hazel] and Arthur Washington. While I never located the couple who bestowed upon me the freedom that comes with acceptance, as a politically active person, particularly in the 2008 election year, I saw them frequently. The Washington's were within me each time I made a telephone call in support of Barack Obama. My mother and father, brownish-purple in hue, were with me as I waved banners for a President Elect Obama. Mary and Arthur drove to rallies, spoke to relatives. The two were close at hand when I registered voters.
My hope is that if I am able to find my way to the inauguration, Mary [Hazel] and Arthur Washington will know that with thanks to them, "Yes, we can," and indeed, "We did achieve a dream!"
Mary [Hazel], Arthur, and sons, Arthur Junior and oh, how I wish I recalled the name of the younger, if you read this, please, please, please, get in touch with me. For as long as I recall, I have, from time to time, searched telephone books, cyberspace communities, asked relatives, sought some clue of where you might be. I wanted, I yearn for you to know what as a five and one half year old I could not, did not know how to share. You, your kindness, commitment to my well-being, the care you bestowed upon me has forever meant more to me than mere words.
I speak of each of you, your family, even when my mouth is closed. Who you are exudes from my every pore. So much of what I think, say, do, feel, and am, at least all that I treasure of me, is with thanks to each of you. Mary, I know my parents rejected what seemed the perfect reason to name me Hazel, your given name, as you requested. Nonetheless, please trust that while you and I may not share a moniker, for me, we share sooooo much more.
I thank you for being my first and best teacher. You are a mentor, one that money cannot buy. If I have any hope in 2009, it is that perchance, one day, you and I will meet. I wish to do more than merely greet you with a smile. Even from afar, I will, as I have, embrace the being that is you, and express my sincere gratitude for the being you helped me to become.
The Washington family, this is my Inauguration Invitation to you. May we begin to bring hope for a renewed future alive.
Hugs, kisses, and references for other realities . . .
- Crossing the railroad tracks amid a new time in history, By Wayne Drash. Cable News Network. January 12, 2009
- Introduction To Federal Voting Rights Laws. United States Department of Justice.
- Can Mall Be Filled For an Inauguration? 4 Million May Try It. By Nikita Stewart and Michael E. Ruane. Washington Post. Tuesday, November 18, 2008; A01
Posted by Betsy L. Angert on January 11, 2009 at 11:00 PM in Activism, American Dream, American Patriotism, Americana, Being Black in America, Looking at Life, Personal, Racial Discrimination | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Katrina's [America's] Hidden Race War
Katrina's Hidden Race War: In Aftermath of Katrina, Vigilantes Shot 11 Blacks in New Orelans (1 of 2)
copyright © 2008 Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org Racism, in reality, is fear of the unknown. It is apprehension for what is alien to us. A bigot is often one who claims to be colorblind. However, indeed, he or she is more likely colormute. Rarely do persons who think themselves tolerant speak of the scorn they feel for those who differ from them. Often the intolerant are not aware of the rigidity that rules their lives. Few amongst Anglos in America, since most appear as they do, consider what the life of one whose complexion is cause for rejection. However, in an exposé, A.C. Thompson muses of what most rather not mention. The author addresses"Katrina's Hidden Race War."
It is common to hear Caucasians say, "Some of my best friends are Black, Brown, Yellow, or Red." People hope to create an impression. Most wish to prove they willingly accept those unlike themselves. However, the acquaintance they speak of may be the one and only person of color that they know. People may think the person that they associate with is the exception to the rule. He or she is a good gal or gent. All other folks who do not don a pinkish hue are not to be trusted.
In this country, to publicly proclaim a hatred for a person whose complexion is dark is just not done. That is unless a person can conceive of a circumstance that allows for a reasonable abhorrence. Hurricane Katrina afforded such an opportunity for white residents of Algiers Point, Louisiana.
Algiers Point has always been somewhat isolated: it's perched on the west bank of the Mississippi River, linked to the core of the city only by a ferry line and twin gray steel bridges. When the hurricane descended on Louisiana, Algiers Point got off relatively easy. While wide swaths of New Orleans were deluged, the levees ringing Algiers Point withstood the Mississippi's surging currents, preventing flooding; most homes and businesses in the area survived intact. As word spread that the area was dry, desperate people began heading toward the west bank, some walking over bridges, others traveling by boat. The National Guard soon designated the Algiers Point ferry landing an official evacuation site. Rescuers from the Coast Guard and other agencies brought flood victims to the ferry terminal, where soldiers loaded them onto buses headed for Texas.
Facing an influx of refugees, the residents of Algiers Point could have pulled together food, water, and medical supplies for the flood victims. Instead, a group of white residents, convinced that crime would arrive with the human exodus, sought to seal off the area, blocking the roads in and out of the neighborhood by dragging lumber and downed trees into the streets. They stockpiled handguns, assault rifles, shotguns, and at least one Uzi and began patrolling the streets in pickup trucks and SUVs.
The newly formed militia, a loose band of about fifteen to thirty residents, most of them men, all of them white, was looking for thieves, outlaws or, as one member put it, anyone who simply "didn't belong."
The Nation Magazine, in the January 5, 2009 issue, recounts tales as told by those foreign elements who, while residents of the broader community, were shot as though they were criminals. Their crime was perhaps only their skin color.
The way Donnell Herrington tells it, there was no warning. One second he was trudging through the heat. The next he was lying prostrate on the pavement, his life spilling out of a hole in his throat, his body racked with pain, his vision blurred and distorted.
It was September 1, 2005, some three days after Hurricane Katrina crashed into New Orleans, and somebody had just blasted Herrington, who is African-American, with a shotgun. "I just hit the ground. I didn't even know what happened," recalls Herrington, a burly 32-year-old with a soft drawl.
The sudden eruption of gunfire horrified Herrington's companions--his cousin Marcel Alexander, then 17, and friend Chris Collins, then 18, who are also black. "I looked at Donnell and he had this big old hole in his neck," Alexander recalls. "I tried to help him up, and they started shooting again." Herrington says he was staggering to his feet when a second shotgun blast struck him from behind; the spray of lead pellets also caught Collins and Alexander. The buckshot peppered Alexander's back, arm, and buttocks.
Herrington shouted at the other men to run and turned to face his attackers: three armed white males. Herrington says he hadn't even seen the men or their weapons before the shooting began. As Alexander and Collins fled, Herrington ran in the opposite direction, his hand pressed to the bleeding wound on his throat. Behind him, he says, the gunmen yelled, "Get him! Get that n*gg*r!"
Persons who were presumed guilty, merely by their presence, were neighbors from another section of town. The poorer people sought safety and shelter after the storm placed them in a precarious situation. Contrary to reports, the Black population did not loot or engage in thievery. African-Americans did as the Anglos who were also chest-deep in floodwaters. They "found" food and fluids to drink from a local grocery store after Hurricane Katrina destroyed all they had. However, trepidation distorts perception. Frequently, white Americans are apprehensive when they consider African-Americans.
From birth, children are taught not to talk to strangers. Little ones are cautioned to beware. Different is dangerous. Perchance, the Associated Press Reporters or Editors who covered the Katrina story were Anglos. Hence, when Journalists, just as the residents of Algiers Point, saw persons who look as they do, they defined their actions as honorable. However, the sight of a Black individual in a similar situation was not viewed through a clear lens. The question might be asked, in America will it ever be.
Please ponder the images. Then, consider the captions.
Shared By Dustin
Some, of every complexion, did take possession of life's littlest necessities. In a few neighborhoods, not Algiers Point, white persons were benevolent towards those "others" of color. However, Caucasian citizens might contemplate the reality that, before Katrina, the plight of Black Americans was hidden, and it is again.
The depth of poverty experienced by many African-Americans, the people whose ancestors physically built this nation, was not realized until a natural storm churned up a crisis so critical.
White Americans acknowledge that in some areas, a bridge was built. Yet, few wish to admit this association only appears in a time of crisis. While a scant few channels were opened another, many more were closed. In other locales, where dark skinned persons were presumably welcome, the Anglo inhabitants roared with resentment. Reports offered the rationale for what in America is the conventional wisdom of an apprehensive Anglo populace.Karina victims are to blame for an increase in Houston crime. Certainly, these same "undesirables" would propagate misdeeds wherever they may be; hence, we have Algiers Point.
Granted, pinkish persons in other neighborhoods, even in New Orleans, opened their hearts. A restaurant proprietor, aware of the depth of destruction, 80 percent of the city was under water, opened their eateries to anyone in need.
Tommy Cvitanovich, co-owner of Drago's Seafood Restaurant, is but one of what might be many. This sympathetic fellow spoke of the reason he, his family, and his staff felt they must serve all survivors. For the entrepreneur, there was no reason to fear. Mister Cvitanovich, when confronted with the circumstances of his fellow man, felt he could not turn away. Nor could he, his kin, and the folks they worked with grab a gun and shot at persons who sought food and a safer shelter. The tale is beautiful and worth a peek.
"For eight weeks we gave away meals. People were waiting in line," he says.
For five weeks, the meals were given outside the restaurant. When the restaurant reopened, Drago's moved the effort to Lakeview where the need was greater.
"There were no fast food restaurants, no convenience stores or grocery stores open," he says. "Most people brought food (from outside the area) Food sources were non-existent."
In a moment of horror, what is often hidden, good, and bad is revealed. Honorable Americans such as Tommy Cvitanovich are to be thanked for what their endeavors can teach. Some persons pale of skin felt the pain of the poorer, less protected population. However, when the waters receded, might residents of the United States inquire; would benevolence still prosper.
Several, such a Tommy Cvitanovich might show compassion as they had done in the past. Yet, we cannot be certain.
In America, sweetness is often subdued by racism. Much is restrained, not realized, or hidden from view when consternation is prevalent. When people react to anxiety, rather than act and discover we are not that different, we have what we had in Algiers Point, guns ablaze
Inside and outside of a New Orleans enclave, Caucasians are challenged to conceive that persons of color did not seek to violate the law. Indeed, white vigilantes victimized those who have, for centuries, been casualties in a civilized American society.
What received less attention from the press and from the paler people is Whites Sought More Katrina Aid Than Blacks. African-Americans, too often buried by the burden of bigotry, did not know that they might be able to apply or appeal a decision for inadequate assistance. Nor did some have the means before the tempest to secure property or proper insurance. What also was and remains out of sight are the financial abuses brownish-purplish persons are victim to. Credit is not colorblind.
In America, privilege is a white man's prerogative. Prosecution is reserved for "other" races.
Tulane University Historian Lance Hill, who runs Tulane's Southern Institute for Education and Research, has studied the city's racial divide. He understands why Algiers Point gunmen have avoided arrest. "By and large, I think the white mentality is that these people [the Anglo lawbreakers] are exempt--that even if they committed these crimes, they're really exempt from any kind of legal repercussion." People of color only commit crime, in the mind of many.
Professor Hill ponders and proclaims; "It's sad to say, but I think that if any of these cases went to trial, and none of them have, I can't see a white person being convicted of any kind of crime against an African-American during that period." Such is the sound of silence. When people are blind, or white, racism becomes a more colorful spectrum.
The stories of Algiers Point, and the plight of Katrina, tell a tale too terrible to imagine. Perchance, that is why in America people prefer to remain colormute. To report as The Nation did is to attest to what most prefer to hide. Racism remains rampant in the land of opportunity. In a country considered great, bigotry is not criminal. Fear is not a felony. Trepidation, even with a gun in hand, and shots fired, is fine in United States.
Apparently, as long as Caucasian citizens transgress only against the unfamiliar, the supposed unruly, persons whose only crime is that his or her skin color is not white will suffer fates so ghastly, even storm waters will not wash the stain away.
Please peruse the portrait of America, "Katrina's Hidden Race War." Ponder what might be too true. If Americans do not love thy neighbor, if fright rules, no one is authentically free and fewer are brave.
References for Racism . . .
- "Katrina's Hidden Race War," By A.C. Thompson The Nation.December 17, 2008 - January 5, 2009
- Racism on Yahoo News, By Matthew Wheeland. AlterNet. August 31, 2005, 10:47 AM
- Racism. Flickr.
- Katrina Victims Unwelcome in Fresno. Fox News. October 4, 2005
- Katrina Victims Blamed for Houston Crime, By Paul J. Weber. Associated Press. The Washington Post. August 15, 2006
- Whites Sought More Katrina Aid Than Blacks. CBS News. October 24, 2006
- Black Americans given less access to credit, report finds, By Gail Liberman and Alan Lavine. Market Watch. April 15, 2008
Posted by Betsy L. Angert on December 19, 2008 at 09:00 AM in Being Black in America, Black History, Past/Present, Black Men, Poverty in America, Quality of Life, Racial Discrimination | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Race Relations; Reflections, Realizations, Reactions, and Rejections
copyright © 2008 Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org
"Nothing is more certainly written in the book of fate than that these people are to be free.
Nor is it less certain that the two races, equally free, cannot live in the same government.
Nature, habit, opinion has drawn indelible lines of distinction between them."
~ Thomas Jefferson (Autobiography, 1821)
It was a Saturday morning, late in June. The year was 2008. In the background, radio broadcaster, Scott Simon could be heard. The host of Weekend Edition offered his Reflections on Race and the Presidential Election. Alexander listened halfheartedly. It was not that he was not interested in the topic; he is and he was. Alex was distracted. The gentleman glanced over at Donna, a young Jamaican woman he knows so well. Donna's skin is as Black as pitch coal and as rich as sweet crude. She gracefully moves across the room. He thinks of how he loves the way her hips sway to and fro. Her voluptuous bosom fills the full cup of her brassiere. As she bends down to feed his ailing cousin Anna, Alex reflects on how lovely the dark skinned woman is. His sentiment is not sexual in nature. Alexander is analytical.
As Alex watches the woman stir, he contemplates human nature. Recent research fascinates the senior fellow. For years, Alexander wondered what was the attraction to female breasts and beauty. He recalled the article he reviewed days earlier, What Women Want (Maybe.) Alexander marveled as he appraised the study. Rapt by the results as reported, “Looking at a naked man walking on the beach is about as exciting as looking at landscapes,” Alexander wonders of women, men, and how they relate. How much of what occurs between the sexes is biological? Are two-legged mammals acculturated? Do we acquire opinions that then become habits? Perhaps, had Alex's attention been elsewhere he would have heard the words Scott Simon uttered as they drifted through the air. Alexander might have stopped and sputtered as Journalist Simon mused, "How many people can there be who truly don't know that Senator Obama is black - or care."
Alexander definitely knows Presidential hopeful Obama is African-American; and yes, he does care. Alex would never express his anxiety as blatantly as thousands have. Nor would he actually join a fellowship of known fanatics. This white man, genteel in nature, cannot imagine why extremists react as they do. For Alex, racial discrimination is not a source of pride. He wonders if that is why much intolerance is hidden, neatly tucked away in the Internet.
