Here is something I wrote on September 1, 2001. From Urbana Champaign Independent Media Center:
No matter what happens at the World Council Against Racism in Durban, South Africa, America will remain the template for how the rest of the world will look, color-wise, in the next few generations.
In America, culture mixes on an accelerated curve. Members of very race, every religion, every political creed, and every nationality live in America. To take the cultural mixing farther, every language on the planet is spoken somewhere in America and every food prepared in the kitchens of every nation are cooked in America. And in the true international language of humanity, every genre of music is played here, with all the various ethnic nuances and flavors.
However, the conservatives continue to wail away on the “evils” of multiculturalism, even though the logic of that argument is against the fabric of freedom itself. Preaching the “evils of multiculturalism” in itself is a racist argument. That ideal that the conservatives preach is cooked in the bowels of ignorance that is left over from the time before the Civil Rights Act was passed. The rationale seems to be that America is better off as a SINGULAR culture. That has never been true since Columbus landed on what is he called San Salvador.
However, for years I have been trying to physicalize “multiculturalism.” What is a representation of multiculturalism? It hit me hard one day and crystallized the issue for me when I was strolling along the packed noon-time streets of a large American city in the South. I met a street vendor who was selling foods based on his heritage. I was astonished at the menu and my mouth was watering heavy due to the lovely smells coming from his small kitchen on wheels. I took the plunge and ordered an item off the menu, took a bite and was in heaven. And in my hand was the perfect by-product of our multicultural society; a kung-pow chicken burrito.
The gentleman was an American of Mexican/Chinese decent. But he was American and stood as an example of what America is, no matter how hard the racists yell about his inherently “evil” kung-pow chicken burrito.
The food example is on the simple side but does illustrate that ideas are created faster and are of a higher quality when developed in more diverse environments.
But sadly, these benefits are often swept aside or destroyed by the racism in America. I have heard the racist White Americans exclaim that racism does not exist and heard the Black apologists expound that racism is no longer a part of the American landscape. Here is my testimony on the issue. I am a Southern White Boy. I’m so Irish I bleed green. However, I am married to a Strong Black Woman and because of that I have an adopted brother who has not spoken to me since we got married eight and half years ago. Other family members were also aghast at the union. One blamed all of America’s ills on “the niggers, the Jews and everyone in the Kennedy family.” I would submit to you that this is a typical White American family.
I still cringe every time I hear someone proclaim that this country was founded on “European Christian” values and is the reason for its growth while ignoring the contributions of other races, cultures and nationalities.
Every major river system in America has a Native American name; Ohio, Mississippi, Monongahela, Youghiogheny, Shenango, Allegheny, Missouri, Ichetucknee, Catawba, and Yadkin. And how many States have names taken from Native American languages?
And look how Native American culture has influenced American recreation. They have given us the canoe, kayak and surfboard. Kayaking is THE fastest growing water sport in America and made its Olympic debut during the 1996 Summer Olympics. Oh, and the actual whitewater contests were held in Tennessee, a state with a Native American name.
And how many Chinese immigrants died in the American West, buried in unmarked graves next to the very railroad track that they worked to build?
And how many millions of Africans were sold into slavery and shipped to North America? For almost three-hundred and fifty years, the Africans existed in America as slaves and much of America was built on their blood, pain, anguish and suffering and yet no national memorial exists for them.
The greatest racial problem that exists in contemporary America is denial. American children are taught in school that the Civil War was fought over “States Rights” and “taxation”, yet all we see from the documents that started the war is racism. In all the succession documents, “taxation” is never mentioned and the only time “States Rights” comes up is in reference to the right to own Africans. In fact, the issue is frequently referred to as the “Slave Holding States vs. Non-slave Holding States.”
American children are never exposed to the Confederate Constitution which guarantees the right of all “white men” to own people of African decent.
The only time these things are taught are in Black History classes and as viewed by the White mainstream, those classes are not American history.
But Americans will never grow up and realize their full potential until they come to grips as a society with the evils of racism and stop lying to themselves concerning the true origins of the US Civil War.
There are long stretches of road in North Carolina where one can see a Confederate flag flying less than every two miles. And these areas are populated mostly by African-Americans. It is beyond my comprehension as to why Whites would display a symbol rich with such hate towards Blacks. Every time a Confederate flag is displayed it cuts the racial wound deeper in America.
By claiming that the Civil War was about taxation belittles everyone and diminishes the struggle for freedom that the Blacks in America suffered to obtain.
This nation has never had the catharsis that post Nazi Germany had when the Allies forced German citizens to tour the concentration camps. German denial ended there.
