For the past month now, I've been battling with my asthma symptoms.
I developed asthma when I was pregnant with my son. I've had allergies all my life, and during my pregnancy in 1996, I had a cough that wouldn't go away. I saw a pulmonologist and discovered that I had allergy-induced asthma. I was put on a corticosteroid inhaler and that lessened my asthma symptoms. For many years my asthma was under control, and I actually stopped using the inhaler for quite a while with no problem.
In 1998, after I gave birth to my daughter, I suffered an Amniotic Fluid Embolism. It is a long story, but suffice it to say, it was an experience that changed my life. While in the ICU, I developed Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, which is basically acute lung failure. I was on a ventilator for nine weeks (intubated for four weeks and on a trach for five weeks) and now have scarring in my lungs.
Because I am an ARDS survivor, my asthma has been exacerbated. Whenever I get a cold or my allergies start to act up, my asthma symptoms start to flare up. A year ago, despite the fact that I received a flu shot, I caught the flu from my children. My asthma symptoms became extremely severe, my peak flow was in the red zone, and I ended up in the ER with pneumonia.
This latest episode started when I caught a cold from my daughter. The problem is, I should be doing my corticosteroid inhaler ALL THE TIME, even when I feel good, because that is what keeps my airways open consistently. But I don't. So I caught the cold, and it wouldn't go away. I coughed and coughed. Then it turned to coughing and wheezing. And now it's at the point that I can't even walk up the stairs without becoming short of breath and doing a full exhalation. I was at the mall and I wanted to do a half-hour walk yesterday, and after 15 minutes I felt like I was having an attack, and ended up at the doctor's office. So now I'm on a short high dose burst of oral prednisone. I'm really afraid of possible side effects, but just after my first dose last night, I'm already starting to feel better.
So if you have asthma, keep taking your steroid inhaler, even if you feel okay! I guess I have to learn the hard way...
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Monday, November 12, 2007
A New Beginning
Sometimes we need to make changes in our lives that are difficult to make. Difficult because they go against society's expectation of what makes sense. I subscribe to a blog called 37 Days and back in February 2007, Patti Digh wrote about Letting Go of the Monkey Bar. I feel like I've just let go of the monkey bar myself, although holding on to that bar was not a desirable alternative for me. And although I'm in that space between trapezes, that space after having let go and before grabbing another one, I feel a sense of peace, a sense of a huge burden lifted.
This past weekend was great! Karina's soccer team, the Federal Way Wildcats, won their last league game to end the season with 8 wins and 1 tie. They then played two indoor games and after a bit of a shaky start trying to get used to the much faster game during their first game and playing an older team and losing 0-2, they got it together in their second game and won 9-2. They then played in the Narrows Jamboree and went undefeated in three games. Afterwards, we went to Browns Point Pizzeria and surprised Hannah and Glaysia with a birthday celebration!
This past weekend was great! Karina's soccer team, the Federal Way Wildcats, won their last league game to end the season with 8 wins and 1 tie. They then played two indoor games and after a bit of a shaky start trying to get used to the much faster game during their first game and playing an older team and losing 0-2, they got it together in their second game and won 9-2. They then played in the Narrows Jamboree and went undefeated in three games. Afterwards, we went to Browns Point Pizzeria and surprised Hannah and Glaysia with a birthday celebration!
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Racial Profiling
After a discussion I had today about racial profiling, I feel compelled to post this excerpt from an article by the ACLU titled "Racial Profiling: Old and New".
Is racial profiling real? Most Americans think so. A July 2001 Gallup poll
reported that 55 percent of whites and 83 percent of blacks believe racial
profiling is widespread. And the reports of thousands of racial and ethnic group
members across the country add credibility to the perception that racial
profiling is real. These are stories from all walks of life, not just
hardworking everyday people, but celebrities, professional athletes, and members
of the military. Also, reports of racial profiling come from respected members
of communities of color such as police commanders, prosecutors, judges, state
legislators, lawyers, dentists and even representatives in Congress, who have
been victims.
Racial profiling is a new term for an old practice known by other
names: institutional racism and discrimination and owes its existence to
prejudice that has existed in this country since slavery.
