Michael Rabbit, Chicago Tribune, April 27, 2009
I grew up in a racially mixed neighborhood in St. Louis. I read “Black Like Me,” by John Howard Griffin, in high school. Still, I didn’t always think too much about how life was different for African Americans. As an adult, I moved into different neighborhoods that weren’t as diverse as where I grew up. So I felt a need to reconnect with people of other races. I found a great opportunity through the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, which began workshops on racism several years ago for its parishes after Lenard Clark, a black child, was brutally beaten by white assailants and the case made national news.
Through attending these workshops, I began to learn more about the black experience in America through peoples’ stories. This fed my desire to continue learning and become more active on the topic of racial equality. I became more aware of how important it is to understand history and the role of race in society.
I realized that whites, in general, have the privilege of choosing whether to be “color conscious.” White people can go through life blissfully ignorant of their race, and talk about being “colorblind,” while people of color (particularly African-Americans) are reminded of their color (often unfavorably) through their daily life experiences. For African-Americans, being conscious of color is an everyday reality. This powerful quote from author Robert Terry seems to sum it up: “To be white in America is not to have to think about it.”
I often hear people say, in a very well meaning way, “I don’t see color.” What they are actually saying is that they don’t see a person’s history, culture, and experiences. “Colorblindness” not only means supporting the status quo of the “default” white view of the world, but the existing white institutional control of power and privilege as well. In effect, people of color are asked to release their racial identity, and adapt to the white norm.
If we ignore racial and ethnic identity, then we perpetuate the status quo, in which racism is built into our structures. The colorblind approach also perpetuates the false belief that racism is no longer a problem. The wide racial gaps in education, employment, income, wealth, health, and housing, along with the persistent bias in the justice system, make a mockery of pronouncements that the “dream” has been realized and that America is now “post-racial.”
Consider this number: 537—it’s the approximate number of years the Institute for Policy Studies estimates that it will take for blacks to reach income equality with whites if the income gap continues to close at the same rate it has since 1968.
The legacy and impacts of slavery, segregation, unequal education, and housing discrimination lingers. Yet when these disparities and other examples of racial injustice are brought to light by leaders in the black community, the knee-jerk reaction too often is that the race card is being used. That may be the case in some instances, but typically not. It would help matters for us to get better at discerning the difference.
We also spend too much time talking about whether someone is “racist” and not enough time talking about institutional racism and white privilege. Racism is too often defined as individual acts of prejudice instead of something that is really much more complex and systemic.
Racism is a social system in which the power of one race dominates and oppresses other races, and in America that power for the most part remains in white hands, Barack Obama’s historic election as President notwithstanding. But the conversation that we now engage in too often is simplistic. It’s time to analyze race within the context of history and data, instead of fear and stereotypes, and try to reach people who are open to a deeper understanding of racial issues.
This is not about race-baiting, political correctness, guilt or blame, as is so often alleged when people engage in conversations about race. It’s our moral responsibility, and not just for people of color. Indeed, confronting and eliminating racism is everyone’s responsibility.
Original article
(Posted on April 29, 2009)
Comments
All the arguments in this article are proven false by the fact that both Northern Asians and Jews (and many East Indians) out-perform whites in IQ, salaries, and academics. Yet both groups suffered horribly during the last 100 years. Chinese were brought to the New World as de facto slaves and were much persequited in the 19th Century. During WWII Japanese Americans were placed in concentration camps, and in many cases, lost their homes and businesses and the ability to earn during those years. Likewise both Japan and Korea were more-or-less leveled during WWII and the Korean War. Six million Jews were exterminated in WWII. Yet, despite this severe persecution and hardships, these groups have excelled in America. Jews, fresh from the concentration camp, and with no surviving family, became rich in America in as little as 10 years!
The author’s words are a lie. Blacks don’t fail because of “racism.” Blacks fail because they have low IQ’s. That is why there is not a single Black nation or city that is successful anywhere on the planet. Indeed, the only successful Blacks are those who live among and are educated by whites, and whose natural tendencies for irresponsibility and mayhem are held in check by European morals and police.
If Blacks are so bothered by the color of their skin and “White privilege”, then they should return to Africa where they don’t have to face daily “racism” and where they will be free to create societies that suit their nature, free of the White man, who has been “keeping them down” all of these years.