America’s denial will continue until we HONOR those of African descent by at least acknowledging the pain and suffering that the slaves went through. Is it so unreasonable to build a National Slave Memorial for those who built America under the heavy hand of slavery? America is building a memorial to those who overcame the Nazi’s, I think that a memorial to the American Slave is just as honorable of a goal.
Maybe if we designed the memorial to be built out of White marble, the racists wouldn’t bitch as much?
You have provided commentary with your comic. I like it. It makes one thing and consider certain things. However, I do have some counters, or, rather additional things to submit that you and others should consider as well.
You mentioned something about ‘multiculturalism’ that I found that my feelings are shared with your own. At least for the most part. Now, I am all for diversity, multiculturalism and all that stuff. However, and this is what I think some people have issues with in multiculturalism, and that is the fact that it could lead to divisiveness. It is already starting to happen now. You have people of these different ethnicities and pandering politicians saying that their ethnicity should be recognized such as ‘African-American’, ‘Japanese-American’ or ‘French-American’. I disagree with that idea utterly. Most (although not all) of the blacks in the United States were born and raised in America. Of those that were born in America, most (and almost all) have NEVER even left the country, much less gone anywhere near Africa. To suggest that they should have that hyphen in there suggests that they only want to be partially American or an American only when it suits them. That in turn could (and to a degree already has) thrown up yet another layer of division in this country.
My Grandfather (on my mom’s side) came from Bulgaria, he was a Bulgarian-American (or Slavic-American or whatever you wanna call that little area of South-Eastern Europe). My mom is American, but she could claim to be ‘Bulgarian-American’ as well simply because of the way some of these yahoos want to play the race-game. If that isn’t racist and encouraging of social division, I do not know what is.
The only reason why somebody should have that hyphen is if they actually came from that particular area, moved to America and became an American. Any of their children would be Americans, and any children after that would also be Americans. They are American. Plain and simple. They need to accept that.
Another issue that I think quite a few people have against ‘multiculturalism’ is language. I will be the first to state that American English is one of the most difficult languages to learn simply because of all of the adaptations, changes and such that come from having so many other ethnicities to contribute to it. It is also one of the largest (in sheer number of words) and diverse as well (many languages default to English because their language doesn’t have means of expressing a similar idea). I think that is great! It should continue as well. But, if you are going to live in America, you should speak the language. There are a lot of folks who do not know English that were born and raised in America. Why is that? I don’t mind if I am walking down the hall and I see two people of Hispanic origin babbling about in Spanish. I can accept that. But what I cannot accept is when I walk up to someone of, say for example Chinese descent (that is, they were born and raised in the US) and they can barely understand what I am saying (and vice verse) because they know enough English to ask “where is the bathroom?” then I get a little upset. When they give that incredulous look that suggests that I SHOULD know their language, or that they should not have to speak English…that is when I have problems.
In America, we speak English…not French, not Chinese, not Spanish, Portuguese, Swahili or Russian. English. I can understand visitors and those seeking to live here having little to no grasp on the English language…but not someone that was born and raised here.
Refusing to learn and speak the native language and requesting that crazy stupid hyphen are my issues with multiculturalism. You can have a very nice, wonderful and quite diverse multi-culture without that.
You also mention that America is racist. I challenge you to find a place that is not. I challenge you to find a country where someone of a different ethnic background (born and raised there or not) where they are accepted as a native by anyone and everyone. Yes, America is racist and/or has racist tendencies. But I find it hard to believe that America is more racist than other countries.
As far as your submission for the ‘Typical White American Family’, I will simply state that even though based on personal experience, it is a fairly small and narrow view of a ‘typical’ American family. Perhaps that is the Typical White American family in Dobson, but I do not think that it is the Typical White American Family in Killeen, Texas, Washington D.C., Columbus, Ohio or Los Angeles California. The United States is not as racially polarized as you would make it out to be. Is there some polarization? Oh, of course! My cousin had a child out of wedlock with a black man. My family’s reaction? They think the kid is great. They wish my cousin would have stuck with the guy instead of having to raise the kid on her own. The only exception is my grandfather (on my dad’s side) who is old, cantankerous and opinionated on such things as mixing races (he doesn’t mind blacks, but they should stay with their own) and having kids out of wedlock. He is the only exception to that situation that I am aware of.
When people state that this country was founded on “European Christian” values is less of the contributions made by European Christians, and more about the values that went into penning the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and taking into account just who was establishing the groundwork for the country that we have today. Things like having “In God We Trust” on our currency, many of the morals and ethics that are the foundation of our laws are, in fact, from European Christian values. To utterly ignore the contributions that European Christians had in establishing this country and making it great is just as heinous and wrong as the idea of ignoring the contributions that other races, cultures and nationalities have made.
