"You're not scared of black people"

After my lunch meeting, I parked my car in the CityWalk@Akard parking lot and began walking to the front door. A guy at the bus stop hollered out at me that I looked good. Humored and ego a little bit inflated, I smiled, said thanks, and kept walking. He asked me where I was going. I slowed my pace and said I was going into the building. He asked about the building. I stopped and walked closer to him so I could explain.

"It's an apartment complex," I told him.

"For homeless people?" he asked.

Though I wasn't sure where he got that idea, I explained that CityWalk@Akard offers housing to people who are formerly homeless and people with lower incomes.

He asked what my job was. I explained that I am the Director of Community Life and told him that I am supposed to help create activities and services in the building in order to create a vertical community.

By this point, he asked me if I was from here.

"Here?" I asked, wondering if he was talking about my current physical location, my neighborhood, Dallas, or Texas, in general. "No, where are you from?" he continued.

While I was still trying to figure out what location he was referring to, he continued, "Because you must like black people. ...I mean, you didn't keep on walking, gripping your purse close to your side," he demonstrated.

I laughed with him over that comment.

But six hours later, I'm still bothered by it.

From what I can tell, he was a friendly guy who was interested in having a conversation. I'm glad that I had the opportunity to talk to him. However, I'm disturbed by the fact that Q knows the society he lives in is not always friendly toward him. In less than 30-seconds, Q is able to pick up on how someone feels about him and others who look like him. I would like to believe that there's no need for him to make that judgment call on whether or not a certain ethnicity is friendly to people of his skin color. The reality is, it *is* reality. Q was just pointing out the obvious. That's a wake up call.

Facts of Systemic Racism

"I continue to believe that in this country the opposite of poverty is not wealth. I really don't think that's what we're talking about. I think in America, the opposite of poverty is justice." ~Bryan Stevenson

As soon as I heard that quote, I stopped and had to reflect on that. "The opposite of poverty is justice." Wow. It's not wealth we're striving for to keep someone out of poverty. It's justice. That's powerful.

You can watch the entire segment on this week's Bill Moyers Journal.

Since Monday is the anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., the segment takes time to point out his involvement in the Poor People's Campaign right before he was killed. King recognized that how we all deal with poverty was and is an even bigger obstacle than dealing with race, though the two often go hand in hand. I have often heard it said that his fight for justice among the poor is what led to his death.

Poverty and racism are systemic issues. Yet, despite my understanding of that, I often revert to challenging people to take personal responsibility. I tend to believe that my weakness in this area is because I have not had to experience that systemic discrimination and injustice on a personal level. While personal responsibility and how people interact with others is definitely part of it, there must be a deeper understanding of how the problems are ingrained in our society and need to be dealt with in order for us to change course.

On Bill Moyers Journal, Bryan Stevenson and Michelle Alexander do a great job of pointing out how it is so ingrained in the fabric of our existence.

Did you know that...

• In 2004 Alabama tried to get rid of segregation language in the state constitution, and a majority of people in Alabama voted to keep that language in that prohibits black and white kids from going to school together?
• Richard Nixon's Chief of Staff, H.R. Haldeman made it a point to figure out a way to make black people appear to be the problem stating, "The whole problem is really the blacks. The key is to devise a system that recognizes this while not appearing to."
• Over the last 35 years, there haven't been tremendous fluctuations in the violent crime rate in this country, yet we've gone from 300 thousand people in jails and prison in 1972, to 2.3 million people in jails and prisons today. With nearly 5 million people on probation and parole. 
• Black people are 13 percent of the population of this country. They're about 14 percent of the drug users. But they end up being about 60 percent of the people sent to prison.
• If you are a black man, you have a 32 percent chance you're going to jail or prison, but if you live in a poor and/or minority community, urban community, rural community, it could be 60 or 70 percent.
• The rates of drug use are about the same among all racial groups. But also, the rates of drug sales are about the same among people of all different races as well.
• The Reagan Administration actually hired staff whose job it was to publicize crack babies, crack dealers in inner city communities, in the hope that these images would build public support for the drug war and persuade Congress to devote millions of more dollars to the war. 
• In some states, we spend $45,000 a year to keep a 19-year-old in prison for the next 30 years (or $1,350,000) for drug possession, yet we're only willing to spend about $1500-$4500 a year to educate a child in his younger years.

It always amazes me when I hear quotes and statistics that demonstrates the bias in our country. We want to believe that racism is not our problem...that we didn't create it. We want to believe racism is a misconstrued perception by people of color. But the reality is that people of color have seen and heard...and still see and hear...what we overlook because statements like that of Richard Nixon's Chief of Staff wasn't calling me the problem, but was placing the blame on someone else. The fact that Ronald Reagan hired a staff to publicize the worst parts of the inner city kept the focus off of the similar problems in the rural, white area where I grew up.