Hate Groups' Newest Target
White Supremacists Report an Increase in Visits to Their Web Sites
By Eli Saslow
Washington Post
Sunday, June 22, 2008; A06Sen. Barack Obama's historic victory in the Democratic primaries, celebrated in America and across much of the world as a symbol of racial progress and cultural unity, has also sparked an increase in racist and white supremacist activity, mainly on the Internet, according to leaders of hate groups and the organizations that track them.
Neo-Nazi, skinhead, and segregationist groups have reported gains in numbers of visitors to their Web sites and in membership since the senator from Illinois secured the Democratic nomination June 3. His success has aroused a community of racists, experts said, concerned by the possibility of the country's first black president.
"I haven't seen this much anger in a long, long time," said Billy Roper, a 36-year-old who runs a group called White Revolution in Russellville, Ark. "Nothing has awakened normally complacent white Americans more than the prospect of America having an overtly nonwhite president." . . .
"The truth is, we're finding an explosion in these kinds of hateful sentiments on the Net, and it's a growing problem," said Deborah Lauter, civil rights director for the Anti-Defamation League, which monitors hate group activity. "There are probably thousands of Web sites that do this now. I couldn't even tell you how many are out there because it's growing so fast."
Granted, extremists do not represent the Grand Old Party, John McCain, or Alexander. Nonetheless, Alex knows the rise in racist rhetoric demonstrates many care about the undeniable. Our potential President is a Black man. Alexander admits, he is not surprised by the speed with which the trend towards intolerance increased once Barack Obama become the presumptive nominee. The lovely mild-mannered man recalls, Senator Obama was placed under the protection of the Secret Service Agency earlier than any Presidential aspirant had been. This action, this election is unprecedented.
Alexander recalls the day he read the accounts in the newspaper; the United States Senator from Illinois began his bid for the Oval Office and almost immediately received threats on his life. It was obvious, Barack Obama and his family were not safe. Excessive concern for the candidate's race was expressed. Bullies observed Barack Obama is Black, and they did not like that.
Journalist Scott Simon might ruminate; these persons play on the fringe. Fanatics are peripheral to the population. However, the more moderate man, Alexander has watched as generations of white people exerted extreme power over Black people. He was also well aware of how Caucasians hid the emotions that had an effect on their every exchange. Alexander quietly avows on rare occasions, he too does not reveal what he truly feels when in the company of a person of color.
His relationship with Donna may illustrate, the illusive nature of race relations in America. The two are friendly; they spend much time together. However, neither feels particularly close to the other. Each understands they are employer and employee. Encounters occur for there is a need, physical, financial, practical, and personal only in the sense that when two people come together they cannot help but talk. Still, a genuine emotional connection is forever elusive. Neither wishes to create what is not comfortable.
Perhaps, the relationship that exists between Alexander and Donna explains why, the seventeen (17) million persons voted for Barack Obama in the primaries, may not if the realities of racism are emphasized before the general election. Blacks and whites can come together when the commitment is tentative, but would pinkish persons want their daughters to marry someone that looks like Senator Obama. Would Anglo Americans wish to place a Black man and his African-American family in the White House. Could it be that countless who cast a ballot for Barack Obama during the primaries, struggle with the reality that he might become their President and ever so powerful.
Alexander asserts people can be polite when what they perceive to be a potential threat is less than pervasive. However, Alex, who with great reluctance, voted for Barack Obama early in the election season, understands for possibly millions of American citizens, the idea of a Black man as President of the United States is perilous.
He need only consider his own inner turmoil. Alex understands what apparently escapes Mister Simon; people care what a color a person is. The possibility that our President may be a Black is reason for concern. Bethany grasps what her cousin continually contemplates. She sees and hears that Alexander relates to the fear others express outwardly. He is just a bit more refined when he articulates his distress. A Black man, Barack Obama must not become President of the country he loves. Alexander is not ready for such a radical transformation. He often muses, "Why change?" The man who has made much of his life says with a sigh, "What we have here in America is good." He does not trust that an African-American will have his interests at heart.
Alexander battles with what may become a brutal truth, a Black man might lead the nation, indeed, the world! Animated and with much apprehension and angst, Alex's wife Mary recounts what she says many assert. "Barack Obama has an army." "I hear it is 2500 strong; maybe it was 25000," Mary storms. "You know they are angry people." She continues, "You heard what Michele Obama said did you not?" Energized by her own expertise Mary marvels and asks her audience to entertain; "The Obama's live in a big house. They have white servants. Can you imagine that?" .Implied in her statements, is what Mary says is conventional wisdom. "Those people are vengeful." She reluctantly admits, perhaps, Americans have not treated Senator Obama's ancestors well. Nor have our contemporary Caucasian countrymen been kind to people of color. She then adds, "You know he is Muslim and has ties to terrorist."
Bethany wonders and asks aloud, "Where did you read this?" Mary happily responds, confident her sources are credible, "I read it on the Internet." The younger cousin inquires might Mary share her references. Bethany acquaints Mary with what she "knows" to be true. However, Mary does not hear her. The want for other information wanes, if it was ever really there.
Mary, as her husband Alexander, is a registered Democrat. Neither ever misses a vote. For decades, Mary proudly worked at her local election polls. From dawn until long after dusk she monitors what occurs within her precinct.
Alex does not acknowledge that he agrees with Mary. Nor does he offer disagreement. He merely remains absorbed in all that disturbs him personally.
For months Alex wrestled with the fact that as admirable as the candidate's education might be, as calm as the demeanor of the aspirant is, even when under fire, Barack Obama is Black. While Alex may wish to think of himself as colorblind and open-minded, he cannot help but question Barack Obama's qualifications. Frequently, in conversation, Alex couches his concern. "The man does not have the necessary experience." However, on occasion, and only when in the company of Bethany, a relative who he fondly thinks of as a very good friend, Alex admits he is biased.
He has confessed; it is difficult for him to plead guilty to this truth even to himself. Alex recognizes he is intolerant of those whose skin is dark. He fears Black persons he encounters on the street. He suspects, those whose cocoa brown complexion glistens in the light, engage in criminal activity. Perchance, had Alexander harkened to the words Scott Simon offered days earlier he would have engaged in a conversation in that moment. He had many thoughts on the topic. However, when the Journalist spoke Alexander was absorbed elsewhere. He pondered, who and what is Donna to him.
Alexander says he does not think of Donna as a servant. Yet, he recognizes she is an economic slave. In an abstract way, he is her master.
Donna is an authentic person, equal to Alex in every way, except for the fact that she is not. The wondrous white man may never wish to divulge as three (3) in ten (10) Americans did. He is biased. In a very recent Washington Post – ABC News poll, people acknowledged a prejudice. Alexander may be inclined to think the Black women with who he engages, or any person of color, is perhaps less profound than a Caucasian certainly is. For this carefree chap, who openly chats with many a Black person, the race of an individual creates an impression, although he appreciates this is often unconscious.
Alexander assumes, since he frequently converses with people whose epidermis is the color of bittersweet chocolate he knows what it means to be an African-American, Jamaican, Haitian, or just dark in skin tone. While he may honor an individual Black person who he associates with, none of the labels Alex would apply to this group of people as a whole is good. Much as he tries to be tempered when he associates with people purplish-brown in hue, some would say Alexander is a bigot, a well-camouflaged racist.
Most may not see the subtleties of Alexander's prejudice. Likely, he does not realize how deep his predispositions are. Alexander does not think of himself as intolerant. Perchance, he would be among the fifty-three percent in the Washington Post – ABC News survey who presume race relations in America are superior.
In truth, Alex is a bit more realistic. He realizes there are problems. He has said himself, prejudice is prevalent. However, he might quickly add, skin color does not cloud his vision. Alex believes he is merely selective in his associations. Perchance, he adopted his parents' opinions, or habits. Alex is not naïve enough to think nature keeps the races separate and unequal. He only knows what is and always was, at least as long as he recalls.
The self-proclaimed aware and astute fellow believes there are a few special persons, no matter the skin color. He just happens to associate more with those fair of face. That does not mean he excludes African-Americans from his life.
The ones that once worked for him when he owned his own business were wonderful men . . . as far as he could tell. They were polite. The delivery drivers did their work. These burly men, brown as the bark on a weathered oak tree, never complained. There was Natalie, and Josephine; they nursed his mother to health. Certainly, Donna is a delight.
Donna knows her place. She fills a necessary space in Alexander and Anna's life. The purplish hue cast by the beautiful brown complexion of this woman ensures that she will never be seen or treated as a peer, at least not by the cousins who employ her. When the white man and woman gaze upon Donna, they forever see her as a Black person. Thankfully, they say, she is not an African-American. Those people cannot be trusted.
"Just ask her," Alex says to his very close "friend" Bethany. "Donna will tell you." "American Blacks are lazy," he continues. "They do drugs." Donna says, "It is true. Those Black people born in this country just collect welfare." She speaks of her son, Christopher. "Look at him; he was awarded a full scholarship." Beaming with pride, the Health Care Aide reminds everyone in the room, when Christopher was a Senior in High School, he was one of three, nationwide selected to attend a prestigious college. Her son, she boasts, is motivated. He is a scholar, not like those "Black boys" native to America.
Alexander listens and nods. Donna affirms his opinions are not racist. He has reason to believe as he does. "Did you hear what Donna said," he asks his companion. "See. She knows." Exasperated and in a desire to prove his point, Alex points to Donna and reminds his confidant, "She is a woman of color!"
The conversation began innocently enough. Alexander wanted to explain why he could not in good conscious cast a ballot for Barack Obama. The older white man had done his duty in the primaries. Perhaps, his vote for Senator Obama affirmed he is not a bigot. Alexander actually did vote for the Senator from Illinois in the Spring of the year. He hesitantly speaks of how he had to.
The World War II veteran had no other choice. No, he did not approve of Barack Obama then. Nor does he condone crass humor as was exhibited at the Texas Republican Convention just days before Scott Simon made his comment.
Mr. Alcox said he made 12 of the pins after seeing a comic strip where Barack Obama was standing in front of a sign saying “The White House,” with the building behind him. Mr. Obama is depicted thinking, “That’s the first thing we’ll change.” . . .The offending pin stated: “If Obama is president . . . Will we still call it the White House?” . . .
“Obviously, it’s been offensive to people. It was not meant to be that way. We’re into humor - not racism,” Mr. Alcox said.
Regardless of the intent, many were offended. Bigotry only begets belly laughs from other bigots. The object of intolerance, if given the opportunity can speak to what eludes the prejudice. However, in a nation where an esteemed broadcaster expresses a wishful belief as truth, no one "cares" what color Barack Obama, a Black man is, few take the time to probe beyond what they think correct. Americans are not colorblind as they claim to be. They are colormute and hence, frequently insensitive. On the rare occasion when Blacks and Caucasians speak of racism much is resolved, empathy expands.
(Mr. Alcox) said after having a conversation with a black man who called him about the blog post, he came to understand more about the nerve he had hit.
Sadly, prior to this incident it seems the vendor did as Alexander does. While cordial and conversant with people of every color, bias against those of color is not typically, if ever the topic. He did discuss the elections with Donna. He even asked her what she thought of Barack Obama. "You remember Bethany. Donna thinks Black Americans are worthless."
That is why Alexander was able to do as he did in good conscience. Earlier in the year, Alex went to the polls as a good citizen does and was handed a Democratic ballot. He is a registered Democrat; however, only in the primaries does he usually vote for someone in his Party.
Before, the presumptive Presidential aspirants were assured, Alex was certain he would have, voted for Mitt Romney. He is white . . . (Did he say that aloud) highly educated; he comes from good stock. His father and he were successful Governors. More importantly, each accrued ample wealth. Alexander is a very affluent man, self-made. He admires such qualities, that is unless the erudite, esteemed man, or woman is Black, although, Alex is careful never to say that directly, not even when with Bethany. He is embarrassed by his bigotry.
At times, he does softly state what he hopes will remain a secret. He does not wish for others to know what he is unwilling to acknowledge to himself. Still, almost inaudibly he has told Bethany. He has little tolerance for people whose complexions are dark. Alexander hopes he can trust his truest thoughts and feelings with his cousin and best friend Bethany. History tells him, with her, he is safe. The relationship is one of reciprocal reverence. Bethany shares her heart, soul, and all her stories with Alex. The two learn of what they never imagined when together.
They also share a common bond, many in fact. Most significant in this election season, Alex and Bethany each harbored much disdain for Hillary Clinton. Neither struggle with the idea of a woman President. It was only that woman! Bethany understands why Alex did not vote for the New York Senator. "Bobby,' as she likes to be called, could not consider the former First Lady either.
However, Bobby remains unconvinced that Alexander would chose to cast a ballot for Barack Obama when it counts. She recalls the day Alexander quietly revealed, "Maybe I am prejudice." Bethany had helped Alex to realize what he never considered before. As a child, she, who is also pinkish in color, was raised with a Black family as much as her own. She has never felt as though she was Caucasian. This feminine Anglo American notices what many white persons do not, she is intensely cognizant of color. Bobby, unlike countless whose skin is light is very aware of what is whispered to her. What may not mean much to those who think themselves colorblind
When with a white acquaintance Bobby will feel a tug on her arm. "Let us cross the street," the friend says suddenly. Bobby wonders; why might her colleague seem so distraught. She looks ahead and the answer is revealed. A group of Black men appeared up the avenue.
Bethany hears the hushed tones. In a casual conversation, when a person of a particular color is identified, clarification is also offered. "He or she is Black you know." This classification is meant to explain why that individual might think, say, do, feel, or be as he or she is.
A brilliant African-American is not merely a gifted and talented artist, academic, athlete, or author. He or she is "Negro" first. Then, the deftness is discussed. "Actually," the inference is, "the fact that this individual is a person of color makes them more exceptional."
Most of us recall a cavalier comment offered by a prominent, practiced politician little more than a year ago. Delaware Senator, and former Presidential spirant, said of his friend, Barack Obama, "I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy," Biden said. "I mean, that's a storybook, man." Of, course the remark was followed by an apology. "I really regret that some have taken totally out of context my use of the world “clean.” The sorrowful Senator explained. "My mother has an expression: clean as a whistle, sharp as a tack." Neither the regret, nor revelation, would lessen the blow of bigotry. If a person is Black, he or she may bow and accept what has become too familiar. An Anglo may never notice such remarks. Extremely offensive evaluations make sense when they are all you have ever heard.
Barbara Trepagnier, Sociology Professor at Texas State University-San Marcos has written much on the subject of Silent Racism. She speaks of the culture of consciousness that evades many white Americans. Ms Trepagnier, on the topic of careless commentary reflected on another incident. She was reminded of Trent Lott and the callous statement he offered at former segregationist Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday celebration. Then two, the orator offered a defense. The Sociologist declared . . .
“I argue when we say things off the cuff, that’s what we really mean,” Trepagnier said. “His comments weren’t taken out of context.”Her book contends that “silent racism” fosters routine actions not recognized by an individual as racist, but upholds the status quo.
Trepagnier says that this form of superiority remains prevalent in American society, and is a major reason African-Americans continue to struggle. Blacks are outperformed by their white counterparts in most social demographics, including factors such as education, employment, and income. She says that whites that deny the existence of racism or dismiss it as unimportant are often protecting white privilege.