Turning my attention to the Civil War, now, I don’t know what school you went to, or what schools are teaching now. But when I was in elementary and high school, I was taught that the Civil Wars was fought over slavery. Since then, I have learned that there was a LOT more to it than that. It is a funny thing about history though…especially when you go into the histories of events that were quite complex. You never get the whole story. You only get what those books, papers and such WANT you to have. History is written by those that survive.
To say that the Civil War was fought solely on the basis of slavery is wrong. Just like saying that it was fought on the basis of States’ Rights is also wrong. It was a combination of politics, economics, social progression, federalism and other numerous matters.
For example; a lot of the Southern States wanted to maintain slavery because of their massive agricultural plantations. Slaves were free labor and by using them, the production of various agricultural products would be cheaper. So it was partially an economic issue…and of course, those rich plantation owners wanted control in the government, and what control they did not have, they wanted to have.
Not only that, but when America was first established, the states were placed under the impression that they would be autonomous from the Federal Government for the most part (hence the name ‘state’ which is of a similar definition to a sovereign country). The Federal Government was expanding its hold on the states, and many states in the South did not like that as they felt it infringed on their rights as states. It went beyond the simple matter of the Slave States being allowed to own slaves, there were other matters involved such as how people would conduct business.
I am not suggesting that the Civil War was not fought over slavery at all, or that it was only about States’ rights. I am stating that the Civil War was fought over a variety of issues in the beginning. The fact that the Emancipation Proclamation was issued by Abraham Lincoln actually MADE the issue all about slavery…and it was done for a reason. Why? Because the South was trying to get England and/or France to send help, as the South viewed the conflict as their sovereignty being threatened. By issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, the Civil War became an internal issue, and Europe decided to stay out of it.
I am in no manner of denial about the existence of slavery in our history. I question the brutal treatment that is said to have been handed down at times, but I will not deny that it happened, it would be silly to try to do that. However, I am uncertain certain that harsh treatment went to the degree suggested. Why? Physical abuse breaks the body, and a broken body cannot work. From the mind of a businessman, a slave is an investment. Something that you paid money for and you need to get your money’s worth out of. You can’t do that if they are unable to work because they are broken.
Something you may want to consider about the slave trade as well: those that were taken and sold into slavery were not taken by Europeans or by Americans. A common practice in many African countries (that still goes on even today), is that when one tribe/faction destroys another, the survivors are sold into slavery. Granted, the slave trade to America made dealings of that sort more profitable for those involved, but the acts of Africans selling each other into slavery is not something that was new. It is also not something that suddenly became more popular either. It would have gone on with or without Americans buying them.
I am in no manner of denial that a LOT of civilizations were built on the backs of slaves; Rome, Egypt and many others are testaments to that fact. However, I am not defending, condoning or suggesting that such behavior is permissible by any means at all (in fact, I feel slavery is an atrocity at best). But I have accepted that it happened in America, that it happened all over the world, and it continues on even today in some places.
You may think that Americans will never grow up and realize their potential until they get out of their denial of the evils of slavery and the events in the Civil War. I will disagree. America does need to grow up. America also needs to also get out of this complacent state of denial that it is in. working to acknowledge those past actions are a step in the right direction, but hardly necessary.
America already admitted that it happened repeatedly and consistently. America has also not attempted to deny (to my knowledge) the acts that happened in the mid 1800’s. However, America is still in the process of healing itself of those grievous wounds as well. Some progress has been made, and some progress has stagnated.
Groups like the NAACP are just as much a hindrance to healing those wounds as those guys posting the Confederate flag within every two miles along a stretch of road. Why? Because it is groups and people like this that feel that [insert race here] is somehow special. That they are somehow entitled to something. That they feel that because of events that happened over 160 years ago, that they deserve special treatments, restitutions and should somehow be put onto a pedestal. These are the same groups that automatically assume that anything that is done to a black person, it was done out of racism (“you’re arresting me ‘cause I’m black.” or “You are denying me [insert service here] because I’m Hispanic”).
I disagree with such groups as the NAACP and others. Why? Because they foster and encourage racism. Racism is racism is racism regardless of the race, color or creed of the parties involved. It doesn’t matter if it is a white man insulting a Chinese man, or a black man picking on a white man, or a Hispanic poking at an Indian. It is ALL still racism. Period. The excuse of “well, he’s white so it’s ok” is NOT an excuse! It is STILL racism. End of story!
I am all for educating the populace about what happened, but to say that the Civil War was fought over “the right to own slaves” is just as wrong and belittling as stating that the Civil War was fought over “States’ Rights” or “Taxation”. Tell the WHOLE story or don’t tell it at all.
Abolishing racism is an impossible task. You will ALWAYS have individuals who are going to be racist against another race. But you can reduce it’s presence, however.
To do that, society needs to grow up, wake up and take a good long look at the way things are and change accordingly.