Though all of the bullet points I stated disturb me, what completely baffles me is why we would be willing to spend $45,000 per year on a kid for 30 years to keep him/her locked up in a cell, but are not willing to invest even half of that in his childhood education. And from being in the inner city schools, I can guarantee that if that much money was spent on high quality learning opportunities, many things would be different for the children growing up in the inner city.

Maggie's Cleaning Service

I went to dinner with one of the college students last night. Now that she's in college, we go to dinner every once in a while to talk and catch up. As she has continued in college, she has found that, unfortunately, most of her friends from high school did not. Though she keeps up with some of them, most have babies now and she doesn't feel like she has a lot of similar interests. I am so impressed with her determination to persevere on her own. She often feels like the lone rider on her trek to graduate from college.

I am in awe of her hard work. Not only does she commute an hour back and forth to Denton each day to attend school at UNT, she also works with her mom cleaning houses and mentoring her brothers and sister. She's the oldest. She wants to ensure her siblings move in the right direction as well so despite her exhaustion, she makes sure to help them with homework, talk to them about college, and help the oldest brother try to figure out what he wants to be and encourage him to find a direction after high school.

When we get together, she often tells me about working for people who have so much money that they don't have to think about if they can afford something. She never speaks with any condescension. As she tells me, it's always with surprise that people can afford stuff at a whim and with no thought about the cost.

Last night as she was talking, she said one day she wanted to hire "Maggie's Cleaning Services" to clean her house. Since I knew she and her mother clean houses, I thought maybe her mom worked for someone else and that was the name of the company. She laughed and said, "No, I joke with my mom and call her Maggie because the people she works for call her that. I guess they think 'Margarita' is too long of a name to say."

We laughed about the ridiculousness of that. Quite honestly, I was rather irritated and appalled. Who gave anyone the right to change or shorten her given name? Why do people think they can do that? Does Margarita sound too Latino for them? I'm guessing 'Maggie' sounds more like a name in their community so they just decide to call her that. How insulting!

I always remember my mom telling me, "I named you Janet. If I would've wanted you to be named Jan or Janice, I would've named you that." I don't like when people change my name for me. I understand an unintentional mistake, but I will correct them if they call me something other than my name.

I'm going to try not to speculate and make comments about why I believe people have shortened Margarita to a more childish sounding name like Maggie. Instead, I'm going to hope they are reading this and have an a-ha moment of how degrading and insulting that is. I hope they will apologize to Margarita and any other people they might have disrespected in that way and make it a point from this day forward to take the time to learn and pronounce each person's given name no matter how different it sounds to them.

Names are important. We were each given a name and unless we decide to change that name, it isn't anyone else's right to change it for us.

Justice of the Peace refuses to marry interracial couple...now resigns

It's the year 2009. Barack Obama, a bi-racial man, has been elected President of the United States of America. As we look back through our history, we can see the events that led up to him becoming president.

School segregation was outlawed in 1954. Some cities (like Dallas) didn't institute it until 1970. Even now schools suffer from de facto segregation, but at least the de jure segregation is over, I suppose.

In 1967, the Supreme Court determined that interracial marriages were legal. This was another landmark decision. No longer were people told who they could and couldn't love.

Despite this fact, 40+ years later a Justice of the Peace in Louisiana thinks that he doesn't have to abide by that Supreme Court decision. Keith Bardwell refused to marry at least four interracial couples in the last 2 1/2 years.

After much publicity and despite his term being up in 2014, Mr. Bardwell has now decided to resign. Thank goodness.

When will we understand that blackface is *not* acceptable??

Remember that Post-racial America series I did here, here, and here? Well, here's another to add to it.

Deadspin.com reports that a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader dressed up in blackface as Lil' Wayne for Halloween. Though I believe Deadspin was reporting it for the sheer idiocy of the act, the question they pose at the beginning of their article speaks to their own ignorance:

"When are people going to learn that you cannot upload photos to your Facebook page if you don't want them to get out?"

Geesh! How do people miss the point so blatantly??

Maybe I'm over-estimating people, but I think we all know that the World Wide Web is the WORLD WIDE Web! We may not think about it as much as we should, but people know that their words, pictures, etc. are accessible. Otherwise, we wouldn't put them on our pages. Whitney Isleib knew other people would see her photos. There would have been no need to post them if others couldn't see them.

The problem here is not that she uploaded the photo (though the picture is nauseating to look at). The problem is that she thought it was ok to go in blackface in the first place!

I'm sure she shared her costume idea with others before going out for the evening. So, my other problem with this whole incident is that no one around her talked her out of the idea!

Whitney obviously doesn't have the social consciousness to know or understand her actions...on the other hand, maybe she does. I mean, really, who doesn't know by now that blackface is not acceptable?? But, it sounds like she also doesn't have friends who are willing to call her on her own ignorance.