Tens of thousands of innocent drivers, pedestrians, and shoppers across
the country are victims of racial profiling. And these discriminatory police
stops and searches have reached epidemic proportions in recent years - fueled by
the "War on Drugs" and the "War on Terror" that have given police a pretext to
target people they think fit a "drug courier," "gang member," or "terrorist"
profile. In fact, racial profiling is the first step in a long road that leads
to the heavily disproportionate incarceration of people of color, especially
young men, for drug-related crimes, and of Arabs, Muslims and South Asians for
suspicion of terrorism. This despite the fact that people of color are no more
likely than whites to use or sell drugs, and Arabs Muslims and South Asians are
no more likely than whites to be terrorists.
We must end the practice of racial profiling.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Seeing the World Through Different Lenses
My favorite journalist is Leonard Pitts, Jr. of the Miami Herald. He writes an op-ed piece every Sunday that also appears in the Seattle Times. He won the most coveted award in 2004, the Pulitzer Prize for commentary. He writes thought-provoking columns on wide-ranging issues that affect our society, and whether you agree with him or not, he makes you think. I happen to agree with almost everything he has written.
Today's column is on the disturbing trend of the noose. The noose that has been displayed as a sign of hatred toward African-Americans. Here is an excerpt from the column:
"A noose is left for a black workman at a construction site in the Chicago area. In Queens, a woman brandishes a noose to threaten her black neighbors. A noose is left on the door of a black professor at Columbia University. And that's just last week. Go back a little further and you have similar incidents at the University of Maryland in College Park, at a police department on Long Island, on a Coast Guard cutter, in a bus maintenance garage in Pittsburgh.
Mark Potok, the director of the Intelligence Project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, told USA Today, 'For a dozen incidents to come to the public's attention is a lot. I don't generally see noose incidents in a typical month. We might hear about a handful in a year.'
The superintendent of schools in Jena famously dismissed the original incident as a 'prank.' It was an astonishing response, speaking volumes about the blithe historical ignorance of people who have found it convenient not to peer too closely at the atrocities of the past lest they be accidentally . . . moved."
In the column, Pitts discusses the history of the rope/noose as a symbol of hate toward African-Americans. It is an ugly part of American history that African-Americans were lynched from trees, and even though that doesn't happen anymore, racism is still alive and well, both subtly and overtly.
What disturbs me, however, are the comments that I read in response to Pitts' column. It's the same phenomenon I saw with the Don Imus scandal. There are definitely people who do not view the world through the same lens as people who have experienced racism. They absolutely cannot see the racist acts in the displaying of the noose and dismiss them as "pranks." Their outrage is reserved for Pitts, as opposed to the perpetrators of these heinous acts.
I just recently received a blog post from a friend, Patti Digh, who talked about the racism that still exists in our country. I am reminded of it everyday when I read posts such as the diatribes against Leonard Pitts. I am reminded of it when I stand in line at the grocery store and see cover story after cover story about pretty white women and girls who are missing, but have yet to hear about one woman of color or one little girl of color on the national news. Wait, I take that back, on The Today Show, there was one story about an African-American woman who went missing, and there was NEVER a follow-up story. NEVER. Not the 24-7 coverage that Laci Peterson, Lori Hacking and Chandra Levy warranted.
Our society seems to care more about a runaway bride than a 9-year-old African-American girl who is shot in the head when caught in the middle of a firefight in the housing projects of Miami. Pitts wrote in his column that this violence, this sacrifice of children was symptomatic of an American problem. The response to Pitts: No, it's not our problem. It's your problem. It's your problem. It's a black problem. Pitts' response: So I guess it's only an American problem when white schools and colleges get shot to pieces.
My friend Patti wrote something in her blog that sums this up perfectly:
"Hate crimes won't end until those of us who are not hated are as outraged as those who are."
Today's column is on the disturbing trend of the noose. The noose that has been displayed as a sign of hatred toward African-Americans. Here is an excerpt from the column:
"A noose is left for a black workman at a construction site in the Chicago area. In Queens, a woman brandishes a noose to threaten her black neighbors. A noose is left on the door of a black professor at Columbia University. And that's just last week. Go back a little further and you have similar incidents at the University of Maryland in College Park, at a police department on Long Island, on a Coast Guard cutter, in a bus maintenance garage in Pittsburgh.
Mark Potok, the director of the Intelligence Project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, told USA Today, 'For a dozen incidents to come to the public's attention is a lot. I don't generally see noose incidents in a typical month. We might hear about a handful in a year.'
The superintendent of schools in Jena famously dismissed the original incident as a 'prank.' It was an astonishing response, speaking volumes about the blithe historical ignorance of people who have found it convenient not to peer too closely at the atrocities of the past lest they be accidentally . . . moved."
