This is an open letter to Eric, who commented on my blog and posted further on his.
Dear Eric,
To admit that the US still has racism does not feel good. But to accept your experience in the former Soviet Union as an explanation of what is and isn’t racism in the US is silly.
Your experience is valuable to you and influences the way you think and vote, just as each person’s background affects him/her. What you describe is racism (against Jews). That racism is real. But it isn’t what happened in the US and doesn’t explain how the US can rid herself of racism.
The US has a troubled racial past that influences its present. Racism in this country was against African Americans(brought here against their will and enslaved) and Native Americans (their land ravaged and stolen and their culture all but destroyed). Yes, other horrific actions have taken place, such as the imprisoning of Japanese Americans during WWII. But in the main racism in the US has focused on blacks.
If “just end it” were the answer, don’t you think some slave would have thought of that and done it? Well, they did. Slaves rebelled. Read about a few of the slave rebellions here.
And then the US fought a huge civil war. The civil war concerned itself with many complicated issues, not the least of which was states rights. And which right did the southern states value most? You got it: The right to hold slaves. But slavery ended. And things got better during Reconstruction. A good number of blacks were elected to political office. Then things went backwards.
Jim Crow laws were passed. Take Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896 for example, that made solid the decision of “separate but equal.” This was the law, you see, until 1954. So this is more than some little thing that lasted 40 years that a small group of people are talking about. Racism plays a huge role in American History.
The Civil Right Movement of the 60s, brought about the breaking down of unjust laws. But not without bloodshed. And what the movement did was make things better, not equal. LBJ signed the Voting Act of 1964 and government programs like Head Start and Affirmative Action were begun.
Did you know that more women have benefited from Affirmative Action than blacks? Now everyone’s a minority and everyone needs help. (I think we all do.) Well, Martin Luther King Jr. knew that racism (against blacks, that’s what racism is in the US) could not be broken down without addressing other social issues. That’s why the Poor People’s Campaign was planned. Only King was martyred before that event took place, so he personally went to heaven instead of Washington.
In Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community, King named the triple evils that will bring America down, if she does not fight to negate them. The evils are racism, poverty, and violence (war). Now tell me Eric, do you know more about racism in the US than King did? Did he die for nothing? Could he have “just stopped” racism?
In the 2000 census, 12.4% of the US population was identified as black. Do you know more about how racism affects the daily lives of black Americans today than they do? No, racism isn’t a feel good issue. It should be finished business but it isn’t.
Is race the only issue in this presidential campaign? No. But to dismiss racism is to allow the pain and hurt and injustice to smolder. We must talk about race. And we must view life from the point of view of the African American.
All the best,
Helen
9 comments
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February 9, 2008 at 7:37 pm
Eric-Odessit
Helen,
My point was that there is a difference between a government-sponsored and government-enforced racism on one side and racism of stupid and ignorant individuals on another. Yes, you are correct, there were racist laws in this country, not everywhere, but in some places. But they’ve been gone for over 40 years.
There were other minorities who faced discrimination at one time or another. I’ve heard stories about signs in La Mesa, CA (suburb of San Diego), that said: “No Jews and dogs allowed”. That was in 1950s. Jews were not admitted to Harvard. Hebrew College
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_College
was founded as an alternative to Harvard. I’ve heard about it because my father’s friend’s daughter went there. Yet you don’t hear about Affirmative Action for Jews. The same is true for Chinese.
Right now my daughters don’t view black people differently from anybody else. I’d lie to keep it that way. But no, someone will surely try to teach them about their special victim status. What I’d like them to learn about racism is this: there were bad and stupid people that passed bad and stupid laws that discriminated against black people. That was obviously idiotic, so all good and smart people said: “Enough of that silliness”, and stopped that.
In case someone might think that I plan to teach my kids about special victim status of the Jews, I’ll clarify what I will tell them. I will tell them: “There were bad guys called Nazis who wanted to kill all the Jews in the world. Members of our family were killed. But all the good people fought the war against those bad guys. My grandfathers and Mommy’s grandfather fought in that war. The good guys won. So, good people need to fight against evil”. There. No special victim status. In fact, one of things I hate about Hollywood portrayal of the Holocaust is this portrayal of the Jews as victims who were led to the slaughter as sheep. No, not true. The Jews fought back whenever and wherever they could. So, again, no special victim status for me. I don’t need it.
As for poverty, the best thing to address it is to allow free enterprise to take care of it. Nothing works better. Ironically, Russia is a good example. In places where business climate is good the standard of living has skyrocketed. The government does have a role in it: it has to enforce the law, so that dishonest people do not profit from their dishonesty. The government should also provide a minimal safety net. But that is where the role of government should end.