I'm sure someone will point out that there were Black people at the same party. I saw that, too. The only thing I can think is that if I were Black, would I point out the racism of your costume or just shake my head and wonder why White people still don't get it. I lean toward the latter.

I'm trying to keep myself from lumping Whitney in with all White people. But when will we learn?? When will we begin taking historical context into account and realizing that no matter what year it is or what crowd of people we are around, some things just aren't acceptable!

The complexities of moving to a post-racial society

I received a tweet from my friend, Shawn Williams at Dallas South.

This is an interesting addition to the story:

911 call about break-in at Professor Gates' home

Puts another twist on the story...and about our (society's) initial assumptions. Moving to a post-racial society is extremely complex and will be a difficult road.

Gates, Crowley, and President Obama's comment

I am not going to commit to a position on the Henry Louis Gates incident this week. My feelings on it are complicated and complex.

When I first heard about the incident, I knew it would be a big issue...at least in the [predominantly Black and Hispanic] communities and circles I'm in. As it started getting more press, I knew it would arouse irritations from the [predominantly White] communities and circles I connect with as well.

I nodded in agreement as I listened to Black friends talk about the issue. Though not to the extent they do, I have gained an understanding of the frustrations and skepticism of the police and White people who assert power.

Though I realize to many of my African-American friends (and possibly some of my White friends as well), it is absolutely ludicrous to say that a White person does not realize they are asserting their power and domineering over someone because of race. It seems ignorant that a White officer who has been commended for training people about racial profiling would then engage in a word battle and arrest someone who had obviously been racial profiled.

The issues are complex. Should the blame be placed on the neighbor who called? The police officer who arrested a man for being upset that he was being suspected of being a thief in his own home? The Black officers who stood by and watched? Should the blame be placed on Professor Gates for asserting his highly acclaimed socioeconomic status over the police officer?

But what about all of those episodes on Jay Leno where they take cameras around to show the absurdity of people standing by doing nothing while houses are robbed, people "kidnap" children, boyfriends are abusive, etc. So what is one to do?? Quite honestly, all of the lawn mowers that have been stolen from my house (about 3) have all been done in broad daylight while I was at work or on vacation. I wish someone would've seen them and done something!

So although it may not be a popular stance, I am in the middle on this.

However, I don't have a problem with what President Obama said. Nor do I have a problem with the frustrated conversations that are taking place...and here's why...

As I talked to a bi-racial friend of mine, she recounted an incident that impacts the way she sees this issue.

When she was 5 years old, a white police officer pulled her dad over. Her dad has very dark skin. She has very light skin and, as a child, had blonde, curly hair. After pulling her dad over, the officer immediately walked over to her side of the car and began talking to her (not her dad) and asking her, "Who is this man?" and challenging the assumption that it would be his daughter. She recalled the look of pain, shame, and hurt on her dad's face as he sat silent and she looked to him for answers. She recalled the anger and tension she felt from her dad as they drove off. She was five. She is forty now, yet she still remembers the incident very vividly.

My friend is usually much more conciliatory than I am. I can't imagine anyone ever saying she is an angry Black woman or a woman with a chip on her shoulder. However, the Gates/Crowley incident brought up very vivid memories for her. What she experienced as a five-year old child shaped her. I cannot expect that to go away. And when it happens, even though we (White people) may think it was an innocent mistake, it doesn't feel so innocent when on the receiving end.

I think the conversations need to continue. We need to talk about and listen to each other. I hope Profeesor Gates, Officer Crowley, and President Obama follow through and actually have that beer together in the White House. President Obama could potentially facilitate and encourage open race relations dialogue that would help us move forward.

Having those conversations...listening to each other...putting ourselves in someone else's shoes...thinking about perspectives from a several different viewpoints... I believe, could begin to change the way we view and make decisions about our nation and our world.

Loving Day

Ever heard of Loving v. Virginia (1967)?

Mildred Jeter and Richard Loving grew up in Caroline County, Virginia. In 1958, they decided to get married. One slight problem. Mildred was Black and Richard was White. State law forbid their marriage, so they went to Washington, D.C. where it was legal to marry interracially.

However, after they married and moved back to Virginia, they were awakened one night by the police and subsequently taken to jail...for the crime of being married.

Though the judge sentenced them to jail for 1-3 years, he agreed to suspend the sentence if they would leave the state of Virginia for 25 years. The Lovings moved to Washington D.C. instead of face imprisonment.

After much hardship of being separated from family and facing racist taunting, they sent a request to Robert F. Kennedy, the Attorney General. Their case was taken up; however, appeal after appeal was denied. After nine years of struggle, their case appeared before the Supreme Court and was unanimously decided in their favor, basing their decision on the 14th ammendment. Chief Justice Earl Warren stated, "Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides within the individual and cannot be infringed on by the State."

