Al Sharpton; Racist Redeemer

Every time I think he can’t stoop any lower, the Reverend Al Sharpton shows me how wrong I am. Why is it that white America has to have a symbolic racial redeemer for their overt sins of racism when they become public? If someone publically offends a Jew, they bring out the Jewish redeemer. If they offend an Arab, they roll-out the Arab redeemer and so on and so on. It is as if this redeemer will provide them with a collective act of contrition and then we can all go back to being friends again, until the next “slip of the tongue”. For the black community, the self-appointed and media accepted redeemers are the Reverend Jesse Jackson and the Reverend Al Sharpton.

My question is who in the black community appointed either one of these gentlemen to these roles? Was there a referendum that I missed or some memo that I failed to open or what? It is precisely because of these two and those “so-called leaders” that the state of racial conversation in this country has not progressed past Dr. King. There has been no one articulate enough, not for whites, but someone who could communicate the black experience in any meaningful way for blacks. The black experience in this country has changed so much and now is so diverse that it is ridiculous for anyone to promote a single person as speaking for an entire race of people. Even when Dr. King was alive, there were other voices articulating the diversity that is our community.

The latest racist needing redemption and confessional time from the good Reverend is Duane "Dog" Chapman, a minor celebrity who has parlayed a grimy career in the bounty hunter business into a “reality show” on the A&E network. It seems that the “Dog” was very upset with his son for dating a black woman and had a few choice words for him in that regard. In a racially charged tirade Mr. Chapman let his displeasure be known. In a story that was broken by the National Enquirer, that’s right, the conversation was posted on line at their website. It seems Mr. Chapman thought his son’s girlfriend was trying to record him using the N-word and it turns out his son was the culprit. Kids, huh!

DUANE “DOG” CHAPMAN is the latest celebrity begging for forgiveness and promising to meet with “black leaders” to “make things right again” for using a racial slur during a taped private conversation with his son that was later leaked to the National Enquirer. The star of A&E’s “Dog the Bounty Hunter” issued a statement the other day apologizing for using the n-word in reference to his son’s girlfriend, who is black. Apologizing, Chapman insists the clip, posted on the Enquirer’s Web site, was taken out of context.[1]

Now here is where the story gets crazy, Mr. Chapman has asked Al Sharpton for help in rehabilitating his image, aka Don Imus, Bill O’Reilly, and whoever else feels compelled to voice their true racial feelings publically and then need to institute damage control. To me this is what has to change for any meaningful conversations about race in this country to take place, the practice of honesty followed by denial. If these are your true feelings be man enough to state them and stand behind them. As long as we continue to pretend that there is racial harmony and tolerance when we know there isn’t we will never get past the hypocrisy.

This blanket immunity and forgiveness bestowed by Jesse or Al must stop. How any self-respecting black man, let alone a “preacher” could allow himself to be compromised by these self-gratifying displays of remorse are beyond my comprehension. How arrogant and presumptuous of them to think they can assuage the outrage of a race of people by “counseling” the offender for a small fee is insulting to all blacks.

The issue here for me is the not the use of the N-word by a bigot who obviously uses it with great regularity or the fact that he feels compelled to do so, to me he is at least being honest. What bothers me more is the dishonesty of these two “so-called” black leaders continued self-aggrandizement at the expense of the rest of us. We cannot afford to have the establishment and the media define for us who will represent our outrage or who will lead us. We should collectively begin a writing campaign to CNN, NY Times, and all of the other media outlets who continue to use these charlatans as spokespersons. As long as we passively accept the de facto arrangement it will continue and these two will continue to line their pockets at the expense of any real progress in racial matters.

Does it bother me that another white man in the public eye has found it necessary to use the N-word? Of course it does, but what bothers me more is when I am walking, standing, or riding on the bus and hear other young black men shouting it out to each other. I may be a dreamer, but I believe that if we had had any true leadership on a national level a lot of these conversations wouldn’t even be taking place. That hopefully we would have begun the long overdue national conversation about race and would have made some progress or at least come to some sort of truce. Instead we are left with the remnants of days gone by and the old reliable: I make racial slurs, but I am not a racist argument. I understand the lines of racial tolerance and sensitivity are forever shifting. What was acceptable yesterday is not today. Sort of like the dilemma of how blacks want to be referred to: black, African-American, or what.