In the column, Pitts discusses the history of the rope/noose as a symbol of hate toward African-Americans. It is an ugly part of American history that African-Americans were lynched from trees, and even though that doesn't happen anymore, racism is still alive and well, both subtly and overtly.
What disturbs me, however, are the comments that I read in response to Pitts' column. It's the same phenomenon I saw with the Don Imus scandal. There are definitely people who do not view the world through the same lens as people who have experienced racism. They absolutely cannot see the racist acts in the displaying of the noose and dismiss them as "pranks." Their outrage is reserved for Pitts, as opposed to the perpetrators of these heinous acts.
I just recently received a blog post from a friend, Patti Digh, who talked about the racism that still exists in our country. I am reminded of it everyday when I read posts such as the diatribes against Leonard Pitts. I am reminded of it when I stand in line at the grocery store and see cover story after cover story about pretty white women and girls who are missing, but have yet to hear about one woman of color or one little girl of color on the national news. Wait, I take that back, on The Today Show, there was one story about an African-American woman who went missing, and there was NEVER a follow-up story. NEVER. Not the 24-7 coverage that Laci Peterson, Lori Hacking and Chandra Levy warranted.
Our society seems to care more about a runaway bride than a 9-year-old African-American girl who is shot in the head when caught in the middle of a firefight in the housing projects of Miami. Pitts wrote in his column that this violence, this sacrifice of children was symptomatic of an American problem. The response to Pitts: No, it's not our problem. It's your problem. It's your problem. It's a black problem. Pitts' response: So I guess it's only an American problem when white schools and colleges get shot to pieces.
My friend Patti wrote something in her blog that sums this up perfectly:
"Hate crimes won't end until those of us who are not hated are as outraged as those who are."
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Well-Crafted Phoniness
Here is a great blog by Jeffrey Feldman that talks about Bob Herbert's brilliant observations regarding Al Gore's Nobel Peace Prize, and our society's penchant for electing "barbecue buddies" over those who are truly intelligent, thoughtful and talented.
We are now paying the price.
We are now paying the price.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Al Gore's Nobel Peace Prize
It was announced this morning that Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize for being "probably the single individual who has done most to create greater worldwide understanding of the measures that need to be adopted to combat climate change", according to his citation.
I bet the right-wing pundits are gnashing their teeth right about now.
Does the Federal Way School District still need to require an "opposite viewpoint" when showing "An Inconvenient Truth"? Puhleeze.
I bet the right-wing pundits are gnashing their teeth right about now.
Does the Federal Way School District still need to require an "opposite viewpoint" when showing "An Inconvenient Truth"? Puhleeze.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
I'll Take Ron Walker
In the upcoming November election, there are two candidates for the Federal Way School Board vying for the District 5 spot--Dave Larson and Ron Walker. Last Thursday, I met Dave Larson for the first time at the Multicultural Night I coordinated at my children's elementary school. He seemed like an affable fellow, and I appreciated the fact that he took the time to attend our event.
However, when it comes to the School Board, I'm going to cast my vote for Ron Walker. Apparently Dave Larson was one of three School Board members who voted for a ludicrous policy last year--that any showing of "An Inconvenient Truth" in a Federal Way high school had to be balanced by an opposite viewpoint. Their actions made the Federal Way School District the laughing stock of the country. According to Larson, he felt "a political partisan was presenting a contested political/scientific issue to impressionable youth."
You have got to be kidding me. These conservatives politicize this issue because it is Al Gore presenting it, and completely dismiss the myriads of scientists who back up what Gore says. And they even lend credence to the parent who was the catalyst for this ridiculous policy--Frosty Hardison, who claims that the earth is 14,000 years old and that the Bible says that in the end times everything will burn up, but that this viewpoint is not presented in "An Incovenient Truth." It was upon receipt of Hardison's email that Larson imposed a moratorium on Gore's film.
Why do I want Ron Walker on the School Board? He has been very active in the Federal Way Community for many years, both in the School District, in the city, and on the Diversity Commission. The School District is made up of 43% students of color, and it is important that the School Board is reflective of the population of the school district, so that the interests of the students are truly understood.
Dave Larson does not represent the majority of the Federal Way community. He represents his own political interests (even though the School Board is supposed to be non-partisan). He even admitted that he was naive about how the "Inconvenient Truth" fiasco would play out in the national media.