To see a map of the progression of states as it became legal to marry interracially, click here.

However, even though the June 12, 1967 Loving decision made it impossible for the states to legally separate these marriages, many states refused to remove it from their books.

In 1998, a clause that prohibited "marriage of a white person with a Negro or mulatto or a person who shall have one-eighth or more Negro blood" was removed South Carolina's state constitution. According to a Mason-Dixon poll four months before the vote, 22% of South Carolina voters were opposed to the removal of this clause that had been introduced in 1895.

In Alabama, it took until 2000 to remove these laws. A referendum was passed that removed this article from the Alabama State Constitution: "The Legislature shall never pass any law to authorize or legalize any marriage between any white person and a Negro, or a descendant of a Negro." ~Alabama State Constitution, Article IV, Section 102 (This section was introduced in 1901.) According to a poll conducted by the Mobile Register in September of 2000, 19% of voters said that they would not remove section 102.

Today, celebrations are held on or around every June 12. See here for some locations, possibly near you.

New approach to college orientation

Sometimes I come across things that seem so common sensical, I wonder why we never thought of it before. Mount Holyoke College's new, unique approach to freshman orientation is one.

As some colleges do, Mount Holyoke offers a special orientation program (purely voluntary) to new minority students that allows them to talk about entering a predominantly White college and the issues they may face and allows them to connect with other minority students.

Though helping minority students adjust may seem positive and proactive, what about educating the White students on interacting with students of color? The approach seems to be a little lopsided.

Mount Holyoke has taken the initiative to take freshman orientation a step further. This year they plan to also have a voluntary orientation for White students as well as for the minority students. During a three and a half day orientation before the regular orientation, White and minority students will talk about race separately and together before joining the four-day mandatory orientation for all new students. The new pre-orientation program will have the name: "Promoting Intercultural Dialogue and Creating Inclusion."

Elizabeth Braun, dean of students, envisions that, "the first day of the program would have the groups in separate sessions, 'exploring their own racial identity and thinking about power and privilege.' Then the groups will have joint and separate programs."

I think it's time we start taking a second look at our approach to minorities, whether in schools (elementary, secondary, or college) or businesses, and begin developing programs that not only help minorities adjust and adapt, but to teach and encourage Whites to do adjust and adapt and learn to interact with people of color. What makes us think that *they* need all of the help??

The Animal Odd Couple

Overcoming our vast differences and accepting each other for who we are. Just something to think about...



"If they can do it, what's our excuse?"

*Not* Post-racial America

Unfortunately, my "Post-Racial America" series seems to be taking over my blog.

This image was spotted in a Barnes and Noble in Coral Gables, Florida.

After researching the incident...

The good thing is the Barnes and Noble store nor it's employees were responsible for the switching of the window display.

The bad thing is someone was. Someone wanted to make their statement.

Here is more information on the incident, found in The Defenders Online.

Need I say again...we are NOT in post-racial America????

*Not* Post-racial America

One after another, I keep seeing or hearing about things that make my jaw drop in complete disbelief. As we talk about this new era of post-racial America, I think we should be aware of the things that are happening that suggest we are not yet in an era of post-racial America. Whether we accept it or deny it, we need to examine it.

It is with that thought that I plan to offer periodic "segments" talking about just what our "post-racial America" is all about. Please pass along anything you might see or hear about that you think people need to be more aware of.

--------------------------------------------------------



Los Alamitos Mayor Dean Grose plans to resign after forwarding "an e-mail showing a watermelon patch on the White House lawn under the title: 'No Easter egg hunt this year.' Grose has apologized and said he wasn't aware of the racial stereotype that blacks like watermelon."

Here is a blog with what I thought was a pretty good assessment of the details: Group News Blog. Below is the letter I wrote to Mr. Grose and sent to his city email at dgrose@ci.los-alamitos.ca.us.

Dear Mr. Grose,

I beg of you to help me understand why in the world, if you were unaware of the racial stereotype associated with Blacks and watermelon, did you think the postcard was so funny that you forwarded it?? Please help me to understand what you thought the watermelons represented.

From your photo, I would guess you are *at least* in your late 40s or early 50s. That tells me that you were probably a young child during the Civil Rights movement when the violence toward Black people, including name calling and derogatory stereotyping, was probably at it's peak. I don't expect that you would have escaped hearing it.

As a 36-year old woman who also grew up in a small town, I didn't realize I had been enculturated with racist stereotypes until much later in life. I didn't grow up during the Civil Rights movement...and it took me until adulthood to really examine myself and realize I had heard the "n-word" several times as a child and began to recall racist jokes that stuck in my mind. But I *did* examine myself and those around me. And I recognized how hurtful words and symbols that were filled with derogation, hate, and violence still impact people.

