Racism is dead or so I've been told by other White people. The Trayvon Martin debacle has somehow caused seemingly sane people to frantically begin grasping at the "there is no racism" straw to make the idea of institutionalized racism go away. To avoid admitting they clutch their purse a bit tighter when a Black teen walks by (because of media bias and embedded cultural bias) than when a White teen walks by they begin throwing out examples of Black on White crime to justify their bias (fail much?). As if somehow this absolves them of any guilt in the inevitable unintended consequences of this bias.
I had been trying to avoid writing this diary because I know it will turn into a rant and somewhere someone is going to end up with a sad. I am sick of being told by seemingly rational people that somehow it's acceptable to be afraid of Black people because some Black people commit crimes. When faced with what I thought to be a reasonable rebuttal such as "So it's therefore acceptable to be terrified of White people because most serial killers are White?" I am told "that's not the same thing". It's not? Hmmm Why is it not the same?
How about this one. I've been raped twice, both times by White males. Should I therefore be free to open fire on any White male that gets too close and startles me? Is that okay and if not, why not? Statistics tell me MOST White women that are raped will be raped by a White man so it seems logical I should fear for my life when they are around, right? What if they seem threatening to me? What if I follow them until they confront me for following them and then I shoot them to death? Is that okay as well? Well, no. As it turns out that is somehow "different" as well to these people. In fact, the only acceptable group of people it seems to be okay to shoot at and be terrified of is Black people and more specifically, Black males. Why is this?
Could it be our society is racist to it's core? Well, I've been told that's not it so what could it be? I wish I knew what would illustrate to these people how their undercover racism is the cause of people like Trayvon being shot down like a dog by overzealous cowards such as George Zimmerman. If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. If you hear racist talk and allow it to stand, you are part of the problem. If you allow racist stereotypes to be used in your presence, you are part of the problem. If you don't correct family members and friends that say hateful, racist, bigoted things, you are part of the problem. The only way to stamp out ignorance is to shine a light on it every single time it rears its ugly head. These people need to be ridiculed PUBLICLY for their bigotry and maybe it will at least subside if not disappear.
When we have a "news" agency calling the Neo Nazis a "Civil Rights Group" we might have a problem as a society is all I'm saying. It might be time for we as a Country to have a long talk about our problems and not behind closed doors. We can make things better but only if we're willing to confront this stuff and stop allowing it to go unchallenged in our presence. With that, I'm done ranting for now. I just couldn't take another day of listening to the stupid without getting this off my chest. Thanks for listening.