Racism in word, actions, opinions, social attitude and behaviour.
Recently I received in my in-box a forwarded article which ended in a diatribe against racism. It fired me up to write to my daughter about it. Then I considered I needed to write to friends in Helium about it. Perhaps I could add to the points of view one needs to have to form at least a basic opinion on this vexed and burning question so that I could join the debate on fact, while minding my manners, and try to find a valid answer to the questions “Why do we have Racism at all? Do other animate beings on Earth’s surface show they suffer from this societal blight?: Why do we allow ourselves to suffer, why do we enjoy indulging in it, why do we allow “racism” to exist? “
I class racism to belong in the area of social defense mechanisms. But what do I defend myself against if I make a racist remark in public? Reply please, anybody!
The introduction to Racism in the e-mail challenged me to show I was proud enough to join the rumble, for that is what it is, a rumble without rules. And my second thoughts appeared; perhaps I was fighting myself out of being able to be called a coward. Because the man – a famous actor – who uttered the under following diatribe in defense of the accusation that he uttered racist remarks challenges the reader to show courage and tell the world one is proud to be – in his case – white.
The matter is: I feel I am really proud enough to send this diatribe for justice on!.
Trouble is that I am in deep doubt about whether I really qualify to immerse myself in this type of action.
Reason?
Reason: I am – very visibly – brindle!
A child out of a mixed race relationship: Dad European, Mum Asian.
For the love of Mike and Reason, you can call me neither black nor white.
Now rises the queston: Am I therefore – and actually – a born bi-angular raciist?
Now follows the quote which I left undoctored after pressing the Select All button in Edit..
< Subject: Fw: Very Powerful – Michael Richards Court Speech
Very interesting… also known as Kramer from Seinfeld Michael Richards Court Speech Makes one stop and think after reading this Michael Richards is better known as Kramer from tv’s Seinfeld series. This was his defense speech in court
After making racial comments in his comedy act. He makes some very interesting
points. He said “I’m proud To Be White
Someone finally said it.
How many are actually paying Attention to this ?
There are AfricanAmericans,Mexicans Americans, Asian Americans, Arab Americans, etc.
And then there are just Americans.
You pass me on the street and sneer in my direction.
You Call me ‘White boy,’ ‘Cracker,’ ‘Honkey,’
‘Whitey,’ ‘Caveman’ … and that’s OK.
But when I call you, Nigger, Kike, Towel head,
Sand-nigger, Camel Jockey, Beaner ,Gook, or Chink …
You ca ll me a racist.
You say that whites commit a lot of violence against you,
so why are the ghettos the most dangerous places to live ?
You have the United Negro College Fund.
You have Martin Luther King Day.
You have Black History Month.
You have Yom Hashoah.
You have Ma’uled Al-Nabi.
You have the NAACP.
You have BET.
If we had WET (White Entertainment Television) we’d be racists.
If we had a White Pride Day, you would call us racists.
If we had White History Month , we’d be racists.
If we had any organization for only whites to ‘advance’
OUR lives we’d be racists.
We have a Hispanic Chamber of Commerce,
a Black Chamber of Commerce, and then we just have the plain
Chamber of Commerce.
Wonder who pays for that ?
A white woman could not be in the Miss Black American pageant,
but any color can be in the Miss America pageant.
If we had a college fund that gave white students only scholarships you know we’d be racists. There are over 60 openly proclaimed Black Colleges in the US .
Yet if there were ‘White colleges’ THAT w ould be a racist college.
In the Million Man March, you
Believed that you were marching for your race and rights. If we
Marched for our race and rights,
you would call us racists. You are
Proud to be black, brown, yellow and orange,
And you’re not afraid to announce it.
But when we announce our white pride,
You call us racists.
You rob us, carjack us, and shoot at us.
But, when a white police officer
Shoots a black gang member or
beats up a black drug-dealer running
from the law and posing a
threat to society, you call him a racist.
I am proud.
But you call me a racist.
Why is it that only whites can be racists ?”
There is nothing improper about this e-mail.
Let’s see which of you are proud enough to send it on >
END OF QUOTE
My raction on the e-mail:
First draft:
Title: Racism’, Apartheid’, Half-blood’, Colored’, Pseudo Nigger’, Eurasian’ or Mestize’ .
Does it hurt when people refer to me with that sort of separating qualifier for the color of my skin?
In the beginning years of “social contact,” when I was in the 5 8 years group of children at school?
No!
I just accepted it as a clarification for people who wanted to know why I was not “white”, like they were or ostensibly were
Later, when I began to discern the “disapproval of my social status” based on a purportedly unacceptable skin-color, that is when it began to hurt.
Not for long. Perhaps because I deemed it easier to find excuses for their misbehaviour than having to roll up my sleeves and fight the matter out with all kinds of physical harm I could inflict on people mostly only half my size, in response to mere mental hurt….
“Words can break no bones.” What about the broken souls, don’t they count?
I learned and adjusted to the increasing frequency of “epithets”, and dealt with that kind of “unthinking behavior amongst youngsters”, and found my peace when it appeared that the language group I belonged to, by birth, was also “funny-peculiar” as opposed to ” funny-haha.”
I was seen as a foreigner and I stuck out like a sore thumb. And often I disagreeably (!) surprised people when I opened my mouth and showed I was fluent in the local patois and vernacular And I began to have to parry all sort of silly but often really funny jokes like: “Eh, Lalli, your dad comes from Hungary, he must have been very hungry!” And the obligatory question like the knock knock, oozdair – on my part just had to be:” What makes you think that?” And the answer was then, mostly, a rational solution to a conundrum, as e.g.: “Yes, here in this country we have enough food for everybody!” That gave me usually an opportunity to spout my personal superiority in geographical knowledge and, mostly, duly impressed my audience with all sorts of details, significant to youngsters who idolized Old Shatterhand, Tom Mix and Zorro, et al., telling the wonderful, but uncheckable fib that most of those famous film actors came from Huingary anyway, so there!
Or a shorter one:” Your girl friends must like you very much.” – “Why?”- “They all call you lolly.”(Lajs= Lalli pron Lolly)
In short, I could deal with it by means of a shoulder shrug, feeling that, genuinely, those referrals to my face and accent were reasonable and factual, and basically not meant to be insulting.
Factually and personally speaking, I have never been in a situation where publicly expressed reference to the color of my skin, or even to my peculiar accent in 13 languages (!), was made opprobriously. ( I like using ridiculous words, they make me giggle and I, also, like to raise people’s eyebrows…). Must be the showman in me..
So, what am I griping about?
Is it not enough to tell people to do what I do: SHRUG IT OFF.
There must be a bit more to it.
And here is where I pause, ( [hesitate] is a more honest word for it) because I believe that I shall end up by only giving anecdotal case history, and not cerebrally constructed remedies ( There, that circus horse is prancing again.)
Does Helium need that?
I’m as ready as a taut and arrowed bow..;-)
PS But, it must be clear to dunces:: I have run out of steam, oyveh already. :-))
[Internal qustion # 1: Is it so unimportant to me?]
[ Int.Q.#2: What happens when powerful psychodynamic repugnance vis a vis “others” cannot be repressed any longer?]
And yes, the formatting of the whole article is a shambles. { Or is it a crystal dish full of pearls and other jewels, left me by Shahrazad?}
This must be what the ancient Romans did when they fed their voracious eels with naughty slaves,
perish the thought!
So, anybody for a game of tennis with a ball called “racism?”
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