Trepagnier says that some whites become detached from the race issue while others are so concerned with it that they become apprehensive about it, avoiding even the mention of the topic. In both cases, this passive stance silently provides the racist actions of others an endorsement, or worse, encouragement.
Alexander's confidant Bethany does not negate what is too obvious to her. Nor does she mindlessly wish to advance such postures. Bobby shares her stories and feelings with Alex, if only to further his awareness.
When Bethany is accompanied on a dinner date, she feels the stares when her cohort is a man of color. The conversation with a server differs dependent on her company. People at the next table are more likely to engage the couple when Bobby is with a white man. When in a restaurant of quality, Bethany observes if there are many or any Black persons about, they are often the hired help. Rarely is the clientele shades of purplish brown or Black in hue. Mostly, people are light; skin tones are parchment in color.
When in the mall together, strolling down the street, in the bank, or other place of business, Bobby and Alex see numerous African-Americans. Contrary to Scott Simon's contention, each of them cares to recognize these persons are Black.
Alex intentionally associates with people of color. He hopes to work through the habitual bigotry that bothers him. Bethany also engages. She is aware her personal history shades her sense. Black people are for her beautiful, inside and out.
The sensitive gentleman, Alexander, truly feels for those who are not treated as well as he is. Bobby yearns to build bridges. For so long she felt alone in her desire to end discrimination. Frustration with a colormute community consumed her. The two think of what it might mean to those whose skin is ebony in color, black as coal, coffee brown, or cinnamon spice, if Barack Obama becomes President. What will it mean to Anglos such as Bobby or Alex if Barack Obama becomes the world's leader.
Millions may think the possibility is beautiful. "I am Black and I am proud." A few might be as Bethany, whose skin may be a sweet pink, but whose soul was joyous soaked in a world of brilliantly rich color. Millions could be ready to create the change that was once unimaginable. For billions this possibility is still but a dream, or a nightmare. Alexander, who has witnessed much history doubts that anyone is indifferent.
Much is unspoken. More is said in a subtle manner. Reflections on race relations in America are approached and avoided. People worldwide care and ponder the color of Presidential hopeful Barack Obama. They just may not chatter freely or have the forum Commentator Scott Simon does. If we are ever to move beyond bigotry perhaps, we must acknowledge, what is "politically more injurious" is not the insinuation of racism; it is the reality. Mister Simon, might I suggest, people care about the color of a Presidential candidates skin.
Post Script . . .
Dearest Scott Simon . . .
While many may believe it is disingenuous for Barack Obama to claim the funds raised for his campaign will fight racism in America, it is no more sincere to deny the truth that racial discrimination flourishes. Might people also consider Senator Obama and others who fear what will be in this campaign season feel they have reason to-reaction to a historical habit they know too well. I believe, if we are to cure the ills associated with skin color, we must empathically speak to what is pervasive and persistent on this planet.
People embrace habits and opinions as though they are facts of nature. We all do this, whether we are Black, white, brown, red, yellow, olive, or pink. Republicans, Democrats, and Independents are not exempt. Greens, I shutter to say, are also two-legged creatures trapped in a prison they think rational and reasonable. Perchance, it is time for humans to transform. I wish to support a campaign slogan I believe is strongly needed, "Let change begin with me."
References, Reflections, Race Relations . . .
Posted by Betsy L. Angert on June 26, 2008 at 01:00 PM in Americana, Being Black in America, Black History, Past/Present, Elections, Racial Discrimination | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Trinity United Church of Christ; Pastor Wright Homilies and Hope
Audacity To Hope Jeremiah Wright Part 1
Please review and reflect upon the inspirational text. Wright’s Sermon - “The Audacity To Hope”
copyright © 2008 Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org
The fact that so many people are surprised to hear that anger in some of Reverend Wright’s sermons simply reminds us of the old truism that the most segregated hour in American life occurs on Sunday morning.
~ Barack Obama [Senator and Potential President] March 18, 2008
When we are separate, our experience is never equal. African-Americans mingle among the many Anglos in this country. However, individuals with dark-complexions do not fully unite or fit into a society that segregates by color. While Americans have forcibly progressed beyond the laws that allowed for racial discrimination, the bias and bigotry that filled the hearts of many citizens in the United States for centuries still thrives. While we muse, we love thy neighbor, we react to those whose race is not our own.
Americans claim they are Christian, inclusive. Indeed, we are a Judeo-Christian nation. Yet, Jews are still scorned in America, as are people of any color that is other than a pinkish white. Amongst Caucasians, the habit of hate has been passed on for generations. Yet, when those whose skin is pale, hear the words of a Black man, a Reverend, Jeremiah Wright, who has been wounded by racism for all the years of his life, speak of his distress, they react as though they had never uttered a racial epithet in their lives.
The most respected Americans, white in color proclaim, "I have never heard such vile derisive language in an Anglo church." "No preacher, pastor, priest, or rabbi would ever express him or herself in such a loathsome manner." Shocked Caucasians inquire as if to invite a shared criticism, "Is this what Black people believe?" If reasons are presented for such resentment, the response from self-righteous lovers of G-d and man is, "African-Americans are bigoted!" "How dare they." The pink persons declare, "In the House of the Lord only words of love are spoken, at least that is the way it is in white churches, temples, and synagogues."
However, this may not be the case. Hate is harbored on every avenue in America, even in places of worship. As Barack Obama dared to remind us, on Sundays African-Americans and Anglos who reside in the United States are perhaps more divided than they are on any other day. The pale persons pray with those whose skin tone is similar to their own. When we look at only the surface, all whites may appear equal; and they are in the eyes of the Almighty. Yet, as humans gaze upon each other, they see differences.
A white man or woman, whose gender preference is unlike those of the self-ordained "absolved of all "sins" congregation may experience discrimination even in death.
Church learns vet was gay, cancels memorial
Texas congregation acted out of principle, not malice, pastor says
Associated Press. MSNBC
August 11, 2007Arlington, Texas - A megachurch canceled a memorial service for a Navy veteran 24 hours before it was to start because the deceased was gay.
Officials at the nondenominational High Point Church knew that Cecil Howard Sinclair was gay when they offered to host his service, said his sister, Kathleen Wright. But after his obituary listed his life partner as one of his survivors, she said, it was called off.
“It’s a slap in the face. It’s like, ’Oh, we’re sorry he died, but he’s gay so we can’t help you,”’ she said Friday. . .
Simons said the church believes homosexuality is a sin, and it would have appeared to endorse that lifestyle if the service had been held there.
“We did decline to host the service — not based on hatred, not based on discrimination, but based on principle,” Simons told The Associated Press. “Had we known it on the day they first spoke about it — yes, we would have declined then. It’s not that we didn’t love the family.”
Love rears its ugly head in many odd ways. Fondness, in the form of fury and foment, is found on film throughout cyberspace. As the "average" American bears witness, people, pale in color, have become a community of contempt. Condescension is what appears in the Judeo-Christian churches throughout the land of the free. Americans, be they Jewish, Mormon, Protestant or Christian are calm when they contemplate the G-d and the all that he creates. People are polite in public; however, when they are in the comfort of their homes they express what they claim is never stated. The proper and pink teach their progeny to believe as they do.
The Year In Hate, 2005
A 5% annual increase in hate groups in 2005 caps a remarkable rise of 33% over the five-year period that began in 2000.
By Mark Potok
Intelligence Report
Southern Poverty Law
Spring 2006Fueled by belligerent tactics and publicity stunts, the number of hate groups operating in the United States rose from 762 in 2004 to 803 last year, capping an increase of fully 33% over the five years since 2000.
The expansion of hate groups last year, documented by the Intelligence Project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, seemed to be helped along by aggressive maneuvers that landed them on front pages and in national news broadcasts. The National Socialist Movement, for instance, repeatedly made national news with provocative attempts to march through black, inner-city neighborhoods. Other groups rallied with increasing fervor and frequency, and even undertook sure-to-infuriate campaigns like "Operation Schoolyard," an attempt in the 2004-2005 school year to distribute 100,000 free racist music CDs to schoolchildren . . . A growing Internet presence also helped groups' propaganda to flourish; there were 524 hate sites counted in 2005, up 12% from 468 in 2004.
Yes, whites individuals and groups do indoctrinate their young. The practice amid the pink population is as odious as they believe it is among African-Americans. Whites are as blackened by bigotry as their brethren may be.
Sadly, too frequently when we look upon another we see only what appears on the surface. Just as the oppressed of one color or creed voices words that may be defined as dishonorable, so too do those in the supposed superior sect. Each of us errors. We are all emotional beings, complex and never viewed completely. New York Times Columnist, Nicholas D. Kristof, addressed this truth in his recent editorial, Obama and Race. The articulate author writes of what goes on within the walls of Trintiy United Church of Christ, Chicago, Illinois.
Many well-meaning Americans perceive Mr. Wright as fundamentally a hate-monger who preaches antagonism toward whites. But those who know his church say that is an unrecognizable caricature: He is a complex figure and sometimes a reckless speaker, but one of his central messages is not anti-white hostility but black self-reliance.“The big thing for Wright is hope,” said Martin Marty, one of America’s foremost theologians, who has known the Rev. Wright for 35 years and attended many of his services. “You hear ‘hope, hope, hope.’ Lots of ordinary people are there, and they’re there not to blast the whites. They’re there to get hope.”
Professor Marty said that as a white person, he sticks out in the largely black congregation but is always greeted with warmth and hospitality. “It’s not anti-white,” he said. “I don’t know anybody who’s white who walks out of there not feeling affirmed.”
Mr. Wright has indeed made some outrageous statements. But he should be judged as well by his actions — including a vigorous effort to address poverty, ill health, injustice and AIDS in his ministry. Mr. Wright has been frightfully wrong on many topics, but he was right on poverty, civil rights and compassion for AIDS victims.
What should draw much more scrutiny in this campaign than any pastor’s sermons is the candidates’ positions on education, health care and poverty — and their ability to put those policies in place. Cutting off health care benefits for low-income children strikes me as much more offensive than any inflammatory sermon.
Indeed, what is an affront to a person affected by a policy or practice is barely observable to one who will never realize how a political promise or lack thereof can destroy the life of those they love. When in an impoverished community people depend on the kindness of a culture such as the society Thomas Paine described, one in which the commonweal was more important than the needs of any individual. The disenfranchised rely on the good will of people who believe in the Lord, practice as Jesus preached, "Love your neighbor as yourself.' Yet, inside and outside of a religious house, mere mortal man fails to adhere to the principles preached from the pulpit. We need only remember the plight of a sweet young child, a twelve year old, Deamonte Driver who died of a toothache Sunday, February 25, 2007.
A routine, $80 tooth extraction might have saved him.If his mother had been insured.
If his family had not lost its Medicaid.
If Medicaid dentists weren't so hard to find.
If his mother hadn't been focused on getting a dentist for his brother, who had six rotted teeth.
By the time Deamonte's own aching tooth got any attention, the bacteria from the abscess had spread to his brain, doctors said. After two operations and more than six weeks of hospital care, the Prince George's County boy died.
Few in a white American world can imagine such a situation. Certainly, a Caucasian churchgoer does not subscribe to the belief a child must suffer. No clergy would caste a little one to the wolves or ask them to endure the burden of a national budget disagreement. An ordained Minister, Reverend, Pastor, Priest, or Rabbi, a Shaman would not will a poverty-stricken parent, people within an impoverished community, or those not yet empowered, to care for a child without adequate means to assist the young person. That is unless the religious leader is part of the "Fellowship" or "Family," who congregates in Washington District of Columbia or other Capitols throughout the globe.
The Fellowship believes that the elite win power by the will of God, who uses them for his purposes. Its mission is to help the powerful understand their role in God's plan.
This group of world leaders, the affluent and comfortable from Congress to the Cabinet, from the White House to the wondrous world of power elite, accepts as part of their mission, that those whose pigmentation is darker, or persons deemed to be of lesser value may be left to die when they no longer serve the "masters." This theological order differs from some of the other organized religion.
The Family avoids the word Christian but worships Jesus, though not the Jesus who promised the earth to the "meek." They believe that, in mass societies, it's only the elites who matter, the political leaders who can build God's "dominion" on earth. Insofar as the Family has a consistent philosophy, it's all about power -- cultivating it, building it and networking it together into ever-stronger units, or "cells." "We work with power where we can," Doug Coe [Fellowship leader] has said, and "build new power where we can't."
African-Americans rarely and barely have authority equal to those of Anglos in this nation. "Affirmative Action," a policy established to appease those embarrassed by the actions of their ancestors, is granted and taken away. Caucasians complain of "reverse racism," for few can comprehend.
[B]lacks have not simply been treated unfairly; they have been subjected first to decades of slavery, and then to decades of second-class citizenship, widespread legalized discrimination, economic persecution, educational deprivation, and cultural stigmatization. They have been bought, sold, killed, beaten, raped, excluded, exploited, shamed, and scorned for a very long time. The word "unfair" is hardly an adequate description of their experience, and the belated gift of "fairness" in the form of a resolution no longer to discriminate against them legally is hardly an adequate remedy for the deep disadvantages that the prior discrimination has produced. When the deck is stacked against you in more ways than you can even count, it is small consolation to hear that you are now free to enter the game and take your chances.
Chances are opportunities will be scant and tentative at that. Former Congresswoman and Vice Presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro reminds us of this. For the Clinton cohort, and a former member of the Clinton Finance Committee, Barack Obama, and perhaps all Black Americans are "lucky" to be where they are today. For Ferraro, another Anglo American who evidently cannot connect to the experience of being poor or purplish-brown in hue, being Black in this country is apparently an advantage. Perchance, it is a privilege to suffer at the hands of those in power, the people who do not wish to speak of their work or worship. We cannot know. For unlike the scenes seen in volumes of video in the worldwide web or in news network libraries, there are no recordings of what occurs in "Fellowship" [Family] meetings. The "cells" remain cloistered, just as the rich do.
[T]he prayer groups have become cherished sanctuaries for their members—providing respite, however brief, from the cacophony of political Washington. Speaking about a group is strongly discouraged, and what transpires at meetings is strictly off the record.
No one will know if these elite powerbrokers express their racial hatred aloud. One can only determine what is true through the policies these persons enact. They may say they prayer for equality; however, the laws introduced and passed frequently, further disenfranchise the poor and people of color.
There is much evidence, anecdotal as the Ferraro affair may be, and research analysis, to suggest Caucasians in this country find it difficult to relate to the circumstances of those whose skin is a darker color. The predicament of people whose skin gleams a brownish-purplish hue is incomprehensible to those who do not suffer from the effects of racism.
A Jew can pass amongst gentiles. An Asian can climb, albeit inch-by-inch. Hispanics are hindered in their assent; yet, not in the way a Black man or woman is. An African-American is never fully free from the stereotypes. On screen dramas, depict African-Americans as villains. The nightly news amplifies this message. The public presumes if a crime is committed, certainly the lawbreaker will be Black.
