Racism Comes In All Flavors
1 Jun 2006
Contrary to popular opinion, it is not a sin to be a white man, not even if you also happen to be a conservative heterosexual Christian. I know the scuttlebutt is that all evil in the world today originates with us white guys, especially with those of us who fear God, live in a red state, and drive a pickup truck. What’s ironic, however, is that this prevailing attitude toward the white race, the male sex, and conservative Christians is a textbook example of the dictionary’s definition of prejudice—the very thing that conservative white male Christians are suppose to reek with.
The dream of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was that all men would be judged by “the content of their character,” not by “the color of their skin.” Unfortunately, King’s dream has been turned into a nightmare by today’s civil rights establishment. Nowadays, thanks to things like affirmative action, whether or not one receives preferential or discriminatory treatment has nothing to do with one’s character, but everything to do with one’s race. Again, the irony is astounding, since the conjured up cures for racism are classic examples of racism itself. Dr. King must be turning over in his grave.
Today marks the first day of Hurricane Season; granted, a far more important date to us Floridians than to you Midwesterners. On this auspicious occasion, I’m reminded of the recent reelection of New Orleans’ Mayor Ray Nagin. Despite the thousands of African-Americans forced to flee their flooded residents and relocate elsewhere in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Mayor Ray Nagin promised that New Orleans would remain “a chocolate city.” According to Nagin, that’s “the way God wants it to be.”
What would happen if some white mayor promised that his city would always be “a vanilla city,” because that’s “the way God wants it to be.” You know as well as I do that a white mayor could never get away with making such an outlandish statement. Yet, Ray Nagin not only got away with it, but he got reelected to boot.
Almost all of New Orleans’ white voters voted against Nagin. Almost all of New Orleans’ black voters voted for him. While many will attribute white opposition to Nagin to white racism, will anyone dare to attribute Nagin’s lack of appeal among white voters to his own racist comments? Would any black voter be comfortable voting for a white mayoral candidate promising to keep a city ‘vanilla,” because that’s “the way God wants it to be”? Of course they wouldn’t. Why, then, should white voters in New Orleans support Mayor Ray Nagin?
While it is undoubtedly true that some whites voted against Nagin because he is black, it is also undoubtedly true that some blacks voted for him because he is not white. Racism can be laid squarely at the feet of all who support any political candidate solely on the basis of the color of the candidate’s skin. Although it may come as a shock to you, racism comes in all colors—David Duke’s and Ray Nagin’s—as well as in all flavors—chocolate (black) and vanilla (white).
Don Walton
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