Selma anniversary
vinlyn
Colorado...for now Veteran
When I was just 5 years old, my grandparents drove me to Florida to visit my mother. It was on that trip that I saw my first "Negro" (to use the polite language of the time). But I also first came across "Whites Only" water fountains and bathrooms and signs that advertised motels and restaurants for "Whites Only". My grandmother tried to explain that to me, but I just thought it was stupid because "they" are just people. As I grew up in all all-White town in western New York State, I began to see civil rights activists as "trouble-makers". Not because my family was prejudice -- after all, we hosted an exchange student from Kenya -- but because it just seemed odd to us that a group of people would be out causing so much "trouble". But then, on this date 50 years ago, when I was 15, I saw the news coverage about Selma. Watching those protesters just trying to march across a bridge, and being beaten and hosed made me "get" what it was all about. Selma was a turning point for me, and for many in White America. And while progress has been made, there are many miles to go before the destination of freedom and equality are reached.
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I watched Barack Obama's Selma speech on Al Jazeera...
It's a funny (peculiar) thing racism...All the hatred and ignorance a person carries around with them and each time they see or hear the target of their hate produces the unpleasant feelings that flow throughout their body...
I can only pity the racist.... all the wonderful and enriching diversity that they miss out on...
But sadly again it's ones 'conditioning'....They don't know any different=ignorance....
Recently, a black comedian Reginald D. Hunter, (resident of the UK, but originally from Georgia), presented a three-part programme on American music, which he points out in the introduction, is basically ALL southern Music.... so he visited all the southern states, where of course segregation and slavery was the main deal, the part and parcel of life, just two to three generations ago.
I don't know if my ATP buddies can get this, but it may be on youtube...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p02j94nr/reginald-d-hunters-songs-of-the-south-1-tennessee-and-kentucky
programme 1 - Tennessee & Kentucky
Programme 2 - Alabama & Georgia
Programme 3 - Mississippi & Louisiana
He went over with the sadly preconceived idea that he was still going to encounter problems, prejudice, bias, segregation... case in point, in the first programme, he greets two other drivers in an open-top, and wonders if they would have been so friendly had there not been a camera next to him...
as he continued on his journey, he was obliged to re-think his attitude and actually address his OWN bias, prejudice, resentment and hostility, because all the way through, he was treated with respect, affection and openness.
He admitted at the end of the second programme that he was having to take a step back, and review his own attitudes, his own hang-ups - and in a way, he resented having to let go of that, because throughout his life, this 'anger' this inner rebellion, had been what had kept him on his toes.
Sure, he recounted stories of incidents in the past, where specific black people had been subjected to gross injustice, cruelty and horror, had been killed, tortured, murdered and beaten to within an inch of their lives, because of their colour.... but many white people he spoke to, in these states not only felt remorseful and ashamed, but they were apologists for the cruel past of their forefathers....and agreed that it was unforgivably shameful...
It seems as the recession and poverty hit the South, as the black people migrated North in search of work, they dragged prejudice and hatred away from the south, to northern areas instead.... Because Reginald Hunter found scant evidence of continued hostility....
And the music was out of this world, too....
There is plenty of racism alive throughout America (although usually it is more muted than it used to be), and still particularly in pockets of the South, and I don't just mean the Deep South. About 7 years ago I had the opportunity to meet a lawyer who worked in the US Justice Department, high up enough that he was a speaker for Civil Right groups, including the NAACP. He happened to be Black.
One week he had to go down to his elderly parent's home just east of Richmond (hardly the Deep South) and help them with some minor home repairs. He went to the lumber yard (no Home Depot in the fairly rural area) for some materials and the owner was out of the office; he was told to have a seat. He heard a conversation a few minutes later taking place just outside the door: "They's a boy waitin for ya in ya office."
Now, that's an improvement over what the situation would have been like 20-50 years before, but it's still racism.
Or take my own school where, in a region where the Black population was 11.3% Black, but the teaching staff was 1.6% Black -- literally for decades.
No, the KKK is running around lynching people, but the racism is still there, just far more polite and subtle. In fact, while there may not be any more lynching, haven't you noticed what is happening with police - versus - young Black men?
Yes, but hasn't that all taken place in the Northern states? That's what RDH was referring to in his programmes... The hatred and animosity seems to visibly have re-located north, although I have no doubts fairly big 'pockets' still exist in the Southern states...