Our language leads us to believe black is bad. White is good. From childhood on Americans are indoctrinated. Slavery may have ended with the Emancipation Proclamation; however, African-Americans remained incarcerated in caricatures.
From the introduction of animated film in the early 1900s to the 1950s, ethnic humor was a staple of American-made cartoons. Yet, as Christopher Lehman shows in this revealing study, the depiction of African Americans in particular became so inextricably linked to the cartoon medium as to influence its evolution through those five decades. He argues that what is in many ways most distinctive about American animation reflects white animators' visual interpretations of African American cultural expression.The first American animators drew on popular black representations, many of which were caricatures rooted in the culture of southern slavery. During the 1920s, the advent of the sound-synchronized cartoon inspired animators to blend antebellum-era black stereotypes with the modern black cultural expressions of jazz musicians and Hollywood actors. When the film industry set out to desexualize movies through the imposition of the Hays Code in the early 1930s, it regulated the portrayal of African Americans largely by segregating black characters from others, especially white females. At the same time, animators found new ways to exploit the popularity of African American culture by creating animal characters like Bugs Bunny who exhibited characteristics associated with African Americans without being identifiably black.
By the 1950s, protests from civil rights activists and the growing popularity of white cartoon characters led animators away from much of the black representation on which they had built the medium. Even so, animated films today continue to portray African American characters and culture, and not necessarily in a favorable light.
Perhaps, the portrayals burned into our brains, when we were toddlers, those heard in church, in homes, in movie theatres, and on televisions, helps to explain why Anglo Americans cannot imagine what it like to be Black in America. Few Caucasians have experienced the pain of prejudice. Pinkish people cannot comprehend what it feels like to consistently be a victim of avoidance. An Anglo does not think that their mere appearance might threaten another. White people walk down the street without a care. No one crosses the boulevard in order to steer clear of them as happens frequently to a Black man or woman approaching from the other direction.
Anglos do not know what it feels like to be shunned, snubbed, or scorned because your skin is dark. Caucasians cannot pretend to know how what some say is a tease is truly a threat. When Golf Channel anchor Kelly Tilghman smiled and suggested today's young players should "lynch Tiger Woods in a back alley," African-Americans did not laugh. A noose in the neighborhood can cause ones' blood to curdle. A word as vile as n*gg*r, does not cut to the core of a white man or woman who has never lost a loved-one to brutal aggressions based only on race. There is much the white world does not realize or rationalize as they sit in their ivory churches.
To whites, for example, it has been shocking to hear Mr. Wright suggest that the AIDS virus was released as a deliberate government plot to kill black people.That may be an absurd view in white circles, but a 1990 survey found that 30 percent of African-Americans believed this was at least plausible.
“That’s a real standard belief,” noted Melissa Harris-Lacewell, a political scientist at Princeton (and former member of Trinity church, when she lived in Chicago). “One of the things fascinating to me watching these responses to Jeremiah Wright is that white Americans find his beliefs so fringe or so extreme. When if you’ve spent time in black communities, they are not shared by everyone, but they are pretty common beliefs.”
This thought is not merely a personal opinion, research documents the truth of this assessment. White Americans don't truly comprehend racial disparities in our country. Philip Mazzocco, co-author of the a study titled, Whites Underestimate the Costs of Being Black, and Assistant Professor of psychology at Ohio State University's Mansfield campus states, “The costs of being black in our society are very well documented." “Blacks have significantly lower income and wealth, higher levels of poverty, and even shorter life spans, among many other disparities, compared to whites.” Researcher Mazzocco avows, "white households average about $150,000 more wealth than the typical black family." Overall, the total assets for an Anglo family are about five times greater than that of an African-American family. The disparity seems a constant in American history. The chasm has persisted for years. Mazzocco said. . . .
“When white Americans find it within themselves to say ‘I must be compensated for a past injustice done to me' but the same logic evaporates when the injustice concerns black Americans, they are staring straight at bias,” Banaji [co-author Mahzarin Banaji, the Cabot Professor of Social Ethics at Harvard University] said.
What is good for thou, is not tolerable for thee. Hypocrisy is a theme we know all too well. We witness it here in America. We hear charlatan expressions in our daily lives. Is this not the concern Caucasians present, when they criticize Reverend Wright?
Opportunely, those who protest too much forget the numerous groups who hate in the name of G-d, or the “Family” formed amongst the elite. Nonetheless, pinkish people preach; white worshipers never speak words of woe, or wrath. The Judeo-Christian clergy, and the congregation, at least when in church, do not speak badly of their brethren. If only Jesus had known. The Son of the Holy Father may not have felt a need to warn the hypocrites.
"Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye."~ Matthew 7:1-5 RSV
Perhaps, our best teachers, those who see most clearly, understand the complexity that is humankind. Perchance, a parishioner hears what is truly said. One with love in his or her heart does not hear the gospel as a reason for grief. He, or she, the commoners within a congregation may understand the clergyman in a manner consistent with the whole being that stands before them each and every Sunday. It seems Kennise M Herring, an "average" disciple of Jeremiah Wright lives the lessons of the Lord more fully than those who gather in gentler, kinder churches.
I am a member of Trinity United Church of Christ and have been for 17 years. Interestingly, I’ve never seen Barack in church, which may simply speak to the fact that there are 3 sermons and our family attends a different service than the Obama family.I was in attendance in the sermon after 9/11 that has been circulated. Ironically, I felt soothed following that sermon. I certainly remembered upon viewing the clips the infamous God Damn America comments, but that is not what stood out for me in that service. At the start of the service, Reverend Wright spoke poignantly about his fears as he was in New York on that fateful day. He spoke about the tremendous pain he observed, the evil and horror of the event and of his personal realization that he may never get to tell all of us how much he loved us. He spoke of realizing that his life with his family was not guaranteed and that he could not take anything for granted. He made a commitment to tell us at each service that he loved us and I experienced his words–I love you–simply and freely offered as real and soothing.
Yes–he spoke about policy matters and clearly used strong language but at the time, neither I or my three children or my husband found it the salient part of the talk. Despite the strong rhetoric, I left church feeling that “there is a balm in Gilead." Reverend Wright delivered the eulogy at my aunt’s funeral and it is not hyperbole to say that I was more moved by his words than I have ever been at a funeral. He was warm, compassionate, empathic, and genuinely sad for as he said repeatedly about my aunt, “this was not ordinary parishioner, this was my friend."
Reverend Wright frequently chided those of us too constricted to freely experience the passion often evident in the sanctuary and suggested that we were too educated to show our love for Jesus. I, being one of the more reserved–ok–constricted ones simply smiled for I longed for the kind of intimate, passionate relationship with God that he seems to have cultivated with God.
In finishing, I have seen this man on too many occasions do too much that is good and meaningful. He is imperfect–he will tell you that in a minute but I am certain in my core that he is doing God’s work and he loves God’s children even if he is disgusted by their behavior at times.
There are two Americas and the one I occupy is often invisible. How I wish that the peek inside my world had offered a fuller portrait of this man and not the caricature.
Might the Anglo individuals who dwell in the more visible America, assess their own passion, principles, and preachers. Might Caucasians consider the hypocrisy that lives within them and their clergy. Would white Americans be willing to judge one of their own people as harshly as they do Barack Obama or his Pastor, Reverend Wright?
Would Anglo Americans condemn one of the most profound and powerful Senators, Presidential aspirant Hillary Rodham Clinton for her affiliation with the "Fellowship?" Potential President Barack Obama "condemned, in unequivocal terms, the statements of Reverend Wright that have caused such controversy." Yet, Hillary Rodham Clinton, an active participant of the "most elite cell" [their term] says nothing of the fact that . . .
The Family takes credit for some of Clinton's rightward legislative tendencies, including her support for a law guaranteeing "religious freedom" in the workplace, such as for pharmacists who refuse to fill birth control prescriptions and police officers who refuse to guard abortion clinics.
The former First Lady, Caucasian Clinton may not have considered how these laws affect those in the Black community. Certainly, one would imagine that the Senator, a scholar would understand that without birth control, abortions are more likely. Perhaps, she, as most Anglo Americans is unfamiliar with a life that differs from her own.
As an elite, among the "Family" Hillary Clinton may not have experienced the hurt that is an African-American's life. Those in Black neighborhoods have limited access to pharmacists and clinics. The notion that African-Americans might shop around for someone to serve them is absurd. We need only consider the availability of viable transportation, the cost to travel, and the ultimate truth, the quality of health care services. Those whose complexion is dark in color remain separate and unequal in an America dominated by the affluent who are lighter in color and pray within a selective Fellowship.
Perchance, prosperous persons, members of the Family "cells," people such as Senator Clinton, do not rant and rage as they reflect on racism. They cannot; they do not relate. These prominent individuals do not need to discuss their mediation which remains publicly unmentionable. They to talk of prejudice or the policies they ratify in order to retain power. Possibly, affluent Anglos and those who merely wish to appear proper do not need to speak of the strife that is their life in church, synagogues, or temples, for their situation does not compare.
For most Caucasians and for former First Lady Clinton, church conversations are yet to be called into question. However, we might wonder, what if Senator Clinton's religious beliefs, her practices, and her pastor are not subjects of scrutiny. What if all Anglos were subject to such severe scrutiny? Might the discussion help eliminate the disdain? Could empathy be the cure for what ails America. Barack Obama asked us to consider that possibility. Yet, apparently the request is denied.
Churchgoers in the white community continue to think they do not speak of cruelties committed against them, few as these may be. These pious people truly believe they live by the Golden Rule, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Sadly, it seems Anglos do not wish to discuss hypocrisy either. Perhaps, those with paler complexions should. From Americans reaction to the topic of racism, it is obvious, parishioners in pinkish neighborhoods still have much to learn of the Lord and the lessons he hoped to impart.
Audacity To Hope Jeremiah Wright Part 2
Please review and reflect upon the inspirational text. Wright’s Sermon - “The Audacity To Hope”
Sermons, Sources, A Search for Truth and Hope . . .
Posted by Betsy L. Angert on March 21, 2008 at 03:12 PM in Americana, Being Black in America, Black History, Past/Present, Elections, Hillary Clinton | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Are African-Americans Black Enough or Anglo Americans Too White?
copyright © 2008 Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org
This year, perhaps more than any time in the past, Americans are reminded of race relations each and every day. On televisions, on the radio, airwaves are filled with talk of the current Presidential campaign. For the first time in this nation's history, a viable Presidential hopeful is not a white. Barack Obama is a Black man; he is profound and has purpose. Early on, Anglo Americans, and even some people of color, wondered if Obama authentically represented African-Americans. Countless inquired of Obama's experience, not in Congress, but in the ghettos of this country. The prominent periodical, Time Magazine, published a cover story titled, "Is Obama Black Enough? As Sociologists assess, there is reason to believe another question is apt, "Are Caucasians white enough, or are they too white to understand the Black experience?"
The Black experience is as all other occurrences. Each is unique to the individual. Nevertheless, in a society where clear delineations are evident, we can observe, life as an African-American is not as easy. Circumstances common among Blacks are unthinkable to Caucasians. Anglos rarely appreciate persons of color are not truly different, only the conditions they live under vary.
While white Americans are happy to acknowledge that the Black man or woman they work with, as a singular person, is wonderful, Caucasians are quick to avow, that the individual they know is not like the rest of "those" people. Pinkish people do not understand. Hence . . .
Whites Underestimate the Costs of Being Black
Columbus, Ohio – How much do white Americans think it “costs” to be black in our society, given the problems associated with racial bias and prejudice?The answer, it appears, is not much.
When white Americans were asked to imagine how much they would have to be paid to live the rest of their lives as a black person, most requested relatively low amounts, generally less than $10,000.
In contrast, study participants said they would have to be paid about $1 million to give up television for the rest of their lives.
The results suggest most white Americans don't truly comprehend the persisting racial disparities in our country, said Philip Mazzocco, co-author of the study and assistant professor of psychology at Ohio State University's Mansfield campus.
“The costs of being black in our society are very well documented,” Mazzocco said. “Blacks have significantly lower income and wealth, higher levels of poverty, and even shorter life spans, among many other disparities, compared to whites.”
For example, white households average about $150,000 more wealth than the typical black family. Overall, total wealth for white families is about five times greater than that of black families, a gap that has persisted for years.
“When whites say they would need $1 million to give up TV, but less than $10,000 to become black, that suggests they don't really understand the extent to which African Americans, as a group, are disadvantaged,” Mazzocco said.
What Anglos do understand are the generalizations they hold dear. Black persons are different than whites, and they are, in large part because a society that favors people of pinkish paler hues has created a cast system that bars African-Americans from achieving as they might.
Incomes are lower, access to adequate educational facilities are few. Health Care coverage is out of reach for those with limited opportunity and wealth. Discrimination against those whose color differs from the main is ample. In the abstract, Anglo Americans grasp that those placed lower on the socio-economic ladder suffer. White Americans know they would not wish to live as a Black American does.
[I]n one study, whites were told to imagine that they were about to be born as a random white person in America, but they were being offered a cash gift to be born as a random black person. Once again, white participants requested relatively small sums to make a life-long race-change. In addition, some were given a list of some of the costs of being black in America, such as the racial wealth disparity. The result was that whites in this latter scenario requested significantly higher amounts than those in the previous studies – about $500,000.Finally, some participants were given a similar scenario except all references to blacks, whites, and America were taken out. They were asked to imagine they were born into the fictional country of Atria, and were born either into the “majority” or “minority” population. They were given a list of the disadvantages that the minority population faced in Atria (which were identical to the real disadvantages faced by blacks in America). In this case, white participants in the study said they should be paid an average of $1 million to be born as a minority member in Atria.
“When you take it out of the black-white context, white Americans seem to fully appreciate the costs associated with the kinds of disparities that African Americans actually face in the United States,” Mazzocco said. “In this case, they asked for a million dollars, similar to what they want for giving up television.”Mazzocco said blatant prejudice was not the reason for the findings. Results showed that whites who scored higher on a measure of racial prejudice did not answer significantly differently than others in the study.
Often those who are out of touch with what is true for another are not knowingly bigoted. As children, we learn to believe as we do. Most Americans are oblivious, no matter how well informed they, we might be.
However, if we are honest with ourselves, people know what is philosophically true for them personally, may not be valid. We are each similar, yet, never the same. A human desire to categorize places us in jeopardy. When we define others, or ourselves as Black or white we cripple our communities, as evident through statistical data. The numbers speak volumes, so too do people if we bother to ask them of their values.
Social Scientists surveyed those of disparate groups, and discovered what we could know intellectually. Those who physically do and do not resemble us share our values. Although experiences may be divergent, we need only think of our siblings to realize the adage "All men are created equal," does not mean every being is identical in appearance; nevertheless, essentially we are related. My blue eyed-sister is not as I am. She sees the world through her own lens. A brown-eyed brother cannot think, say, do, feel, or be as me. Still, we are akin. Biologically persons may be similar. They are never the same; nor are there stark contrasts.
