The Automatik

From This Pop Life:

“The Oppression Olympics” refers to the idea that somehow, you can deny someone their suffering in order to posit your own. People who play the Oppression Olympics get so hung up on their own entitlement to being the Chosen Ones of Fucked Up History that they’re defensive that anyone else would try to lay claim to that legacy, even in what is clearly a show of solidarity.

Or as someone on the LiveJournal community Debunking White put it: “the I’m-oppressed-so-you-can’t-be game.”

Graphic by Bint Alshamsa from her blog
Click on the graphic for a larger version.

Forget the Beijing Olympics and tune in instead to this year’s Democratic Presidential Nomination Badwill Games.

Gloria Steinem, in a recent debate with Melissa Harris-Lacewell, said the following:

“I think one learns a lot from parallels, and so it would be interesting to try to project what would have happened to Barack Obama in his life if he had been a female human being.”

But in her now-infamous New York Times Op-Ed piece she said that, “Gender is probably the most restricting force in American life, whether the question is who must be in the kitchen or who could be in the White House.” She went on to ask why “the sex barrier [is] not taken as seriously as the racial one.” Steinem claims that she is “trying not to choose between race and gender.”

Here’s the thing, Ms. Steinem: you don’t have to.
Read more

In light all of the recent outrage about Barack Obama’s pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, I would like to weigh in.

Until today, I had not seen the Reverend preaching, although I had heard snippets of what he had supposedly said.

Here is a clip of Wright talking about how “Hillary has never been called a n***er.”

And here is a montage of clips from Fox News.
(I have to laugh at the irony of Bill O’Reilly warning of “offensive” content.)

I’ve watched both of these and I must say, I don’t understand what everyone is so upset over. Then I have to remind myself that for a lot of white people, there is only one America and that’s the great melting pot that espouses freedom.

But for millions of people of color, America is anything but a representation of freedom. How can it be when America was founded on the enslavement of African-Americans? For everyone who would cry, “My family didn’t own slaves” or “Can’t they get over it already?” I will add the following:

Racism isn’t the guys in the white hoods burning crosses on your lawns. It is a systematic oppression that has been so woven into the fabric of life that many white people don’t even realize they benefit from it. And that is called white privilege. Owning slaves is just the beginning of it.

Keep in mind also that slavery was legal in America until 1865. Even after it had been abolished, African-Americans still did not enjoy the same benefits as white Americans under the law. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited discrimination based on race. Before that, separate water fountains for African-Americans and white people were the norm.

Think of it in numbers. For the first hundred years of America’s existence, slavery was legal. And then for another hundred years, discrimination based on race was allowed under the law. That’s two hundred years of oppression. It’s not something you just “get over.”

So Reverend Wright is understandably upset. And while I am not a religious person, I agree with his indignation and his anger and his passion about these issues. Reverend Wright is not lying when he says, “Hillary has never been called a n***er.” But that isn’t the only face of racism.

Tim Wise has a great article on this called “Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama and the Unacceptability of Truth: Of National Lies and Racial America.”

“But white folks have a hard time hearing these simple truths. We find it almost impossible to listen to an alternative version of reality. Indeed, what seems to bother white people more than anything, whether in the recent episode, or at any other time, is being confronted with the recognition that black people do not, by and large, see the world like we do; that black people, by and large, do not view America as white people view it. We are, in fact, shocked that this should be so, having come to believe, apparently, that the falsehoods to which we cling like a kidney patient clings to a dialysis machine, are equally shared by our darker-skinned compatriots.”

Please read the whole thing. And then, if you are a white person, think about it. Get mad, deny it, call me a racist, a traitor, or a bitch, but THINK ABOUT IT.

Geraldine Ferraro’s recent racist remarks are actually nothing new for her. In 1998, she made similar comments about Jesse Jackson:

“If Jesse Jackson were not black, he wouldn’t be in the race.”

And sadly, but again, unsurprisingly, these types of comments are not limited to Ferraro. John Edwards’ wife Elizabeth was quoted in the August 2007 issue of Esquire saying:

“We can’t make John black, we can’t make him a woman. Those things get you a lot of press, worth a certain amount of fundraising dollars.”

