August 25, 2010
il,v |JortIanb (Obstruer
Page 17
We’re Still Not Colorblind
Racism as
American as
apple pie
W ell, th e y 'v e g o t a p o in t. E v ­
e ry th in g th a t h a p p e n s th e se d ay s
s e e m s to b e r e c o r d e d o n
s o m e b o d y 's c a m e ra an d fin d its
to Y o u T u b e w ith s ta rtlin g
ra p id ity , y e t th e re are no
by D onald K ahl
p ic tu re s o r re c o rd in g s o f
T e a p a rtie rs g e t
th e in c id e n t a t th e C a p ito l.
u p se t w h e n yo u call
M ay b e it d id n 't h a p p en .
th em ra c ists. "W e 're
M aybe
th e
n o t r a c i s t s ," th e y
c o n g re ss p e o p le m ish e ard .
y e ll. " W e 're G o d ­
T h e p ro te s to rs c o u ld hav e
fe a rin g A m e ric a n s
b een y e llin g "F re e d o m fo r
w ho
d o n 't
lik e
N ig e r," o r s o m e th in g like
O b a m a's so cia list, a ffirm a tiv e -a c ­ th a t.
tio n w ay s. W e ju s t w a n t free d o m
R i g h t - w i n g e r s lik e G le n n
from g o v e rn m e n t in te rfe re n c e in a "L o o n y T u n e s" B eck h a v e tak en
c o lo rb lin d so c ie ty ."
u p th e p a r tie r s ' c a u s e w ith a
So y o u say , "W h a t a b o u t th a t c o u n te r-a tta c k , c h a rg in g th e b lack
tim e a b u n c h o f y o u lin e d up at the le g is la to rs an d th e ir a llie s w ith
C a p ito l a n d y e lle d ra c ist e p ith e ts " re v e rse ra c ism ."
at b la ck c o n g re ss p e rso n s as th ey
I d o n 't k n o w e x a c tly w h a t th at
w e n t in to th e b u ild in g ? "
m e an s b u t I'm g u e ss in g "N y ah ,
"It n e v e r h a p p e n e d ," th e tea n y a h , y o u 're a n o th e r" is c lo se to
p a rtie rs sh o u t. (W h e n th e y 're n o t it.
y e llin g , th e y 're sh o u tin g .) "S h o w
It is m y c o n sid e re d o p in io n that
us the c lip s. T h ere are no v id eo s th e y are b o th rig h t. T ea p a rtie rs
o f the a lle g e d in c id e n t. It n e v e r are ra c ists. So are A fric a n A m e ri­
h a p p e n e d ."
c an s w h o o b je c t to tea p a rtie rs.
R ac ism is w o v e n in to the v e ry
fa b ric o f o u r so c ie ty . It's w ritte n
in to th e C o n stitu tio n , o u r fo u n d ­
ing d o c u m e n t, w h ic h fo r p u rp o se s
o f r e p re s e n ta tio n a n d ta x a tio n
c o u n te d b la ck p e o p le as th re e -
fifth s o f a p e rso n . (In d e n tu re d
w h ite se rv a n ts w e re c o u n te d as
w h o le p e o p le , b u t n o t b la c k s .)
W e p ra c tic e d c h a tte l sla v e ry
h ere fo r n e a rly a c e n tu ry a fte r w e
b e c a m e a n a tio n an d a b a n d o n e d it
o n ly a fte r a b ru ta l c iv il w ar. F o r
the n ex t 100 y e a rs o r so, m o st o f
the c o u n try in d u lg ed in so m e form
o f ra c ia l s e g re g a tio n .
A n d w e 're n o t ra c ists ? A ll o f a
su d d e n w e 're c o lo rb lin d ? C o m e
on, g e t real. R ac ism is as A m e ri­
can as a p p le p ie. T h e re 's no re a ­
so n tea p a rtie rs o r th e ir p la y m a te s
sh o u ld be e x e m p t fro m it.
A s fu rth e r e v id e n c e I o ffe r a
c o lu m n by C h a rle s B lo w o f T he
N ew Y o rk T im es. B lo w w rite s
a b o u t p o lls h e 's fo u n d in te re st­
in g , c o m p le te w ith c h a rts an d
g ra p h s. R e c e n tly he la id o u t th e
re s u lts o f a Q u in n ip ia c p o ll on
a ttitu d e s to w a rd P re sid e n t B arack
O b a m a, b ro k e n d o w n by ra c e and
e th n ic ity .