Mr. African-American — you don’t have to put up with these horrible conditions. You can return to your homeland and your people. Godspeed on your journey. I wish you luck.
“…Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, which began workshops on racism several years ago for its parishes after Lenard Clark, a black child, was brutally beaten by white assailants and the case made national news.”
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How many whites were subject to criminal violence by blacks since Lenard Clark was beaten? How many of these case made it to the national news?
Just another gullible white who fell for the flimsy neo-Marxist ‘macroeconomic’ definition of racism. White people built this country, it is only natural their institutions would represent their culture. The United States is only one country in a world of two hundred countries, give or take. Blacks have plenty of choices if they want to live somewhere with no ‘white privilege.’ Unfortunately, no white privilege also means no white tax dollars.
This is absolutely disgusting. I do not know how many jobs I have worked at where the vast majority of the general workers were White and most of the management, at least at the upper levels are minorities. There were a few White women and 1 or 2 White men but the vast majority of managers were some sort of minority. I had met White men who told me that they had applied for management positions numerous times and had been interviewed but never hired above entry level. How can this woman really say with a straight face that Whites have some sort of privilige.
I have found, as I’m sure many of you have, that it is useless to carry on a conversation with liberals about race. You can present facts and they make excuses or call you a racist. The definition of someone that disagrees with a liberal is a racist. I’ve given up trying. They should just stop oushing thier agenda on us and go live amongst the blacks that they have so much admiration and respect for but we know that will never happen. Black neighbourhoods are bad through no fault of the blacks- it’s the racist whites’ fault somehow. The school districts aren’t good enough but that isn’t the fault of the blacks not caring squat about education. It’s evil racist YT’s fault for not giving black inner city schools enough money. i widh they would just go live in thier multiculturalist utopias and leave us to live in our homogenous ones.
Most of the White Catholics were driven out of Chicago in the 1950’s and 60’s by black crime and violence. The Chicago arch diocese lost beautiful schools, churches, community centers and Catholic neighborhoods to the invading violent racist blacks.
Bet she wouldn’t write this tripe if she lived in Detroit and was aware every day she was not only white but being eyed daily as a prospective victim because she was white.
I’m pretty tired of all the silly little cocktail talk about race by dimwits who have no idea what they’re talking about.
Some of us are saying that we do see race and that it is the most important part of human beings. We don’t run from the name callers but confront them as the genocidists that they really are.
There are people who want to wipe whites off the face of this planet. Diversity, multi-culturalism etc. are just steps to the genocide that they’re trying to make a reality.
“Racism is a social system in which the power of one race dominates and oppresses other races, and in America that power for the most part remains in white hands, Barack Obama’s historic election as President notwithstanding”
I love how leftists change the definition of racism however it suits them at any given moment. Racism (fascism too!) is just a leftist slur used against anyone who disagrees with them, whether the disagreement is actually about race or not.
You can comment on that site. Keep it clean and they will post it.
It would be great to see AmRen readers flood their site.
Actually there are alot of those types of comments on there already. I guess, when we think we are anounomous we all become quite brave.
I have to add to what margaret said. Blacks did not come to Chicago. They were encouraged to come to chicago by the Irish catholic mayor of the city- Richard Joseph Daley. He saw them as a dependable voting block for him, and they help to get him elected. Italian catholic, the Poles and the germans were divided in their support, so Daley tore up their communities to build colleges, and freeways. Then using the open housing laws, brought even more blacks in. So many catholics had to flee, I am still surprised that any catholic churches in chicago. His son, has brought in mexicans for the same reason.
“Consider this number: 537—it’s the approximate number of years the Institute for Policy Studies estimates that it will take for blacks to reach income equality with whites if the income gap continues to close at the same rate it has since 1968.”
Of course IQ is not a factor in any of this.
Oh, geez. There goes my record of not throwing up for over seven years.
Only whites are expected to jettison their culture, by definition this man is a genocidal conspirator.
The author castigates “colorblind” whites for ignoring the history, culture and experiences of blacks.
Of course whites who aren’t colorblind and notice other people’s ethnicities are accused of racial profiling and stereotyping, so either way we lose.
Just like the other post about the slave mural: whites are accused of upsetting and disturbing blacks by reminding them of slavery, but if the mural were taken down we’d be accused of covering up the past!
