A Teachable Moment?

Racism, like tolerance, has to be learned. I remember a time when my grandmother took advantage of a “teachable moment.” We had a discussion on race, and I’ve never forgotten the simple lesson she taught.

When I was 10, my family went to the silver anniversary of relatives. Members of my extended family were there, and I realized, for the first time, that one of my aunts was black. After the party, I was alone with my grandmother, and I said something smart, I don’t remember what.

My grandmother sat me down at the kitchen table, and gave me a cookie and a glass of milk. She was quiet; I knew I’d said something wrong. Finally, she looked me in the eye and proclaimed, “Black is beautiful. Never, ever forget that.” I haven’t. With a minimum of words and a maximum of authority, she said what needed to be said. I understood what comments and ideas were acceptable and what weren’t.

Times were different: my aunt’s ancestry wasn’t discussed. That would have been considered insensitive. As an adult, I have questions; for instance, did she experience racism growing up? She wed my uncle in the 1950’s, were there miscegenation laws that made the marriage difficult? I’ve never asked my cousins what it was like for them, or how they define themselves racially. I’m from a generation that didn’t talk about those things.

It’s been many years since I’ve returned to the rural Midwest where I spent my early years, and I rarely see my aunt or cousins. I have no right to ask them personal questions now. Like my aunt’s ethnicity, my own Jewish ancestry was rarely discussed. I’ve found freedom and happiness in discovering those roots, and feel comfortable talking about my heritage. Times have changed, and being Jewish or being black isn’t such a private thing. I worry that much of our discretion was shame-based. Over the decades my extended family has grown, and includes more African Americans, Native Americans and many different religions. I’m proud of them all.

At a recent cocktail party, the topic of race came up, and I said, “This is America, all of us have African American relatives.” My comment was met with silence. In 2002, Penn State geneticist Mark Shriver did random DNA testing on Americans, and concluded 30% of “whites” have some African American ancestry (see Steve Sailer, “Race Now: How White are Blacks, How Black are Whites” UPI, May 8, 2002). Race, like sexuality or religion, is a social construct with no intrinsic meaning. In the end, we have the right to define ourselves however we please.

Two of the best books on race I’ve recently read are Maggie Anderson’s “Buying Black,” and Michelle Alexander’s groundbreaking “The New Jim Crow.” Anderson proposes a plan of conscious consumerism; by supporting African American owned businesses, you can help both the high unemployment rate among blacks, and help black youths have a good role model. In addition, black-owned businesses keep money in the community. When I posted the link on social media, I was called “racist” and “divisive.” Huh? I’m a leftist and an AIDS activist. Can’t people be shocked by that? Buying from black-owned business is anemic compared to other ideas I’ve supported. It’s a capitalist idea, after all.

I wish I had my grandmother’s patience and common sense. I’m surprised and sad to have friends from childhood tell me I’m a racist for mentioning the topic of race. From this perspective, whites are the real persecuted group; white people have no voice, no power, no positions of authority…

The shocking murder of Trayvon Martin seems like a modern lynching. Is this America’s teachable moment? Is it possible for America to change its ingrained racism? During the 2008 campaign, candidate Obama told the story of a conversation he had with his own grandmother, and her admission that she was sometimes afraid when she saw a black man. Maybe discussions of race have to begin around the kitchen table. If they’re done online or in the media, they too often result in ad hominem attacks. Wouldn’t it be lovely if we could all sit around the table, have milk and cookies, and learn? If we can find a quiet place within our own hearts, maybe this senseless murder can be America’s teachable moment.

Why Arizona SB 1070 Is Wrong

Last month, Arizona passed a new law, SB 1070. This bill was signed by the Republican right-wing governor, Jan Brewer. She’s Palin’s new best buddy, which tells you everything you need to know about her. The law states that people must carry documents with them at all times to prove they are legal residents. Officers who don’t do this can be sued by private citizens. Brewer et al claim that this will not lead to racial profiling. It’s hard to see the new law as anything other than racial profiling. Proponents of the law claim that you can tell who’s a citizen by the shoes they wear, for instance. SB 1070 is a legal mandate for racism, and is mean-spirited.

America is a country of immigrants. The Statue of Liberty invites everyone to come and seek freedom. Despite this open invitation, our country has a history of racism and nativism. The country was created on the twin crimes of ethnic cleansing and slavery. It must be noted that French, English, and even Spanish settlers did marginally better than Americans in their interactions with first nations. The United States has had no qualms about breaking treaties, claiming land, and massacring native Americans. African immigrants were brought forcibly to this country, and enslaved. This is our past, our heritage. As more English and German settlers came to this country, there were backlashes against immigrants from southern and eastern Europe. In 1880, for instance, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act. This law defined Chinese, and eventually other Asians, as a distinct, inferior race. Chinese immigrants could not become citizens, and in many parts of the country, notably California, could not own land. The 19th century was the time when the concept of “race” was created. Jews were seen as subhuman. The concept of “moron” came in to existence, and people of certain ancestries were considered stupid and impossible to educate. When the IQ test was invented, the basic Stanford test, it was used to bar immigrants to this country. A patrol of female bureaucrats waited on Ellis Island to deny entry to those they thought were “morons”, based on a visual inspection. Others were given the Stanford test. Since most didn’t speak English, they didn’t do well on the exam. Nativist hysteria culminated in the Immigration Act of 1924, which mandated limited quotas of immigrants of despised ethnicities. American eugenics was in full swing.

Jews were the target of much of the racist anxiety. In France, writers like de Gobineau and Chauvin (from whom we get the term “chauvinism”) considered race prejudice scientific. Jewish immigrants were eventually barred from disembarking in New York City, and were sent to Galveston instead. It was believed they would assimilate faster there. Newspapers like the New York Times blamed Jews for slums and illiteracy. They were thus guilty of living in the circumstances society proscribed.

America’s past informs the current immigration debate. This country has a history of racism and discrimination. Leave it to a bunch of old white folks in Arizona, and elsewhere, to revive the same stereotypes of the Other. (As an old white guy, I can freely call them out.) Everything Jan Brewer and Sarah Palin say about Mexican workers was said of Jewish, Chinese, Italian, Polish immigrants. Immigrants are stupid, lazy, violent. Same racism, different day.

Eleven cities are boycotting Arizona, and hopefully others will follow suit. No doubt the country needs immigration reform, and that is a complicated topic. Racism has to be taken out of the discussion, or reform can’t happen. SB 1070 inserts prejudice into the debate, and must be seen for what it is, namely, legally sanctioned discrimination.

America’s racist past must be acknowledged. But history isn’t destiny. Fortunately, we live in a country where we can express opinions on this law. When you look without, you are also obligated to look within. To say that we are “colorblind,” or that we “don’t have a racist bone” is not realistic. Growing up in this society, we have ingrained racist attitudes. It’s important to eradicate the racism within.

The insidious thing about SB 1070 is that it purports to address immigration issues, but instead condones racism. It’s an issue that calls us to examine the history of our country, as well as inner prejudice. By doing this, maybe, just maybe, we can move towards the world imagined by John Lennon when he sang “imagine there was no country… nothing to live or die for, and no religion, too…”