I am disappointed. I am disappointed in us as White people who grew up in the same country as African-Americans and still refuse to acknowledge what was less than a generation ago for some of us. I am disappointed that we refuse to learn about the history that so affects our present day. And I am disappointed that when these insensitive acts are pointed out to us we refuse to acknowledge our mistakes.

I'm glad we have come to a day where your action has caused such an upheaval that you felt the need to resign--though I don't think staying in the city council is appropriate. Perhaps I should thank you, though. Maybe I should thank you for being so bold as to send out something so overtly stereotypical so that other people can see that we are not in post-racial America.

I respect the letter you wrote to Keyanus Price and truly hope you meant everything you said. I have many friends and family still in my home town who I think, like you, would be embarrassed if something like this got out. However, I also know in those small towns that humor like the postcard you sent is accepted and they see nothing wrong with it. I would implore you to understand that that kind of humor is NOT accepted...whether around White people, Black people, your home town, visible to the world....or anywhere. It's offensive, hurtful, and has no place in our society.

I have hope that the publicity of your actions will cause you as well as other people to learn more about our history and think about how what we say and do affects others.

Sincerely,

Janet Morrison

*Not* Post-racial America

November 5, 2008 was such an amazing day. It was on that day we became "Post-racial America."

I'm so proud of our country and so proud to know that we are no longer a country burdened by race issues. We have truly had a rocky past 200 years. Slavery in the 1800s...race riots in the '20s...black homes burned in the '40s...civil rights movement in the '60s...the last lynching in the '80s...Jasper, Texas in the '90s. The American public has been accused (primarily by Black people) of racism for so long.

But now we live in the '00s...2000s...or whatever you want to call it. And we have gotten past all of that tainted history.

...or have we??



Though the incident referred to in the video happened in October 2008, I felt it was important to let the company know that this action is *still* creating waves and should not be tolerated in any way, form, or fashion. So I followed Tonya TKO's instructions and went to their website at http://www.journeys.com/ to "contact us."

As a result of my inquiry, the company emailed me back and explained that "one of the store's employees created an unauthorized and fictitious customer record, using the racial slur as the customer name and associating it with a generic phone number. While processing a customer return, another employee input the generic number in an effort to shortcut the company's normal return procedure of entering the customer's actual contact information."

Both employees have been fired.

I appreciate the company's action. However, before we get too smug (as one blog I read did) talking about how we've come so far, I think we should remind ourselves that the incident took place. It actually happened. Not 10 years ago. It happened 4 months ago!

Until these types of incidents are NO LONGER taking place, we cannot pat ourselves on the back and say we are in Post-Racial America. Until they are no longer taking place, we don't have the right to tell people they should "just get over it." ...and even if the incidents were to stop tomorrow (which, unfortunately, I don't anticipate will happen), we need to think about the impact that these incidents have had over time...and honestly examine our "just get over it" comments.

I think it's important that we know our history and that we are aware of what's going on today. Too often, incidents like these are blips on the radar screen for White America. We need to be more aware so that when we start to make a "just get over it" comment, we are more aware of why people aren't "just getting over it."

Race dialogue--"you can't go over it, you can't go under it. You've got to go through it."

Meet the Press doesn't have the small segment I want...and I can't figure out how to edit the video...so if you'll let the video load, you can go to 45:05 (near the end) to listen to Michele Norris's comments about Eric Holder's comments I posted yesterday.

I have edited the transcript below the video so you can read her words.

David Gregory falls into the same trap that I mentioned yesterday. By saying that the Attorney General shouldn't speak so openly about race, we reinforce his comments about us being cowards. I appreciated Ms. Norris's points.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

MR. GREGORY: In our remaining moments, I want to spend a couple minutes talking about Eric Holder, the attorney general, first African-American attorney general. And he gave a speech about the national dialogue about race in this country, or lack of thereof, and he used some charged language. And this is what he said.

(Videotape of Eric Holder speaking on Wednesday)
MR. ERIC HOLDER: Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as a ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and we, I believe, continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards.
(End videotape)

MR. GREGORY: And, Al, his point is that the dialogue about race in this country is too stilted and it doesn't happen, and that people are still afraid to have it. Was that the right way to invite people to have that conversation more freely?

MR. HUNT: I think that he's absolutely right on the history. I think he makes a very valid point. I think the attorney general should not be making that point. I think it weakens him in some, some of the tough actions he's going to have to take to deal with race. So I think it was a poor choice of words, even though it's hard to quarrel with his history.

MS. NORRIS: You know, that, that almost--what you just said, though, seems to confirm the argument that he's making, that if he talks openly about race that he can't deal with race. He seems to be saying that we need to talk openly about race. I think if he had said Americans are uncomfortable talking about race...that Americans are skittish of talking about race, we probably wouldn't be talking about it at this table right now.