I've been born and raised in southern Louisiana. My mothers side is creole and have always been in louisiana from what I know. My college teammates were from mostly southern states and a few from California. Racism, from my own experience, has taken a different form and it's subtle. I don't expect to be verbally assisted because most people understand that this will result in an unwanted confrontation... Since people tend to talk back now days
but I do expect to be judged by my natural hair or be asked why my parents gave me such a name? I've already had to work twice as hard... I didn't believe it until it started happening... And in all fairness I think it had more to do with me being a young women more than anything... I just don't think being black helped. There are nice while people lol my sister in law is one of them... But she more than anyone has been able to show me the depths of racism..... They tend to think she's one of them.... And unwillingly show themselves. Ever heard two racist talking in private!? I Personally don't want to...
Well, going back to the first sentence of my post: "There is plenty of racism alive throughout America".
“We need to revitalize the voting rights movement particularly in light of efforts being waged in states like Florida, Virginia, Texas, Ohio, Mississippi and North Carolina that have not only targeted blacks but Latinos and those formerly incarcerated,” said Katherine Culliton-Gonzalez, director of voter protection at the Advancement Project, an organization founded in 1999 by civil rights lawyers in Los Angeles and the District who believed that structural racism could be dismantled by changing public policies." -- New America Media. It's no coincidence that 5 of the 6 states mentioned are southern states.
We had a math teacher who is considered one of the best in the United States...literally. He was a pain in the ass to work with, but without question a superb teacher. But, over time, he had migrated to all gifted classes. He was Black.
My assistant superintendent after a while was a Black woman, ex-military. She wanted our best math teacher teaching the students who were doing the worst. Eventually she backed down due to pressure "from above".
One day I talked with the math teacher about it, and I said, "Don't you realize, ----, that she wants an accomplished Black teacher as a role model for the classes where minority students are more common? Frankly, she's just trying to accomplish an advancement in minority education in our school."
He had an interesting take on it (paraphrased): "Vince, when I came here 15 years ago, hardly any parents of a White gifted child was willing to accept a Black teacher. Now, they are demanding this Black teacher. I think I've done my part over the years for minorities in education, just from a different end of things."
I'm glad to see OU take a firm, quick stand. It also warmed my heart and gives me such encouragment to see the young people of mixed races coming together over this.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/09/us/oklahoma-fraternity-chant/index.html
Saying this is enough of this shit is what Selma was/is about.
Keep exposing this!!!
# EndWhiteSilence
Very brave of the person who taped it and turned it in.
Sour grapes. I find that kind of attitude merely perpetuates separatism. In my opinion he would have been a 'bigger man' if he had just demonstrated dignity and integrity and done his job.
And frankly I don't think colour comes into professionalism.
Let me also just add that I led a group of 16 people out of a restaurant because the waiter informed one of our party (a young black guy) that he could wait to place his meal order until everyone else had ordered first. When I asked the waiter why, he replied "his kind are not my priority."
I strongly complained to the Management the next day and the waiter was dismissed.
My bridesmaids were BOTH of ethnic origin. One from Trinidad and the other from Pakistan.
I am also member of an organisation vociferously opposed to FGM.
So i have strong opinions on prejudice of any kind, and "white privilege" is basically a fuquedup mentality.
I was born, raised, and got my undergrad degree in the rural deep South (Alabama and Georgia). Left there in my twenties but visit often and all my sibs still live there. Funny, when the black and white high schools were merged in my hometown in 1970, there was a year of Real Bad things happening, shootings, threats, policemen permanently patrolling the halls...but by the second year, the students were pretty much fine with it. We had interracial romances, a great marching band, excellent black and white teachers, etc. Not perfect, there were still separate "proms" and such, but it was a great place to get an education. Now 45 years later, I've been able to observe from afar how my classmates, my brothers and friends live and prosper - or don't - in my hometown.
If you thought that after 4 decades, blacks and whites would be more "mixed" in the town, you would be wrong. My old high school is now 80% black, as whites that can afford it send their kids to the private religious schools that have sprung up. The quality of that high school has plummeted, compared to the private and county high schools. I'm not sure exactly why this is, but I'm guessing it's how education dollars are allotted and the high school not having political or community clout. (This is why I'm not a fan of "school choice", as it moves dollars toward the private-school model and promotes divisions.) If black and white kids are not going to school together, you've lost the main generator of racial goodwill IMO.
Churches are still completely separate, racially. This is kind of shocking to me; shouldn't spiritual leaders be on the front lines of reaching out to disadvantaged people, of building a community, etc? Where better place to teach about loving your fellow man and put those Christian commandments into practice? Very sad. Again, another chance lost to combat the racial divisions that hurt us all.
