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Summer of Racism in the United States
Wednesday, 21 Jul 2010 — Contributed by Kuncen
Image by maHidoodi via Flickr
A glut of racially-tinged stories seems to be flooding the United States this summer - so many that it has some people wondering what the heck is going on.
The madness was prefaced in March of this year by racial epithets hurled at black members of Congress by people who were protesting the passage of the health care reform bill.
Then Arizona really stirred up the pot. The state passed their now-infamous and highly controversial immigration law, which contains a provision for law enforcement officials to demand immigration documents whenever they have "reasonable suspicion" that a person might be an illegal alien. Opponents of the law claim that it encourages racial profiling.
Then came the riots in Oakland, California earlier this month, after a white police officer was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter (but not murder) in the death of a black man. For many, the violence brought back memories of the Rodney King riots in 1992, and Rod Pennington at YSSN suggests simmering tensions in America's cities could erupt later this summer.
About a week ago, the NAACP condemned certain "racist elements" within the Tea Party movement which brought a vociferous and angry reaction from Tea Party members. Then on Sunday, Vice President Joe Biden said that the Tea Party isn't racist, on the same day that they booted one of their more visible members for a racist blog posting.
Yesterday, USDA official Shirley Sherrod was fired after a conservative website posted a video snippet showing racially-biased comments she made at a conference. After it was revealed that the comments were taken out of context and her sentiments misrepresented, her boss was reportedly reconsidering her dismissal.
The list goes on and on. Among the sillier race-related news stories are charges of reverse racism over the new "tan tax", and conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh saying of late Yankees' owner George Steinbrenner that "that cracker made a lot of African-American millionaires."
Whew! What's causing all this?
Ross Douthat at the New York Times, in an article entitled "The Roots of White Anxiety", explains the current racial atmosphere as stemming at least in part from the admission policies of America's top universities and colleges. These policies, and the fact that the alumni from these universities often go on to hold influential positions in government and industry, leads to "paranoia, among elite and non-elites alike."
The CS Monitor suggests that it's a familiar game being played for political gain. Yet for a country which professes freedom and equality for all, and prides itself on its racial diversity, these headlines seem more than a little strange and untoward. Shouldn't Americans be beyond - or perhaps above - this type of racial squabbling?
Or are these just normal growing pains, the adjustment period of a country coming to terms with having a black president? Whatever the case, it appears that in the United States this summer, race is likely to be a major flashpoint for conflict and debate.
What are your thoughts? Where is all this coming from, and what does it mean? Sound off below by posting a comment. Seize the skull!
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Racism and the media
I am appalled at what I see as an atmosphere of fear that provokes people to stoop to racism and bigotry towards people who are not the same as themselves. The Shirley Sherrod video snippet that was edited out of context appears to have been "inspired" as a means of retribution to the NAACP for accusing the Tea Party of harboring racist members. I am particularly incensed that a conservative blogger had no compunction against defaming Ms. Sherrod simply because he wanted to settle the score with those within the NAACP that he thought had unfairly attacked the Tea Party movement. It appears to be that we have lost the ability to engage in civil discourse; that it doesn't take much disagreement on political or moral viewpoint to take people immediately to exchanging epithets. It is a sad commentary on communication that I believe is exacerbated by the immediacy of viral videos and people's desire for their 5 minutes of fame on the stage. The fact that the major news networks were easily duped by this fallacious edit of Ms. Sherrod's speech makes one wonder what ever happened to "investigative journalism?"
At least they were found out
I am encouraged at least by the fact that the conservative website was outed rather quickly, and lambasted by most of the press. A bit too late for Ms. Sherrod, as her world has been turned upside down.
Ms. Sherrod now says that she
Ms. Sherrod now says that she will sue said conservative blogger, a Mr. Andrew Breitbart.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2010/0729/Shirley-Sherrod-Does-she...
the arizona law actually is
the arizona law actually is supported by the majority of the united states citizens
food for thought
So the majority of US
So the majority of US citizens support a law that is unfair and discrimiatory. That is food for thought.
unfair and discriminatory in
unfair and discriminatory in your opinion. U.S. citizens support helping a state which is absolutely overwhelmed by millions of illegal immigrants entering state every year, taxing services to the point of breaking without paying taxes. i'm not saying i agree with the law completely, but Arizona is just exploding in population, and something has to be done
"Give me your tired, your
"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free..."
