Post-Racial Rhapsody

I have a story for you, one that you may be familiar with. Most Americans had high praise for the 2009 feel-good movie “The Blind Side” based on the true story of an African-American football player named Michael Oher. In case you haven’t seen it, Oher, aka “Big Mike” starts off as a homeless and distressed teenage boy who is a product of the housing projects, broken family, and then foster homes that he has emerged from.  He is a large young man, hence “Big Mike”, but also a quiet person despite all the trauma of his youth. Eventually, he is discovered for being favorably-sized by a private school’s football team and because of his circumstances Michael is adopted by Sandra Bullock’s character (Leigh Anne Tuohy) and her family. The rest is a great story about overcoming the odds and being included on a team and in a family that would otherwise be alien to him. It is also true as far as I know, since Michael Oher is a real person who is now an NFL offensive left tackle and he has told his own story in an autobiography. Who can show contempt for this true story of showing love and compassion to a kid that many would have just forsaken? Fortunately it all worked out for “Big Mike” and he came across some really cool people that became his adoptive family. Yet, the movie at least, avoided some of the real ugliness that can come from confronting prejudices and blatant racism in society. Perhaps it’s just because it was a PG-13 movie, or perhaps the real ugly possibilities were avoided.

Now, let’s take this story and play with it a bit. What if it didn’t take place in Memphis, Tennessee, but instead, Ferguson Missouri? What if the physically imposing black teenager was not Michael Oher, but instead, Michael Brown? What if “Big Mike” Oher, or Brown, or whatever, was not a gentle giant, but an angry youth with a bad attitude and a propensity for petty theft (like many teenagers)? What if instead of wandering the streets and being found by Sandra Bullock, Michael instead is confronted by a police officer? What if “Big Mike” had a bad day and that bad day turned into bad fortune when an officer probably acting more out of fear than civic responsibility, shot him multiple times? How does that sound for a feel-good movie of the year? Not too good I imagine. The kind rather, that makes you feel rather uncomfortable and disgusted. It’s not the sugary stereotypical, “white savior meets magical negro” one that more people in mainstream America would like to watch. (In saying this, I mean no disrespect toward Mr. Oher or the Tuohy family.) Why do I bring up this alternative story? Because this story is not only in the headlines every minute of the day, but it is also rooted in the unfortunate reality for many black teenagers in America. 

Of course, people have so many things to say about this issue and the Michael Brown case in particular. It is sure to inspire some very confrontational Thanksgiving dinners. In fact, the topic probably cannot be avoided unless it is immediately classified as “too hot for TG” (TG, Thanksgiving… yes, I made it up). One only needs to read statuses on social media or read comments following online news articles to be immersed in a tide of controversy. Some of these comments fall along the lines of “he deserved it”, “he acted like a thug, troublemaker, punk”, “don’t talk back to, or confront cops”, “he was a thief”, and now lately I’ve seen speculations that his parents are affiliated with the Bloods gang. Even if all of the above was true, even if Michael Brown does not deserve the impromptu canonization that he has seemed to receive by many people in the Ferguson community, does that make the police response any less impetuous and the outcome any less tragic? In the end, an unarmed, surly, but probably scared, young black man was gunned down by law enforcement. The particulars right now are unknown, there is much speculation, and other people are more qualified to ask questions and find answers. However, the excuses that are being made for why an officer could shoot this young black teenager are ignorant in the least, and then insensitive and even hateful at their worst. 

I have another story, very brief… it is my own. There was a period of time when I was an acrimonious adolescent male. I was sullen and petulant. Sometimes the slightest thing would put me in a rage. I even had a temper so horrible that my grandmother had warned me with a sincere concern that this behavior could lead me to a path ending in jail. Yes, these are the years before my Rastafari trod! I was self-destructive and I engaged in criminal activities that if I had been caught, I may still be locked in a prison cell. I even had encounters with law enforcement. The difference is that I did not come from a broken family, in fact my family cared for me very much. The difference is that I had education and I did not come from a disenfranchised community. The difference is that if I did things to adjust my behavior or appearance, I could avoid having a target on my back. The difference is… I am white. With a roll of fate’s dice, a change of skin color and circumstances, I too could have been Michael Brown, or Trayvon Martin, or Eric Garner, and it goes on and on. I know all too well the benefit of white privilege in certain situations that I may have shared with these men, or that I did indeed share with friends and acquaintances of mine in my younger days. Whether I liked it or not, that’s how it was. Whether we like it or not, acts of prejudice and even discrimination are practiced by officers of the law, because they are human, and we are often bias creatures. 

