On racism

A rant...

Yesterday Barack Obama became our president, and I am very proud of that fact. I am one of the many who never thought such a thing could happen in my lifetime. And there's been a lot of press coverage of people exclaiming how it is a new day in our country, one filled with hope. It is, and it is. I even heard the term "post-racial" used on the news today, although the speaker didn't agree with it (neither do I), but instead was attributing its use to others.

But...

Things aren't all rosy yet in the good ol' U.S. of A. yet. The kids have told us about comments from their classmates at the parochial school, which I am sure just echo what they're hearing at home. For months now I have been told and sent "jokes" and flat-out hateful comments about Obama that are blatantly racist. They peaked around election time, then subsided, then resurfaced again this week. Sometimes at my work. Some of it from friends. Even the people that I volunteer with at the food bank (where many of the clientèle are African-American). Sometimes I think they volunteer there only for the white people who are "down on their luck", but "tsk-tsk" in their heads (and sometimes out loud) about the black clients, who obviously "aren't trying hard enough".

I don't like it.

Then there are those who are more careful to couch their language in "color neutral" terms (I have begun to rethink that, too - h.t. Dan and Erika - go read all of them). Oh, sure, they are sophisticated enough to always couch it in terms of wanting "experience" and fearing Obama won't "prove himself" (even while always tacking on the obligatory "although I hope and pray that he does!", which if you've noticed is already becoming like Seinfeld's "Not that there's anything wrong with that!"). Experience. Harrumph. Some of our presidents who supposedly had the best executive "experience" going into the office were terrible at being president (Nixon, Carter, Bush II). Some with almost no experience at all were the best (Lincoln). And I think Obama has a lot more experience than people give him credit for. But I digress.

I am not perfect. I have my prejudices, lots of them. But here's the thing - I don't roll myself up in them and wear them proudly as a badge and feel like I am right to have them. I was raised to believe prejudices are something to be ashamed of, and I am ashamed of mine. So I don't understand people feeling the need, the right or even the want to speak their prejudices out loud. It is like saying in a quiet aside, first checking both ways to make sure no one else is listening, "Hey, I like to molest sheep!", and then grinning and expecting a wink and a nod.

For all our self-congratulation on electing a black president, I predict within six months a wave of news stories on outbreaks of racism in various pockets of the country. I can already tell you there's an "Obama backlash" just from the above, and from a few relatives and friends posting Facebook statuses like "Armageddon" (and meaning it - to some, it is the end of the world...well, their world, perhaps). And for all they talk about it in terms of doctrine and dogma, "experience" and "concern", at the root, its racism. I know it, because I know them. I've heard their jokes over the years, I know how they think about blacks (and Hispanics, and others). They're just good at keeping it under cover unless it's safe to speak "just among us".

Well, your secret is no longer safe with me, whitey. Starting today, I am going to start demanding, not asking, people to quit with the fucking "jokes" around me. Don't tell them to me any more. Don't send them to me any more. You are squatting and shitting on the pride I feel in our country, and towards our new president. You are putting down other humans so you can feel big and stand on their shoulders. You are degrading the office of the President of the United States. You are disrespecting 53% of your fellow citizens who voted for him.

It is un-Christian. It is hurtful. It is unacceptable, unconscionable and ugly. It is injecting tales of fleecy flock fornication into the middle of my day. And from now on I am not going to just blow it off. I am going to make a scene. I might even tell a "dumb inbred cracker" joke for every prejudiced joke I am forced to hear or read. And if I do, please don't be offended. I don't mean any harm by it. It's just in fun. Why, I am willing to be color neutral and think even a white person is capable of change.

Even me.

Peace.