Let's get some new blood on the Federal Way School Board!
However, when it comes to the School Board, I'm going to cast my vote for Ron Walker. Apparently Dave Larson was one of three School Board members who voted for a ludicrous policy last year--that any showing of "An Inconvenient Truth" in a Federal Way high school had to be balanced by an opposite viewpoint. Their actions made the Federal Way School District the laughing stock of the country. According to Larson, he felt "a political partisan was presenting a contested political/scientific issue to impressionable youth."
You have got to be kidding me. These conservatives politicize this issue because it is Al Gore presenting it, and completely dismiss the myriads of scientists who back up what Gore says. And they even lend credence to the parent who was the catalyst for this ridiculous policy--Frosty Hardison, who claims that the earth is 14,000 years old and that the Bible says that in the end times everything will burn up, but that this viewpoint is not presented in "An Incovenient Truth." It was upon receipt of Hardison's email that Larson imposed a moratorium on Gore's film.
Why do I want Ron Walker on the School Board? He has been very active in the Federal Way Community for many years, both in the School District, in the city, and on the Diversity Commission. The School District is made up of 43% students of color, and it is important that the School Board is reflective of the population of the school district, so that the interests of the students are truly understood.
Dave Larson does not represent the majority of the Federal Way community. He represents his own political interests (even though the School Board is supposed to be non-partisan). He even admitted that he was naive about how the "Inconvenient Truth" fiasco would play out in the national media.
Let's get some new blood on the Federal Way School Board!
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
A long, hot summer
Some random thoughts-
I was watching "The Today Show" this morning and noticed that most of the country was experiencing weather above 100 degrees. Very strange. Yet the global warming skeptics still claim that global warming is a hoax... I teach a class called "Multiculturalism/Anti-Bias in Education" online for Green River Community College every summer and I posted on the Discussion Forum that my students will have to be prepared to deal with some of these types of parents when they have their own classrooms--parents who want to ban books, ban movies like "An Inconvenient Truth", and basically censor everything else they deem inappropriate based on their Biblical interpretations. UGH.
Hey, I just created a website for fans of High School Musical. Both my kids and I love the movie (being a former musical theatre performer myself, I can totally relate) and so I decided to create site with info about the movie, cast members, and latest news and events. The URL is http://www.highschoolmusical2fan.com
This summer has been a major soccer summer--spent a weekend in Lake Oswego with Giancarlo's select soccer team (Storm '96 Green) at the Lake Oswego Nike Cup, then Karina guest played in a tournament with the Federal Way Shooting Stars in Renton , this weekend Giancarlo's team plays in the Blast Off tournament in Federal Way, and finally Karina's team will be playing in the Port Orchard Root Beer Jamboree in late August. Then after Labor Day, fall soccer season starts! We just love soccer!
Today Alie finally got her driver's license! Yea!
I was watching "The Today Show" this morning and noticed that most of the country was experiencing weather above 100 degrees. Very strange. Yet the global warming skeptics still claim that global warming is a hoax... I teach a class called "Multiculturalism/Anti-Bias in Education" online for Green River Community College every summer and I posted on the Discussion Forum that my students will have to be prepared to deal with some of these types of parents when they have their own classrooms--parents who want to ban books, ban movies like "An Inconvenient Truth", and basically censor everything else they deem inappropriate based on their Biblical interpretations. UGH.
Hey, I just created a website for fans of High School Musical. Both my kids and I love the movie (being a former musical theatre performer myself, I can totally relate) and so I decided to create site with info about the movie, cast members, and latest news and events. The URL is http://www.highschoolmusical2fan.com
This summer has been a major soccer summer--spent a weekend in Lake Oswego with Giancarlo's select soccer team (Storm '96 Green) at the Lake Oswego Nike Cup, then Karina guest played in a tournament with the Federal Way Shooting Stars in Renton , this weekend Giancarlo's team plays in the Blast Off tournament in Federal Way, and finally Karina's team will be playing in the Port Orchard Root Beer Jamboree in late August. Then after Labor Day, fall soccer season starts! We just love soccer!
Today Alie finally got her driver's license! Yea!
Saturday, April 14, 2007
CBS and MSNBC did the right thing
This is a seminal moment in our country's history. Regardless of the motives of CBS and MSNBC for firing Don Imus in the wake of this scandal, it still gives pause to those who think it is okay to spew hate from their mouths.