There are a few things I just want to set straight before continuing. I know that without police protecting citizens there would be anarchy and chaos in our towns and cities. I know that there are some excellent officers who do all the right things for the right reasons and risk their lives with simple acts of heroism every day.  I applaud these men and women, I thank them, and we should be careful not to paint all police officers or the institution with a broad brush. However, not every person who puts on a uniform, wears a badge, and carries a gun is a fair and tolerant person. There are good cops and there are bad cops. Looking beyond the person, there are cops who do a good job and there are cops who do a poor job. This is plain and simple, and irrefutable. Also, on the other end of the spectrum, the burning and looting of Ferguson and the antagonizing of police is disgraceful. Violence and rioting only perpetuate stereotypes, take attention away from the real issue, and mostly hurt people within the same community. Although the outrage is understandable, the actions are senseless, and adverse to any progress. I condemn this behavior as would most rational people of any background.  It should be noted though that most people protesting in Ferguson and other cities around America are not violent and erratic, they are just practicing their civic right to speak against an injustice. 

So why is all of this still happening in this post-racial America? Why does it seem like we have been “blind-sided” by these heavy racial issues when we thought it was “all good”? Why are the 2010’s looking more and more like the 1960’s? Aren’t we past that? Didn’t we have the Civil Rights Movement, and hey, don’t we have a black president? The problem is that we like to pretend that we are color-blind. It is because we are saturated with pop-culture, television shows and McDonald’s commercials where everyone is mingling and doing just fine and we view it as people just being people; people being treated like they should be, as a good person or a bad person. All the prejudices went out the window a generation ago, all the racialism was “so yesterday”. Yet, even if it is subconscious, or parodied, we still have black men portrayed as the archetypes of strong, super athletic, oversexed, crude, beastly negros and black women as loud, angry and bitchy, and both as ignorant, lazy, and generally unintelligent. It’s there; you just have to a look with a third-eye because it may not be as obvious.

As a Rastaman and as a teacher I am one of the first to tell my students and the people I meet that we are all one and that there is only one human race (a beautiful truth). On the other hand, as a Rastaman and a teacher I am also one of the first to tell them that the social and historical construct of “race” is very real, very complicated, and that injustices, intolerance and preconceptions are still alive and well. In fact, the very reason why so much emphasis is put on “black and white” and not the myriad of other ethnicities and cultures in this country is because of our tumultuous past. Ignoring these facts help no one. There is a more insidious racism in existence now. Old-school bigotry is no longer chic or in many cases even tolerated. To borrow a term from radio talk show host Joe Madison, we no longer have “Jim Crow” but his more sophisticated grandson, “James Crow, Esq.” You can’t just go around saying certain things, but you can absolutely feel them, and you can codify them. For example, President Obama has been one of the most castigated presidents in modern history. Some critics call him everything but the N-Word, and yet they would defend themselves by saying they are simply ideologically opposed to him and don’t think that he is a good leader. What other president has had his birth and American citizenship questioned? What other president has had his religious belief scrutinized as if he was a threat to the American public because he could be a menacing anti-American black nationalist? These examples are not coming from real political concerns or disagreements, they come from irrational fear and mindless rhetoric, aka prejudice. They come from that same little dark place where many Americans have tucked away all of their ugly thoughts… in a vacuum of ignorance where the issue of race has not had to be confronted. Until now… 

That dark place is where, I presume, Officer Wilson went to when Michael Brown confronted him in anger. That dark place is where George Zimmerman went when he killed Trayvon Martin. That dark place is where the team of officers went when they choked the life from Eric Garner, that dark place manifests every time someone crosses the street to avoid a dark person on a dark street in the dark night. That dark place could God forbid one day affect my children if they are perceived a certain way, or my wife, or her siblings and cousins. The dark place instills fear in the hearts of men, on both sides of the color-line. People will say it has nothing to do with color, but it has everything to do with color.

Here we have the repercussion of living in our so-called post-racial America. It is a scary place that looks like something from our history books. We need to have a serious talk and educate ourselves, because history repeats itself. We need to learn from another, we need to take a walk in each other’s shoes; we need to recognize that although we are many colors, we are all one people. This dark place of ignorance, confusion, prejudice, brutality and racial profiling is what we Rastafari people call the Babylon System. It is a system that keeps both black and white, all humanity, in bondage. It needs to be confronted, and turning a color-blind eye to it will not help us. Knowledge is power, Truth is the light… shine it in all of those dark, dark places.

I close with this quote from Dr. King which although spoken in the 1960’s still rings true today: "The majority of white Americans consider themselves sincerely committed to justice for the Negro. They believe that American society is essentially hospitable to fair play and to steady growth torward a middle-class Utopia embodying racial harmony. But unfortunately this is a fantasy of self-deception and comfortable vanity. Overwhelmingly America is still struggling with irresolution and contradictions. It has been sincere and even ardent and welcoming some change. But too quickly apathy and disinterest rise to the surface when the next logical steps are to be taken. Laws are passed in a crisis mood after a Birmingham or Selma, but no substantial fervor survives the formal signing of legislation. The recording of the law in itself is treated as the reality of the reform." - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr

Without Doubt or Apology, 
With Love and Sincerity,
JAHsh