Only someone in complete denial of their own white privilege or the existence of racism would make such preposterous remarks. What is it that white people are not getting? Why is it that we refuse to see, to hear, to believe?

Photo courtesy Jakob Holdt

As a white person, I do not presume to speak for those who have experienced racism. So here are some words from people of color I’ve read recently, although to get the full effect you should read the entirety of each posting:

Jill Tubman, at Jack And Jill Politics writes:

“Being a black woman, I feel I have a perspective that I’d love to share with Geraldine. I’ve gotten few breaks BECAUSE of my race or gender. Instead, I have often received opportunities DESPITE my race (in particular) or gender.”

Resistance, at Resist Racism writes:

I’ve gotten into this argument any of a number of times with white people, almost always with the same dispiriting results. A white friend, after being wait-listed for grad school, complained that the selected cohort was 1/4 people of color and how they had taken “her” place. I pointed out that her assumption was predicated on the belief that she was more qualified than any of the students of color and was inherently racist. She didn’t complain about the white students who were admitted before her. She also seemed to have an underlying belief that she was entitled to a spot.

We went round and round on this, and finally I asked her whether or not it was true that I was academically more qualified than she was.

“Yes, but. . . ” she kept saying.

And Tamara K. Nopper writes of her recent experience on a Southwest Airlines flight:

Shortly after sitting down, an older white man sat in the seat next to mine. He then proceeded to spread his legs wide open as if, to quote a wise person I know, “he thought he had balls the size of pumpkins.” In response to the uninvited pressing, I requested room for my legs. The man then proceeded to imperiously point his finger to the floor to emphasize that his feet were within the boundary of his seats. He never addressed the fact that his legs were spread beyond them so as to invade my space and press up against my body. Instead, he said to me, “You’re a big girl.” Talking on my cell phone, I interrupted my conversation to calmly tell the man “Don’t fucking talk to me that way.”

With his right hand, the man reached across himself to grab my left arm. With my arm in his grip, he looked me in the eyes through his glasses and replied, “I’m going to slap you in your mouth.” I freed myself from him and then stood up. I called out to the steward at the front of the plane that I needed assistance since I had just been grabbed by the person sitting next to me. Hurriedly, the man bolted out of his seat, muttering that he would move. As he exited the row he made it a point to emphasize that I had cussed at him, neglecting the fact that he had made the comment that initiated our negative exchange.

I turned around to be met by a young, white woman steward named Crystal G. Webb. When I told her that I had been assaulted by the man who was now making a mad dash for a seat a few rows back, she began to laugh. As she bit her lip, a smirk escaped.

These stories are not isolated incidents. They are but a fraction of the hundreds, thousands, even millions of stories like them from around the world.

Why aren’t we more outraged about this sort of behavior? Why do we refuse to believe that racism is still alive and well?

When mainstream media reports on racism, it’s called “liberal bias.” When independent bloggers report on it, it’s not considered news because it doesn’t come from mainstream media.

What is the mainstream experience then, if it is not the voices of millions telling first hand accounts of the suffering they’ve endured due to racism?

We must see, we must hear, and we must believe.

Another currently hot topic in the realm of racism, is the series of comments made by former Vice Presidential candidate and Hillary Clinton campaign Finance Committee member Geraldine Ferraro.

Image from The Huffington Post

In case you haven’t heard about this, here’s what she said:

“I think what America feels about a woman becoming president takes a very secondary place to Obama’s campaign - to a kind of campaign that it would be hard for anyone to run against. For one thing, you have the press, which has been uniquely hard on her. It’s been a very sexist media. Some just don’t like her. The others have gotten caught up in the Obama campaign.

“If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.”

In their March 11 follow up story, the Daily Breeze reported Ferraro’s response to the accusations that she was a racist:

“Any time anybody does anything that in any way pulls this campaign down and says let’s address reality and the problems we’re facing in this world, you’re accused of being racist, so you have to shut up. Racism works in two different directions. I really think they’re attacking me because I’m white. How’s that?”