MR. GREGORY: So, Michele, what happens now? Is, is President Obama, the first African-American president, is he or should he be a catalyst for this conversation? Or rather, does this conversation, in a more open way, have to happen around our dinner tables and in other more casual settings amongst all of us?

MS. NORRIS: Well, you know, I was speaking to--we did a segment on the radio about this this week, and one of the things that was said that I thought was so striking is when someone calls for a conversation like this, people like us sit at tables like this and we have this conversation. But the places where the conversation really needs to happen is where that conversation generally doesn't happen, because it's really difficult to talk about this. It's fraught with landmines. People are afraid of saying the wrong thing or the right thing, so sometimes they don't say anything. It's fraught with anger and resentment and guilt and the need for apologies...

MS. NORRIS: Can I say one thing, though? I think that what, what you see here is perhaps a slightly different view of the need for dialogue. And I hear two very different conversations. And in some ways they're coming from two different camps, from people of color and from Caucasian Americans. And when you talk about the need for, or the move toward a more post-racial society, you don't hear that so much from people of color. And it's almost like that, that ship is heading toward an iceberg, because from people of color what you're hearing more often is let's now have a more open dialogue about race.

MR. GREGORY: Let's not shut the dialogue off because...

MS. NORRIS: ...you can't go over it, you can't go under it. You've got to go through it.

What we don't know can hurt us

Above is the controversial image. A monkey is shot by police as they talk about finding someone else to write the stimulus package.

When I saw the cartoon, my first reaction wasn't as strong as my African-American friends. Because I am White, the image and the association did not and does not affect me like it does a person who is African-American. I don't have the context to understand or have the pain associated with being called a monkey in the most derogatory way. When I was a kid, if we were called monkeys, it was because we were acting silly.

So, with my background and context, I could try to deny that the monkey has anything to do with President Obama. But the monkey in the picture has nothing to do with clowning around...and it has nothing to do with an attack on someone (as some people are trying to connect it with the recent chimp "pet" who turned violent and attacked a woman). The cartoon is very specific in it's comments about about a stimulus bill. The word bubble and the chimp together in a cartoon don't allow us to disconnect the two.

I believe many of us who are White try desperately to deny and refuse to acknowledge our history. The reality is that White people have connected Black people with monkeys for a long time. If we don't believe that, we need to look into our history. As Kyra Phillips (CNN) found out, our history and the connecting of Black people to monkeys is all too real. You can see the of the dialogue with Kyra Phillips, Al Sharpton, and Jeff Johnson of BET here. She found the information in an article written by Rev. Buckner Payne in 1867 called, "The Negro: What is his Ethnological Status?"

We take up the monkey, and trace him...through his upward and advancing orders--baboon, ourang-outang and gorilla, up to the negro, another noble animal, that noblest of the beast creation. The difference between these higher orders of the monkey and the negro is very slight...and consists mainly of this one thing: the negro can utter sounds that can be imitated; hence, he could talk wtih Adam and Eve, for they could imitate his sounds.

I think it's important that we hear what people say. When Black people are telling us it's a racist cartoon, why are we so offended by that? Where does the defensiveness come from? Why not acknowledge their comments and their feelings and seek understanding so that even if we may not understand it, we can at least become more sensitive?

I am very impressed with Attorney General Eric Holder's response toward the cartoon. Yes, he called us a "Nation of Cowards" (which is the soundbyte that has triggered so much emotion) but he also challenged us to start a new conversation.

If we're going to make progress, we have to have the guts...we have to have the determination to be honest with each other.

Mr. Holder wants to make sure the Department of Justice and the Civil Rights division does its job. To do that, he plans to start with his own employees. Mr. Holder thinks it's important...

to not only commemorate Black History, but also to foster a period of dialogue between the races. Our history has demonstrated that the vast majority of Americans are uncomfortable with and would like to not have to deal with racial matters...

View Eric Holder's words (not just his sound bytes) below. I think it's important to hear it from him. He challenges us all to a new level:



As Holder implies, we are scared to have the conversation. We don't want to be charged with racism and we don't want to be indicted as racists. Mr. Holder is not accusing us of either. He is simply challenging us to seek a deeper conversation so that we can move forward with each other.

Our cowardice shows. As I read CNN's The Cafferty File blog, I recognized how our cowardic plays out. He asks:

Here’s my question to you: Do you agree with Attorney General Eric Holder that the U.S. is a “nation of cowards” when it comes to race?

I'm sure he doesn't realize that his question is a cowardly question. But I believe the bolder position Mr. Holder is calling us to is to acknowledge the comments...acknowledge the racism in the cartoon...and begin a deeper conversation. Asking us to side for or against Mr. Holder continues to pit us against one another. A better question would be,

"How have we been a 'nation of cowards' and how can we move beyond that?"