Every human values principles that honor all men, women, and children unvaryingly. Innately, two-legged creatures crave caring connections. We all want to have the rights reverence affords, just as our brethren do. Every person is made of blood, sweat, and tears. Humans have inherent worth. Shared ignorance does not allow people to act on our deepest beliefs. the essence of our beauty is not just skin deep. It is part of our being whether we are Black or white.
Researchers remind us, in November 2007, it is time to "Redefine What It Means to Be Black in America." The Social and Demographic division of Pew Research Center, in conjunction with National Public Radio surveyed a large group of Americans, a large portion of those who participated were Black. This fact alone sets this report apart from earlier examinations which most relied on data from white Americans. The review titled, Blacks See Growing Values Gap Between Poor and Middle Class, Optimism about Black Progress Declines, we discover the times and trends are changing, or perhaps our awareness of what is has been altered. Many African-Americans do not identify themselves with the accepted definition of Black.
A Single Race?
Another revelatory finding in the Pew poll is that 37 percent of African Americans now agree that it is no longer appropriate to think of black people as a single race. A little more than half of the black people polled, 53 percent, agreed that it is right to view blacks as a single race. And the people most likely to say blacks are no longer a single race are young black people, ages 18-29.Forty-four percent of those young black people say there is no one black race anymore, as compared to 35 percent of the 30- to 49-year-old black population, and 34 percent of the black people over age 65.
The split in the black race comes down to a matter of values, according to the poll. In response to the question, "Have the values of middle-class and poor blacks become more similar or more different?" 61 percent of black Americans said "more different." White Americans agreed, with 54 percent saying there is a growing values gap between the black middle class and the black poor; 45 percent of Hispanics agreed, too.
At the same time, 72 percent of whites, 54 percent of blacks, and 60 percent of Hispanics agree that in the last 10 years, "values held by black people and the values held by white people (have) become more similar."
While the ethos may appear equivalent, upon closer examination a variance among respondents emerges. In nationwide telephone interviews, with a representative sample of 3,086 adults, conducted from September 5-October 6, 2007, we learn what an "over-sampled" total of 1007 African Americans, 388 Hispanics, and 1671 Anglos believe.
Big gaps in perception between blacks and whites emerge on many topics. For example, blacks believe that anti-black discrimination is still pervasive in everyday life; whites disagree. And blacks have far less confidence than whites in the basic fairness of the criminal justice system.
Over the past two decades, blacks have lost some confidence in the effectiveness of leaders within their community, including national black political figures, the clergy, and the NAACP. A sizable majority of blacks still see all of these groups as either very or somewhat effective, but the number saying "very" effective has declined since 1986.
These statements may correlate to what is real for too many African-Americans. Income Gap Between Blacks, Whites Expands. The Brookings Institute in cooperation with National Public Radio revealed in a recent report, while Black Americans can no longer be thought of as a distinct group, if they ever were, as a whole, people of color have not benefited from a "free and open" society, as Caucasians have. Anglos remain oblivious. Intolerant attitudes inform whites. The same bigoted perspectives hinder an ability to relate, and recognize how different the Black experience is.
Again, in November 2007, Americans were given an opportunity to assess the clash bias has created. In a culture, founded on the principles of equality, Americans prefer to practice prejudiced policies. In the United States, people whose skin is dark are not afforded the opportunities bestowed upon their counterparts, Caucasian Americans.
Economic Mobility of Black and White FamiliesIn brief, trends show that median family incomes have risen for both black and white families, but less so for black families. Moreover, the intergenerational analysis reveals a significant difference in the extent to which parents are able to pass their economic advantages onto their children. Whereas children of white middle-income parents tend to exceed their parents in income, a majority of black children of middle-income parents fall below their parents in income and economic status. These findings are provided in more detail below.
Median family income for both black and white families has increased over the last 30 years, but income gaps still persist.
Between 1974 and 2004, white and black men in their 30s experienced a decline in income, with the largest decline among black men. However, median family incomes for both racial groups increased, because of large increases in women's incomes. Income growth was particularly high for white women.The lack of income growth for black men combined with low marriage rates in the black population has had a negative impact on trends in family income for black families.
There was no progress in reducing the gap in family income between blacks and whites. In 2004, median family income of blacks ages 30 to 39 was only 58 percent that of white families in the same age group ($35,000 for blacks compared to $60,000 for whites).
Black children grow up in families with much lower income than white children.
White children are more likely to surpass parents' income than black children at a similar point in the income distribution.
Overall, approximately two out of three blacks (63 percent) exceed their parents' income after the data are adjusted for inflation, similar to the percentage for whites.However, a majority of blacks born to middle-income parents grow up to have less income than their parents. Only 31 percent of black children born to parents in the middle of the income distribution have family income greater than their parents, compared to 68 percent of white children from the same income bracket. . . .
White children are more likely to move up the ladder while black children are more likely to fall down.
Startlingly, almost half (45 percent) of black children whose parents were solidly middle class end up falling to the bottom of the income distribution, compared to only 16 percent of white children. Achieving middle-income status does not appear to protect black children from future economic adversity the same way it protects white children.Black children from poor families have poorer prospects than white children from such families. More than half (54 percent) of black children born to parents in the bottom quintile stay in the bottom, compared to 31 percent of white children.
Perhaps, the way in which the Black population experiences income inequity and discrimination, accounts for the lack of confidence in African-American leaders among the population, or did until very recently. In the Fall of 2007, before the first caucus in Iowa or the initial primary ballots in New Hampshire were cast, people of color in the United States expressed a glimmer of hope. While many people whose skin cast a brownish-purple hue were devoted to the Clinton campaign, they recognized that Barack Obama shed a powerful light on the issue of color. Again, the Pew Research Center, Social and Demographic Trends division concluded . . .
The most newsworthy African American figure in politics today - Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama - draws broadly (though not intensely felt) favorable ratings from both blacks and whites. But blacks are more inclined to say that his race will detract from his chances to be elected president; whites are more inclined to say his relative inexperience will hurt his chances.
Three-quarters of blacks (76%) say that Obama is a good influence on the black community. Even greater numbers say this about Oprah Winfrey (87%) and Bill Cosby (85%), who are the most highly regarded by blacks from among 14 black newsmakers tested in this survey. By contrast, just 17% of blacks say that rap artist 50 Cent is a good influence.
Months prior to these results a conversation ensued that may have helped to alter a long accepted perception. The son of a white woman from Kansas, whose father was native to Kenya, Barack Obama was asked, "How important is race in defining yourself?" Perhaps, esteemed Senator, and Presidential candidate, Obama spoke for many African-Americans, most of whom understand their bloodline may be mixed. He might have also addressed what Anglo Americans understand, if not consciously. No matter the color of our skin, few of us are purebred. While people may presume to know who we are based on a preconceived notion, we are all more than our appearance. [If only as a society, we acted on this veracity.]
Obama: I think all of us in America and particularly African-Americans have to think about race at some point in our lives. The way I like to think about it, I am rooted in the African-American community, but I'm not defined by it. I am comfortable in my racial identity and recognize that I'm part of a very specific set of experiences in this country, but that's not the core of who I am. Another way of saying is that's not all I am . . .One of the things that helped me to resolve a lot of these issues is the realization that the African-American community, which I'm now very much feel a part of, is itself a hybrid community. It's African. It's European. It's Native American. So it's much more difficult to define what the essential African-American experience is, at least more difficult than what popular culture would allow.
What I also realized is that the American experience is, by definition, a hybrid experience. I mean, you know one of the strengths of this country is that we have these people coming from, you know, all four corners of the globe converging, and sometimes in conflict, living side by side, and over time coming together to create this tapestry that is incredibly strong.
And so, in that sense, I feel that my background ironically, because it's unusual, is quintessentially American.
Americans of any race know that their ancestry is likely mixed. Whites are not pedigrees; nor are Blacks. Yet, pinkish people feel they can or must delineate when they define a dark complexioned person. Too often, in the United States, an African-American is described by their visible lineage, set apart because of the color of their skin. Yet, what of whites? How do we classify a paler person who may be part Irish, Italian, German, or English?
Apparently, a year ago, in February 2007, 60 Minutes Host Steve Kroft thought he knew what it meant to be Anglo or to be raised among white people. Mister Kroft made repeated references to the candidate's Caucasian mother, and Obama's childhood history. He said, "You spent most of your life in a white household." "I mean, you grew up white." "You were raised in a white household?" These statements were presented as though they were significant. The presumption was, in a white home people think, say, do, feel, and are different than those in a Black family. The evidence says this is not so. Yet, the myth remains firm. Hence, the journalist offered an observation, odd as it may be to some.
Kroft: [A]t some point, you decided that you were black?
The answer might have informed Black and white alike. The response may have encouraged African-Americans to be more vocal by the time they were surveyed nine months later. Possibly, the response had no influence. After centuries of racial discrimination, Black person may just be sick and tired of being sick and tired.
Whatever the reason for the realizations that emerged in the Pew Research report, finally, there is an incentive to believe. Hope is alive. A Black American, or many African-Americans, together, can change the persistent culture.
Presidential aspirant, Senator Obama spoke a truth that rattled a rigid reality. Stereotypes are exactly that. They need not characterize any of us, nor do we, as a nation need to endorse what divides us. Barack Obama explained . . .
Well, I'm not sure I decided it. I think if you look African-American in this society, you're treated as an African-American. And when you're a child, in particular that is how you begin to identify yourself. At least that's what I felt comfortable identifying myself as . . .[T]here is racial prejudice in our society that we do continue to carry the historical legacy of Jim Crow and slavery. We've never fully addressed that. It manifests itself in much higher rates of poverty and violence and lack of educational achievement in minority communities. But I know in my heart that there is a core decency to the American people, and that decency can be tapped.
I think America is at the point now where if a white person has the time to get to know who you are, that they are willing on average to look beyond race and judge you as an individual. That doesn't mean that they've stopped making snap judgments. It doesn't mean that before I was Barack Obama, and I was just Barack Obama, that if I got into an elevator, a woman might not clutch her purse a little tighter. Or if I'm walking down the street, that you might not hear some clicks of doors locking, right. I mean, there's still a host of stereotypes that I think a lot of people are operating under. But I think if they have time to get to know you, they will judge you as they would judge anybody else, and I think that's enormous progress.
We've made progress. Yes, things are better. But better is not good enough. And we've still got a long way to go.
Indeed, America has much to do as a nation if we are to heal what has harmed us as a people. If this country is to be truly healthy and authentically honorable, we must act as equals. To allow Black Americans to suffer at the hands of "compassionate" Caucasians, to deny the similarities, and amplify the differences does not bode well. A man, woman, or child must be judged by the quality of his character, not the color of his skin. Let us have the courage of our convictions. It is time to create a culture of community.
~ Soren Kierkegaard [Danish Philosopher]
Sources and Stereotypes . . .
Posted by Betsy L. Angert on February 18, 2008 at 01:45 PM in American Dream, Americana, Being Black in America, Black History, Past/Present, Black Men, Civil Rights, Communities, Economics, Education, Effects of Poverty , Income Inequity | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Little Rock Nine Commemorated; Separate and Unequal Survives
Little Rock 9 - 50th Anniversary
copyright © 2007 Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org
It has been fifty years since America sought to integrate its schools. It was September 25, 1957. The Little Rock Nine, a group of young Black pupils, crossed the threshold into history. Three years earlier, the Supreme Court of the United States of America ruled educational institutions could no longer remain separate and unequal. Unity in our schools was sanctioned in 1954. Brown versus Board of Education was the catalyst for change. However, even after the judgment was handed down, in actuality, few Districts altered enrollment. Assimilation was slow and frequently forced.
Two score and ten years ago, a reluctant locality was required to register young learners. Central High classrooms in Little Rock, Arkansas would receive students from the "wrong side of the tracks." The climate was volatile. The community was up in arms. The Governor fought for what he thought right, separation of the races.
Nevertheless, President Dwight D. Eisenhower decreed school populations would be mixed. One thousand soldiers from the 327th Airborne Battle Group of the 101st Airborne Division were deployed to Little Rock from their base in Kentucky. The troops would accompany young Black students as they entered the High School campus. The guards would stay with the scholars during the day to ensure their safety. The Eisenhower Administration was determined to end discrimination. However, the public was not. Perhaps, a prejudiced populace was more successful than principled people were. We did not eradicate the injustice of bigotry. Racism lives large today.
As we commemorate this historic occasion, Americans face a quandary. The doctrine we advocate is contrary to what we adopt. The current Supreme Court, recently ruled in favor of re-segregation. Educational facilities in local neighborhoods returned to a policy of separatism prior to the judgment handed down only months ago. The 'Robert's rule' reinforced what was allowed to occur in the last decade or more.
Yet, half a century later, one of the nine speaks with hope.
''You can overcome adversity if you know you are doing the right thing,'' said Carlotta Walls Lanier, one of the nine.
Four-thousand five hundred [4500] people joined her. On the anniversary of the entrance into Central High School, fifty two [52] percent of the school is Black. One might delude them selves to think this is inspiring; yet, it is not.
Return to a Showdown at Little Rock
By Felicia R. Lee
The New York Times
September 25, 2007CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — When Minnijean Brown Trickey and eight other black teenagers desegregated Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., 50 years ago on Sept. 25, they were escorted by 1,200 soldiers through spitting and jeering white crowds. Those images were beamed worldwide through the new medium of television, and the public response helped propel a civil rights movement energized by the 1954 Supreme Court ruling against school segregation.
On a recent visit to Central High, Ms. Trickey spoke to a self-segregated classroom: whites on one side, blacks on the other. An African-American student apparently dozed as she spoke. Students and teachers alike spoke blithely or painfully of the low educational aspirations and achievements of too many black students. Central, many said, is now two schools in one: a poor, demoralized black majority and a high-achieving, affluent white minority.
Separate and unequal survives. Only the façade varies. Americans are subtle in their manner, more so than they might have been in the past. Nonetheless, ethnic chauvinism, the chill of a cold shoulder, and racial slurs remain. Fifty years have come and gone. The United States is still divided. Hope is but a dream not realized. America, when will we embrace as our founders put forth, "All men are created equal."
Source For Segregation . . .
Posted by Betsy L. Angert on September 26, 2007 at 02:23 PM in Being Black in America, Black History, Past/Present, Black Men, Civil Rights, Education, Education, Effects of Poverty , Fear, Racial Discrimination, School Days, Xenophobia | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Jena Six. Justice: Permission Granted. Judgment: Permission Denied
copyright © 2007 Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org
Please listen to the audio presentation. Interviews Tell Tales. Jena Six: Black Students Charged w/Attempted Murder
I am thankful, not for the strife, the situation, or the state of affairs in Jena, Louisiana. I am grateful for the discussion, the focus on what for too long remains beneath the surface. For weeks, race relations, a topic conveniently hidden, is in the news again. I think this inconvenient truth must be made visible if we are to move beyond the bigotry that is America's signature.