She defended her remarks on Good Morning America, saying she was “sorry people think it was a racist comment.” She goes on to say she’s been “fighting discrimination for forty years, not just about gender, but about race, and for the disabled, for the elderly, for gays. . .” She tries to say she meant her remarks in a good way, and singles Obama out for being a successful African-American.

She again defended her remarks on NBC’s Nightly News on March 12, saying:

“If anybody is going to apologize, they should apologize to me for calling me a racist.”

Despite the fact that she resigned of her own volition, Ferraro thinks she has been prevented from exercising her first amendment rights. She calls the accusations “hurtful” and again mentions how she’s been “fighting against discrimination for forty years.”

Is the new national pastime the Oppression Olympics? Who has it worse: gays or the disabled? Women or African-Americans?

Is this the new face of feminism, one which says, point blank, “Bow down to the woman?”

It’s not just Roseanne Barr, it’s Gloria Steinem and Erica Jong.

Steinem: “Black men were given the vote a half-century before women of any race were allowed to mark a ballot, and generally have ascended to positions of power, from the military to the boardroom, before any women (with the possible exception of obedient family members in the latter).”

Jong: “If Michelle attacks Hillary, it’s news. If Hillary attacks Michelle — well she can’t because that would be racist. . . If I have to watch another great American woman thrown in the dustbin of history to please the patriarchy, I’ll move to Canada . . . ”

What do all of these women have in common? They are white.

The party line of white privilege is denial, so let’s translate Ferraro’s comments:

Racism is no longer an issue, but sexism against white women is an issue.
If a person of color calls me on my racism, they are being racist against me.
I am sorry if people thought what I said was racist, but I am not sorry for what I said.
I refuse to question my privilege because I am a white woman and therefore exempt due to the fact that I have been the victim of sexism.
I can’t be racist because I have black friends and I have fought against discrimination against women and other marginalized groups.
By calling attention to your own race, you are making race an issue not me.
I was only trying to say that I think it’s great that you people have gotten as far as you have even though you aren’t white.
I am hurt by your accusations of racism and since I am a white woman, my pain is greater than the pain you have suffered at the hands of racist whites.

Let’s be clear and see this for what it is: a giant load of bullshit.

No person of color who calls a white person out on racism should apologize to the white person for thinking the remarks were racist. White people do not get to decide what is or is not racist. We can’t because we are not victims of racism; it is not our call.

Furthermore, there is no trumping of feminism by racism or racism by feminism. Both originate from prejudice plus power, but then veer off in different directions. Sexism is the oppression of women by the patriarchal power structure while racism is the oppression of people of color by the white power structure.

Feminism is not the same as racism and they should never be conflated.

Many white people, and I have been guilty of this myself, try to come up with analogies to address racism, often in an attempt to deny their own. We will create alternate universes where race isn’t used to discriminate but instead substitute things like hair color, eye color, height, or whether or not someone has freckles. And then we will say, “Oh, isn’t that ridiculous? I would never discriminate against someone based on their hair color so why would I do that to a person of color?”

Let me counter with a question: Why on earth would we need to create an alternate universe to deconstruct racism when we already live in a world where people continue to perpetrate oppression based on race?

There are no analogies needed for racism because there are none. No other oppression of any marginalized group is akin to racism because only racism oppresses people on the basis of their race. To create analogies avoids addressing the fact that racism exists.

Period. That’s it. So leave feminism, homophobia, and everything else out of it.

The March 12 story about an African-American female reporter being brutally attacked by the white family of a murder suspect has been all over the news.

I urge you to watch the video from the WLTX-TV link as it has the most accurate description of the events in question.

Photo courtesy WSPA-TV

The version I saw on our local news last night had clearly been edited to excise what I assumed to be racist name calling or swearing, and I missed the lead in which described the background of the situation.

On a purely visual level, however, it was immediately and blatantly obvious to me that this reporter was attacked because of her race. How anyone could feel that racism was not a part of this attack is upsetting to me, but unfortunately not surprising.

The reporter confirms that throughout her morning coverage of the murder investigation, the suspect’s family shouted racial slurs at her. It’s also important to note that the suspect is accused of killing his own grandfather.

