April 16, 2009

Racism is One Form of Discrimination


Robert Jensen says, "many in the white community are afraid to discuss racial issues" echoing Eric Holder. Could the reason be that people dislike being called racist? That's what happens when white people discuss racism. Black people refuse to recognize black racism which is as offensive but seldom addressed. Jensen promotes a double standard. He mentions "fears that come from being white [saying] that sources of these fears include the difficulty of trying to occupy the middle ground." Huh? What he defines as the "middle ground" is addressing only white racism, a double standard. Why must white people only address one form of discrimination? Why is racism prioritized over discrimination toward persons with disabilities? The law makes no distinction. Both are equally unlawful. Journalists and politicians discriminate based on kinds of discrimination. In 2009 in some communities like Cambridge for example black people get privileges withheld from whites. Why is that not an issue? Whites are only 16 percent of the world population. Why is that not an issue? Is the African American lobby stronger than they want to admit? Does that explain why they get attention while persons with disabilities do not?

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Scobes May 4, 2009


The comment by menckenlite says that "black racism . . . is as offensive" as white racism. This idea has several assumptions that render it ridiculous. One is the assumption that racism is a tool that can be wielded by any person toward anyone else in society. But it isn't. Racism, a systemic tool of oppression, requires the means of controlling the institutions in society. In the US, only one race dominates when it comes to controlling society's institutions. Racism is the orientation of a society toward delineation based on race, which, when one looks at the stark differences between white people and every other group--in income, health, presence in top institutional positions and other factors--is clearly the case in the US. Racism, in other words, isn't something that one person directs at another; it is something basic to the whole society. What menckenlite seems to equate with racism is called discrimination. That's different from what Jensen is talking about. And Jensen's talk was about white supremacy (not of the KKK type but of the almost invisible cultural type); that's why he didn't talk about discrimination toward persons with disabilities. But that only means that he is able to stay on topic, not that he somehow denies other discriminations.

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menckenlite May 5, 2009

Scobes says racism is "a systemic tool of oppression, [and] requires the means of controlling the institutions in society." So when a person calls another individual a racist (as Janeane Garofalo does) that is meaningless? Scobes adds, "In the US, only one race dominates when it comes to controlling society's institutions." Barack Obama is President, but whites control the White House? The Mayor of Newark, NJ is black but the government is controlled by whites? For 20 years the Cambridge police had a black police commissioner but the police were controlled by whites? For 8 of the past 12 years the Mayor of Cambridge was black, but the chief political mechanism was controlled by whites? The Governors of Mass (Cadillac Deval Patrick) and New York (David Paterson) are black and but their offices are controlled by whites? Under that reasoning all African governments are racist. Citi Corp is racist now and Time Warner was racist when Parsons was the CEO? The US House Appropriations Committee is chaired by Charles Rangel, but it is controlled by whites? Then Scobes says racism is a matter of economics and access to health care. So multi-millionaires Cadillac Deval Patrick, Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama are racists? Or do we measure racism (one form of discrimination) based on collectivism? In that case persons with disabilities are the most discriminated against group in America. 70 percent of persons with disabilities (PWD) are unemployed or underemployed. When persons accused of mental illness are counted it is 85 percent unemployed or underemployed. What corporations are headed by persons with disabilities? Prominent Boston pundit, Emily Rooney, on her taxpayer funded PBS show lamented in April 2009, that making the Boston subway system accessible to persons who use wheelchairs "is an eyesore." When was the last time that a black person was forced to take off all of his or her clothes when he or she went to an emergency room? It happens frequently to persons with disabilities (access to health care?). When police profiling is discussed why are persons with disabilities always excluded? When the city of Cambridge had a seminar on discrimination why were persons with disabilities excluded? When universities have programs for diversity in hiring why are persons with disabilities excluded? Isn't that an example of "a systemic tool of oppression," by persons of color toward persons with disabilities? The issue of white supremacy brings up another one-sided issue. Why do black supremacists get a free pass? But if as Scobes says racism is not an issue of discrimination from one person to another why do so may black persons call white persons racist when they disagree with them? If racism is a tool how can a person be racist? Perhaps Scobes is an older person who is living in the past and cannot see who the President is, who the Governor is and who the Mayor is.

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[original article]

http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=527665

Author Confronts White Privilege
Published On Wednesday, April 15, 2009 1:25 AM
By SAMI M. KHAN
Harvard Crimson
Contributing Writer

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