“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
George Santayana, The Life of Reason, Volume 1, 1905 [1]
I… am an American. I’m not German, Polish, Irish, Scandinavian, Russian, or British. I’m not Nigerian, Egyptian, Bengalese, or South African. I’m not Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, or Indonesian. I’m not Puerto Rican, Cuban, Jamaican, or Dominican. I’m not Syrian, Lebanese, Iranian, or Pakistani. I’m not Columbian, Brazilian, Argentinian, or Peruvian. I’m not a Cherokee, Menomonee, Seminole, or Navajo Indian. I’m not Australian, Mexican or Hawaiian. I am an American.
My skin color is brown. Other Americans consider me an African American, but that is misleading. Neither I nor my parents or grandparents were born in Africa, nor do I speak an African dialect. I do not decorate my house with African artifacts, because I have no reference for nor am I familiar with African culture. I’m not African. My ancestry, on the other hand, is rooted in Africa and the Americas. I am a mixture of Algerian, Moroccan, Trinidadian, and American Indian (Choctaw/Chickasaw). Despite this, other Americans call me an African American. It’s what I have to put on applications and other important documents when race is considered. I prefer Black, personally, but it doesn’t really matter, because when it all boils down, I… am an American.
That is also misleading. For me to say that race – primarily in America – doesn’t matter, just simply isn’t true. What we call race actually matters a lot, and to a multitude of people. Theoretically, it’s not supposed to matter but it does, and more often than not, it makes for an uncomfortable conversation. For a period of years race was not often spoken of in public media venue. Because of this, a large majority of people in the United States felt that the problems with race were over. A large majority…
However, a large majority of the minority populace of the United States have seen things differently, but sometimes, when you’re a minority, you lack the voice to air what concerns you. But, thanks to honest reporting, the truth is beginning to be exposed for what it is.
Perception is a really big deal, though. I remember when I first heard about the ideology of a post racial America. The first question I had was, post racial for whom? And then, what would give anyone that idea? Because America has, for the first time in its history, a Black president? That doesn’t make us post racial. It does mean that some people were ready for a change in their personal ideologies and it did signify advancement in our past work on race as a nation.
But then all the hidden and suppressed racism reared its ugly head. During President Obama’s first term, it showed up through dog whistle tactics [2]. Some Americans went all out. Every type of stereotype was played upon. They questioned his citizenship [3], and they associated him with known terrorists because of his name [4]. They questioned his leadership ability. They refused to acknowledge his efforts to find and kill Osama bin Laden (giving all the praises to the military members whom he commanded. Well that’s like not giving bin Laden credit for 9/11 because he didn’t fly the planes, despite the fact that he gave the order to carry out the mission) [5]. The majority leaders in Congress made it known that they would make a concerted effort to block everything he proposed to help the nation so that he would be looked at as a failure [6] and they pretty much did just that.
Their plan didn’t work because Obama was elected to a second term. When that happened, the frustration from conservative pundits overflowed [7]. There was outright racism all over the usually moderate media news airwaves. Cyberpunk cowards, afraid to use their real names, slung racist epithets all over the Internet [8].
But this is not about President Barack Hussein Obama. His mention is only an example of where we are today. It is my personal assertion that immediately after the economic state of America, the nations biggest challenges are race related. Admittedly, I probably feel this way because I’m a person of color and because of my color, I see race in pretty much everything. I wasn’t always like this, but after being a victim of a race related hate crime that almost cost me my left eye and/or possibly my life, I began to see what my eyes had been previously trained to ignore. Circumstances of this nature will do that, I guess.
I have lived in urbanized areas all my life, where there were always people of color around, be it Black, Latin or Asian people. Although most of the White people moved out of the inner city with the onset of redlining and block busting, which caused white flight and the erosion of the tax base as businesses went with them, I still had plenty of contact with White people. They were my teachers, doctors, etc., and I was bused out to the suburbs to a predominately white high school.
Still, I don’t have a reference for living in an all White community, where there is very limited contact with people of color, so I can only imagine what that’s like. In that regard, I guess people of color and those all-White communities have a lack of reference in common. Segregation and separation will do that, I guess.
Having said that, I get bent out of shape whenever I hear a phrase like playing the race card. Racism can’t be excused away into simplicity. Unequal opportunities in this day and age can’t be explained away by the playing of a card game. This is definitely not a game. A friend of mine put it in perspective for me in words I wish would have come from my own mouth:
“To those who would claim that people of color are using a ‘race card’ I would say.... Let’s look at whose card kept them out of the American system of slavery, whose card kept them out of redlined districts, which card holders sat at the front of the bus, and which card got you VA paid home loans in the 1950's and college educations after World War 2, which card holders had their own schools and colleges that were paid with EVERYbody's taxes but only certain card holders could attend, who cards got them hired for jobs, which ones could guarantee membership in trade unions while keeping non-card holders out.....I could go on and on and on and on..... But heck, I need to go and find myself a, ‘I'm in the white people club’ RACE card!!! Holding the BLACK card hasn't gotten me shit......”