Helen, one more thing. As long as you keep posting on Black History Month, could you please dedicate one post to this fine group of pilots:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_Airmen
If there was a group that made the biggest contribution to showing the idiocy of racism and segregation, that must be them. I know, you are against the war, bu surely you must agree that that war had to be fought.
Best regards,
Eric.
February 9, 2008 at 10:35 pm
helenl
Hi Eric,
I had to approve this comment, too. It’s the URLs.
You still keep talking about groups other than blacks. The Nazis did nothing to Jews in the US. That’s a part of world history. We are talking about an election in the US. I don’t know how to make this any plainer:We are talking about racism in the US. This isn’t about the Soviet Union or Jews. All racism is bad. In fact, all prejudice and all hatred is bad. Sexism is bad. Intolerance is bad. Homophobia is bad. The Holocaust was very, very bad. But in the US, racism has been about color and Africans since the times of slavery. If we get that one right, the others will follow.
February 10, 2008 at 11:36 am
Eric-Odessit
Helen,
You missed my point. My point is that racism in the US is long gone. Sure, there are racist individuals, but there is no racism as an institution. My point is that the only institution that comes the closest to racism is Affirmative Action: prejudging people on basis of race.
I’ll write more later.
Eric.
February 10, 2008 at 11:59 am
helenl
Eric, You are just wrong. No need to write more. This kind of an attitude sets us back.
February 10, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Eric-Odessit
So, I am against prejudging people on the basis of their racial differences. How is it wrong?
Eric.
February 10, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Eric-Odessit
One more question: are you going to post about Tuskegee Airmen? Please don’t misunderstand: it is your blog, and who am I to ask for any specific posts? But I am just curious. It is related, I think, to that other discussion about pacifism that you had with Judyrose.
Thanks.
Eric.
February 10, 2008 at 9:55 pm
helenl
Eric, I too am against prejudging people on the basis of their racial differences. That is right.
But it is ignorant to refuse to see that racism in the US has been mostly against black and, although many wrongs have been corrected and conditions are far, far better than they were, that racism (against blacks) still exists in the US. Yes, other from of racism have existed here (in the US) but not to the extent that it has against blacks. Talk to intelligent, educated black people and see if they have personally experienced racism. Don’t take my word for it.
No, I’m not going to post about Tuskegee Airmen. I have already promised Judy I’d post answers to her questions. It’s not because I don’t find it interesting. But I still have to find posts for Black History Month (February 14-28), finish condensing the Lenten messages (March 2-24), write my State of the Blog entry (February 18), get my book Manuscript ready for mailing to 2 or 3 places (postmark date February 15), . . . I need to write a book review and find a place to publish it, I have a bit more work toward April’s Dead Mule, and I have a dirty house and company next weekend. My birthday is tomorrow, Valentine’s Day Thursday, and . . . . next weekend the Daytona 500! I have a life, man.
LOL And when, oh when, am I going to have time to write some new poems? Or go railfanning?
February 10, 2008 at 11:12 pm
Eric-Odessit
Helen,
First of all, Happy Birthday! May you enjoy many more! I wish you health and happiness.
I was going to describe my own attitude toward Antisemitism, since I am more familiar with this subject. It was pretty much institutionalized in this country, although perhaps not to the extend racism was. It is not any more. Does it meant that there are no anti-Semites in this country? No, of course not. Heck, you go to any leftist demonstration nowadays, you will see plenty. I countered my share of those demonstration as a member of Protest Warrior. You’d be embarrassed to hear what I’ve heard. But do I care about those anti-Semites? No, absolutely not. They don’t affect my life. I think the same is true about black people and racists.
Having said that, back in the Soviet Union non-Jews were not aware for the most part about government Antisemitism. So, there is a possibility that I might not know about institutions practicing racism. So, if you can give examples, I would appreciate it. That reminds me: I was going to have lunch with a friend, a former co-worker, who happens to be black. I will ask him.
I suggested a post about Tuskegee Airmen as a part of your Black History Month series. But then, it’s your blog.
Again, Happy Birthday!
Eric.
February 11, 2008 at 12:11 pm
helenl
Eric, Antisemitism is as bad as racism. All the -isms hurt us as does all hatred. Let’s be sure we aren’t arguing about words and what we think they should mean rather than ideas. I think you have a lot to teach me. Visit often. You bring an important viewpoint to this blog. Helen