Talk about placing blame where it belongs

[Brewman_Jax]

Robert Jensen hits home with this article at http://www.alternet.org/rights/24745/. Look at the blog entries down the page--the level of ignorance is scary. :scared:

[msgadget]

1. Yikes, some of the replies were good

but, just as here, there are many who, because they're liberal, think they're so cool about race they no longer need to take it seriously and, by golly, how dare anyone lump them in with those 'other' white people. In fact, they're SO cool they can play the dozens about it and it's *okay* because they're not racist. And, maybe people are too sensitive anyway, right?

Hell, we've all got hidden prejudices about something, be it race, class, size, accents, nationality, hair color, WHATEVER. None of us are perfect but I think the 'cool' folks are the most dangerous because they think they're 'in' and therefore exempt from deeper contemplation. I absolutely HATE the overuse of the race card - hate it and fight it - but in 2005 there are issues still revolving around race regardless of what this administration and its oh-so-comfortable-without-labels-because-we're-on-the-red-team people of color say.

[ismnotwasm]

2. It comes from always being on the inside looking out

No ability to conceptualize being anything, no frame of reference but your own. Fear and lack of imagination. Sympathy but no empathy.
Remember that book "Black Like Me"? There was a time when white folks were less complacent about race, if not outright racist. They were at least, uncomfortable. But now, we talk about the "rising black middle class" as though a couple of generations of pretend equality has solved the "problem" of racism. We talk of "the angry white male" like a child that needs to be pacified. We talk about "white guilt" practically as a psychiatric condition. White america has yet to look itself squarely in the mirror that reflects race and racism and examine what it finds.

[Brewman_Jax]

3. The hurricane has shown

that Robert Jensen is correct.

[msgadget]

4. I was reminded of the Jensen piece today

as I read the conservative take on events, especially this quote of from Du Bois: Let's go back to the question that W.E.B. Du Bois said he knew was on the minds of white people. In the opening of his 1903 classic, The Souls of Black Folk, Du Bois wrote that the real question whites wanted to ask him, but were afraid to, was: "How does it feel to be a problem?"

The following clearly shows what a problem people of color are:

...

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) insisted: "We have reached the point that whether or not you live or die is determined by the color of your skin." Let's examine that statement for a moment. Who do you think would stand a better chance right now on the streets of New Orleans--a black man or a white man?...Perhaps without knowing, Congressman Cummings made a valid point.

...

Corporate blackmailer Jesse Jackson would not be denied his time in the blazing sun. Jackson visited with refugees (with camera crew in-tow) and attempted to stir-up some hatred of his own. Jackson indicted the entire country by saying: "There's a historical indifference to the pain of poor people and black people."

I predict that Jackson's words will ring hollow (as they always do), as unprecedented donations roll in from private citizens as well as corporations.

Rev. Jackson also complained that the news media had "criminalized the people of New Orleans," by reporting on the widespread looting and violence. While I am no fan of the American news media--Jackson is attempting yet again to shoot the messenger. Unfortunately for the race-pimps...video tape does not lie.

One of the reasons the relief was slow to begin in earnest was due to the violence occurring within New Orleans. Stores and private homes were looted, women and children were raped, even hospitals were raided. Never before have rescue helicopters been fired upon over an American city. New Orleans has been transformed into Mogadishu.

Everyone knows that New Orleans is a dysfunctional city. The murder rate is ten times that of the national average, nearly a third of its citizenry receive public assistance, it also has a long history of corruption. These problems were not created by Hurricane Katrina, nor were they unknown by the local and state governments. Throw in a major natural disaster and a complete breakdown of society could have easily been predicted.

Over the next several months and years, you will see Americans of all backgrounds come to the aid of Katrina's victims. You will also see endless finger-pointing. The one thing that you will not see is any admission of personal responsibility...Business as usual.

http://www.americandaily.com/article/9087