Yeah.
That is posted at Ellis
That is posted at Ellis Island in New York, where people came legally into the country and registered.
This law is aimed at illegal immigrants.
America's full!!
America's full!!
for illegal immigrants, yes!
for illegal immigrants, yes! for legal ones there's plenty of room
ahh.. the old no permits for
ahh.. the old no permits for giants policy, eh?. Fair point I guess, but I think the policy probably makes a lot of the legal ones feel like second class immigrants... there must be a better way.
Spirit of the law
Yeah, I mean I can understand what Brenda's saying. I just don't know what the spirit of the law is... whether it was designed to finally get a handle on a longstanding issue, or was designed to harass Latinos, I'm not sure. But it does seem like the latter is certainly a byproduct, intended or no. You can't just demand papers of people everywhere they go, it's unconstitutional and it's prejudiced... and it just feels terrible. I agree - there must be a better way.
This Summer in Racism, USA
"the arizona(sic) law actually is supported by the majority of the united states(sic) citizens
food for thought" Which majority are we talking about, hmmmm?
majority of US citizens
uhhhhh... the majority of United States citizens, like i said. i don't know how to make it any clearer for you. here's the proof if you care to read.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/current_events/i...
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2010/0430/Opinion-polls-show-broad-...
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/04/29/Poll-Most-support-Arizona-immi...
sorry i didn't capitalize enough for you
But as everyone knows,
But as everyone knows, opinion polls are retarded, used exclusively by bullshitmongers and have nothing whatsover to do with the opinions of normal hunam beings or Americans.
think what you like. there
think what you like. there were about 4 different polls that all concluded the same thing. if you choose to ignore the facts, it's up to you.
Reverse racism?
why is it reverse racisim if its against a person of European descent? Remember when Reginald Denny got pulled out of his semi truck at the start of the LA riots and beat nearly to death because he was white. There is plenty of racism against white people as well but to call it reverse racism does not make sense to me. As usual the American media is playing up race issues for a story and most likely making the whole situation worse.
The tanning law makes sense to me.
Ever hear of skin cancer?
It's similar to taxing cigarettes and booze.
Basically, it costs more, so they figure it'll make people stop.
yeh but,.
Because it makes no sense.. what possible reason would people have for being racist against white people? It's totally the wrong way round!!! Anyway, why is it bad to be a racist? It's good to be a humanist, right? Personally I'm more of a fundementalist. I don't like them farkin' fundementals.
Music And Black People
Imagine if the US had never had a black population. No Rock 'n Roll, Jazz, Blues, Gospel, Hip-Hop, Motown, House, Funk, Beat-boxing or Soul.
What are you left with? Country and Western and Metal. Great.
I wonder was Rush Limbaugh listens to.
Get out
Hey some Hopi natives would like all of you European fear mongering, robber baron supporting, corporate facists out of Arizona. Jail the corporate entity (who is considered a person in the USA) for hiring these illegals! As far as we are concerned you are the aliens on our land. Your lack of knowledge of the land will ultimately be your undoing. Let the sun burn you all!
Could you imagine 20 million
Could you imagine 20 million white Americans illegally migrated to any other nation?
Would the locals push back if we tried to instill our cultural values on their society?
No other society in the world would pacifically tolerate being displaced by an illegally migrating horde...... but we're the racists when we try to legally stem the flow?
What it boils down to is Hispanic activists see this law as a "bump in the road" towards their goals of the US becoming a Hispanic majority nation, and all the political / economic clout trappings associated with electoral control. They only scream RACISM because its a proven method of cowing the former white majority. Cant blame them for using a weapon against us, even if it only works because we allow it to.
Hispanic activists trying to take over the US
I find it hard to believe that a rational person would entertain this line of thought. Hispanic activists are certainly fighting for better representation, but they aren't trying to take over the United States. The US is not even close to becoming "a Hispanic majority nation". There might be a lot of Latinos in some states, but in other states the percentages are much lower.
This is fear-mongering, plain and simple.
Seize the skull!
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