Without communication on a national level by those who are willing to be honest and not looking for self promotion, we will have little chance of making any inroads into this issue. An issue that in itself is an enigma, while most blacks think it is an important issue in everyday life, most whites think the opposite. So enough of the racist redeemers and let’s have a real conversation.

[1] http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2007-11-01-chapman-tape_N.htm?csp=34

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No, Mr. O’Reilly There Is A Difference

I recently read the comments of Bill O’Reilly and I must say I am disgusted at the inference of his comments. This once again proves that to understand race in America is to understand it in all its subtlest forms. In America, very few things are as they appear, this country is rampant with false images and hidden innuendos. My belief is that it is a characteristic of the dominant culture to be disingenuous in most matters. I say this based on my experience living and working among whites for much of my life. Whites, in an effort to avoid conflict have tended to be less than genuine in many situations. Because of this characteristic many people who are not familiar with the subtleties would say that racism is no longer an issue in America, those people would be wrong.

According to published reports, Mr. O’Reilly was slummin it in Harlem with one of his closest friends, the Rev. Al Sharpton. (Some of his closest friends are black.)They were having dinner at Sylvia’s, a famous soul food restaurant and Mr. O’Reilly couldn’t help but notice how well-behaved the Black folks were. They were so well-behaved that according to Mr. O’Reilly that it was like eating at any other restaurant in New York. And just to show you how liberal he is, Mr. O’Reilly attended an Anita Baker concert and much to his amazement the band members were well-dressed and not wearing the “sag”.

You know, I was up in Harlem a few weeks ago, and I actually had dinner with Al Sharpton, who is a very, very interesting guy. And he comes on The Factor a lot, and then I treated him to dinner, because he's made himself available to us, and I felt that I wanted to take him up there. And we went to Sylvia's, a very famous restaurant in Harlem. I had a great time, and all the people up there are tremendously respectful. They all watch The Factor. You know, when Sharpton and I walked in, it was like a big commotion and everything, but everybody was very nice.[1]

I think the thing that bothers me the most about his comments is not what he is saying, but what he means by saying it and why he feels he has to say it. It’s as if he is visiting someone’s house with unruly kids and to his shock and amazement the kids weren’t tearing down the house or writing graffiti on the walls. Why in 2007, does this need to be said? Why must some white man have to tell other white people how black people behave? The sad part about it is that he doesn’t even think he has done anything wrong. He actually believes that he was giving a compliment to black folks.

In order to understand the context of his comments, one has to understand who Bill O’Reilly and many of his ilk are. First and foremost they are entertainers, they masquerade as journalists, but they are there to entertain. Mr. O’Reilly is just a more subtle version of Don Imus; he uses more colloquialisms and therefore is more palatable for many whites. The problem with Mr. O’Reilly and those like him is there influence is based on false assumptions. Because they perpetrate as “newspeople”, many believe that they are getting factual news when in fact they are getting opinion, opinions that have been developed to appeal to their target audience. The purpose of the media is to sell something, advertisement. The ads aren’t there because of the shows; the shows are there because of the ads.

The writers write shows to appeal to a certain segment of the public, their “target audience” usually young whites between the ages of 14-25. The reason being is that research has shown that they have the most expendable income; they buy the most crap and usually the expensive crap. So many of the shows on television are targeting this market, hence Friends, Earl, and American Idol to name a few. But there are other markets that are targeted as well, with the growth of talk radio and the wingnuts they are now being targeted. They are targeted with the likes of O’Reilly, Hannity, Limbaugh, and those clowns. There job is to say and do things controversial that will appeal to their target audience. These people are actors and some of them are pretty good.

Now are some of them racists, I’m sure they are. But many of them are playing for ratings and guess what controversy sells. So, the problem is not these clowns, but the audience they play to. That we still have white people in America that have to be told that Blacks have restaurants where there are no shootings, cursing, and fighting is a sad commentary on the state of race in America. What that says is that we are so isolated and fearful that we don’t even know how each other lives, that our impressions of each other is gained not from experience, but from sound bites and pseudo newspeople.

