Racism in America
Recently some of my readers may have noticed a bit of a back and forth I had with Christy in Utah. Christy is a racist, which it only took 3 back and forth comments for her to admit. Christy initially responded to my post The most dangerous people in America - 11.4.2007.1, seen at Black & White Blog – where I am a co-author.
You can read the commentary there or look at my post Reader comment: Christy in Utah to see what was said.
I want to point out Christy for a reason. It’s not to embarrass her, or to point out her lack of reading skills, illogical thought, repressed thought processes, or her complete lack of knowledge on history and historical fact. At the same time my comments are not to claim that all Whites are equivalent to the pitiful life that Christy lives. But there are bigger issues to be seen.
Christy, and those like her, live in a small world. They avoid fact or events present around them. They feed off of negative stereotypes kept alive by the news and major media. They cling to half-truths and misconceived ideas like manna from heaven. Their insistence on anyone not like them being inferior and subordinated is cult-like.
I have read how many believe that racism does not exist anymore in America or the world. I recall how Nick, the son in Ice Cube’s groundbreaking television show Black.White., states that racism is a problem of the past – something he believes wholeheartedly. I can remember too many discussions with 20-somethings across America that share his view, and believe that the use of 1 hateful word can be changed because they have no understanding of the actual meaning of the word.
But the comments of the bile spewing Christy prove my case more than anything I can say. It is people like her who will not see the lack of existence of people of color on television programs, in movies. It is these people that strive to create problems or allow other problems to fester.
Christy believes that what one group of Americans does have no effect on her. Imagine that. Imagine if the 60% of the military that is non-White just stopped protecting the nation. Imagine if AIDS was never investigated because some thought it only killed gays or the non-religious. Imagine if the over 1/3 of the nation that is non-White just stopped working or buying goods – as racists like to believe. The effect on Christy, other racists, and every single person in America would be enough to destroy this nation in days.
Christy has issues, and I’m sure she would be loved by the KKK – except that she is Jewish and they believe her to be as vile and non-White as she believes Blacks to be. But what can be done about such stupidity? What can we do to help backwards individuals that think in the 17th Century but live in the 21st?
I touch on difficult topics in my blogs and posts. I address the realities in America that the media and daily social interaction try to shield some Americans from. Sometimes that means placing the sordid past of America in front of my readers so that we can see that the old wounds have never healed. Sometimes it means I take to task the Black community for glorifying base behavior. And more often it means that I will highlight the venom in the actions and inactions of the media, whether that is in movies, video games, music videos, books, television shows, the news, the internet and/or other blogs and blog posts.
Why am I mentioning this? Because I made a mistake. I allowed myself to succumb to the pestilence that Christy represents and delve into the slime she habitats. It’s one thing to correctly put a stupid petulant racist in their place, providing them knowledge and facts that they must either deal with or consciously avoid. It is another to devolve that conversation into a personal commentary that is anything but the purpose of this blog.
You my readers are accustomed to better. I strive to provide better, even in the face of racists – Black, White, American, international, religious or whatever.
I am not ashamed or repentant of what I said about Christy and any racist like her. I stand by my words and their meanings, even if those kinds of minds are incapable of comprehending them. But I’m not here to commit flame wars.
And there is a lesson to he had in all of this. Read the comments I wrote and the response by Christy. Note the lack of comprehension, the refusal to understand fact (actually the direct statement by Christy that she throws out facts that dispute her thoughts). See the real enemy of America, racism in its less obvious face. Because it is this kind of undercurrent of thought that permeates our society and poisons our future.
Christy is weak, like most racists. They hide themselves in shadows and corners, only brave in large numbers or when they are protected by the ambiguity of the internet. They cannot fathom a world shared with anyone but themselves and those that look like themselves. They are cowards, afraid of the world filled with people that aren’t like them at all.
Racists are not that far from radical fanatics. They too live in a world they cannot fathom. They to would destroy anything not akin to their beliefs. They too poison the very ground they stand on.
So if my comments and posts dealing with Christy say anything I hope it points out that. Racism, and all forms of irrational hate, not only exists in America it festers. It has not died but waits for a time when we are distracted, seeking to attack us like vultures and carrion feeders. Like a parasitic mold they hold onto society, weakening it, decaying its life essence.
Knowledge and patience are the keys to defeating such stupidity and fanaticism. Great men like Dr. Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi had both. I am merely a man and my reserves of both are far more limited. But I can hope that my blogs and posts can help. That is the intent.
But I want to ask you my readers, what do you think? What is the best way to deal with a racist and/or fanatic? What words would you choose what course of action? And how might we Americans use moments like this to unify in greatness, rather than the scum that is the breathe of Christy and her ilk?
