There has been so much talk recently both nationally and locally about racists, I decided to ask myself the hard question: “Am I a racist?”
I could answer with the standard response from white people: “No, I am not! Some of my best friends are black!” That answer we all know is a lie. 1. Why are you separating your friends into colors; 2. No one has a bunch of ‘best’ friends (unless you are on Facebook and then those are only friends … and that’s suspect). We are trying to side-step an issue we do not feel comfortable talking about.
The Sept. 14 cover story of Newsweek asked the same question, but they wanted to know “Is your baby racist?” How in the world can a baby be considered racist? I asked myself before I read the story.
Authors Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman based part of their writings on research done by the Children’s Research Lab at the University of Texas. Researchers there keep a database of thousands of families in the Austin, Texas, area. To get a sense of Austin, they explain it is a liberal city where parents welcome multiculturalists and embrace diversity.
The parents have raised their children to be colorblind when it comes to race. They do this by not drawing attention to it. They do this by using such terms as “Everybody’s equal” or “God made all of us” or “Under the skin, we’re all the same.”
We don’t mind talking to our children about gender (“Mommies can be doctors just like daddies.”) but we don’t say doctors can be of any skin color. One we reinforce; one we don’t. I have five granddaughters and you better believe I want them to know they can do just as well, if not better, than boys.
My wife and I have been much like these parents as we have raised our children. We assumed, just as the Newsweek article says, “Children see race only when society points it out to them.” Wrong. It seems that children see racial differences the same way they see that “blue” is for boys and “pink” is for girls. “‘White’ and ‘black’ are mysteries we leave them to figure out on their own,” they wrote.
As you read this article you learn that the “more diverse the school, the more the kids self-segregate by race and ethnicity within the school, and thus the likelihood that any two kids of different races have a friendship goes down.”
We all know the history of discrimination in America but what about the future. Parents who prepare their children for bias on a regular basis “were significantly less likely to connect their successes to effort, and much more likely to blame their failures on their teachers — whom they saw as biased against them.”
However, talking to a minority child about ethnic pride is “more likely to tie their success to their effort and ability.”
We witnessed two contradictory messages recently here in Valdosta. Our president, Barack Obama, gave a televised speech to the students of this country about the importance of school with the message that he came up through adversity to the office of president. He wanted students to understand: You can, too.
The Valdosta school system with its large minority population did not show the video at its scheduled televised time but offered it in other formats.
At the next school board meeting, the board drew fire from black activists in the county. Their message — fire the superintendent of schools because the white leadership does not want our students to succeed. Valdosta City students now have two messages to try and decipher — one positive, one negative — and I am afraid the second one is being reinforced more than the first.
Back to my question, “Am I racist?” I think we all are — black and white — to some extent. I have heard some say there should be a dialogue between the races. I think we would all be better served by talking honestly to our children about race. I know I am.
What We Think
From the publisher: Am I a racist?
- What We Think
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Elections: Creating a two-party region?
Twenty years ago, most area elections were decided during the primaries. Then, almost every candidate qualified as a Democrat. While there may be plenty of challengers on the ballot, many seats were decided in July or a few weeks later during the primary run-off.
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Thumbs up, thumbs down
THUMBS UP: To South Georgians making fine impressions on television singing competitions. Phillip Phillips of Leesburg won “American Idol” this week. Meanwhile, Lowndes High School graduate Stacia Watkins participated in the new ABC show “Duets.” Well done!
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Farewell to the vanishing ace
Donald S. “Bush” Bryan was not only a rare individual. He was part of a vanishing breed.
An Adel resident for the past 30 years, Bryan was a World War II flying ace. Not just an ace but a double ace. A pilot must down five enemy aircraft to become an ace; Bryan downed 13.3 enemy planes in Europe. The fractions represent planes downed with other pilots. -
A widespread mosquito alert
In announcing the discovery of a mosquito carrying the West Nile Virus strain, city and health officials did not include the specific location of the discovery.
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Of Guantanamo Bay and a Founding Father
Some readers may wonder how a Valdosta High School graduate could bring himself as an attorney to represent a Guantanamo Bay prisoner charged in connection to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
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Congratulations, VSU Softball!
This weekend, Valdosta State University Blazers Softball became the latest team to add to Valdosta’s TitleTown legacy.
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School’s out so watch out!
Summer is a time of rest, vacations and trips. It is a time when school is out, when people take time off from work, when people may stay out a little later. It is a time of swimming, trying new things, and seeking adventure.
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Qualifiers are next leaders
While the national media focuses attention on the presidential election, it should be remembered that we will also choose our local leaders this year.
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Thumbs up
THUMBS UP: To the 2011-12 arts season. Theatre Guild Valdosta’s rollicking comedy, “Caught in the Net,” officially brings to a close a magnificent schedule of shows ranging from theatre to opera to concerts to art exhibits and more from a variety of area venues. Theatre Guild will also open the 2012-13 season this summer with the musical “Into the Woods.” Until then, arts lovers can soon enjoy a new series of exhibits from the year-round Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts and three musicals starting in two weeks from Peach State Summer Theatre.
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Events that get things done
Finding something that repeatedly attracts the public is difficult enough, but finding an event that accomplishes that feat while also promoting your organization and helping others … well, in many places, that’s a rarity.
Not so for the Valdosta area. - More What We Think Headlines
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Elections: Creating a two-party region?
