It is so interesting that in the weeks following the election of the first African American President that we would hear about a spike in racially motivated incidents of hate in our nation.
Have the incidents actually increased since the election, or is America more sensitive to statements and events of racial indifference? Is the Klu Klux Klan becoming more active, or are we simply paying more attention to them now?
Racism is not hereditary, it is learned. With that being said, many of our racists today were taught by their parents, who were taught by their parents before them. Racism is an ugly tradition that has been passed down from generation to generation. Indeed, so long as there is ignorance, racism will continue to be passed down to future generations.
So why have we not noticed racism in our recent times? Why is it so visible now?
My parents fought against racism as part of the Civil Rights Movement. They stood against the forces of ignorance, and stood for the cause of equal justice. You know, just like the Constitution promises, equal rights for everybody.
Since the end of the Civil Rights Movement, many African American families stop teaching their children about that aspect of American history. Several African American children now regard the Civil Rights Movement as a sub cultural clash against the mechanism of government. Many dismiss the Civil Rights Movement as an insignificant part of the history of this nation, but there is a problem with that.
The problem is, which many African American families attempted to forget, thousands of racist white people endeavored to remember. They use the music of today Hip Hop artists as fuel for their cause. "See there, it is OK to call them Ni@@e$s, because that's what they call themselves".
America, racism never truly vanished in this country. Like a pot of country grits, it was just moved to the back burner and placed on a low simmer. Racism remained alive and well in the form of people with college degrees being passed over for promotions that were subsequently granted to people who barely received a C minus in high school. Racism took the form a the cab driver who picked up three black men from a restaurant only because the one who called the cab sounded white instead of black. Racism took the form of an unarmed man being gunned down by a group of police officers as he sat in a car with his hands raised and exposed to the officers. Racism appears in the cartoons that run on Sunday nights. The laundry list goes on and on, but the truth is racism has remained alive and well in America.
Here is the bottom line America. The average racist does not understand the dangers of his or her choice of behavior. If we are to apply the correct definition of a word we have become so dear to over the past eight years, racism is a form of terrorism. Terrorism is using fear to control the will of a given population, plain and simply. For years you have been told that a terrorist is Islamic, and lives solely to perform a Jihad. Although there are many terrorist in 3rd world countries, and even some more developed nations like Ireland, there are just as many terrorist in America. The problem with dealing with terrorism in America is many of these racially motivated American terrorist hide behind the banner of freedom of speech. Even worst, our impotent government under the leadership of George W. Bush refused to acknowledge racism as terrorism. After all, how could he? Had he done so, he would have to admit to the world that the American Government is racist because it only targeted Islamic Terrorist in its global war on terror. At no time did George W. Bush so much as focus on the terrorist within America. Those who hang nooses, those who torture mentally disabled people, those who threaten to tear our nation apart from the inside because they failed to gain enough education to learn how to live with people of various ethnic backgrounds and cultures. Is not America part of the same globe as Iraq, Afghanistan, and Russia? If that is so, then a true global war on terrorism would have included ridding America of such hate filled organizations as the Klu Klux Klan, Skinheads, Aryan Nation, Black Israelites, and Nations of Islam.
We the people of the United States have turned a blind eye to racism for so long that we are now shocked to see it raising its vile head again. Racism is a beast that feeds on a lack of education. We can kill that beast, and our weapon will simply be education.
America, allow me to close with this thought. The Obama victory on November 4, 2008 illustrates one very important point in our nation. That point is for every 1 racist there are 4 who are not. That means the racists represent 1/5 or less of our nation's population. That is encouraging because it means the America Racist is on the endangered species list, and is nearing extinction. Our nation has come a long way from the darkness of slavery to where we are now. Americans with college degrees have increased by at least an exponent of 2. Every day more and more Americans embrace diversity. Let us not allow a few rotten apples to ruin our entire barrel. Seek to educate, so that we can irradiate racism in America.
