Listen up, Whitey SPEAKS!

[Hell Hath No Fury]

I have been absolutely stunned the past week or so at what I have witnessed unleashed by the Rev. Wright/Obama speeches, both here on DU and in my real life.

Whatever small doubt that racism -- serious, deep-to-the-bone racism -- is alive and well here in the United Stated of America has been utterly demolished.

For much of the last 20+ years we have lived with a veneer-thin social belief that much of our problems with race are a thing of the past, that we have moved significantly beyond the hatred, the bigotry, and the ugliness of pre-civil rights America.

Well, I think we just found out how wrong that belief was!

I live here in very liberal San Francisco, was raised by a very liberal Mom, and work and play among very liberal people. In the last 48 hours, I was shocked to have heard the following from "friends":

1) "I think that there is something in the black race that makes them not want to be educated -- they want to be criminals because it is easy than working." (from a gay, white male)

2) "I think Obama is a hypocrite for supporting that Wright guy -- after all, Obama is getting all of his support from the rich, white people Wright is complaining about." (from a straight, white male)

3) "Ferrarro was right -- if Obama had been a white guy there is no way he would be where he is today." (from a straight, white male)

4) "It's really hard being a white guy these days, it's not 'hip' to be white now." (from a gay, white male)

5) "I don't know what they are complaining about -- things are so much better for them now." (from a straight, white female)

And so, the mask is removed and there we have it, the face of bigotry -- the blatant variety and the quieter, more insidious kind -- is revealed.

As a white woman in America, I have always been aware of the bigotry towards people of color from White America. Though I am biracial (NA and European), people see my pale skin and light eyes and see "white" -- and they feel comfortable saying the kinds of things to my face they only feel comfortable saying among fellow "whites". (The Daily Show had it 100% right last night -- there are some things only said when you are "among family".)

I have been told jokes that utilized the word "nigger", including one that ended with the punchline: "There are niggers hatching in the truck, run!" I have watched as relatives exited a room as soon as a black man entered it. I have been told the person who scratched my car in a parking lot "was probably a Mexican." I was informed that Chinese people can't drive worth a shit and that since they moved into the neighborhood, it has really gone down hill. I was startled when a coworker exclaimed out loud "The fucking nigger!" when the OJ verdict was read. It was made clear to me by a homeowner that the value of her house was in danger because a black man had moved in three houses down from her -- after all, when "they" move in, the neighborhood goes into decline. I sat stunned when my own brother-in-law and SFPD member started spouting White Supremacy crap at the dinner table on night. And on, and on and on....

They say this because they see a white face and feel they can "let their hair down" a bit.

And I can attest to their surprise when they find out this white face doesn't share their view. When I do make my own views known -- forcefully -- they get red-faced, stammer a bit, and start backpedaling faster then a boater headed over Niagara Falls. But it is out there now -- their bigotry is out there, and every time they see me after, they know that I know.

I am very, very glad that, in his speech, Obama acknowledged and reinforced the Truth that the anger is real for the African-American community. The anger is real because the racism is real. Just ask

James Byrd, Jr.
Abner Louima
Amadou Diallo
Sean Bell
Kathryn Johnston
The Jena Six
The residents of NOLA

And ask this white person -- I am here to tell you it is real, it is real on DU, it is real even here in liberal San Francisco, and it is just below the surface, always, just waiting for something like the Wright/Obama speeches to "let its hair down".

But, this also is a great opportunity.

When the Truth is out there, then -- and only then -- it can be dealt with. It can be examined, it can be corrected, it can be healed.

One of the things I found most compelling about how Mandela handled the aftermath of the Afrikaner government was his use of the Truth and Reconciliation panels. He understood deeply that healing cannot occur without completely exposing the "infection". The Truth was heard. The pain and anger was acknowledged. And it was a beginning -- a baby step on a new path for a country.

We took out first real baby steps back in the 60s, and have been tottering along ever since, gathering steam here and there, falling on our asses more than once -- but still tentative and unsure of ourselves after 30 years.

It is time we had our own national Truth and Reconciliation dialogue -- such a move is long overdue, and I am hoping an approach such as the one Obama is taking is a new beginning for our own country.



(Please do not think I am forgetting sexism and bigotry against women and the GLBT community, I wanted to focus strictly on racial bigotry in this post.)