“Check Your Attitude”

I was recently confronted with an ugly attitude in someone that I ‘thought’ was a friend. The remarks made to me, I found greatly offensive. There was no hesitation in me to point out the obvious misconceptions in his remarks.

White privilege contains a whole host of unexamined advantages that come your way because you’re born with white skin. This also has to do with the way others perceive you, access to resources within your community, the way you’re treated by authorities…not to mention represented in the media. There are immediate advantages afforded you due to you being born white. Just out of curiosity, how many of you were able to CHOOSE the color of your skin, into which family or nation you were born? I don’t know about any of you…but it had nothing to do with me at all.

Have you ever gone to the Drug Store to purchase band-aids? They are “flesh” color…BUT whose flesh color? When I was with my friend Carla, who happens to be African American…they certainly were not her “flesh” color. Truthfully, they weren’t even my “flesh” color. I’m white even for a white woman…and they simply don’t come that light.

There is a “noise ordinance” here. I have no idea if it’s like that in other areas of the country. Someone can actually be ticketed for being in their vehicle and playing their music “too loudly”. Whose making the ‘judgment’ of what is and what isn’t “too loud”??

When I drive, I like to turn it up! I may be a generation older than most of you reading this…but hey…I like my music not only loud enough to ‘hear’…but I like to ‘feel’ the vibration of it, too. I have never been arrested…but guess what? Here locally a young man (African American) did get arrested.

For years, I’ve heard people say, “My relatives never owned slaves. I’m innocent”. Innocence, literally, means, “Not knowing”. They don’t see that if they sit back and do nothing, they are part of the problem. Here’s a for instance: If Linda Smith is hurt by racism…then I would benefit from racism. Thus being said…racism connects us!

Perhaps, I’m over simplifying things. The thing that irritates me to no end is the fact that largely, people of color are suspected of desiring some kind of unearned advantage…yet, the white person (usually) accuses them of playing the “race card”. Yet, here’s another example and is my own personal observation…if a perceived wrong is committed against one of our African American citizens…and they question if this was due to race. It’s automatically assumed they are using the “race card”. On the other hand, if a white person questions a perceived wrong, you’re never accused of playing “the race card”…because you are white.

There are 101 other particulars I could mention, but this is enough for now. I trust that as the title of this post suggests you “Check Your Attitude”. Simply put, you are either part of the problem or part of the solution. Sorry folks, but on this issue there is no middle ground.

President Elect Obama’s campaign slogan is “CHANGE”. How about letting that “change” begin with you?  Is it ever too late to do the right thing?

Michelle

Roland Burris, Racism and Harry Reid

For the most part I have not weighted in on the real issue regarding Governor Blagojevich (“Blago”)  selecting Roland Burris to fill President Obama’s senate seat, except to note that Burris would be a media target and had a some what inflated ego.  Unfortunately, I had the unpleasant experience of seeing Burris hold an interview where he implied that if the democrats did not allow him to fill the senate seat it would give “the appearance” of racism being the objective for barring him.  Oh… Really?  Why?

That particular  suggestion by Burris went way beyond the pale.  Granted, for Blago the appointment of Burris has all kinds of wonderful legal defense moves should the time come and Blago is prosecuted; but, for Burris, that statement is divisive at best and totally unacceptable.  Way before Blago picked Burris the democrats had, as a collective party, made it known that anyone Blago picked would be unacceptable, and I don’t recall any democratic leader tacking on the words “especially if that person is a Black American.”

At the press conference, Blagojevich brought more trouble, including the issue of race, to an already florid scandal. He announced that he was appointing a successor, former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris, to Barack Obama’s vacated U.S. Senate seat — a move that will continue to roil the political waters in Illinois and ensure a continuing distraction for the President-elect. By naming Burris, the governor blatantly ignored warnings by Senate majority leader Harry Reid that any Blagojevich appointee would not be seated by the Senate.

In fact, before Burris’s selection, the media was in agreement.  Now it seems they have decided to follow the path of a racist conspiracy.   Of course the whole affair has caused me to reexamine Burris.  The fact that he would travel down that particular path for his appointment seems to be some what underhanded.  The implied message is that if Burris is not seated he will start a race riot of some sort.

Considering the uncertain times we are going through it is totally unacceptable for any politician to play the race card, that is inclusive of Chip Saltsman.  To further Burris’s cause he is now accusing Harry Reid of being the target of propagating racism.  Sorry, but that’s just so wrong.  The fact that David Gregory, of Meet the Press, thought it necessary to force Reid to defend him self against such accusations only showed how shallow Gregory is as a reporter.   That race was not a factor before Burris was selected seems to be a forgotten truth in the world of the TV media.  Like starving wolves, some of the public is feeding off of this nonsense with a frenzy.

I can only say that it is with the greatest of pleasure that I do not live in Chicago and would find myself stuck with an ego filled, race baiting politician such as Burris.  He is not some one I would desire to represent me or my people.