One of my classmates is now the town historian, a well-educated lawyer, chamber of commerce sort of guy. He's a competent writer and posts well-researched pieces about our town on a blog and on FB. He recently wrote about his great-great-grandfather owning slaves, how well the slaves were treated, and the children that "came about" during that time. He so wished he could meet some of those relatives of his! I'm sure he thought he was being magnanimous and open-handed about that. But after he mentioned the children that his ancestor produced off those slaves (i.e., through rape), he went on to pull out that tired old lie about how well slaves were treated, I had about had enough. A historian, of all people, can't pull that shite, not with an audience that includes me :-) So very politely I reminded him of some truths about slavery, and a storm of comments ensured. About half the readers, many of whom had moved away from the south, felt as I did - that whitewashing the facts about slavery in the South can't be allowed. But most who still lived in the town were very, very angry to be reminded of this. I will say that in the end it was a productive conversation; it didn't degenerate into name-calling. I guess that's some progress.
And don't even get me started on the Confederate flag and all the hot feelings attached to its display, where I grew up.
That's a lot of words to describe the dispiriting lack of progress I've observed in that little town, but there you go.
The "Confederate issue" is an interesting one. I was very much opposed to how the Confederate flag is generally used today. Then one day when I was visiting one of the Civil War battlefields in central Virginia, I happened upon a Confederate cemetery where a family was laying flowers on the grave of what must have been...what...a great grandparent or a great great grandparent. While I still find the common use of the Confederate flag today to be highly objectionable, I also see that in some situations the meaning may be family "pride" (for wont of a better term).
That's a very nebulous statement.
In that particular case. I think he was making his colour a central issue whereas his priorities should have been with the pupils, regardless.
Okay, I see what you mean. Although he did so only when someone else would bring up the topic.
I think it's not so much that racism has relocated to the north, I think it's pretty prevalent in a lot of areas. I live in "the north" but our state as a whole is quite progressive and diverse. We are home to a large number of Hmong, Somali and Tibetan refugees. Some of the largest populations in the US. But they mostly congregate in the Minneapolis area. Minnesota is a big state. I live way north, and due to lack of experience and exposure, there is quite a bit of more subtle racism here. It's not blatant like you see in some areas. But the black college guys who come to play sports at our small college (very small, like less than 1000 students) get followed around some stores and things like that. So many people who participate in that kind of behavior don't think they are racist because they don't SAY anything but don't realize their actions betray their claims of not being racist.
When I graduated high school, I spent a few months at the local college and dated one of the football players. It was eye opening. Not only from a point of view of locals who knew me my whole life suddenly following me around because of who I was with, but also the black girls who were super upset that I "stole"one of their men.
Thankfully I grew up with parents who taught us that everyone is just another person. That ski color is no different than eye or hair color. But my growing up in a town where we didn't have a single non-white student until I was in 8th grade and a family with 2 adopted Korean kids moved to town, it did have an effect on me that is hard to break, shamefully. I don't treat or talk to anyone any differently. But several years ago, I took a greyhound to visit my sister in CO. When I boarded my bus in Denver, I was the only white female on a bus full of Hispanic men. It made me uncomfortable. But I think it was more so being outnumbered so strongly in the gender department more than the race difference. It was an experience I'd never had before. It was good to be put in a situation that the minorities here live with every day. Our town probably has about 3500 people, and maybe a dozen minorities between the elementary and high schools, and the college.
If anything, racism against the Native Americans in our area is much greater. There is a small reservation about 30 miles from here and the continued belief and talk that they are savages still persists. Horrific. Comments like "see those kids at the playground who are being all wild? They are Indians. No wonder they can't behave, it's built into their genes to act like wild animals." Those kinds of comments are common
The Southern Poverty Law Center (which I used to be a member of) has just posted a study about the topic we are discussing, and as has been mentioned here, racism is still alive and kicking...perhaps just not kicking quite so hard:
http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/10/us/southern-poverty-law-center-hate-group-report/index.html
Bumped.
I understand some people here may not be experiencing/seeing racism in their parts of the world....but I will keep shouting...it's happening here!
Racism is taught....and it's still being taught. This happened right here in Memphis....In the same school age group as my youngest....This is the kinda stuff that goes on behind doors but makes it out...
'A young girl wrote her friend a letter explaining she couldn't go to her birthday party because she's black.
The children are students at Highland Oaks Elementary, but as disappointing as the note is, civil rights activist Lasimba Gray said hopefully this turns into a teaching experience....
"When parents run across racism that's a good moment to teach tolerance but more than that to teach understanding to appreciate each other and celebrate our diversity," Gray said.'
This article has a pic of the letter....notice the small child 'explain'...it's not bec she's raciest.
http://wtvr.com/2015/03/17/birthday-letter/
Similar issues here in Australia with the indigenous people.
Steps have been taken but there's still a hell of a long way to go.
I recently had an argument with a friend of mine as he thought it was ok for a white person to refer to an indigenous person as an "ape".
Similar thing when I lived in NZ. On a breakfast radio station the announcers were wondering why an Australian cricket player (of African descent) was upset about an Indian player calling him a "monkey".
Some people just don't get it