Since the latest bombshell that dropped last Friday in which Donald Trump bragged to Billy Bush during a break from "Access Hollywood" that he could grab women's genitals because he was a star (although he used much cruder language), there has been a mass exodus of Republican leaders who have either unendorsed or distanced themselves from Trump. Paul Ryan has finally decided to no longer defend Trump (although he still endorses him). Several Republican leaders have come out and endorsed Hillary Clinton. Polls have shown that the likelihood that Clinton will be elected POTUS is widening and many pundits believe this election is effectively over.
Here is a question though. Why is it just NOW that many of these leaders are dropping Trump like a hot potato? Why are they so shocked at this behavior? He has been shown to be this kind of person for a year now (actually, most of his adult life). But just take a look at how he came into politics. He falsely accused President Obama of not being born in the United States, and wouldn't let that go for years. And although most Republicans knew that was ridiculous, they didn't forcefully go after Trump and disavow those statements.
When he announced his candidacy, he stated that Mexicans who immigrated here were murders and rapists. Yet that still wasn't enough for Republicans to disavow him.
Then he announced that if he were elected President, he would ban all Muslims from entering the country. Still, the Republican leadership, while uncomfortable with this rhetoric, still stood behind him.
When asked if he disavowed David Duke and the KKK, he claimed to not know who David Duke was and not know anything about white supremacist groups. That should have been disqualifying right there. But it wasn't.
Then Trump made disparaging statements about Judge Curiel, saying that he could not be impartial because he was Hispanic and his parents were from Mexico, implying that somehow he would automatically be biased. Again, the Republican leadership was quick to criticize the comments, but still stood behind Trump.
After the Democratic National Convention, Trump criticized a Goldstar family, the Kahn family, who had lost their son, Capt. Humayan Kahn, in the Iraq War. Trump implied that Mrs. Kahn wasn't speaking because perhaps she wasn't allowed to (because she was Muslim). The public was up in arms about this, Republican leaders were aghast, yet they STILL stood behind Trump.
Trump goes to a mostly white rally and talks about how African-American and Latino lives are "hell" and says "What do you have to lose?" by voting for him. Crickets from the Republican leadership.
After the first debate, it was revealed that when Trump owned the Miss Universe Pageant, he called Alicia Machado, then Miss Universe, "Miss Piggy" (because she had gained some weight) and "Miss Housekeeping" (because she was Latina). Women everywhere were absolutely disgusted. Yet still the Republican leadership defended Trump.
It wasn't until this final straw last Friday, the bragging about the sexual assault (presumably of white women) that many of the white men in the Republican leadership had had it. Perhaps they didn't empathize with the previous disqualifying behaviors that Trump displayed. Was it not enough when Trump said all those things about people of color and Muslims? It appears that only when your own lives were touched, when it was about YOUR wives, YOUR mothers, YOUR daughters that you finally were moved to act.
This shows the GOP's true colors. Republican leaders care only about themselves. They don't give a damn about anyone else. If they did, they would have stopped supporting Trump a long time ago.
Tuesday, October 11, 2016
Saturday, July 09, 2016
What has our society come to?
This has been a very difficult week for our country. First, we heard that Alton Sterling, an African-American man, was wrestled to the ground by two police officers then shot in the chest four times. A bystander shot video of this, and other video showed that Sterling was unarmed at the moment he was shot. Just a day later, Philando Castile, a cafeteria supervisor with no criminal record, was shot after a traffic stop for a broken taillight. The horrific aftermath of the shooting was live streamed by his girlfriend. First of all, when the police officer approached the car, he asked them to keep their hands up. (Why? I have NEVER been asked to keep my hands up when I've been stopped by the police. NEVER!!!!!!!!) Then he asked for Castile's license and registration. Castile informed the officer that he had a firearm but was licensed to carry, and that he was just getting his wallet. The officer said put your hands up, and when Castile did, the officer shot him. What the fuck?!?! In front of his girlfriend and his four-year-old daughter! They are going to be traumatized for the rest of their lives! This is murder!
People protested all over the country against what again is the unjustified killing of black people. The Dallas Police Department, which by all accounts is a great department with a good relationship with the community, was there among the protesters, taking pictures with the people. It was, by all accounts, a peaceful protest. Then the unthinkable happened. A lone shooter with a rifle gunned down 11 police officers in a rampage of bullets, killing 5 and injuring 6. One civilian was also injured. He was despicable. He wanted to kill white people, in particular, white officers. There are those who want to link him to the Black Lives Matter movement, but in fact he was not part of that movement. The Black Lives Matter movement is not about murdering police officers. It's about justice and equitable treatment. In fact, even some conservative media is beginning just now to realize that. But not all. And certainly, not all hearts and minds are there yet.