You can read the commentary there or look at my post Reader comment: Christy in Utah to see what was said.
I want to point out Christy for a reason. It’s not to embarrass her, or to point out her lack of reading skills, illogical thought, repressed thought processes, or her complete lack of knowledge on history and historical fact. At the same time my comments are not to claim that all Whites are equivalent to the pitiful life that Christy lives. But there are bigger issues to be seen.
Christy, and those like her, live in a small world. They avoid fact or events present around them. They feed off of negative stereotypes kept alive by the news and major media. They cling to half-truths and misconceived ideas like manna from heaven. Their insistence on anyone not like them being inferior and subordinated is cult-like.
I have read how many believe that racism does not exist anymore in America or the world. I recall how Nick, the son in Ice Cube’s groundbreaking television show Black.White., states that racism is a problem of the past – something he believes wholeheartedly. I can remember too many discussions with 20-somethings across America that share his view, and believe that the use of 1 hateful word can be changed because they have no understanding of the actual meaning of the word.
But the comments of the bile spewing Christy prove my case more than anything I can say. It is people like her who will not see the lack of existence of people of color on television programs, in movies. It is these people that strive to create problems or allow other problems to fester.
Christy believes that what one group of Americans does have no effect on her. Imagine that. Imagine if the 60% of the military that is non-White just stopped protecting the nation. Imagine if AIDS was never investigated because some thought it only killed gays or the non-religious. Imagine if the over 1/3 of the nation that is non-White just stopped working or buying goods – as racists like to believe. The effect on Christy, other racists, and every single person in America would be enough to destroy this nation in days.
Christy has issues, and I’m sure she would be loved by the KKK – except that she is Jewish and they believe her to be as vile and non-White as she believes Blacks to be. But what can be done about such stupidity? What can we do to help backwards individuals that think in the 17th Century but live in the 21st?
I touch on difficult topics in my blogs and posts. I address the realities in America that the media and daily social interaction try to shield some Americans from. Sometimes that means placing the sordid past of America in front of my readers so that we can see that the old wounds have never healed. Sometimes it means I take to task the Black community for glorifying base behavior. And more often it means that I will highlight the venom in the actions and inactions of the media, whether that is in movies, video games, music videos, books, television shows, the news, the internet and/or other blogs and blog posts.
Why am I mentioning this? Because I made a mistake. I allowed myself to succumb to the pestilence that Christy represents and delve into the slime she habitats. It’s one thing to correctly put a stupid petulant racist in their place, providing them knowledge and facts that they must either deal with or consciously avoid. It is another to devolve that conversation into a personal commentary that is anything but the purpose of this blog.
You my readers are accustomed to better. I strive to provide better, even in the face of racists – Black, White, American, international, religious or whatever.
I am not ashamed or repentant of what I said about Christy and any racist like her. I stand by my words and their meanings, even if those kinds of minds are incapable of comprehending them. But I’m not here to commit flame wars.
And there is a lesson to he had in all of this. Read the comments I wrote and the response by Christy. Note the lack of comprehension, the refusal to understand fact (actually the direct statement by Christy that she throws out facts that dispute her thoughts). See the real enemy of America, racism in its less obvious face. Because it is this kind of undercurrent of thought that permeates our society and poisons our future.
Christy is weak, like most racists. They hide themselves in shadows and corners, only brave in large numbers or when they are protected by the ambiguity of the internet. They cannot fathom a world shared with anyone but themselves and those that look like themselves. They are cowards, afraid of the world filled with people that aren’t like them at all.
Racists are not that far from radical fanatics. They too live in a world they cannot fathom. They to would destroy anything not akin to their beliefs. They too poison the very ground they stand on.
So if my comments and posts dealing with Christy say anything I hope it points out that. Racism, and all forms of irrational hate, not only exists in America it festers. It has not died but waits for a time when we are distracted, seeking to attack us like vultures and carrion feeders. Like a parasitic mold they hold onto society, weakening it, decaying its life essence.
Knowledge and patience are the keys to defeating such stupidity and fanaticism. Great men like Dr. Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi had both. I am merely a man and my reserves of both are far more limited. But I can hope that my blogs and posts can help. That is the intent.
But I want to ask you my readers, what do you think? What is the best way to deal with a racist and/or fanatic? What words would you choose what course of action? And how might we Americans use moments like this to unify in greatness, rather than the scum that is the breathe of Christy and her ilk?
Labels: AIDS, Gandhi, Ice Cube, race conflict, race in America, Reparations for Slavery, utah
posted by M. Vass | 8:54 PM
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