The Jena Six, a group of young Black students in a small southern town, were severely punished by the Courts for possible participation in a schoolyard brawl. One of many unfair judgments was overturned, and some Americans rejoiced. Others understood the deeper dilemma. Conversations commenced. Protests are planned. All that is good.
However, what is not wonderful and brings me no joy is what I fear, the outcome. Americans seem frozen in time. I believe the plague that permeates American society will survive.
Supremacy sickens me. Preeminence is, for me, the profound issue. While many claim in this nation no one race feels a sense of superiority over the another, there is ample evidence to suggest some do. This story may speak to the situation; it is one of many that occur daily in this country. Any of us whose skin is light may wish to deny it, but ask a Black friend or neighbor, if you have one.
Days ago, after a too long delayed mass media coverage, the narrative immerged again. This time the spotlight fell on the Bayou State. The subject of white rule and the inevitable result, Black rebellion, became more public. The details buried in local news and neighborhoods for close to a year, came to the surface.
Last September, a black high school student requested the school's permission to sit beneath a broad, leafy tree in the hot schoolyard. Until then, only white students sat there.The next morning, three nooses were hanging from the tree. The black students responded en masse. Justin Purvis, the kid who first sat under the tree, told filmmaker Jacquie Soohen: "They said, 'Y'all want to go stand under the tree?' We said, 'Yeah.' They said, 'If you go, I'll go. If you go, I'll go.' One person went, the next person went, everybody else just went."
Then the police and the district attorney showed up. Substitute teacher Michelle Rogers recounts: "District Attorney Reed Walters proceeded to tell those kids that 'I could end your lives with the stroke of a pen.'"
Indeed, the District Attorney proceeded to do as he threatened. The town's people stood by. As bad went to worse. Injustice piled onto injustice garnered the attention of a public reluctant to accept what is standard in this country. Racism is rampant.
I believe we must ask ourselves, why in America, or anywhere else on this Earth, might someone feel a need to ask for permission to sit under a tree on public property. I believe that aspect of this narrative alone is, dreadful. When a source of beauty, light, and the symbol for life is designated "For Whites Only," this says more than my heart can bear. I do not solely struggle with the age of the defendant, the criminal charges, the beating or battering of individuals, white or black. For me, the greater concern, the one that causes me to weep is what is often forgotten in news reports.
In this country, citizens are reticent to admit to their own bigotry. White citizens gleefully claim this nation is colorblind. However, if you are Black, step back. If you are Brown, get down. On the ground you go. Pick the crops, or scrub the floors, just do not sit under that tree.
Details differ each time we open our eyes, nonetheless, the saga is the same. Whites want what they want when and how they want it. If Blacks dare to threaten the delicate "balance," even if they ask permission to walk on the path Caucasians occupy, crosses are burned, nooses hung from trees, and the violence unfolds.
People are injured. Some enter prison. No matter the circumstance, whites fare far better than Blacks. On each occasion, when Blacks and whites meet, the question of fairness fills the air. Individuals and families question the fairness of a judicial decision. Slowly, over time, the word spreads; yet, the actual situation is hushed.
As I listen to discussion after discussion I am haunted by the fact that in most reports Journalists, Civil Rights Leaders, historians, literary agents, the little guy or gal on the street, or even the victims themselves dismiss what for me is most daunting. People, Black or White, Yellow or Brown, Red or Green, felt a need to ask for permission to sit under a tree.
It is as though even nature is restricted. "For Whites Only" signs settles into every nuance of life. On September 7, 2007, the story broke throughout the land. I listened to the tale on the radio as I arose that morning. I was grateful. National Public Radio shared the scandalous drama and made mention of what for me was the essence of the yarn.
[T]he black students who sat under the tree had asked the principal's permission to do so.
The account I heard told on that date, addressed more of the significant minutiae people rather discuss. How old was Mychal Bell? Might he have been tried as a juvenile? How badly was Justin Barker, a white student beaten. White students were not as severely punished as Black learners were? All this is true, pertinent, and imperative. We must thrash out each and every aspect of this case.
Yet, if we focus on the symptoms and miss the essence, I believe this scenario will be as similar occurrences in the past, a missed opportunity. The plight of the Jena Six will be over another lesson unlearned.
As the coverage increases, and I read more reports, I am reminded of what we wish to forget. Days turn to night. I watch and listen. Television Journalists clamor. Pundits shout. Social Scientists prophesize. Average people predict. Presidential candidates weigh in. Harvard Law School Professor Charles Ogletree, an advisor to the defendants in the Jena Six case speaks. He too is frustrated by what society forgets.
Collins: And our Sean Callebs is joining us now live this morning from Jena, Louisiana.While Harvard Professor Ogletree and Cable News Network Broadcaster Heidi Collins remember the specifics, they too forget what for me is most telling. Why might a young man or woman enrolled in school need to ask for permission to sit under a tree on campus. In a country with a Constitution that decries "All men are created equal," why would any of us feel compelled to request consent to place ourselves in the shade of an olive branch, an oak bough, a maple limb that quietly graces the grounds of our school. Yet, in America, Black students know what Caucasians shutter to confess. People are separate, separated, and treated as though they are not equal.So, Sean, we saw a little bit of a reaction from people who live in the area. Overall, how do they think this whole process has gone so far?
Callebs: Well, we went to a fair that was held here in Jena over the weekend and we probably tried to talk to 30 people on camera. Only one would speak with us. Many of them unsolicited would actually say to us, you know what, we didn't think that Mychal Bell should have been tried as an adult to begin with, but we're really upset at what they view as outside agitation. Meaning the media coming in, focusing attention on this, and to a big -- in a big way, the civil rights demonstrations planned here.
To show you the kind of press this is getting, this is the local paper. This is the big headline, "Jena prepares to rally." This is this morning. And if you look down here, about three column inches is the O.J. story. So, it really puts the Jena 6 story in perspective in this community. And quickly, a couple of points. We did have a chance to speak with the D.A.'s office and so far the D.A. has not re-filed charges in juvenile court and there's been no movement on a bond hearing for Mychal Bell.
Collins: All right, Sean, we're glad you're there following that one for us out of Jena, Louisiana.
Sean Callebs, thank you.
Want to talk a little bit more about this morning with Harvard Law School Professor Charles Ogletree. He's an advisor to the defendants in the Jena 6 case.
Thanks for being with us, Mr. Ogletree.
We know there's a hearing going on right now, on whether or not the judge in this case should actually recuse himself. Your thoughts on that.
Charles Ogletree, Harvard Law School: Well, there are a lot of reasons the judge should recuse himself. And this criminal justice case has been a colossal failure of justice for these young men. The judge has made mistakes in allowing the charges to go forward. Having this man in jail since last year, Mychal Bell. And now the appeals court's involved in it.
So this is a case that was waiting to have some fresh air and publicity. I think now it's very likely this D.A. will try to re- bring these charges. And I hope it means that these other young men will be tried as they should be tried, a schoolyard brawl with a suspension, not federal -- not serious felony charges.
Collins: You do think it's unlikely that D.A. Walters will move forward?
Ogletree: One of the problems that the D.A. in this case has been pointing fingers at these young black men since the schoolyard incidents. We forget there were nooses hung in a tree. We forget an African-American male in that community was hit on the head with a beer bottle. We forget that a gun was drawn on one of these young men.
There's a whole series of failures of the system. And I think the district attorney is being watched nationally. The judge is being watched nationally. Some good lawyers are being brought into the case now. And I hope that these young men will not only avoid criminal charges, but they'll be back in school before this year is out.
Collins: I don't think everybody forgets about the way that this whole case started, certainly with the nooses.
But let me ask you this, your defendant not being tried in an adult court now, possibly as we've said, going to juvenile court system, how will that change things for him?
Ogletree: Well, it will change dramatically. First of all, the lawyer who represented him before did a poor job of challenging the government's evidence. Didn't call any witnesses. Didn't investigate the case. And now, hopefully, a judge, a juvenile court judge, will be able to listen to the evidence dispassionately, hear Mychal Bell's defense and come back with the judgment of not responsible in the juvenile terms. So I think it's going to make a huge difference.
But the most important thing is that he should be released.
There's no reason he should be in jail now having been found not guilty not guilty of some charges, having had some reversed, and facing no charges right now. I think he should be released. And that might change the whole method of this case as well.
Collins: You know, you have to wonder as you watch sort of the process and the way that this story developed, if there was any responsibility that should have been placed on the adults in this case. The adults at the school. People in the community to help sort of diffuse tensions between the kids at the school before it got to this point.
Ogletree: Well, I think Jena never imagined that this case would have the national, international attention it has generated. They never imagined that you'd see civil rights leader, national press coming and watching. And if you look at the school board, which revoked -- reversed the principal's decision to punish those who hung nooses in the tree, if you look at the apathy of the community when these black kids complained about being treated differently, adults played a significant role.
And adults are going to have to cure it.
If they don't think there's a problem of race in Jena, they're not living in the 21st century. And I think hopefully the good news is that black and white families will come together, live together and they'll be a positive result after this case is resolved, hopefully in the next couple of months.
Collins: Yes, we certainly hope so. All right. We'll continue to follow this story as always right here on CNN.
Charles Ogletree of Harvard Law School, thanks for your time this morning.
Ogletree: Thank you.
African Americans, Negroes are regarded as inferior. They are wanted only to serve the needs of those that think them selves supreme. We have not progressed much beyond the days of Reconstruction.
As the citizens of Jena prepare for trial and for a protest, Confederate flags fly. Symbols of support for slavery fill the air. Authentic conversation is stifled. We wish to think that there has been a change. Some muse drastic measures have been taken. Today, Americas Black citizens are free. In a democracy, we question justice and work for civil liberties. However, as long as a Black person, man, woman, or child senses he or she must seek approval to sit and enjoy the serenity of a tree, nothing has changed. Nothing will. Circumstances may be different. The dynamics are not. When Black congregate where whites wish to be the principle is fight or flight.
References to Racism, Jena Six . . .
Posted by Betsy L. Angert on September 19, 2007 at 10:30 PM in Americana, Being Black in America, Black History, Past/Present, Black Men, Civil Rights, Communities, Looking at Life, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Historic Reversals, Accelerating Resegregation In City And Suburbs
copyright © 2007 Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org
The mantra may be "teach tolerance." Yet, we teach our children intolerance. In America, we see Historic Reversals, [and] Accelerating Resegregation, so says a report released in August 2007. This study, conducted by Gary Orfield and Chungmei Lee, of the Civil Rights Project, University of California, Los Angeles documents what is evident throughout the country; racism is alive and well in America. Indeed, racial discrimination grows stronger each and every day. The most recent Supreme Court decision, handed down in June 2007, endorsed further racial divides. Parents Involved in Community Schools versus Seattle School District Number 1 et al, sanctions school segregation. For the most part, parents and the population at-large embrace this ruling.
People now have permission to do what they have long done, discriminate. We can predict, with consent from the highest court in the land, prejudice will continue to grow. Fractures and fissures will expand and the achievement gap will widen. Currently, forty-three [43] percent of American school children are not Caucasian. The education they receive has been sub-standard for decades.
Many segregated schools struggle to attract highly qualified teachers and administrators, do not prepare students well for college and fail to graduate more than half their students.
Integration in the few schools that have worked to improve opportunities for all, equally, has helped to a degree. However, for the most part non-whites cannot or are not easily enrolled in the better schools. Proximity and policies hinder any efforts to secure equivalent scholarship for students of color. The Supreme Court decision will only serve to exacerbate a dire situation.
In its June ruling the Supreme Court forbade most existing voluntary local efforts to integrate schools in a decision favored by the Bush administration despite warnings from academics that it would compound educational inequality."It is about as dramatic a reversal in the stance of the federal courts as one could imagine," said Gary Orfield, a UCLA professor and a co-author of the report.
"The federal courts are clearly pushing us backward segregation with the encouragement of the Justice Department of President George W. Bush," he said in an interview.
The United States risks becoming a nation in which a new majority of non-white young people will attend "separate and inferior" schools, the report said.
Even when the schools are supposedly integrated, they are not. Attitudes separate the races; reason and rational thought are but clouds, passing swiftly through the mind. Hearts and souls struggle to survive when segregation exists around every bend and under every tree branch. Subtle talk of lynching remains strong in society. We see it in the schools; children act out what adult say they reject; yet in reality project. We need only consider the circumstances of the "Jena Six" to support this notion. It's still about race in Jena, Louisiana.
Last week [July 2007] in Detroit, the NAACP held a mock funeral for the N-word. But a chilling case in Louisiana shows us how far we have to go to bury racism. This story begins in the small, central Louisiana town of Jena. Last September, a black high school student requested the school's permission to sit beneath a broad, leafy tree in the hot schoolyard. Until then, only white students sat there.The next morning, three nooses were hanging from the tree. The black students responded en masse. Justin Purvis, the kid who first sat under the tree, told filmmaker Jacquie Soohen: "They said, 'Y'all want to go stand under the tree?' We said, 'Yeah.' They said, 'If you go, I'll go. If you go, I'll go.' One person went, the next person went, everybody else just went."
Then the police and the district attorney showed up. Substitute teacher Michelle Rogers recounts: "District Attorney Reed Walters proceeded to tell those kids that 'I could end your lives with the stroke of a pen.'"
It wouldn't happen for a few more months, but that is exactly what the district attorney is trying to do.
Indeed the stroke of a pen may put six innocent children into prison. Young men, in the prime of their lives may realize what millions have known for centuries. In America, Black and Brown are not beautiful.
The Jena Six
This is obvious as we watch the daily debate in the halls of Congress and on television screens. Immigrants of color are not welcome. Fences are built to "protect" white Americans from their own fears. African-Americans are 'busted' merely for driving while Black. White citizens within the United States are apprehensive. Statistics show, soon, Caucasians will be in the minority. Indeed, the Black and Brown population is increasing. This is true in public schools, in our cities, and in the rural countryside. Breeding, just as much in society, belies logic.
Almost nine-tenths of American students were counted as white in the early l960s, but the number of white students fell 20 percent from l968 to 2005, as the baby boom gave way to the baby bust for white families, while the number of blacks increased 33 percent and the number of Latinos soared 380 percent amid surging immigration of a young population with high birth rates.Just as in centuries past, the poorest among us tend to congregate in ghettoes, not by choice, but in reality. The impoverished are often under-educated. They cannot secure quality positions in the workforce. Those that lack academic expertise and not empowered to do what might benefit them as individuals and society as a whole. Thus, they congregate in inner cities, live in substandard houses, and travel only as far as meager transportation systems allow. The disadvantaged do not have the opportunities the more affluent among us have.
As the indigent population increases, conditions worsen. Cities become more crowded, crime more prevalent, and students are less able to acquire knowledge. Division gives rise to greater discrimination. The cycle of separation is endless. Eventually, we spiral downward. Indeed we have.
The country’s rapidly growing population of Latino and black students is more segregated than they have been since the l960s and we are going backward faster in the areas where integration was most far-reaching.Under the new decision, local and state educators have far less freedom to foster integration than they have had for the last four decades. The Supreme Court’s 2007 decision has sharply limited local control in this arena, which makes it likely that segregation will further increase.