Instead of denying that there's anything wrong, let's open ourselves to ask, "What *is* wrong...with what I just said...with what I just did...with what I just drew?" It's a vulnerable position and the answer may be painful, but I find that people who offer these open-ended conversations aren't trying to hurt us; they are trying to help us see and understand what we can't.

As I watch Eric Holder and observe how President Obama handle different situations I began to notice something. To this point, what we've come to be proud of is when we have shades of brown in high level positions. And there's nothing wrong with that. It's a start. But what I see happening now is a true diversity. President Obama chose people of diverse skin tones, but he has also created a freedom in our country that starts from the top--a freedom to speak and a freedom to challenge what hasn't been spoken about and challenged in the past.

This new dialogue has the potential to challenge us to hear voices that we haven't heard before. It has the potential to challenge all of us to see things differently.

I am looking forward to this new day.

Black studies programs create a White frenzy

I read this story in the Houston Chronicle because I was interested in the topic.

The article was short and didn't offer much for me. Instead, what was more interesting was that it had received 193 comments, the very first one being,

"African American Studies" ???? Are there any "Irish American Studies"???? How about some "Italian American Studies" ???? Courses like this tend to exacerbate racial problems, not help. They tend to promote and perpetuate racial strife. Just read the first few comments and see if you agree.

So, I kept reading. (sigh) Same old stuff.

I guess the internet allows people to say directly and overtly what they think without the concern of looking someone in the eye and speaking to their face. I'm guessing the people who say these things probably don't know any Black people well enough to have the conversation with them anway. In a way, the internet is a good tool for this. Since we are a pretty segregated society, this allows Black people (if they even care to read this stuff) to affirm what they've always known existed (i.e. underlying racism, hatred, and scorn) and possibly even respond.

I don't get it, though.

Why is there so much pent up agression and anger about something as harmless as an African-American studies program? After I had written this blog, I came across another professor who shares my sentiment in his article, When are WE going to get over it?

I don't have a problem with an Irish-American studies program. Evidently, neither does Bridgewater University or New York University. Obviously the commenter and others I've heard with this same type of argument don't bother looking to see there are Irish American and Italian-American studies programs just like there are African American studies programs. Stony Brook University, Queens College, and others offer Italian-American studies. So yes, there are other cultural groups being studied in universities. Most reflect the region where they are located.

Even if there weren't Irish and Italian programs, why do White people get so bent out of shape when things like this come up? How many of these peanut gallery commenters are enrolling in the Irish American and Italian American programs? And why do they immediately begin talking about how if they had segregated themselves like that, they'd have been called racists?

The bottom line is if we incorporated other culture groups into our regular, on-going curriculum for *all* students throughout elementary, middle, and high school, we wouldn't need a program dedicated to the study of a specific cultural group to find out what the people from that group contributed.

And if we truly don't care what those other cultural groups did or didn't contribute, why are we so concerned and why do we raise such a fuss? Are we afraid that we might find out someone other than White people *did* contribute something?

Drunken Negro Cookies

I'm at a loss...

I think I could understand this more if the man openly admitted to being racist. What completely blows my mind is that he (and others...like the ones who made the Obama Waffles), especially in this world of politically correctness, do not seem to recognize this as racism. They do not recognize that their awful caricatures are connected to a ugly past. I guess it should be understandable. It's not their past. But why not at least pay attention to the news and peoples' reactions?!

I shake my head...

Lessons from Gran Torino

SPOILER ALERT!!! If you haven't seen Gran Torino and plan to, you may not want to read this post just yet. If you haven't, I highly recommend you see it. Once you have, please comment and add your own reflections to this list.
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Here are some of my reflections and little life lessons from Gran Torino.

You can "kill" (win over) people with kindness. I was impressed with Sue's ability to see past a grouchy old man and his racist comments. Sue was wise enough to know she had something to offer Walt. He needed the unconditional love her family, and the community, offered him...and he eventually figured out he had much to offer as well.

Look deeper than the surface. Sue did this. Not only did she look past the racist comments herself, but she took Walt into her world to challenge her own family to get past their assumptions about him and challenged him to get past his assumptions about the Hmong. She was a great teacher who saw something more. As a result, his honesty and lack of tact challenged her and her brother to make wiser choices to live up to their own worth and value.

Little things done in and by the community make big changes. In the Hmong culture, family name was important so Tao had to work for Walt to bring credibility back to their name. Though every culture may not see this the same way and neighbors may not provide free labor, I think of my dad who always hired a teenager or two from the community to work on the farm with him. Teenagers are cheap labor and working (especially when we work alongside them) provides great life-lessons--even when just raking leaves, fixing small household issues, or doing a small project.