The bottom line is that as a society, we fear black people. There is a stereotype that black people aren't to be trusted. That they're scary. Dangerous. Why else do white people admit that they cross the street or hold on more tightly to their purse when they encounter a black person? Why else do they say that it's not okay for black males to wear hoodies because of the perception of being a thug, but it's okay for white males? Why else do white people call Richard Sherman, a Stanford graduate, a thug when he gets emotional on camera, yet Donald Trump who has said far worse things repeatedly, is the presumptive GOP presidential nominee? Why else do white people call schools that have a large number of black and brown faces "ghetto" and "dangerous" when there is no evidence that they are either of those things?
Earlier this week, I wrote an article about institutionalized racism, white privilege and white fragility that was published in the Seattle Times. Not surprisingly, I received a lot of hateful comments from professional right-wing trolls who called me "racist" and "loony". They invited me to leave the country if I didn't like it here. They equated the terms "white privilege" and "white fragility" with racial epithets. And they criticized me, the Seattle Times and higher education for indoctrinating students with "lefty drivel".
The thing is, everything they did proved my point. Their defensiveness was the ultimate in white fragility. Everything that happened this week showed that black men are killed by police for no apparent reason. The fact that the NRA has yet to speak out about Castile's case (he had a concealed carry permit) speaks volumes about the fact that the NRA has a connection to a white racial identity (i.e. if you're a white gun owner you're a patriot, if you're a black gun owner, you're a thug).
I have gotten to the point that some of my friends have gotten to. No coddling anymore. No tiptoeing around the issues. As long as people think they can get away with maintaining the status quo, they're going to do it. Well, it's not going to happen around me. Just saying. It's not okay. The status quo is not good enough anymore.
*********************************************************************************
People protested all over the country against what again is the unjustified killing of black people. The Dallas Police Department, which by all accounts is a great department with a good relationship with the community, was there among the protesters, taking pictures with the people. It was, by all accounts, a peaceful protest. Then the unthinkable happened. A lone shooter with a rifle gunned down 11 police officers in a rampage of bullets, killing 5 and injuring 6. One civilian was also injured. He was despicable. He wanted to kill white people, in particular, white officers. There are those who want to link him to the Black Lives Matter movement, but in fact he was not part of that movement. The Black Lives Matter movement is not about murdering police officers. It's about justice and equitable treatment. In fact, even some conservative media is beginning just now to realize that. But not all. And certainly, not all hearts and minds are there yet.
The bottom line is that as a society, we fear black people. There is a stereotype that black people aren't to be trusted. That they're scary. Dangerous. Why else do white people admit that they cross the street or hold on more tightly to their purse when they encounter a black person? Why else do they say that it's not okay for black males to wear hoodies because of the perception of being a thug, but it's okay for white males? Why else do white people call Richard Sherman, a Stanford graduate, a thug when he gets emotional on camera, yet Donald Trump who has said far worse things repeatedly, is the presumptive GOP presidential nominee? Why else do white people call schools that have a large number of black and brown faces "ghetto" and "dangerous" when there is no evidence that they are either of those things?
Earlier this week, I wrote an article about institutionalized racism, white privilege and white fragility that was published in the Seattle Times. Not surprisingly, I received a lot of hateful comments from professional right-wing trolls who called me "racist" and "loony". They invited me to leave the country if I didn't like it here. They equated the terms "white privilege" and "white fragility" with racial epithets. And they criticized me, the Seattle Times and higher education for indoctrinating students with "lefty drivel".
The thing is, everything they did proved my point. Their defensiveness was the ultimate in white fragility. Everything that happened this week showed that black men are killed by police for no apparent reason. The fact that the NRA has yet to speak out about Castile's case (he had a concealed carry permit) speaks volumes about the fact that the NRA has a connection to a white racial identity (i.e. if you're a white gun owner you're a patriot, if you're a black gun owner, you're a thug).
I have gotten to the point that some of my friends have gotten to. No coddling anymore. No tiptoeing around the issues. As long as people think they can get away with maintaining the status quo, they're going to do it. Well, it's not going to happen around me. Just saying. It's not okay. The status quo is not good enough anymore.
*********************************************************************************
Monday, July 04, 2016
Privilege and intersectionality
One thing that is always difficult to do is to explain white privilege to a white person who is broke. I had a student who grew up poor, was raised by a single father who beat her, and who spent six years homeless. She wasn't popular in high school and saw a lot of the black kids as the "cool" kids. So when she took my class and had to watch a video about white privilege, I could understand why she was angry. She couldn't see any "privilege" in her life and all that she could hear is people trying to make her feel guilty about being white.