Americans love to label their country a "melting pot," a stew that combines races, religions, and creeds. However, this society is not nor has it ever been a delicious blend. Those that consider themselves cream, rise to the top. They take their friends and family with them.
The elite ethnic groups are well educated. Never would they wish to be identified as racist. Auspiciously, these affluent persons and those with less dollars, but beautiful pearly white skin write the books, prepare the dictionaries and define themselves, "color-blind." Yet, we know, they are not. In Jena, Louisiana, we recall that a Black student felt the need to ask if he might sit under a tree. In America, even nature is reserved for the white persons to enjoy.
The next day, hanging from the tree, were three ropes, in school colors, each tied to make a noose.Ah, that stew, and the cooks. When District Attorney Walters presumes and proclaims there are too many chefs. They have spoiled the broth and the soup must stand alone, it simmers on the stove, unattended. Finally, as the fire underneath the kettle heats the concoction, the mixture begins to boil. Sauce spills out and many are burned. Indeed, ultimately we all are. For as much as we wish to separate the parts, we are each part of the whole.The events set in motion by those nooses led to a schoolyard fight. And that fight led to the conviction, on June 28, 2007, of a Black student at Jena High School for charges that can bring up to 22 years in prison.
Mychal Bell, a 16-year-old sophomore football star at the time he was arrested, was convicted by an all-white jury, without a single witness being called on his behalf. And five more Black students in Jena still face serious charges stemming from the fight.
Caseptla Bailey, a Black community leader and mother of one of the Black students, told the London Observer, "To us those nooses meant the KKK, they meant, 'Niggers, we're going to kill you, we're going to hang you till you die.'" The attack was brushed off as a "youthful stunt." The three white students responsible, given only three days of in-school suspension.
In response to the incident, several Black students, among them star players on the football team, staged a sit-in under the tree. The principal reacted by bringing in the white district attorney, Reed Walters, and 10 local police officers to an all-school assembly. Marcus Jones, Mychal Bell's father, described the assembly to Revolution:
"Now remember, with everything that goes on at Jena High School, everybody's separated. The only time when Black and white kids are together is in the classroom and when they playing sports together. During lunch time, Blacks sit on one side, whites sit on the other side of the cafeteria. During canteen time, Blacks sit on one side of the campus, whites sit on the other side of the campus.
"At any activity done in the auditorium-anything-Blacks sit on one side, whites on the other side, okay? The DA tells the principal to call the students in the auditorium. They get in there. The DA tells the Black students, he's looking directly at the Black students-remember, whites on one side, Blacks on the other side-he's looking directly at the Black students. He told them to keep their mouths shut about the boys hanging their nooses up. If he hears anything else about it, he can make their lives go away with the stroke of his pen."
DA Walters concluded that the students should "work it out on their own." Police officers roamed the halls of the school that week, and tensions simmered throughout the fall semester.
However, sadly, the scars show more on darker skin. Nonetheless, we all are wounded. The pain wrought by an authorized and artificial separation affects every one of us.
It is true. Education and the economy are inexorably tied. If pupils in any population do not receive an adequate erudition, the entirety suffers, economically. We all feel the effects of segregation. What is in our cities and in our country is palpable in our schools. Circumstances in educational facilities are felt fiscally.
What white persons may wish to consider without the fear that currently drives them, is that they are never separate from those they prefer not to see. What they do to beings with Black and Brown skin will ultimately have an effect on their lily white bodies.
Caucasian Americans have a decision to make. They can choose harmony or continue to allow their trepidation to hurt them, to harm us all.
We are in the last decade of a white majority in American public schools and there are already minorities of white students in our two largest regions, the South and the West. When today’s children become adults, we will be a multiracial society with no majority group, where all groups will have to learn to live and work successfully together. School desegregation has been the only major policy directly addressing this need and that effort has now been radically constrained.While throughout the nation adults discuss busing or income based integration in the schools, we must realize that Band-Aids will never cover the lesions that lie beneath the surface. What we do in our schools mirrors what is done in our neighborhoods. If we are to truly prosper, Americans must accept and acknowledge that no matter the exterior color, beauty is within. Skin is surface. Depth is what we create when we educate our children. An educated person, Black, white, or Brown benefits him or herself, as well as us all.The schools are not only becoming less white but also have a rising proportion of poor children. The percentage of school children poor enough to receive subsidized lunches has grown dramatically. This is not because white middle class students have produced a surge in private school enrollment; private schools serve a smaller share of students than a half century ago and are less white.
The reality is that the next generation is much less white because of the aging and small family sizes of white families and the trend is deeply affected by immigration from Latin American and Asia. Huge numbers of children growing up in families with very limited resources, and face an economy with deepening inequality of income distribution, where only those with higher education are securely in the middle class.
It is a simple statement of fact to say that the country’s future depends on finding ways to prepare groups of students who have traditionally fared badly in American schools to perform at much higher levels and to prepare all young Americans to live and work in a society vastly more diverse than ever in our past.
Some of our largest states will face a decline in average educational levels in the near future as the racial transformation proceeds if the educational success of nonwhite students does not improve substantially.
Currently, the dropout rates are extraordinary. When young persons are not stimulated to think and are not expected to perform there is little reason to stay in school. Dollars may seem more attractive and meaningful to those adolescents that receive little in their local educational facilities. Whether greenbacks are appealing or not, in our society they are necessary for survival. Possibly, money motivates more than the young. I suspect, adults quantify their decisions based on budget. Therefore, let us look at education as a pocketbook issue. Perchance, the purse and its strings will garner some attention.
Broad policy decisions in education can be framed around a simple question: Do the benefits to society of investing in an educational strategy outweigh the costs?America, you decide. Will we continue to cultivate practices that endorse separate and unequal, or will we invest in integration. Many parents applauded the Supreme Court decision that allowed their progeny to stay close to home. Granted, the transport of students to schools far from the safety and sanctuary of the suburbs is less than desirable. However, if we do not fully, adequately, and equally educate those that have less wealth and fewer resources we will continue to grow poverty. Perchance it is time to ponder; people need people. Blacks need Whites. Browns require Reds, Yellow, and those whose skin is olive Green. In actuality, each of us does best when we acknowledge we are one.We [researchers at Teachers College, Columbia University] provide an answer for those individuals who currently fail to graduate from high school. The present cohort of 20-year olds in the US today includes over 700,000 high school dropouts, many from disadvantaged backgrounds. We investigate the economic consequences of improving their education.
First, we identify five leading interventions that have been shown to raise high school graduation rates; and we calculate their costs and their effectiveness. Second, we add up the lifetime public benefits of high school graduation. These include higher tax revenues as well as lower government spending on health, crime, and welfare. (We do not include private benefits such as higher earnings).
Next, we compare the costs of the interventions to the public benefits. We find that each new high school graduate would yield a public benefit of $209,000 in higher government revenues and lower government spending for an overall investment of $82,000, divided between the costs of powerful educational interventions and additional years of school attendance leading to graduation. The net economic benefit to the public purse is therefore $127,000 per student and the benefits are 2.5 times greater than the costs.
If the number of high school dropouts in this age cohort was cut in half, the government would reap $45 billion via extra tax revenues and reduced costs of public health, of crime and justice, and in welfare payments. This lifetime saving of $45 billion for the current cohort would also accrue for subsequent cohorts of 20-year olds.
If there is any bias to our calculations, it has been to keep estimates of the benefits conservative. Sensitivity tests indicate that our main conclusions are robust: the costs to the nation of failing to ensure high school graduation for all America’s children are substantial.
Educational investments to raise the high school graduation rate appear to be doubly beneficial: the quest for greater equity for all young adults would also produce greater efficiency in the use of public resources.
Pssst, someone please tell the Justices seated in the Supreme Court. Perhaps, they are too isolated to notice. Let us guide them to the window, ask them to look out onto the streets. People of all races, colors, and creed commingle in this country. If only they were encouraged to do so in the schools.
Schools, Segregation, Sources . . .
Posted by Betsy L. Angert on September 4, 2007 at 08:00 PM in Being Black in America, Black History, Past/Present, Children, Education, Education or Economics, Education, Effects of Poverty , Racial Discrimination, School Days, School Violence, Society, Students Minds Stopped, Teach The Children, “Melting Pot”? | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
"What to the American Slave is Your Fourth of July?” Black America Grieves
copyright © 2007 Betsy L. Angert
I, as a white person mourn on this day, for every man and woman Black, white, brown, red, or yellow are my brethren. I feel the pain of all those that have gone before me. My heart aches most for those whose flesh is darkest. It seems, try as they might Afro-Americans can never escape the bondage, the bigotry that enslaves them. The color of their skin shades their every encounter. I recognize that only days ago, in this duplicitous land founded on the principles of freedom and justice for all, segregation was again endorsed by the highest Court in the country. The Supreme Court ruled “Schools can't use race to assign students.” History demonstrates, left to their own devices whites will not desegregate.
On this Independence Day, I grieve. I do not celebrate. I will not shop with abandon. Nor will I partake in viewing firework displays. A pleasurable picnic on this date seems disingenuous. The truth of what is in America is a burden I bear. I ponder the present, and I pronounce; on this Independence Day, all Americans are not free.
Today, the streets of these United States, are not paved in gold. Opportunities are not available to all. Those whose flesh is white are not pure and principled, although they may think themselves to be.
With one hand, whites extend an invitation to share in the delight of liberty. With the other, they cast the call aside.
African-Americans, those brought to the shores of this independent nation, and their progeny do not profit from a fight for freedom. Glory was not and is not given to our slave soldiers or their offspring. Our Black brothers and sisters serve this nation; however, few reap the rewards of freedom.
Granted some scant number of African-Americans have done well. White persons witness the success of the few Blacks and claim these illustrate the norm. However, they do not. Nonetheless, many of our Americans of African decent, are mired in misery.
White Americans may say this is not so. They may argue Brown versus Board of Education was a milestone that benefits millions. Yet, that law, according to Justice Stephen Breyer was reversed on June 28, 2007. Speaking on the decision Parents Involved In Community Schools versus Seattle School District Number 1 this Supreme Court jurist stated
In his written opinion, Justice Breyer said the decision was a "radical" step away from settled law and would strip local communities of the tools they need, and have used for many years, to prevent resegregation of their public schools. Predicting that the ruling would substitute for present calm a disruptive round of race-related litigation, he said, This is a decision that the court and the nation will come to regret.Caucasian citizens contend Affirmative Action laws righted the centuries of wrongdoing. Yet, dark-skinned Americans dispute this assertion. Whites work to rescind these laws.
I would hope no one would think the Voters Rights Act is evidence that Blacks people have equal rights in America. Any Bill that must be revisited and renewed regularly, does not provide for the people it professes to serve. I believe it shameful that in the land of the free, Black citizens were not given the right to vote without restrictions until 1965! To think that years later this law was threatened. I have no words for such an injustice. I can only ruminate. As we "celebrate" this day of independence we must ask, are all our people free.
While light skin lovelies think all is well; we now live in a colorblind society, down deep, they know that is not true.
Ask a person of pale complexion to drive to the area of town known as the Black ghetto, or the slums. Then you will witness an unspoken acknowledgement, independence, freedom, and justice were not afforded to Black Americans.
Years ago, I was teaching a summer class at a major University. The esteemed educational institution is located in so-called liberal Southern California. Only seven students enrolled. The learning environment was ideal. Discussions were deep and endless. During the course of this seminar, we spoke of graffiti, and the related art and history of tagging. We also chatted about what is considered a historic monument, the Watts Towers.
In my youth, while living thousands of miles from Los Angeles and its surrounding cities, I saw many a slide and photograph of this structure. I marveled as I observed the 17 separate sculptural pieces built by hand on a residential lot, owned by immigrant Simon Rodia. Mister Rodia was, for me, an artist to admire. Upon moving to the area, I immediately sought out this edifice.
Frequently, in my first year as a California resident, I drove to Watts. I toured the Towers. I rambled around the park and the surrounding neighborhood. I delighted in the experience. I mentioned this to the adult students I sat with. Then one afternoon, the group requested we plan a field trip. "Let us travel together and explore Rodia's masterpiece.” I asked if they were sure they wanted to see this site. None hesitated. Each expressed their excitement. I made the arrangements.
Realistically, I could not commute with the others. I was teaching at another University hours before our meeting. That campus was far from the other. Therefore, I needed to drive alone. The women carpooled.
The day was a joy. The students were thrilled. We befriended our guide, took photographs, and roamed the grounds for hours. We saw more than merely the Towers. We had fun.
Upon meeting again in class, I learned what I had not imagined. These seven young women were fearful prior to our trek. Driving in the inner city was a novel experience for each of them. Two women of Mexican heritage and the rest of European ancestry never dared drive on the streets of Watts before. The Compton area, in their minds was a Black compound. South Central was not on their maps.
Apparently, even the parents of a few of these ladies thought this travel was not wise. One father re-arranged his day so that he could "secretly" supervise his daughter’s descent into what he thought was certain oblivion.
It was not; nevertheless, in America Blacks are not considered as whites. They are purposely placed in separate enclaves. The few that "make it out" do so with dollars not easily acquired.
In our nation, where people are "created equal" and "all men are free," Black men between the ages of 16 and 24 are more than twice as likely than young white men to be out of school and out of work (National Center for Educational Statistics, 1997)
In 1999, median family income for Black Americans was still only $31,778, compared to $51,244 for Whites.
From 1989 to 1998, Black American middle class families logged an average of 4,278 hours of work per year almost 500 more hours per year than White families.
In 1999, unemployment for Black Americans was 8%, compared to 3.7% for Whites.
Fewer than half (46%) of Black American households own their own homes, compared to the national average of 72% (Changing America, 1999).
Black American men earn 71 cents for every dollar earned by their White counterparts.
Unemployment rates for Black American youths are three times higher than the national average.
Over six million Black children (62%) live in single-parent households (U.S. Census Bureau, 1999).
Black children do not receive an equal education.
Research demonstrates that access to quality teaching is one of the most significant factors in improving student achievement and closing the achievement gap. Yet, poor and minority children have significantly less access to quality teaching.Blacks in America do not have equal opportunities. The were not awarded the independence whites were in 1776. Even centuries later, individuals with dark complexion struggle to survive. Many live a life of poverty.Schools with the highest percentages of minority, limited-English proficient and low-income students are more likely to employ beginning teachers than those with the lowest percentage of minority, limited-English proficient and low-income students.
A significant body of research also has found that another indicator of teacher quality in middle and high school is whether teachers majored in the field in which they are teaching. Here again, gaps are profound.
Classes in high-poverty schools are 77 percent more likely to be assigned to an out-of-field teacher than are classes in low-poverty schools. Classes in majority nonwhite schools are over 40 percent more likely to be assigned to an out of-field teacher than those in mostly White schools.
Level of academic attainment is another traditional indicator of teacher quality, and, again, teachers with master's degrees are less likely to teach in high-minority, low-income schools than they are to teach in high-income, low-minority schools.
