On Racism -- Revised (Hal Cohen)

  Feb. 22, 2009 (World News Trust) -- When I first wrote this piece, on New Year’s Eve, I was not thinking about the historic presidential inauguration three weeks away.  I was only thinking about the uproar about a candidate to be the national face of the Republican party had caused by distributing a song parody.  I knew then that we needed to have a serious discussion about race, and my suggestions about how to begin are below.

  This week has provided a torrent of evidence that we still have far to go on race in America.  The first black (and yes, I said black, not African-American) attorney general in the history of the United States  referred to us as a nation of cowards for how we’ve avoided an honest discussion of race.  Charles M. Blow, in the New York Times, has a piece that explains in part why we’ve avoided the subject.

  Additionally, the day after police in Connecticut shot a chimpanzee that had gone on a rampage, the New York Post printed a cartoon that many saw as comparing our first black president to that chimp.  This outraged many.  Scant days later, a monkey escaped his enclosure at a Seattle zoo, and while Fox News reported the story, relaying the information that this breed of monkey is known for its “bright blue scrotum,” a news anchor chimed in saying they were just talking about Attorney General Eric Holder’s bright blue scrotum.  For those who don’t know, Eric Holder is the AG referenced in the above paragraph.

  In addition to Fox News and the Post sharing ownership, they also share a reputation as being propaganda arms of the Republican Party.  The Republican Party position is essentially, I’m not a racist, therefore racism no longer exists.  Like a first time parent unsure about broaching the subject of sex, we need to talk.

  The media spent a lot of time talking about the fact that a candidate to head the Republican National Committee distributed CD’s to colleagues  for Christmas that contained a song titled “Barack, the Magic Negro.”  He was largely, and correctly, chastised for his lack of sense and sensibility.  As the chorus grew, though, many Republicans came out to defend him, denying any racist intent in distributing a song parody written by a long time friend.

  The Republicans are right about one thing, it is not racist.  It is however, racially insensitive, juvenile, stupid, offensive, and perhaps worst of all, not funny.  Republicans are consistently defending themselves against charges of racism.  To paraphrase Shakespeare, “Methinks the Politician doth protest too much.”  Often times, as in this instance, nobody leveled the charge.  Perhaps the with us or against us, black or white (pardon the pun)  republican view of the world prevents them for recognizing the nuance.  So to help, racial insensitivity and racism are not the same.

  Former Ohio Attorney General Ken Blackwell is not an “Uncle Tom” for defending the CD gift.  He is merely a “my party can do no wrong” suck-up.  Two years ago there was a huge furor over Don Imus calling the Rutgers Women’s Basketball team a bunch of “Nappy headed hos.”  He lost his job.  I don’t condone his remarks, I simply maintain that that is not racism.  Racism is an insidious plague on mankind.

  The first step in eradication of a plague is isolating the virus behind it.  Racial insensitivity is but a symptom.  Racism is rooted in intolerance and ignorance.  Just being offensive doesn’t make something racist.  Too many people take offense for too little reason.  This holiday season is a perfect example.  Saying “Happy Holidays!” is no more a war on Christmas than saying “Merry Christmas” is being insensitive to people who don’t believe in Christ.  Regardless of your religious beliefs, the 25th day of December is Christmas.  Just like the 4th day of July is Independence Day.

  It is vitally important to recognize that racism exists, and condemn it whenever it rears its ugly head.  But as Peter learned, we mustn’t call “Wolf”  when its not there.  Here’s an example that I hope demonstrates the difference:
   
  Lenny Bruce once did a routine where he asked how many "niggers" were in the audience.  The point the wanted to make was about the use of language and how words can be used to hurt.  That was not racism.  When Michael Richards referred to some hecklers as "niggers," that was racist.  These hecklers were "niggers" because they were black and they were heckling him and he didn’t like it.     

  Don Imus making a stupid juvenile joke by calling the black Rutgers women nappy headed hos while racially insensitive was not racist.  Bill O’Reilly on the other hand, having lunch with Rev. Al Sharpton at Sylvia’s and then going on the air to say he was shocked that nobody was saying “Mofo” is racist.  What makes his comment racist is that he admits being surprised that black people can conduct themselves with the same decorum as white people in a nice restaurant.  And that is exactly what his comment did.

  During the confirmation hearings for now Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, Jr.,  many Democratic Senators pointed out that his rulings had adverse effects on minorities and women.  His wife broke down and protested that her husband was no racist.  Nobody had made the accusation.  What they had done was make the observation that his rulings adversely affected minorities -- which is a fact.

  We need to continue a rational debate on race in America.  No national figure in many years has spoken eloquently on the subject in many years until then-Senator Barack Obama’s Philadelphia speech.  In order for the debate to continue, two things need to happen: White people need to understand that acknowledging the fact that racism exists is not the same as admitting to being racists, and black people need to acknowledge that sometimes when they lose its not because of racism.

  The story is often recounted of President Lyndon Johnson lamenting that in signing the Civil Rights Act into law, he was condemning his party to lose the South for a generation.  Combine that with the ironic fact that 100 years after the first Republican president, the Party of Lincoln was defending the display of the Confederate Battle Flag as a “States Rights” issue, exactly as southern Democrats had defended slavery in that earlier century.  If the Republican party truly wants to move forward, it needs to  recognize that it did spend years exploiting racial tensions.  Ed Gillespie did just that.  The next thing they need to do is when called on being racially insensitive, don’t circle the wagons -- just say “my bad” and move on.

  Here’s another Times discussion of the subject.

  Hal Cohen is editor and publisher of Mollynyc.com