F o r e x a m p le , th e p o ll a sk e d
p e o p le w h e th e r th ey w o u ld v o te
lo r O b a m a i f th e e le c tio n w e re
b e in g h eld to d ay . E ig h ty -se v e n
o n w h ic h o n ly 38 p e rc e n t th o u g h t
he w as d o in g a g o o d jo b . T h a t
c o m p a re s to 28 p e rc e n t o f w h ite s
w h o like w h a t h e's b e en d o in g .
A ll o f th a t w o u ld s u g g e s t th a t
p e o p le 's v ie w s o f O b a m a 's p re s i­
d e n c y a re b e in g c o lo re d by c o lo r,
so to sp eak .
W h at clin ch ed it fo rm e , th ough,
w as th e q u e stio n : "D o y o u th in k
th a t B arack O b a m a has b e e n a
b e tte r p re sid e n t th an G e o rg e W.
B u sh ?"
O n ly 37 p e rc e n t o f the w h ite
re s p o n d e rs th o u g h t he h ad b een .
G e o rg e W . B ush! W h o ran the
e co n o m y in to a d itc h . W h o to o k
us to w a r in Iraq on a false p rem ise.
W ho fid d le d w h ile N ew O rle a n s
flo o d e d . W ho so m e s c h o la rs c o n ­
s id e r o n e o f th e tw o o r th re e w o rs t
p re s id e n ts in o u r h is to ry . T h a t
G e o rg e W . B ush.
A n d tw o -th ird s o f th e w h ite
p e o p le in th is c o u n try th in k he
w as b e tte r th a n O b a m a.
T h a t's ra c ism , b ab y .
p e rc e n t o f A fric a n -A m e ric a n re ­
sp o n d e n ts said th e y w o u ld . T h is
c o m p a re d w ith o n ly 4 9 p e rc e n t o f
th e L a tin o s in te rv ie w e d .
W h ites? A m ere 28 p e rc e n t said
th e y w o u ld v o te fo r th e p re s id e n t
th is tim e aro u n d .
T hat re m a rk a b le g ap is re p e ate d
in th e p o ll on a v a rie ty o f issu e s.
D o es the re s p o n d e n t a p p ro v e o f
the w ay O b a m a is h a n d lin g the
p re s id e n c y ? N in e ty -o n e p e rc e n t
o f the b la c k s say y e s as a g a in s t 37
p e rc e n t o f th e w h ite s.
O il s p ill? S e v e n ty -tw o p e rc e n t
o f the b la ck s said O b a m a w as h a n ­
d lin g it w ell, o n ly 37 p e rc en t o f th e
w h ite s th o u g h t h e w as. O n fo r­
e ig n p o lic y th e sc o re w as 72 to 38.
L a tin o s te n d e d to b e d iv id e d
e v e n ly o n m o st q u e stio n s, th e e x ­
OtherWords columnist Donald
c ep tio n b ein g illeg al im m ig ratio n , Kaul lives in Ann Arbor, Mich.
iiSiiimKJîfiiiSÎW»®:
Blood Diamond Atrocities
A destructive
market exposed
J udge G reg M athis
D iam onds are a g irl’s -
o r rapper or bailer's - best
friend; this w e know . But,
these precious stones are
also at the core o f som e o f
th e g re a te s t a tro c itie s
know n to m an.
by
“ B lood d iam o n d s” o r co n flict
diam onds, as they are called, are
diam onds m ined in w ar zones and
then used to fund violent m ilitias;
th e y ’re m ost com m on
in A frica, w here about
tw o thirds o f the w o rld ’s
d ia m o n d s a re p r o ­
d u ced .
A s g o v e r n m e n ts
and
o r g a n iz a ti o n s
around the w orld have
^^IJorttanbO hBcnicr
becom e m ore aw are o f ‘blood d ia­
m o n d s’ and the roles they play in
w ar, actions have been taken to lim it
their appearance in the m arket place.
W e too can and should do o u r part
to m ake sure any bling w e m ight buy
is co nflict free.
F o r th ree y ears, fo rm er L iberian
p re s id e n t C h a rle s T a y lo r has been
on tria l for, a m o n g o th e r th in g s,
sex tra ffic k in g , m u rd e r, an d re ­
c ru itin g an d u sin g c h ild so ld ie rs.
T a y lo r a lle g e d ly u sed b lo o d d ia ­
m o n d s to fu n d th e se c rim e s. T he
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