Many of the various viewer comments not only deny the racist actions of the family, but think the reporter deserved what she got:

“Yeah! Fight back against the Paparazzi!”

“What’s the difference between trash, and those who report it? Nothing!”

“This is NOT about race.”

“It is a shame there were racial epithets thrown around. That unfortunately will take the lead over a story of a vulture preying on a grieving family, trying to invade their space, and rightfully got what she deserved.”

One of the Huffington Post commenters says:

“not being racist at all…i’m saying watch the complete unedited video from the beginning. it’s the reporter that rushes around her camera man and throws a punch. the reporter is attacking. doesn’t matter if she’s black or white…she rushes around her camerman and throws a punch…she is instigating…period.”

Buck Denton, on his blog, The Conservation Report, disagrees, saying, “. . . Furthermore, any reasonable person could conclude from the video evidence that she did not throw the first punch or antagonized the situation. . . . The situation could have become a homicide if not remedied by on lookers and the police.”

Unfortunately, the majority of the clips online do not show the beginning of the incident, but the WLTX-TV video clearly shows what happened. Again, the reporter is across the street from the family, on a public sidewalk, and it is the white family who instigates the attack, not the reporter. Any human being is certainly allowed—and instinctually predisposed—to defend oneself against an angry mob.

The WLTX-TV video also shows other white people nearby—a man crosses the camera near his car and looks like he might be on his cell phone—while a group of African-Americans observing the situation go over to help. Also notice how the one white person who walks over to the fracas—an older woman—consoles the white attacker, not Ms. Brown, the victim.

And inevitably, someone tries to accuse the African-American bystanders of “not bothering to get involved” even though one man is obviously placing himself between Ms. Brown and one of the attackers, and is actually interviewed after the attack, saying, “They should be sad because it’s a murder, but instead they’re sitting here wanting a fight.”

Thankfully, someone speaks up in the bystanders’ defense: “How about they were afraid they’d get arrested and get blamed for what happened?”

When you’re a person of color, in this case an African-American, you can’t win.

If you get attacked by white people, you must have started it.
If you get attacked by white people, it’s because you’re a scum-sucking reporter, so you deserved it.
And if you’re an African-American, you don’t “bother to get involved” because you don’t care about others.

I just read this post from Holly at Feministe.us—Sixteen Maneuvers to Avoid Really Dealing With Racism.

Image from Slow But Steady

I’m reposting it in its entirety because it’s so good. I suggest also reading the comments.

Holly herself comments on it about halfway through. What she says should actually be read before anything else because it’s so integral to the discussion:

If you think this is about individuals being racist, you’re still missing the point and not reading closely enough. Part of the idea is that the focus on individuals as racists is a dangerous distraction from the real systemic problem of racism. Racism is a system, larger than any individual; it’s not one person getting wet, it’s an ocean. So yes, discussions of “OMG — am I racist or not?” are in fact, meaningless.

One of the commenters, Doug, posted this great bit of insight:

Also, its important to note that the one common element in each of those items is that they are said by privileged people who are trying to retain their privileged position. Even the ones that admit “fault” are phrased in such a way as to retain the special status of the speaker. Being privileged does not automatically make you a bad person, but it does require self awareness. When you discuss racial issues, ask yourself “why am I saying this? How would this sound to someone without my privilege?”

Holly’s list—and the comments—cover a lot of ground, both negative and positive. I sort of wish I could carry this around with me at all times so that whenever these issues (i.e., white privilege and racism) come up, I could just whip it out of my pocket as a reference guide. (Actually, that’s not a bad idea the more I think about it.)

I say that because it can be very exhausting to say the same things over and over in discussions about racism and privilege and if people would do just a modicum of reading before they open their mouths, they would be much less likely to be subjected to the taste of their feet.

Let me state that I am a white person and over my lifetime, I have used every one of these excuses. The one I am most guilty of falling back on these days is “The Bending Over Backwards.” Just admitting it and typing it doesn’t make it okay, but I need to come clean. I’m no less racist than any other white person because I know that I’ve benefited—and continue to benefit—from the long, entrenched history of the white power structure.