For too long people in the broadcasting industry have been too willing to turn a deaf ear to the racist and sexist trash that have come out of the mouths of the likes of Imus and other shock jocks. Then when they go "over the top", they apologize and go right back to doing what they do. Imus had been doing that for over 30 years. The fact that he was paid $10 million to do that is institutionalized racism, pure and simple.
People who are up in arms about his firing are talking about his right to free speech. He absolutely has a right to free speech, but he DOES NOT have a right to a talk show, and CBS and MSNBC also have the right to fire someone they feel will not be profitable--apparently when Proctor and Gamble and Staples pulled out, the networks pulled the rug out from Don Imus. I am not so naive to think it was just because of his words, because if it were, they would have canned him immediately. I do believe there was a profit motive. But it was all connected, and finally people, and companies are beginning to see that they do not want to be associated with someone who makes his living by spewing hate.
There was another very interesting thing that I really didn't notice until it was pointed out to me. I read about it on Jon Landau's blog published in the Huffington Post:
"For some reason, people who make no secret of the fact that they despise Al Sharpton feel that they are doing something meaningful by engaging with him at times of crisis on racial issues. In going to him, they are seeking out someone who they think is disliked by large portions of the white audience, which they think puts them at an advantage. In the long run it doesn't. But instead of this knee jerk move, how about for once agreeing to talk to a professional news person like Tavis Smiley, an exceptional broadcaster, Errol Lewis of the New York Daily News, a terrific writer and broadcaster, the under appreciated Bob Herbert of the New York Times, or for that matter, Clarence Page, who challenged Imus on race many years ago, and was never heard from again on his airwaves. (Tom Oliphant, perhaps Mr. Page was more deserving of your solidarity than Imus is.) The assumption that the only place one has to go to make "media peace" is with Sharpton is in its own way subtly racist. And the MSM (mainstream media) encourages it."
I find this to be the case in every racial issue that comes up. When Michael Richards said the "n-word", he immediately went on to Al Sharpton's show. Why not discuss it with Tavis Smiley? Finally, yesterday on "The Today Show", Tavis Smiley, Clarence Page and several other African-American spokespeople who are not considered as "controversial" were guests on the show and spoke about the Imus issue in ways that made sense and would be extremely difficult to argue against. I wonder if that is why the MSM does not encourage racial offenders to go head to head with people like Tavis Smiley and Clarence Page?
What happened is even though Don Imus was the one who made the offensive and racist comment, it got turned around and Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson became the targets. Everywhere I turn I see comments about Al Sharpton's and Jesse Jackson's history. This is NOT about Sharpton and Jackson!!!! So if they hate Sharpton and Jackson so much, then why do they engage with them about racial issues? Go to African-American broadcasters they respect! But they won't do it because the mainstream media itself is playing the "race card".
I really hope this begins a dialogue on what is and is not acceptable on the airwaves. There is no room for hate speech in this country. And I'm all for getting rid of rap music that denigrates women and using the n-word too. It's all bad. It's a new day.
For too long people in the broadcasting industry have been too willing to turn a deaf ear to the racist and sexist trash that have come out of the mouths of the likes of Imus and other shock jocks. Then when they go "over the top", they apologize and go right back to doing what they do. Imus had been doing that for over 30 years. The fact that he was paid $10 million to do that is institutionalized racism, pure and simple.
People who are up in arms about his firing are talking about his right to free speech. He absolutely has a right to free speech, but he DOES NOT have a right to a talk show, and CBS and MSNBC also have the right to fire someone they feel will not be profitable--apparently when Proctor and Gamble and Staples pulled out, the networks pulled the rug out from Don Imus. I am not so naive to think it was just because of his words, because if it were, they would have canned him immediately. I do believe there was a profit motive. But it was all connected, and finally people, and companies are beginning to see that they do not want to be associated with someone who makes his living by spewing hate.
There was another very interesting thing that I really didn't notice until it was pointed out to me. I read about it on Jon Landau's blog published in the Huffington Post:
"For some reason, people who make no secret of the fact that they despise Al Sharpton feel that they are doing something meaningful by engaging with him at times of crisis on racial issues. In going to him, they are seeking out someone who they think is disliked by large portions of the white audience, which they think puts them at an advantage. In the long run it doesn't. But instead of this knee jerk move, how about for once agreeing to talk to a professional news person like Tavis Smiley, an exceptional broadcaster, Errol Lewis of the New York Daily News, a terrific writer and broadcaster, the under appreciated Bob Herbert of the New York Times, or for that matter, Clarence Page, who challenged Imus on race many years ago, and was never heard from again on his airwaves. (Tom Oliphant, perhaps Mr. Page was more deserving of your solidarity than Imus is.) The assumption that the only place one has to go to make "media peace" is with Sharpton is in its own way subtly racist. And the MSM (mainstream media) encourages it."