Doing something for someone else benefits everyone. When Walt couldn't think of anything for Tao to do, he sent him across the street to fix the neighbor's eye-sore house. It was a perfect fit...Tao had to do free labor...neighbor's homes were in disrepair--maybe because of lack of time, lack of money, or lack of knowledge of how to repair...and Walt had time, tools, and knowledge of repairing. Walt was being self-serving because he didn't like looking at the eye-sore, but in the process, he created "community" because other neighbors came to him asking putting in their suggestions for what else Tao could do. The effort became a win-win for everyone.

Sometimes evil is just evil. I kept thinking Walt's efforts with Tao would somehow win over the gang members. I wanted them to change. I hoped for the happy ending. But sometimes that behavior has to be brought out and purged from the community...even if they are relatives and close friends.

Relationships have more impact than retaliation. Purging from the community is hard. Fear is part of it; wanting to believe they can change is another part. Tight-lipped is not limited to the Hmong. But the deep sense of love and concern won over. I know the police don't always come. And even when you can point out who did something, it doesn't always result in arrests. However, I believe that a deep sense of caring and concern for each other, stimulated by a passion for justice, can change that.

I know there are other lessons that I may be missing. I'd love to hear yours.

Fearing the police: Which one will protect you?

Why is there so much hostility and resentment to police in the inner city and from the Black and Hispanic community?

Here is a new cell phone video that has just been released on the Oscar Grant case showing a different police officer punching him in the face before the other officer shot him in the back and killed him:



I don't know what happened to cause the police to get involved. I assume the guys might have been causing some trouble. However, I also know that police are not trained to deal with situations by punching people in the face or by shooting them in the back.

I know before I moved in to the inner city I trusted the police a whole lot more than I do now. Even though my skin is white, just by virtue of living here I have had a few police officers talk very rudely to me. Other times, also because my skin is white, I have had police officers be very kind to me (assuming I didn't live here) and try to help me find my way (even though I wasn't lost).

I don't believe that every police officer is bad, corrupt, evil, mean, or racist. It reminds me of something a [Black] friend told me once. He explained that he knows White people aren't all racist. He made his point by saying that perhaps only one in 10 are; the problem is that you never know which one of the 10 you are encountering.

I think it's the same way with police in our neighborhoods. It's not that we don't like the police or don't want them around. In fact, we know we *need* them to keep us safe. There is a part of us that want the police presence. However, there is the other part of us that wonder and worry...perhaps only one in 10 of the police are racist or corrupt; the problem is, we don't ever know which one of those 10 we are encountering.

Unfortunately for Oscar Grant, he encountered the wrong one (or two) police officers. Incidents like these make the rest of us more skeptical and reinforce our distrust, despite our best efforts to believe the police are here to protect us.

Change has come to the United States of America

Right before the inauguration, I received a text from a friend. She was extremely frustrated at her family's inability to understand the significance of Barack Obama being elected president. I believe the question posed to her was, "What's so historic about this election versus any other?"

Like her, I was at a loss of what to say. How do you explain something so historic to people who truly can't comprehend the significance?? How do you explain that 43 other presidents, the highest leaders of our country, look exactly the same--in gender and skin color--and how that impacts the dreams and ambitions of those who don't look like that?

Understanding our White privilege is hard. Being White, it never mattered to me who was president, what my teachers looked like, what shows were on television, or what dolls I was given. It never mattered because they were all White. There was no reason for me to think about it.

On the other hand, had I been Black, I think I might've been more aware of the fact that no one looked like me. I might not have said anything, but if everything I ever saw were White people in those positions and on the store shelves, I'm sure it would have crossed my mind and affected the way I saw myself in comparison to others. (To help understand and visualize what it's like to be in the minority, check out the movie White Man's Burden.)

Barack Obama's presence in our highest office challenges us to adjust our sense of what is "normal."

Ever tried to find Barack, LaQuisha, Shatavies, or Takisa as one of the names on keychain or a pencil? It's much easier to find Janet, Dave, Susie, or Michael. Will that begin to change?

Watch primetime TV on ABC, CBS, and NBC. How many shows are centered around African-American families? What about other cultures? Now count how many are centered around White families or White people. Will that begin to change?

Some changes are already happening. The Ty company (the one who makes beanie babies) just came out with two African-American dolls named Malia and Sasha. Out of the 30 dolls in the collection, these two are the first African-American dolls. Until now, the company obviously wasn't concerned about deviating from their all-white lineup.

Barack Obama's position as the highest leader of our country causes us to be much more inclusive and representative of our entire country. Barack Obama is intelligent, well-educated, a family man, and one whose many experiences touches upon and connects with every one of us.

Barack Obama challenges the stereotypes our society has created of black men and their families. His presidency is not just about typical presidential duties; it's about how his culture, background, and new generation mindset allows him to interact with people. It is that leadership that sets a tone and makes him a very important and historic president.