Was That Racism? You Tell Me.

Let's face it. Racism is ugly no matter who it's coming from, no matter who it's directed at. I'm sure some of you are wondering just what a white guy who lives on Lake Shore Drive really knows about racism. Ever been a white guy working in schools on the Southside of Chicago for 15+ years? When you have, come back and tell me about racism. Ever been a liberal with black friends who grew up in Central Arkansas? When you have, come back and tell me about racism. It's ugly and every time I think the U.S. may be improving some ignoramus comes along and proves me wrong. Racism is still out there lurking behind every corner, just waiting for the unsuspecting and the unprepared.

Just yesterday a student of mine who has decided that she can do whatever she wants, say whatever she wants, and do whatever she wants without consequences was wandering around the classroom willy-nilly, folding paper airplanes, and generally disrupting the class. So I, the white guy at the front of the room, had the unmitigated gall to tell her to sit down, be quiet, and complete the assignment. She refused and continued to disrupt so I had to call security to have her removed from the room. It was at this point that I heard her mumble something about "mother fucking cracker." When I took issue with this she went ballistic and started screaming "Cracker, cracker, cracker!" Followed by "White mother fucker. I'm gonna smack you up the side of the head with this," and she hefted her book bag.

At about this time the Special Education teacher in the room grabbed her by the arm and tugged her out the door. By the time security arrived she was long gone. I had to take time to document all the b.s. and give it to the security guard. What happened to the paper work? Who knows? One would think that a student screaming racial epithets at a teacher and threatening to "smack them up the side of the head," would be enough to get a student suspended at the very least. I saw her in the hallway today.

Was there racism involved? On the student's part, of course. The security detail who are almost all African-American, seemed to find the whole story about an African-American girl screaming racial slurs at a white teacher just too hysterical. The Dean of Students (Disciplinarian) is also African-American. The Principal is African-American. If a white student screamed racial slurs at an African-American teacher, I suspect that student would be out the door before the echoes of the yelling stopped. Yet this student was allowed to act in this fashion without consequences. Was there racism involved on the part of the African-American staff who deal with disciplinary issues? You tell me.

Putting the shoe on the other foot, once when I was a freshman in college at Arkansas State University, I found myself playing poker on a Saturday night in the dormitory. That night I got the shit kicked out of me by some racist good old boys who took issue with the fact that I took issue with their calling a friend of mine "that nigger down the hall." Got quite a few stares that time I went to dinner with an African-American female friend at TGIFridays in Little Rock. Nobody got beaten up that evening, however, just stared at real hard and seated off in a corner. Racism? You tell me.

To put the shoe on yet another foot, let us move beyond my personal experiences and talk about the gubernatorial race in South Carolina. Let us take time to note, at this point, that it was South Carolina who first seceded, fired on U.S. troops, and ignited the Civil War. It was the State of South Carolina who a couple of years back refused to remove the Confederate flag flying over the State Capital. Well, in some circles things haven't changed very much. Still a lot of racial animosity and bigotry running around loose in the government.

Apparently there is a woman, Nikki Haley, who is running for the Republican nomination for Governor in South Carolina. Ms. Haley's parents are Sikhs who immigrated from India. She has converted to Christianity. Ms. Haley is the local darling of the Tea Party and has been endorsed by Sarah Palin. Tea Party sorts endorsed by Sarah Palin are not my cup of tea, so to speak, but I have to stand up for the woman in this instance. One State Senator, Jake Knotts, was campaigning for her opponent and went on a radio talk show. In the process of an interview he was heard to say, "We already have one raghead in the White House. We don't need one in the Governor's Mansion." Just in case you are the only person in the U.S. who doesn't know what a "raghead" is, it is a racial slur that is used when referring to those of Arabic ethnicity, and by extension, to all Muslims. I believe that is what I think of as "Redneckese."

Need I remind people that President Obama is a mixed race American who belongs to a Christian Church and that the lady in question is Christian, and her parents hail from India and are Sikhs, not Muslims? And all of this is beside the point. Even if Ms. Haley and President Obama were Muslims, so what? A) All Muslims are not terrorists. B) All Muslims are not terrorists. and finally C) All Muslims are not terrorists. What can be said is that State Senator Knotts and I suspect many of his friends and supporters are indulging in some very ugly xenophobia against anyone who is not just like them, i.e. people with too much pigmentation in their skin to be dubbed "white guy." Is this racism? You tell me.

I could go on about the Haley case and how Republican operatives also began spreading ugly rumors about her being a slut. That, however, is a blog for another day. I don't care if the racism involves whites hating blacks, blacks hating whites, both whites and blacks hating all people from the Middle East, or any other group hatred that humanity manages to concoct, it's all ugly and stupid. It just makes a guy want to gather up all his friends, men, women, whites, blacks, Asians, Latinos, people with religions, people without religions, artistically inclined, business oriented, gay, straight, and thoroughly confused, and take them all with himself to an island where we could all start over in a society that accepts people as individuals.

So you may be asking yourself about this point, "Is there anybody you hate, Mr. Self-Righteous?" And the answer would have to be "Yes. I hate people who hate." So there you have it. I'm bigoted against the haters. So keep that stuff to yourself. I really don't want to hear it, and frankly there are a lot more of us out there who don't want to hear it either. It just makes you sound stupid.