That’s a good summation of what some of us (people of color) feel when we hear that race card phrase. We know the truth of how the White community got at least a 200-year jumpstart on success. Yet when a few of us (people of color) succeed, we have to hear about how we wouldn’t have if it hadn’t been for affirmative action and the help of taxpayers. In this sense, the term
taxpayer always feels like it’s a dog whistle code for White people, because the dog whistled 47% of Americans who don’t work and just want “free stuff” (which sounds eerily similar to “welfare queens”) always feels like people of color. In social justice academia, we call this
blaming the victim.
And as far as the talk of eradicating affirmative action goes, without White and governmental establishments being threatened with losing federal funding – because, of course, when they had the chance on their own they refused – minorities would have never been given opportunities to rise out of inevitable, planned poverty. I wonder if the people who argue against affirmative action really believe that America has become a place where hiring practices and other areas where discrimination is critical will be distributed fairly. I can’t see that happening, given the way the corporate media has portrayed people of color today. Perception is still paramount and affirmative action is still a relevant necessity for people of color [9]. As it stands, White women are still benefitting more from President John F. Kennedy's 1961 Executive Order 10925 and President Lyndon Johnson's 1965 (and 1967 revision) Executive Order 11246 [10], so even in that regard, people of color are still minorities.
I will reiterate that I don’t have a reference for living in a one-racially ethnic world. Although I have lived in decent communities and neighborhoods, I can’t say that I know what it’s like to live in an all-White, suburbanite “...All-American town [11].” How can I have been when the only other time I was considered to be all-American was on those occasions when I left the country. All other times, I have been an African American. Not beating a dead horse; I’m just saying…
But when it comes to terminology, I guess White people feel the same way when they hear the term racist. The difference between the two terms – playing the race card and racist – is that theoretically, playing the race card has little validity and is used mostly as a defense for being racist. On the other hand, racism can be proven in almost every major realm of American society. It’s unfortunate, but true.
Contrary to what this appears to be, this is not a frontal attack on White people. This is an address and an introduction to a series on race and prejudice in America. I believe that when people say that there is no racism in America, it comes from one of five misunderstandings: 1. Racial apathy. 2. Racist denial. 3. A lack of reference. 4. Racial naivety. 5. A lack of education.
I personally believe that the lack of education may be the worst of all of these examples. Those who don’t know because it’s not taught in school are the ones who may benefit the most from an education. If we do not educate ourselves and begin to think critically, we will continue to find ourselves in a divided nation that cannot move forward, one that will continue to repeat old patterns and ultimately, mistakes. I can start the educational process here.
On the collegiate level, when the professor presents something, it’s expected that the information presented will be doubted. That’s why professors send their students out to do research, so that they may discover the truth for themselves. That’s how to initiate the critical thinking process and that's how students begin to learn. As an educator, I feel it is my mission to educate, so I will do what my research has allowed me to do… educate.
References:
1. Dictionary.com (2012). “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” Columbia World of Quotations. Source location: Columbia University Press, 1996. Retrieved from: http://quotes.dictionary.com/....
2. Ifill, Gwen (2011). Dog Whistle Politics: You Talking to Me? Gwen’s Take, PBS, May 20, 2011. Retrieved from: http://www.pbs.org/...
3. Rizo, Chris (2008). Obama citizenship question goes to U.S. Supreme Court. Legal Newsline Legal Journal, October 26, 2008. Retrieved from: http://legalnewsline.com/...
4. Joyner, James (2008). New Yorker Obama Terrorist Cover. Outside the Beltway, July 14, 2008. Retrieved from: http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/...
5. Harnden, Toby (2012). SEALs slam Obama for using them as 'ammunition' in bid to take credit for bin Laden killing during election campaign. Daily Mail, April 30, 2012. Retrieved from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/...
6. The Associated Press, (2010). GOP leader's top goal: Make Obama 1-term president: Sen. McConnell takes hard line, aims to cut down health care law. MSNBC, November 4, 2010. Retrieved from: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/...
7. Manuel-Logan, Ruth, (2012). 10 Crazy GOP Meltdowns After Obama’s Re-Election. News One, November 15, 2012. Retrieved from: http://newsone.com/...
8. The Associated Press, (2012). Obama election spurs race threats, crimes: From California to Maine, 'hundreds' of incidents reveal racism in America. MSNBC, November 15, 2012. Retrieved from: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/...
9. Minority Resources, (2012). Affirmative Action Statistics. Retrieved from: http://www.minorityjobs.net/...
10. Nelson, Sophia A., (2009). The Real Affirmative Action Babies: Why white women are the real winners in affirmative action. The Root, August 3, 2009. Retrieved from: http://www.theroot.com/...
11. Wise, Tim (2001). School Shootings and White Denial. AlterNet, March 5, 2001. Retrieved from: http://www.alternet.org/...