I wish I could say that it was only confined to the southern, rightwing, and rich, but it isn’t. These stereotypical beliefs effect liberals and progressives just as much. There is much to be done in America concerning race, the first thing is we have to overcome our isolation and fears. We should begin to interact with each other on a more personal level than speaking to the black person at the store or fast food restaurant.

The reason I am such a big proponent of school desegregation is that if we begin to interact with each other early and often we can begin to overcome these stereotypes and gain a better understanding of each other. If not, we will continue to drift ever further apart and instead of two Americas there will be many more.

No, Mr. O’Reilly there is a difference and the difference is not necessarily between black and white, but between those who create problems and those who solve problems. While your comments may increase your ratings with your “target audience”, it only helps to create a larger divide between the bigger audience which is all of America. Thanks

[1] http://mediamatters.org/items/200709210007?f=h_top

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Where Are Our leaders?

The Don Imus incident once again illustrates our lack of “real” leadership. The real issue we should be discussing is not the comments of a white radio personality who has made a career of being offensive. The majority of black’s in America have never heard of Don Imus. Don Imus was not offensive to Blacks as much as he was offensive to the white myth of racial tolerance.

There are two issues that stick out in my mind that should be under consideration. The first is how we have allowed a few individuals to speak on our behalf for their personal enrichment and secondly, how we continue to depict ourselves in a degrading light for the same goal of personal enrichment.

To begin, let us start with our “so-called” leaders. It never fails that when there is opportunity for self-aggrandizement and personal gain our two favorite civil rights leaders show up to offer the offending party an opportunity for public penitence. Of course this opportunity comes at a cost to not only the offending party or “victim”, but also to our legitimate feelings of outrage. Any chance of the situation being taken seriously immediately disappears when Messer’s Jackson and Sharpton show up. Due to the past history of both men they bring baggage to any situation they intervene in. My initial question is who has appointed these two; spokesmen for anybody?

I recall in the 80’s and 90’s, two “so-called boycotts. One involved the Coca-Cola bottling company which was spearheaded by Mr. Jackson and his organization. For those who do not know, one of Mr. Jackson’s sons was rewarded with a Coca-Cola distributorship, a very lucrative business. Then of course there was the “boycott” of Anheuser-Busch again spearheaded by Mr. Jackson and his organization. And again, another of Mr. Jackson’s sons was rewarded with a Budweiser distributorship. Mr. Jackson has a history of using his organization and the threat of civil rights action for his own or his families personal gain. He has also demonstrated a lack of moral judgment in his own personal life and yet he continues to want to be the moral compass of others?

It now appears that Mr. Sharpton has recognized the profits in using threats and bullying tactics to gain personal rewards. Mr. Sharpton has a history of supporting fabrication and self-promotion.

The Imus affair will never be taken serious because it smacks of hypocrisy. We have an industry known as hip-hop that has made millions using worse language and depicting the lowest values of the black community. The excuse for allowing this to continue is that it is artistic freedom and that they are just speaking about street life in America. While these are partly true, I don’t think they completely explain what is going on in our communities.

It is time we stop allowing others to define who are or appoint themselves as, our leaders. It is time we hold our leaders accountable and put an end to those who enrich themselves at the expense of those less fortunate. Even during slavery, the darkest period of our history in this country you had blacks willing to sell out their brothers to live in the masters house.

We need leaders who are willing to tell the truth, not only about what others are doing to us but also about what we are doing to contribute to our own suffering. The biggest enemy to the Black man today is lies and ignorance, not Don Imus. We must be willing to stop being entertained and discuss those issues that continue to enslave us. Issues such as the drugs poisoning and turning our neighborhoods into war zones, our refusal to live morally, and our continual usage of language that demeans all of us. Over 50% of all unwed women bearing children are black, yet we only constitute about 12% of the population. This represents a breakdown in our moral fiber. The biggest threat against young Black men is not the Klan, but other young Black men. We buy our children the latest “Jordan’s” and fashions, but won’t but them a book. It is time for us to stop looking for enemies on the outside and begin to turn the mirror on ourselves. To continue this discussion please check out my other blog, Fornication: Our Dark Little Secret

http://fornication-our-dark-little-secret.blogspot.com/

So again I ask, where are our leaders?

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