I find this to be the case in every racial issue that comes up. When Michael Richards said the "n-word", he immediately went on to Al Sharpton's show. Why not discuss it with Tavis Smiley? Finally, yesterday on "The Today Show", Tavis Smiley, Clarence Page and several other African-American spokespeople who are not considered as "controversial" were guests on the show and spoke about the Imus issue in ways that made sense and would be extremely difficult to argue against. I wonder if that is why the MSM does not encourage racial offenders to go head to head with people like Tavis Smiley and Clarence Page?
What happened is even though Don Imus was the one who made the offensive and racist comment, it got turned around and Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson became the targets. Everywhere I turn I see comments about Al Sharpton's and Jesse Jackson's history. This is NOT about Sharpton and Jackson!!!! So if they hate Sharpton and Jackson so much, then why do they engage with them about racial issues? Go to African-American broadcasters they respect! But they won't do it because the mainstream media itself is playing the "race card".
I really hope this begins a dialogue on what is and is not acceptable on the airwaves. There is no room for hate speech in this country. And I'm all for getting rid of rap music that denigrates women and using the n-word too. It's all bad. It's a new day.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
The Don Imus scandal - emblematic of a larger societal problem?
Unless you've been buried under a rock somewhere, you've probably heard by now about the racist and sexist comments radio broadcaster Don Imus made about the Rutgers University women's basketball team. In case you haven't, on his radio show he was talking to his producer about them, how he thought they were really "rough" looking and then proceeded to call them "nappy-headed hos". This comment was made about a basketball team that started at the bottom, perservered, and made it all the way to the finals, representing a prestigious university. To taint their accomplishment in that way was despicable, disgusting and abhorrent. Imus called it comedy.
Some people are calling for his firing. MSNBC is suspending him for two weeks. Sponsors such as Proctor and Gamble and Staples have pulled ads from his show. Bigelow Teas is revisiting whether it wants to advertise on the show.
However, what is disturbing to me is the number of people who think Don Imus should not even have been suspended. I just went to the MSNBC website to vote on whether Don Imus should be fired, suspended, or whether suspension was even too much. 33% felt Imus should be fired. 30% felt a two-week suspension was enough. But 38% felt that Imus should not even have been suspended, and that he was a shock jock, it was his job to shock people.
What does this say about our society? Granted, 157,000 voted, and it is not a scientific survey, but I've been reading a great deal about this scandal, and quite a few people feel that everyone should just get over it, Imus made a mistake, let him get his wrists slapped and move on from it.
The problem with this is that these sorts of comments are made over and over again in the public venue with no repercussions other than public embarrassment for the person saying it. Yes, we do have freedom of speech in this country, but where has the sense of decency gone where people in power can call people the "n-word" or "nappy-headed hos" and get away with it? People are trying to compare this with rappers saying the n-word and while I do not agree with rappers using that word or putting down women, I believe that this is an issue of power, and rappers do not wield the same power as a Don Imus using the phrase "nappy-headed ho" or a political candidate using the word "macaca" or even Michael Richards using the "n-word".
In the last two weeks the newspapers have been filled with misunderstandings between the races. Danny Westneat, a columnist for the Seattle Times wrote of his frustration with the Seattle School District and his perception that the district was "obsessed with race". He was bombarded with hundreds of responses, some agreeing with him and others accusing him of "not getting it" and suffering from unexamined white privilege. He was open to discussing the issues although in his follow-up article, he still didn't seem to "get it" and did acknowledge perhaps it was due to his own white privilege. He also felt that he probably wasn't really very good at talking about race and hoped the new superintendent would be better at talking about it. Interestingly enough, one of the candidates for Seattle Schools Superintendent says about race, "We should all stop talking about it and deal with it." Okay, but how do you deal with it if you don't talk about it?