I try to question my privilege and my racism. Often I fail, and then I try again. I’m sure I’ll fail again. But I will still try.

Sixteen Maneuvers to Avoid Really Dealing With Racism

The Bootstrap Myth
“Racism is a thing of the past. . . this is a free country, and anyone who works hard can make it in America.”

The Backtrack
“Hey, wait a second, that’s not what I meant. . . I mean. . . you took my words out of context, don’t make it try to sound like I’m racist!”

The Remove the Right To Be Angry
“You’re too sensitive. . .if you weren’t so aggressive, vocal, hostile, angry, or upset, people would listen to you and you wouldn’t get in trouble!”

The Utopian Eye-Gouger
“I’m colorblind, personally. . .why can’t we all just ignore race, it’s not like it’s even real. . . it’s not like I tangibly benefit from being white every day or anything! Can’t we all just get along?”

Turning the Tables
“You’re being just as racist against white people, you realize. You’re being racist against me right now, you reverse-racist hypocrites!”

The Good White Person (not like those obvious racists!)
“Whoa, that guy over there is SUCH a racist, unlike me. . . I know exactly the right things to say and I’m never racist. By which I mean overtly offensive about it. Hold on, I think I’m going to go spit on that guy. I hate him.”

The Unblemished Family History
“Hey, my family never owned slaves, so it’s not like I, as an individual, get any benefit from racism!”

The Bending Over Backwards (makes you look flexible, but accomplishes little else)
“You people of color are so right. I agree with everything you say. Because you’re right, of course. . .not just because I’m guilty and white and wrong!”

The Personal Justification
“But a black person, Mexican, mean old Asian lady, or Native American once cut in front of me in line, said something stupid, mugged me, or took my hubcaps! So as far as I’m concerned, they proved all of my prejudices!”

The Loophole of Escape
“I can’t possibly be a bigot or a racist. . .I’m part of the oppressed due to the fact that I’m a woman!” (or gay, poor, young, trans, etc.)

The Culture Appropriator
“Damn, bro! You know I’m down with the homies, I ain’t no wack racist cracker, shiznit.”

The Lean On You When I’m Not Strong
“Teach me, help me. I’m just a white person, so I need your wisdom as a person of color to show me how not to be racist. Wait, is what I said earlier racist? How about this shirt I’m wearing? Can you come with me to this party, so they know I’m not a racist?”

The Pause for Applause
“Unlike all those other white people out there, I’m an anti-racist.” (. . .) “I do anti-racist work and I try to educate other people about anti-racism.” (. . .) “Wait, did you hear me?”

The Smoke and Mirrors
“I totally agree. Racism is one system of oppression among many interlocking ones, that specifically awards more privilege and power to all white people, whether they like it or not, and serves to keep the existing power structure in place. Oh… what? You want me to volunteer in a community organization, contribute money, do security for your protest march? Uh. . .yeah maybe next time, I’ve got to wash my hair tonight. And walk my dog, see the latest episode of Lost, manage my stock portfolio. . .”

The Penitent Paralysis (will not truly absolve you)
“Oh my god. . .that is so awful. I’m so sorry. Sorry. I can’t imagine what it must be like. . . I’m sorry. That’s so awful. I feel so bad for you. Sorry.”

Whipping Out Your Best Friends
“Hey, I’m not a racist, OK? Some of my best friends are black. See?”
Best Friend: “Yeah, I’ve known him since we were kids, and he’s never said anything racist to me!”

And then she added this one in the comments:
Throwing Up Your Hands
“What do you mean I’m part of a racist system no matter how I try to distance myself from it or prove that I think differently?! That’s ridiculous. . . I guess I might as well give up and join the Aryan Nation!”

. . .and one bonus one for all your folks of color out there.

It Doesn’t Matter What Comes Out of My Mouth, Just Look at My Skin
“What? I can’t possibly be racist. I AM a person of color. How can I be racist against myself, huh? No, I haven’t heard of internalized racism, and I still think affirmative action is reverse racism!”