I need to chime in.
I think it goes without saying that Imus is an old, crusty, white dude who has an ugly history of saying horrible things. He should be fired. That he even was on the air is amazing to begin with. I mean have you ever listened to his show? Don't worry, nobody does.
Okay. So, here's my concern. Discussing race is hard. Us white folks of the Gen X age group were raised to think that the color of a person's skin shouldn't matter. Or did it? We had lots of mixed messages by well meaning adults. Some of the adults told us to ignore it. Some told us nothing. And others, and here is some brutal honesty, had the attitude of "Black people are fine. Just don't date one." Is it any wonder that we grew up a bit confused?
So, as we ventured out in the world and made friends with people from all over the globe, we decided to try that "color blind" thing. And one day we said we were. (Ed. note: By "we" I mean "I" and by "our friend" I mean "Sheril").And if we were lucky, our friend looked at us as though we were the stupidest human alive. And maybe that friend said something like:
" Are you fucking stupid? I'm a big, black woman with a gap. Don't do me any favors."
And then we learned that saying we're color blind is sort of like saying, well, we're fucking stupid I guess.
This began a 5 year education in the world of race and culture clash. I worked in a tiny little box of an office with people of various backgrounds, races, you name it. I learned a lot. And therein lies the trick. I was lucky to be around the kind of people whose brutal honesty opened my eyes. They made me see me. As a whitey. See me, in this world, in this time as having my own set of prejudices and ideas about other cultures and races that I really never knew were so ignorant. I was ignorant. I didn't mean to be. In fact, I hated that I was. It made me suddenly pretty sensitive to race. After a while, I got over it. I learned some valuable lessons and got to laugh at myself.
I became a better human by these conversations. I became a better mother. A better friend. Not just because we had conversations about our differences, but mostly because I learned how much we were alike. I know that sounds sappy and sort of obvious, but it's the truth.
The recent rash of outrage over racist and ugly statements by various "celebrities" is cause for concern. And here is why I worry. I worry about an atmosphere of fear of saying the wrong thing is on the make. Often times, saying the wrong thing and later being corrected, is a learning opportunity. The less we say, the less we discuss, the more we're not learning. Being afraid to say something for fear of upsetting an entire population of people is un-American. While I certainly don't condone overtly racist comments, I can't help but wonder but the fallout will be.
In this new and hyper-sensitive time of enlightenment we're stunted. And we must resist this. We need to keep the conversations open. The other day my daughter asked me, because she honestly did not know, what "nappy" was. She thought the girls playing basketball were tired!!! LOL! Had I not had my master's class in race relations, I would have stuttered in answering. I would have been embarrassed by the question. Really, I would have. Stupid isn't it? So, I just answered pretty plainly. I followed up with, not only was this comment towards some of the finest athletes in our country racist, but it was misogynistic too. These women worked their asses off and all this idiot has to comment on is their hair and that they were whores.
Women across the board should be as pissed off as the African-American women and men. To achieve the pinnacle of your career and have it overshadowed with a comment like this is a crime. Shut off his microphone and demand better from those on the airwaves. Demand better from our kids. And deliver better from ourselves. Learn, teach, talk. Peace.
Okay. So, here's my concern. Discussing race is hard. Us white folks of the Gen X age group were raised to think that the color of a person's skin shouldn't matter. Or did it? We had lots of mixed messages by well meaning adults. Some of the adults told us to ignore it. Some told us nothing. And others, and here is some brutal honesty, had the attitude of "Black people are fine. Just don't date one." Is it any wonder that we grew up a bit confused?
So, as we ventured out in the world and made friends with people from all over the globe, we decided to try that "color blind" thing. And one day we said we were. (Ed. note: By "we" I mean "I" and by "our friend" I mean "Sheril").And if we were lucky, our friend looked at us as though we were the stupidest human alive. And maybe that friend said something like:
" Are you fucking stupid? I'm a big, black woman with a gap. Don't do me any favors."
And then we learned that saying we're color blind is sort of like saying, well, we're fucking stupid I guess.
This began a 5 year education in the world of race and culture clash. I worked in a tiny little box of an office with people of various backgrounds, races, you name it. I learned a lot. And therein lies the trick. I was lucky to be around the kind of people whose brutal honesty opened my eyes. They made me see me. As a whitey. See me, in this world, in this time as having my own set of prejudices and ideas about other cultures and races that I really never knew were so ignorant. I was ignorant. I didn't mean to be. In fact, I hated that I was. It made me suddenly pretty sensitive to race. After a while, I got over it. I learned some valuable lessons and got to laugh at myself.
I became a better human by these conversations. I became a better mother. A better friend. Not just because we had conversations about our differences, but mostly because I learned how much we were alike. I know that sounds sappy and sort of obvious, but it's the truth.
The recent rash of outrage over racist and ugly statements by various "celebrities" is cause for concern. And here is why I worry. I worry about an atmosphere of fear of saying the wrong thing is on the make. Often times, saying the wrong thing and later being corrected, is a learning opportunity. The less we say, the less we discuss, the more we're not learning. Being afraid to say something for fear of upsetting an entire population of people is un-American. While I certainly don't condone overtly racist comments, I can't help but wonder but the fallout will be.
In this new and hyper-sensitive time of enlightenment we're stunted. And we must resist this. We need to keep the conversations open. The other day my daughter asked me, because she honestly did not know, what "nappy" was. She thought the girls playing basketball were tired!!! LOL! Had I not had my master's class in race relations, I would have stuttered in answering. I would have been embarrassed by the question. Really, I would have. Stupid isn't it? So, I just answered pretty plainly. I followed up with, not only was this comment towards some of the finest athletes in our country racist, but it was misogynistic too. These women worked their asses off and all this idiot has to comment on is their hair and that they were whores.
Women across the board should be as pissed off as the African-American women and men. To achieve the pinnacle of your career and have it overshadowed with a comment like this is a crime. Shut off his microphone and demand better from those on the airwaves. Demand better from our kids. And deliver better from ourselves. Learn, teach, talk. Peace.
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