Unfortunately in our society, many people don't want to talk about it. When people of color bring it up as an issue, they're accused of bringing up "the race card". But the fact of the matter is, if a person of color is in a group where they are the only person of color, it is disingenuous to think that race might not come up as an issue if that person is feeling isolated or disenfranchised. Many white people do not understand this until I pose this question: "If you walked into a meeting, and you were the only white person, and everyone else was African-American, and you were feeling isolated and left out, do you think that part of the reason might be because you're white?" And of course, everyone says yes. However, the fact of the matter is most whites are never in this situation so it is difficult for them to envision being "the one and only" or to envision a situation where race is an issue for them. They don't live in a world where it is. Our society is one where whites are in power, whites can walk into a room or a workplace, and pretty much count on the fact that the majority of people will look like them. So when people of color bring up race, they accuse us of playing the race card, when in fact it may be a valid point.
As a diversity trainer and multicultural educator, it is my job to talk about race, as well as all dimensions of diversity. It's important that we start feeling comfortable talking about our differences as well as our similarities. Until we can start talking about our differences in a safe, non-threatening way, these problems will continue to divide us.
For an excellent blog by Jon Landau about the Don Imus scandal go to the Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jon-landau/imus-words-recognizing-_b_45532.html
Some people are calling for his firing. MSNBC is suspending him for two weeks. Sponsors such as Proctor and Gamble and Staples have pulled ads from his show. Bigelow Teas is revisiting whether it wants to advertise on the show.
However, what is disturbing to me is the number of people who think Don Imus should not even have been suspended. I just went to the MSNBC website to vote on whether Don Imus should be fired, suspended, or whether suspension was even too much. 33% felt Imus should be fired. 30% felt a two-week suspension was enough. But 38% felt that Imus should not even have been suspended, and that he was a shock jock, it was his job to shock people.
What does this say about our society? Granted, 157,000 voted, and it is not a scientific survey, but I've been reading a great deal about this scandal, and quite a few people feel that everyone should just get over it, Imus made a mistake, let him get his wrists slapped and move on from it.
The problem with this is that these sorts of comments are made over and over again in the public venue with no repercussions other than public embarrassment for the person saying it. Yes, we do have freedom of speech in this country, but where has the sense of decency gone where people in power can call people the "n-word" or "nappy-headed hos" and get away with it? People are trying to compare this with rappers saying the n-word and while I do not agree with rappers using that word or putting down women, I believe that this is an issue of power, and rappers do not wield the same power as a Don Imus using the phrase "nappy-headed ho" or a political candidate using the word "macaca" or even Michael Richards using the "n-word".
In the last two weeks the newspapers have been filled with misunderstandings between the races. Danny Westneat, a columnist for the Seattle Times wrote of his frustration with the Seattle School District and his perception that the district was "obsessed with race". He was bombarded with hundreds of responses, some agreeing with him and others accusing him of "not getting it" and suffering from unexamined white privilege. He was open to discussing the issues although in his follow-up article, he still didn't seem to "get it" and did acknowledge perhaps it was due to his own white privilege. He also felt that he probably wasn't really very good at talking about race and hoped the new superintendent would be better at talking about it. Interestingly enough, one of the candidates for Seattle Schools Superintendent says about race, "We should all stop talking about it and deal with it." Okay, but how do you deal with it if you don't talk about it?
Unfortunately in our society, many people don't want to talk about it. When people of color bring it up as an issue, they're accused of bringing up "the race card". But the fact of the matter is, if a person of color is in a group where they are the only person of color, it is disingenuous to think that race might not come up as an issue if that person is feeling isolated or disenfranchised. Many white people do not understand this until I pose this question: "If you walked into a meeting, and you were the only white person, and everyone else was African-American, and you were feeling isolated and left out, do you think that part of the reason might be because you're white?" And of course, everyone says yes. However, the fact of the matter is most whites are never in this situation so it is difficult for them to envision being "the one and only" or to envision a situation where race is an issue for them. They don't live in a world where it is. Our society is one where whites are in power, whites can walk into a room or a workplace, and pretty much count on the fact that the majority of people will look like them. So when people of color bring up race, they accuse us of playing the race card, when in fact it may be a valid point.
As a diversity trainer and multicultural educator, it is my job to talk about race, as well as all dimensions of diversity. It's important that we start feeling comfortable talking about our differences as well as our similarities. Until we can start talking about our differences in a safe, non-threatening way, these problems will continue to divide us.
For an excellent blog by Jon Landau about the Don Imus scandal go to the Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jon-landau/imus-words-recognizing-_b_45532.html
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