The Black experience in the United States of America is not one to be celebrated. For most, if not all, Afro-Americans in this nation can recall stories, personal anecdotes that affirm they are not free. Independence was not won nor was it awarded to them. Thousands of Blacks fought for freedom in Revolutionary War. Remember, among the first persons shot in the name of freedom from the oppressive powers of King George, of England was Crispus Attucks.Nearly 1 out of every 4 Black Americans (24%) lives in poverty (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000).
3.5 million Black children (31%) live below the poverty level (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000).
Nine out of every ten Black Americans who reach age 75 spend at least one of their adult years in poverty (Cornell University, Washington University, 1999).
The poverty rate for Black Americans is three times the rate for White Americans (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000)
A stranger to Boston, he was leading a march against the Townshend Acts when the killing occurred.Yet, Attucks and those Americans of African heritage that followed him did not realize the fruits of freedom. The Civil War, a battle fought to end slavery only served to enslave Black Americans in a more subtle manner. Afro-Americans are arguably not truly free in 2007. Racial discrimination is rampant in the USA.
Frederick Douglass in 1852, delivered a speech that might be aptly delivered today.
"What to the American slave is your Fourth of July?America as a nation may have reason to celebrate their independence. Sadly, all the people that reside here do not. Blacks, reds, browns, and yellows are not all free. Afro-Americans, more than any other group suffer at the hands of those that scream the loudest, "Happy Fourth of July." "Happy Independence Day." The question must be asked again and again, For whom?"At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. Oh! had I the ability, and could I reach the nation's ear, I would today pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; the propriety of the nation must be startled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed; and its crimes against God and man must be denounced.
What to the American slave is your Fourth of July? I answer, a day that reveals to him more than all other days of the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mock; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are to him mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy - a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation of the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of these United States at this very hour.
Go search where you will, roam through all the monarchies and despotisms of the Old World, travel through South America, search out every abuse and when you have found the last, lay your facts by the side of the everyday practices of this nation, and you will say with me that, for revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, America reigns without a rival."
Independence Day Fireworks and Findings . . .
Posted by Betsy L. Angert on July 4, 2007 at 09:45 PM in Being Black in America | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Florida, My Florida. Citizens Wish to Change Their Racist Tune
This morning, as I rose, I was reminded, of racism and how prevalent it is in America. I have been aware of this all of my life. My own history made me more familiar with what life must be like to be Black and live in America. I do not envy the experiences of those that are told in America "We are all created equal"; yet, they know, with each breath they are not considered so by the dominant white culture. As I listened to the radio, I learned signs of the Confederacy, principles associated with the Slave States live large in this nation, specifically, in Florida. I had no doubt. Since moving here, each day, I am astounded.
In recent years, Left leaning liberals from the North East are flocking to this Southern region. They stay here not only for the summers; they relocate permanently. Bleeding heart liberals live in Florida throughout the year. Yet, the laws in this state remain "Right." In recent weeks a discussion began again. The Florida State Song is a reminder of the past. Slavery is glorified in the Stephen Foster tune, "Old Folks at Home," also more familiarly known as Suwannee River. The time has come for the tune to change. However, there may be little support for the idea. Racism is rampant in the Southern States. In many ways, the Civil War and slavery live on in America.
In January 2001,
About 1,500 members and supporters of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, many dressed in Civil War-era costumes, marched a half-mile to the state Capitol Saturday to voice their support for the flying of the Georgia [State] flag.This banner featured the Confederate symbol, long associated with the advocacy of slavery. Tens of thousands, of signatures were gather on a petition. Many Georgians wished to retain this racist representation on their flag.
In June of 2005, the entire country confronted its fatal flaw. The United Sates had never banned lynching. Thus, only two short years ago, Americans officially and belatedly stated their regret for a documented 4742 lynchings. They apologized for their delayed response to a racist reality. The Senate finally, after decades of trial and tribulation and much deliberation abolished laws that allowed for legal lynchings. America apologized to its Black citizens, not just for offenses in the South.
[T]here were lynchings in the North and West. In fact, every state in the continental United States with the exception of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Vermont has had lynching casualties.Racism permeates the American countryside. The North is not exempt. In February, 2007, in what might be considered the most cosmopolitan or most civilized city in the United States, New York City, racial bigotry dominates the day. Lynching may no longer be legal; however, the use of hurtful terms rules the day.The causes assigned by whites in justification or explanation of lynching Black people include everything from major crimes to minor offenses. In many cases, Blacks were lynched for no reason at all other than race prejudice.
A city councilman says he hears it over and over on the streets of New York City: young people casually addressing each other using a racial slur that has a painful history intertwined with slavery.I wonder. It is all so confusing to me; it appears prejudice never truly dies. People hold on to their traditions, even if, or perchance especially if they reflect a deeply engrained bias. Perhaps, we as a whole must examine our intent, our interests, and the implications of these."You hear it 10 times within two minutes," says Councilman Leroy Comrie.
On Wednesday, Comrie will urge the council to approve a symbolic resolution calling for New Yorkers to voluntarily stop using the N-word. The effort began weeks ago at the start of Black History Month, and has gradually gained nationwide notice and support.
Comrie and other backers of the nonbinding measure say its purpose is to call attention to what they say is a troubling trend among entertainers and youths to try to repackage the N-word as a term of endearment and camaraderie.
Hip-hop artists in particular have been singled out for weaving the term into music and entertainment, which some say waters it down and convinces younger audiences that the word is acceptable.
Some argue that doing so is empowering, and that reclaiming a slur and giving it a new meaning takes away its punch.
Comrie disagrees, saying it is impossible to paper over the N-word's long and hurtful history.
"This was derived solely from hate and anger, and you just can't recreate it," Comrie said.
The word has received increased attention since the incident last year in which actor Michael Richards, who played the nutty Kramer on "Seinfeld," used the word while blowing up at audience members during a standup routine. Richards later apologized and said that the outburst was motivated by anger, not racism.
Today, Florida is. Citizens are considering their State Song. This is not the first time in the last seventy years that Florida residents have proposed adopting a new State song.
At least twice in the past 20 years there were serious efforts to replace "Old Folks at Home." In 1988, former Rep. Rick Dantzler tried it, met with resistance, and shifted his effort to adopting another song in addition to the old tune. It failed.Stephen Foster never stepped foot in the state of Florida; yet some Floridians are choosing to honor his memory more than the actual state, or the state of affairs that our fore-fathers meant to promote, equality for all.In 1997, former Rep. Willie Logan, of Opa Locka, tried again. Resistance came from a lawmaker, Randy Mackey, whose district included parts of the Suwannee River. Again, the effort failed.
The song gets credit as the foundation for Florida's tourism industry, as people worldwide came to look for the idyllic home Foster described on the river's banks. But just because it's part of state history doesn't mean it should represent Florida today, said Dantzler, who now works as a lawyer in Winter Haven.
There are other problems with the song, especially if you live in South Florida and don't feel connected to a tribute for a river that flows hundreds of miles away, through North Florida. It doesn't say much about the state, because Foster never saw it.
Floridians that support the change are realizing this harmony leads to divisiveness. Jacksonville, Democratic Senator, Tony Hill is working to "retire" the song. Hill states the lyrics are "loaded with derogatory language." The newly elected Governor Charlie Crist refused to have this anthem played at his own inaugural. Crist mentioned to Senator Hill, that tune would never be played in his presence. However, he explained the final decision is not his to make. Governor Crist proclaimed, "Whatever the people decide is fine with me."
"Old Folks At Home" was meant to be an homage to the Suwannee River; yet, it slights more than it honors.
Is a state song really representing Florida if:In addition to these interesting facts, this song was not the original State hymn. As we review the lyrics, we wonder why this tune was ever adopted.
The lyrics officially adopted seven decades ago are no longer used because they're widely viewed as racist?
The songwriter is from Pittsburgh? And never visited Florida?
The best known line, "Way down upon the Swanee River," misspells Suwannee River, the song's sole reference to Florida?
The new governor, wary of the racial fuss the song stirs up, axes it from his inauguration ceremony?
References to slavery and questionably racist terms filter through this Stephen Foster tune. The lyrics accentuate an implied ignorance on the part of the slave singer. The chorus suggests that the ol' darkey longs for a home back on the plantation. Could such a silliness ever be true. It certainly is not a concept current Floridians wish to embrace. The idea of enslaving equals is loathsome to those living in this state. Yet, still, many young Florida school children learn this tune.
Way down upon de Swanee ribber,
Far, far away,
Dere's wha my heart is turning ebber,
Dere's wha de old folks stay.
All up and down de whole creation
Sadly I roam,
Still longing for de old plantation
And for de old folks at home.Chorus
All de world am sad and dreary,
Ebry where I roam,
Oh! darkeys how my heart grows weary,
Far from de old folks at home.2nd verse
All round de little farm I wandered
When I was young,
Den many happy days I squandered,
Many de songs I sung.
When I was playing wid my brudder
Happy was I
Oh! take me to my kind old mudder,
Dere let me live and die.Chorus
3rd verse
One little hut amond de bushes,
One dat I love,
Still sadly to my mem'ry rushes,
No matter where I rove
When will I see de bees a humming
All round de comb?
When will I hear de banjo tumming
Down in my good old home?
One wonders; did those in the past ever truly imagine that people would purposely chose a life of bondage. Nevertheless, this song stands on the books as the State tune. Perhaps people did not notice or think through the repercussions. What we believe we will conceive. Citizens of Florida do not wish to give rise to greater oppression, or so the organizers of this campaign hope and believe.
They ask the residents of this state to consider, this melody was adopted to represent the "land covered with flowers" in 1935, decades after Florida, My Florida was chosen. This song has a history that few would wish to be associated with.
After it was written, a blackface minstrel performance group called Christy's Minstrels paid Foster a large sum of money to gain the rights to the song, and they performed the song in blackface for the entertainment of racist white audiences.It is time for a change. The legacy of bigotry has not left this State as of yet. Racism will reign as long as we subconsciously support it in our State song.
Some say, in 2007, we live in a colorblind society. Oh, were that true. I ask you, dear reader to consider my own experience.
I moved to Florida just over a year ago. Immediately, I was struck; racism not only survives here, it is strong! Oddly enough, there is a large dark skinned population here. In South Florida, I encounter more Black persons daily than I ever did in all of the decades I lived in California. I have long believed, to know people is to love them; thus, my confusion.
Much of bigotry is fear of the unknown. Differences cause anxiety for some. There is ample opportunity to become closely acquainted with African Americans in Florida. I was in this region for a very short time before I began to understand. All of my life, while out and about, I chat with everyone. No man or woman is a stranger, unless you choose not to speak to him or her. Here, in Florida, when attempting to converse with many Black store employees, I experienced an astounding reluctance on their part to engage. I wondered; was management punitive or were there other reasons for this distant demeanor.
Could cultural differences between the North and the South explain what I observed. This seemed strange for Southerners are considered friendlier. Granted, many individuals from Northern territories migrate to the South, still . . .
I purchased a home that needed some work. I hired master craftsmen to assist me. In my interactions with them, I received enlightenment.
Tony, a tall and wise man. He worked in my home daily for three weeks. His work was exemplary; his tales extraordinarily interesting. Tony's insights helped me to understand what was unimaginable to me. I was speaking of my many observations here in Florida. Racism is among many issues that I think disquieting.
Tony shared a story or two. This intelligent and well-spoken man felt a need to supplement his income. In a Right-to-Work state, such as Florida, there is ample reason to have more than one job. The Economic Policy Institute states. . .
We find that the mean effect of working in a right-to-work state results in a 6% to 8% reduction in wages for workers in these states, with an average wage penalty of 6.5%.However, I digress. That discussion will wait for now.
Tony told tales of working as a delivery truck driver for a large national chain of home improvement and major appliance retail stores. Often, he was scheduled to transport washing machines, dryers, refrigerators, and other domestic devices that typically are considered essential for living.
Upon arrival, a homeowner who may have opened the guard gate for this eloquently speaking man, closed the front door when they actually saw Tony. His skin was dark, the purplish Black color that glistens in the light. Tony saw many a curtain drawn as the van approached a house.
Knowing that a homeowner was within, for he had spoken to them on the telephone or through the intercom moments earlier, Tony would exit the truck and walk up to the home. Gently, as is Tony's nature, he would knock. On the rare occasion, he received a reply, people would state they no longer needed the delivery. Bewildered and not, Tony would turn and return to the warehouse.
Supervisors, back at the store, stated the customer called. They want their merchandise delivered immediately; however, they want a white worker to do the deed. Tony was allowed to "drop" off the appliances at one locale. Literally, he was told to leave the cargo in the driveway, near the sidewalk. The homeowner would find a way to bring the freight into the house and hook it up. Contractual guarantees for workmanship mattered little to these chauvinists. Their fear and assumptions lived large.
On this same occasion, where Tony was told to leave the goods and forget the services, he was confronted with further humiliation. Tony knew that he must obtain the homeowner's signature confirming that he had received the appliances. Tony handed the property-owner his pen. The man refused to touch the writing utensil Tony presented. He dashed into the house and retrieved his own ballpoint. Tony offered his hand, a habitual salutation; however, he knew. He watched as the chap quickly turned, seemingly afraid to be seen with the likes of Tony.
How sad. Tony is terrific! This gentle giant is well read, informed, intelligent, and kind. The quality of his work is as wondrous as he is as a person. Nevertheless, in Florida today, he remains separate, equal only in words. The truth of his predicament is not unique here in the south. The longer I live here the more I learn. I am deeply disturbed. Stephen Collins Foster may have been a great composer of music. It is said that the musician was a man with a mission. He hoped to reduce racism.
Rather than writing nostalgically for an old South (it was, after all, the present day for him), or trivializing the hardships of slavery, Foster sought to humanize the characters in his songs, to have them care for one another, and to convey a sense that all people--regardless of their ethnic identities or social and economic class--share the same longings and needs for family and home. He instructed white performers of his songs not to mock slaves but to get their audiences to feel compassion for them. In his own words, he sought to "build up taste...among refined people by making words suitable to their taste, instead of the trashy and really offensive words which belong to some songs of that order." Stephen Foster was a man with a mission, to reform black-face minstrelsy, then the most pervasive and powerful force in American popular culture.While this may be true, some thoughts were lost in the translation of this tune. Perhaps we might honor the original intent of this anthem, the artiste that created it, and the State that sings this tune.
Might we each sign the petition and work to embrace a truer tribute to the Sunshine State. May we choose a song that represents every region of this beautiful state and all those that reside here. Possibly, if Florida decides to sing another tune, other states will join in. Harmony might become more real than racism. We can only act on our stated principles, separate our selves from ancient prejudices, and hope others will as well.
Floridians sing for their favorite state . . .
Saturday, June 11, 2005; Page A01
Posted by Betsy L. Angert on March 30, 2007 at 02:00 PM in Being Black in America, Black History, Past/Present, Black Men, Communities, Racial Discrimination, Who Writes Our History? , Xenophobia | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
