An alternate approach to dealing with racism in the form of a rant

Although I've been trying not to be pulled in, some of the--ahem--let's say, conversations about the Confederate flag and its related language, the South, and naming rights have pulled me in. There are just too many personal ties. People I used to know keep slopping sugar about how much they just love all their friends of every color, but they'll "just have to agree to disagree." There's all this talk about how none of this was a problem for years and years and there's only been unity. That is a completely illogical conclusion unless you've refused to listen for the last several decades. And I know that's not true for these people 'cause they've heard ME explaining things to them.

People need something to cling to, so, okay. Maybe people need to interpret the Confederacy "heritage" or whatever (of course, I'm a lifelong Southerner, too, but whatevs).

But here's what I don't get: Why the dismissal of people who say that these things are painful? Do they not believe it? Or do they just not care? "Suck it, people of color!"

And can they find some way in which their Christian ethics (plastered all over FB pages and such) jibe with their position?

Most of all, what I don't get is that you call me your friend. You say you care about me. You say you love me with the love of Christ. It's one thing to say that you think "outside agitators" are "stirring things up" but it's a whole other thing to say that a request for change is "stupid" and "oversensitive". But let's say that's true. I'm just hyperemotional (me, your friend, not the "outsiders")--how much does it cost you to just give a little on this? Does it cost less than hurting your friend? who you love?

I realize that I've switched to second person here. That's how crazy this making me. So I've decided that neither logic nor pathos is going to work. I give up. Have your racist idols. They mean more to you than relationships and compassion and "love". I give up. I know you're going to argue that they're not racist and neither are you. That's not logical, but enjoy it anyway. I tried to remember that my silence wouldn't protect me, but losing my righteous mind and having a stroke is more than I'm willing to give you. Never-freaking-mind.  That is my official position.

So, instead, I'm reading Yo Is This Racist?  It's much better than working my way into a stroke.

Seen and Not Heard?

Michael Steele needs a spanking. Are you kidding me? I chuckled at his tiff with the apparent leader of the Republican Party, Rush Limbaugh. I shook my head just like I do when my children have a huge fight about which sippy cup belongs to whom. But now I'm more disturbed. He apologizes to Limbaugh in such a limp-wristed manner that I wonder where all of his normal intestinal fortitude went. What did he think would have happened if he had said, "No, I meant what I said. " Isn't it true that Limbaugh is an entertainer? Isn't true that he's incendiary? After all, he did say that Michael J. Fox was faking his Parkinson's symptoms. Limbaugh isn't even a politician, so why is anyone obligated to engage in discussion with him? This is what people in the South would call loud-talking: speaking in louder and louder decibels so as to keep an opponent from being heard. Loud-talking doesn't actually demonstrate logical weaknesses in another's argument. It just seeks to stop the argument. That's Limbaugh and conservative talk radio in a nutshell.

I am going to go ahead and say that this demonstrates the real place of minorities in the Republican Party. Does anyone think that he would have ever been elected if Obama hadn't won? They needed an image change and he raised his hand. If I were in a class, I would engage a discussion about silencing and voice. Who came to the defense of Steele? It took about 10 seconds for Steele to realize that he would have to apologize, and he didn't wait another 10 seconds before he commenced to ducking his head. And how many people came to Limbaugh's defense? How many people called for him to apologize for denigrating the leader of his own party? Whatever position Steele has officially won here, he clearly is not valued or respected. I wonder if he's had an epiphany or if he's going to keep towing the party line out on a dingy by himself.

It's Too Quiet on this Plane

I just watched an episode of one of my favorite television shows, "30 Days." I'm planning to show the episode about a Christian who lives as a Muslim for 30 days to my students for an assignment that intersects with their history unit on faith. I was forming my questions about the show and was fascinated by the changes the guy undergoes. In the end, he realizes that he cannot sit by quietly the next time people knows make assumptions about Islam and Muslim people. He says that he will have to speak up and correct the negative preconceptions. What an experience this must have been, huh?

So, maybe I should go somewhere for 30 days. Last weekend I was on a plane with an older gentleman who thought he was really cracking me up. I laughed some, but it was a very small plane. I couldn't sit stoically for an hour while he gave me his best misanthropic material. And his endless talking kept me from grading the stack of papers on my lap. He talked about politics and his children and schools and his job and everything else. Then the flight attendants came by with the drinks and this guy starts in on how flight attendants used to all be pretty ladies. Then, he says, they became ugly women. Now, they are a bunch of "f" words. Then he continues to fuss about the male attendants, dropping the "f"word about a hundred million times. I told him, "That's not nice!" But I didn't let go of the tight smile on my face. But I started to think about who might be sitting around us on this very small plane. Who's feelings might be hurt by this inflammatory language? Then, I started to think about how I didn't want anyone sitting around us to include me in his diatribe. I was NOT like "this one" over here. Right?

Well, I'm not like him. I have learned to call out disrespectful language and inflammatory rhetoric in class when it crops up in our conversations about Biblical stories or personal relationships or other provocative topics. And yet, sitting in that little seat on that little plane, I stifled my own voice. I laughed politely and avoided eye contact. I didn't say, "Look dude. I'm not going to co-sign on your mean-spirited, humanity-denying othering."

I wish that I had said something. I wish I had mentioned the really smart and wonderful people I know who happen to be homosexual. I wish I had, at least, said that it's not okay to say that anybody deserves to be shot (as he suggested) as a matter of policy. Or that maybe other people's personal lives are basically none of our business. I wish I had said something. I mean, even the minister wearing the clergy collar in the airport managed to find his voice when he heard the announcement that his flight's gate had been changed. He shouted the "s" word. Loudly. Ha! My lovely seatmate heard him and relayed the story to me. Then he told me about the tall African American guy who also heard the minister. That's what he said, African American guy. I thought, "Do you seriously expect me to believe that you routinely use the term African American when referring to black people? Really? After you just dropped the "f" word without a bit of shame?" I felt even worse. No way would I have been quiet if he were using racial epithets.

So, I'm confessing my silence, my shame. I really should have been more brave and more vocal. But, I will do better. I, like Dave, will be changed and next time, I won't be quiet.