Do your book got pictures and pop-ups?

As many of you know, being the father of a child whose ethnic identity is "mixed" (half-Caucasian, half-Korean) and the son of a single mom who worked as a social worker in a destitute black neighborhood that included homes without running water or electricity has made me ultra sensitive to racism and racial remarks. I have little, if any, tolerance for either. 

And for the Aryan trolls from Mordor who can't fight the urge to read me but fear confrontation in an open forum for obvious reasons, don't think I've ever forgotten a single snide reference toward blacks, spics, Jews, or Muslims. Although my short-term memory is for shit these days, my long-term memory extends back to 1964 when I was around 6-9 mos. old.  

And I tend to remember a lot of details, to the point that Craig Stone mentioned the other day, that things fall out of his head whenever he learns something new. I'm no Einstein, in fact, I'm not a Stein; but, I do have a strong memory and remember each and every negative racial comment that anyone's ever said to or around me. Why? Because I always thought it was, I don't know, "uncalled for?" or it just made me lose respect for the speaker regardless of the context unless someone was repeating a comedian's schtick, like Richard Pryor's "Mudbone" or Chris Rock's brilliantly funny explanation on the only circumstances when it's ok for a white to call someone a nigger. "It must be between 4:23 and 4:25...on Christmas Eve..." 

There are people who now work (or worked) in management at the VA who have shared plenty of  their feelings regarding ragheads, Mexicans, fags, and--yes--niggers, because they assumed I was "in the club" where white, hetero, patriotic people can say their most stupid shit without having to look over their shoulder. How well can someone like that in a leadership position be trusted knowing they have Muslims, Hispanics, homosexuals, and blacks working for them?  Based on what I've seen and heard, not very far; but, who cares? They're career government workers or retirees with expansive benefits and free health care who scream about our "socialist" president...and they just don't see the irony of their ignorant views.    

I wonder how many of you, my Legion of admirers and supporters, have comments or feelings about your own experiences with race in this country. I know that living off the economy in Korea (meaning I lived off base, in Korean houses and neighborhoods) taught me a few things about passively assuming that my skin color and country of birth were things to be respected instead of derided. Once the reality of the situation struck, like a religious conversion moment, my entire world view changed. My Identity Epiphany. 

Personally, I'm glad I saw the world, and my place in it, from an uncomfortable oblique angle that I was too naive to consider. It taught me things about myself that made me a better soldier, better NCO, better American, better college student, and ultimately, a better parent and person. THAT'S why my Aryan trolls stay away, gathering in the dark like well-dressed Orcs, awaiting orders from their creators on what is right, what is wrong, who is right, and who is wrong. No questions except "When can I buy your book?" and "Do it got pictures and shit like gat?" or "Which candidate are you voting for? The Republican or the Tea Party?"  

Anywho...My feelings are too strong for me to tackle in a few hours of tip-typing away, forming my thoughts into a hopefully coherent whole; therefore, I'm gonna leave you to read an excerpt from a very bright guy who writes about 14,000% better than I can. Plus, he's already written a lengthy essay on his experiences as a working-class white growing up in Rhode Island where racism was a part of one's identity.  

TSCHÜSS,
ERNST WOLFGANG

"...the emergence of a new racist cultural pedagogy that became visible, if note celebrated, with the infamous Willie Horton political ad run by George H. W. Bush during the 1988 presidential campaign. Racism today has been both reconfigured and made invisible with regard to its real victims. In the first instance, racism now represents an attack on white people who see themselves as on the receiving end of black power structures and black politicians. This is most obvious in the remarks of a number of infamous politicians and media celebrities. For example, Glenn Beck recently claimed that President Obama was "a racist" who has "a deep-seated hatred for white people" and compared his administration to the "Planet of the Apes." Rush Limbaugh has called Obama a "halfrican American" and repeatedly played a song on his radio show unapologetically titled "Barack the Magic Negro." All the while the dominant media says little about how these comments are symptomatic of a vile racism that has gained increasing respectability since the 1980s. When the notable talk-radio host Dr. Laura Schlessinger went out of her way to use the N-word 11 times in 15 minutes in order to largely humiliate a black female caller, the press largely focused on the event as an expression of unfortunate and erratic behavior for which Dr. Laura later apologized. In the face of Dr. Laura's decision to retire from her radio program, Sara Palin used Twitter to fire off some advice to her: "don't retreat ... reload." This up front support for a racial slur coupled with a metaphor for violence does more than mimic the worse elements of the Jim Crow South, it also points to how the legacy of racism is both forgotten and simultaneously updated.

It appears that much can be forgiven in a society where it is increasingly believed that white men are now under attack by black people, largely embodied in the image of a black president who allegedly is a Muslim in disguise. The all too obvious and troubling claim being made daily by right-wing politicians and others that the public sphere is primarily the preserve of white Christians is too easily equated with a defense of nation, citizenship and patriotism; unfortunately, this monstrous claim is rarely challenged in the dominant media. Instead, racism becomes exclusively the preserve of language and utterly privatized as a result. Hence, foul racist remarks are treated as jokes, indiscreet humor, bad taste or a harmless species of opinion and largely removed from even a hint of the structural racism and accompanying power relations that have become increasingly visible in the United States. One obvious example of this strategy can be found in the way in which the current intense racism directed against Muslims, exemplified in numerous remarks made by conservative politicians and talk-radio hosts, is viewed as simply an expression of anger rather than a species of virulent racism..."

Yep.

Again, the full essay can be found here: 

http://www.truth-out.org/racialized-memories-and-class-identities-thinking-about-glenn-becks-and-rush-limbaughs-america63035

XOXO

JR