Posted by
Jim Cathcart on Tuesday, April 15, 2008 5:40:39 PM
Today I read an article that got my
emotions rolling. The topic is Racism.
If you don't want to hear alternate
views on this topic please stop reading now.
To me a person's skin color
is simply an easier way to recognize them and it has nothing to do with their
worth or potential. I don't look at people through a filter that starts with
their race or gender or the color of their skin and I haven't in many years.
Though I grew up in a culture where race was a constant issue and much
discrimination was present, I have long since outgrown that world view. But some
folks just won't let racism die. Most of them are in the black
community. No, I didn't say "most of the black community" because only a small percentage of blacks are racists. I said most of the racists are in the black community.
Now, lest you think I'm just ranting and deflecting, look at
my own "white American" background first. I grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas in
America's "South". The use of the "n" word (and it bothers me to have to refer
to it that way) was constant and common. In 1957 when race riots took place at
Little Rock's Central High School, my father was one of the National Guard
officers called to active duty there. I attended Hall High School (with General
Wesley Clark) and remember vividly when the first six black students arrived on
campus.
Later when I was on my own I worked as a bill collector for a
bank and then a finance company and had to go into the impoverished areas of
Arkansas to collect the payments. I've been on the "poor side of town" in the
dark, alone, many many times. I've been in "poor" people's homes on hundreds of
occasions and I know what it is like there. I've also done work in prisons across
the country and have often been alone for hours with groups of inmates. I get it
what the down side feels like.
Really, I know. I can recall a time when,
as a new parent, I had less than two dollars to buy dinner for my family. I have
had to vacate an apartment because I could no longer afford to pay the rent. I
remember not having a car and having to plan my day around the means of getting
to and from work. I've mowed lawns to earn extra money and I've done the dirty
work that most people aren't willing to do. So, I get it as to what it's like to
be broke and to have no special privileges available to me. I've been fat,
depressed and cynical. I've been through US Army boot camp and life's "boot
camp."
I've been humiliated and ridiculed in front of others. I've been
"dissed" by some real jerks. I've had my heart broken and I've been deeply
insulted. But I got over
it.
Calling me a derogatory name (no matter what letter it begins
with) does not harm me, it merely upsets me. Then I let it go. It's time the
black activist community did the same.
The recent flap caused by the
racist anti-American preacher in Barack Obama's church has not made this an issue, it has simply elevated an
existing issue to public scrutiny. There is not and should never be a "black
value system." It can only work to separate blacks from others. You never see
white people connecting over their whiteness, they simply relate to each other
as individuals. Some are respectable and some are despicable but it is not due to their color. If people find something meaningful in common, fine, but skin
color shouldn't be it.
The racists in America are the ones who keep
making race an issue. They are usually not white Americans. Ironically, they are
usually people who go by the title "Reverend." They claim to be operating by a
religious value base, yet people like Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Louis
Farrakhan, Jeremiah Wright and their followers are doing enormous harm to
millions of honorable, noble and worthy black Americans.
Blacks in
America have the best circumstances of any blacks on Earth and most other races
as well. They hold positions of high political power, lead major corporations,
enjoy celebrity status in entertainment and in sports, and count among
themselves numerous respected educators and multimillionaires. Even among the
lower income families; they get more privileges, special services, first
consideration, supportive services, entitlement programs and breaks than any
other group in America.
Certainly they get far more than the whites, who
keep getting blamed for things that were done by now-dead people against other
now-dead people. Well, I say to these activist leaders, GET OVER IT! Stop
carrying around the pains and fears of your great grandparents. The Irish,
Italians, Chinese, Japanese, Jews, Poles, Latinos and scores of others who immigrated
willfully (and some against their will) have all had to deal with prejudice and
discrimination. Yes, the blacks as a race endured more than most but; Somebody
has to be the first to rise above the controversy and stop whining about
hypersensitivity to prejudice. It only stays active when you stimulate
it.
Obviously there are still bigots among whites and people of all
colors and categories, but: overall our systems have evolved, our culture
advanced and our society developed to the point that neither race nor gender nor
age is the barrier it used to be. Can we do better? Certainly, but we don't have
a "racism problem" today when compared to any other time in history. We can
always do better but that's no excuse for keeping racism alive.
I'm tired
of being told that I should feel guilty for things others have done. I'm also
tired of the entire black activist movement discriminating against me for not
being black.
I'm not a Scottish American or a White American, I'm an
American. It's time the black community's self-proclaimed leaders came over to America's side too. Forget
this fabricated allegiance to the country of your long dead ancestors. Respect
your ancestors and enjoy their culture but Be an American if you
choose to live here, and stop insulting those of us of all colors who pay for the entitlement
programs. Honor your heritage, sure, but either be an American or immigrate to
the country you feel connected to. If you tell us that you are an African
American then the first word we hear is African. Stop it or move. Get over the
ugly burden of poverty mentality that is being sold by the racist
leaders.
It's one thing to be broke and without money. It is quite
another to be poor. Poverty as a mindset perpetuates the conditions of poverty.
I've been broke but I refused to live in poverty.
The racists tell us
that the mere act of noticing someone's skin color is a form of "racism."
Bull!
Some claimed that calling Senator Obama "boy" was a racist remark. That's absurd! It is a reference to his comparative youth and implies that he is inexperienced but there is no racial component to it.
They also tell us that the use of the "n" word is a sin. Don't be
silly. It is offensive, yes, but a sin or a hate crime or evil
offense...No.
Hate Crime is another concept of racism. Crime is crime. It is
breaking a law. If it's a felony then have a harsh penalty, but to make the
punishment especially harsh because someone can be labeled "hateful" in their
intent is absurd! It's the ACT that is the crime. We cannot and should not try
to legislate the management of intent. (Though much of our legal community is built on this.) We need to stop trying to control how
people think. Your words and your actions are what make the
impact.
People should be judged by what they do, not by why they do
it.
People should be punished based on their criminal actions, not by their
intent.
People should be rewarded based on what they achieved, not by how
hard they had to work to achieve it. The concept of a "level playing field" is
also silly. There is no way to make all challenges equal for all people. People
are different and forever will be so.
Keep the rules the same for all of us,
so that those of us who have had to work harder to catch up, can in fact do so and know that we did it on our own, not by
getting special breaks due to our race.
It is so frustrating to
witness the monumental waste of energy, money and resources on efforts to
compensate "victims" who weren't even victimized. Someone recently insisted that
the US Government should apologize to all blacks for the slavery of the early
years in our country's history. Well, first, it wasn't our government that was
doing the slaving, it was our people. And second, Abraham Lincoln did publicly
apologize for slavery and he backed it up with the Emancipation Proclamation.
Nobody should be compensating anyone else for their ancestors' suffering unless
direct personal culpability is evident.
So I say to the racist leaders, Let your people go! It is not the whites who
are keeping "black values" alive and preventing people from becoming mainstream
Americans. It is the racists who lead the marches against crimes that weren't
even committed. Check out the percentage of whites victimized annually by blacks
vs the blacks victimized by whites and you will find far more reason for whites to rise up. But there is no public outcry against the blacks. So, come
on, join me. Let's be Americans. No hyphens, no racism, no special deals, just a
group of people committed to a world of peace and freedom. Tell those who would be leaders to stop yelling "Racist!" and start offering hope and direction toward self-reliance.