Either way we lose.
“Colorblindness” not only means supporting the status quo of the “default” white view of the world, but the existing white institutional control of power and privilege as well. In effect, people of color are asked to release their racial identity, and adapt to the white norm.”
There is so much false presumption argued throughout this article that I’ll just comment on the above item.
“Colorblindness” is and should remain the moral and philosopical ideal of any multi-racial society. Anything else results in the kind of folly to which leftist Americans have now brought us -“hate crime” laws, a political weapon to bully with, and a complete mockery of the noble legal principle of “blind justice.”
“…people of color are asked to release their racial identity, and adapt to the white norm.”
No, people of color are required to subordinate race under the law as does every other racial group. And what the author derisively names here “the white norm” is simply any citizen’s traditional common responsibility.
The dizzy author mentioned he grew up in a racially mixed area.
When he got older he moved into less diverse areas.
Translated = He grew up with blacks but moved away from them when he had the opportunity.
I often hear people say, in a very well meaning way, “I don’t see color.”
In other words, when Whites purge themselves of racism, it is still not good enough for the multicult. So no matter what Whites do, they still must grovel before the race hustlers.
Perhaps it is time to stand up and say that they deserve the “privilege”? If non-Whites do not like these privileges, then let them give up their cars and their television and their modern medicine and all the other products of White civilization.
” Lenard Clark, a black child, was brutally beaten by white assailants and the case made national news.””
Hundreds of thousands of Chicago Whites have been murdered, robbed, raped, burlarized and assaulted and brutally beaten by blacks since the invasion began in the 1920’s.
We never hear about that, only about the evil White working class that fled to the suburbs in the face of black on White violence. Generations of sociologists have blamed the high rates of black crime, bad schools, illigetimate children and other black problems on the White working class that the blacks drove out of Chicago.
I realized that whites, in general, have the privilege of choosing whether to be “color conscious.” White people can go through life blissfully ignorant of their race, and talk about being “colorblind,” while people of color (particularly African-Americans) are reminded of their color (often unfavorably) through their daily life experiences.
This piece is a case study of the inversion of reality typically shown by blacks. Whites are required to go through life pretending that race doesn’t exist (when was the last time you saw a white bank manager, politician, lawyer, teacher, etc. at a “white pride” rally) while blacks are allowed to make race the central aspect of their lives, to talk about it, to wear “black pride t-shirts, to express grievances about it, etc. In addition, they can attend black only organizations while denying whites the privilege of attending white-only organizations. The rest of the article is similar twaddle.
Race in a nutshell:
Whites are one distinct race.
Whites have this history/these accomplishments, etc.
The rest is obvious.
The elites can shove their anti White, anti Whestern civilization program on us as possible, but it succeeds only in the captive media such as the print media.
Anti White propaganda never succeeds in movies.
“The reality is that Hollywood’s theatrical film wing has largely forgotten how to do good dramas, and the central problem is the ever-greater politicization of Tinseltown in recent years.
Comedies, action movies, and other genre films have been largely free of the incursion of left-wing politics, due both to their genre expectations and the audiences to which they’re pitched, mostly the young, who are less energized by politics. And those films are doing very well.
Dramas, on the other hand, aimed as they are at more mature audiences, have been thoroughly overtaken by progressive politics. The poor box office performance of the numerous dreary and politically slanted antiwar films of the past few years exemplify this trend, as do the numerous tracts against bourgeois normality and for sexual radicalism and other outlier attitudes evident in Milk, The Reader, Transamerica, and other such filmic delights of the past couple of years.
The occasional Christian-oriented film such as Fireproof or nonpolitical drama such as The Pursuit of Happyness does very well at the box office, but Hollywood has largely killed serious drama by insisting on equating it with progressive politics.
Why?
Flush with money from the nonpolitical genre fare, the studios are content to allow their big stars, directors, and other key players to establish their progressive artistic, political, and, yes, sexual bona fides for the progressive elites by making these politicized dramas audiences don’t watch.
That means these sorts of films will continue to be made as long as the studios continue to do well overall and the nation’s elites remain repugnantly leftist—but it doesn’t make it right.
This bozo should have kept the details of his sickening perversion to himself—I feel like vomiting.