The ability to understand white privilege really requires the ability to see things from a larger perspective; however, that is difficult to do when one's lived experience is such that everything else is stacked against them. If people don't hold class privilege or educational privilege, it's extremely difficult to see the privileges they hold by virtue of their skin color when they see people of color who are in a higher socioeconomic class or who are better educated living more productive, more comfortable lives than them.
Intersectionality is the overlapping advantages and disadvantages that people have in their lives. People may be advantaged in several areas but disadvantaged in others. For example, a man may be white, a college-educated lawyer, blind, and gay. Although he is advantaged in terms of gender, skin color, education and class, he is disadvantaged in terms of ability and sexual orientation. A woman of color who is also a college-educated lawyer but able-bodied and heterosexual doesn't have the same advantages of gender and race, but is definitely advantaged by her sight and her sexual orientation.
So it's important that we talk about the many privileges that do exist. Class privilege is definitely one that does exist, and often times it trumps white privilege. A person of color from the upper class more than likely has the connections and the access to better job opportunities than a low income white person. One need only look at the O.J. Simpson case to see how money was able to buy the best defense lawyers in the business and get an acquittal. A white man who killed two people who couldn't afford Johnnie Cochran would probably be languishing in prison for the rest of his life.
There is able-bodied privilege. People without a disability don't have to think twice about access to buildings. They can move freely everywhere without having to plan in advance. They can travel anywhere without having to make arrangements. There are so many things that people with disabilities have to think about just to attend a public event that able-bodied people are completely oblivious to. That's privilege.
Then there is heterosexual privilege. Straight people don't have to worry about whether their sexual orientation will open them up for discrimination in the workplace. Even though it is illegal to discriminate against LGBT people, many LGBT people still do not feel safe coming out of the closet for fear of being passed up for promotion or choice job opportunities.
And then there is male privilege. Many women have experienced disparate treatment in their workplace because of their gender. I still see all the time in the media how men interrupt women and talk over them as if somehow their voices are more important.
But getting back to white privilege. Yes, there is such a thing in this country. But we need to compare like with like. For example, there was a recent case in which a white Stanford swimmer, Brock Turner, was convicted of three counts of rape. The judge only sentenced him to six months in a county jail even though the prosecutors asked for six years in prison. Yet this same judge sentenced a Salvadorean immigrant charged with rape to three years in a plea deal. Brian Banks, an African-American football player, spent five years in prison for a rape he did not commit.
Statistics have shown that although blacks and whites use marijuana at the same rate, blacks are much more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession. In fact, marijuana possession makes up nearly half of total drug arrests:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/06/04/the-blackwhite-marijuana-arrest-gap-in-nine-charts/
I challenge you to look around. Look around a grocery store. Look at magazine covers. Look at greeting cards. Look at billboards. Watch TV. What images do you see? Are they predominantly white faces? How many Asian faces do you see? How many Black faces do you see? How many Latino faces do you see? How many Native American faces do you see? Try to imagine yourself one of the above races. Do you see yourself represented on a daily basis anywhere?
Privilege is often times being oblivious to the privilege you have. Acknowledging white privilege is not about feeling guilty. It's about addressing a system which has advantaged a group of people over another group of people for hundreds of years and continues to do so. I know for a fact that there are people who acknowledge that heterosexual privilege exists, and that they even speak out on it, yet still struggle with the notion of white privilege. Why is that? Why can they see that straight people benefit from advantages that LGBT people don't, yet can't acknowledge that white people benefit from advantages that people of color don't? There are studies that support this, yet somehow the knee-jerk reaction is to simply become defensive or silent. I don't think there is anyone that would argue that being in the upper-class doesn't provide privileges that low-income people don't have. Yet when it comes to skin color privilege, people seem to have blinders on despite the preponderance of evidence that proves otherwise.
Talking about race and racism is something that is so difficult to talk about, and people tend to either NOT want to talk about it, get defensive about it, or get angry about it. I am fortunate enough this quarter to have a cohort of students who, although admittedly are new to these types of conversations, are very open to learning about the issues and how they impact their future careers as teachers of diverse classrooms.
The ability to understand white privilege really requires the ability to see things from a larger perspective; however, that is difficult to do when one's lived experience is such that everything else is stacked against them. If people don't hold class privilege or educational privilege, it's extremely difficult to see the privileges they hold by virtue of their skin color when they see people of color who are in a higher socioeconomic class or who are better educated living more productive, more comfortable lives than them.
Intersectionality is the overlapping advantages and disadvantages that people have in their lives. People may be advantaged in several areas but disadvantaged in others. For example, a man may be white, a college-educated lawyer, blind, and gay. Although he is advantaged in terms of gender, skin color, education and class, he is disadvantaged in terms of ability and sexual orientation. A woman of color who is also a college-educated lawyer but able-bodied and heterosexual doesn't have the same advantages of gender and race, but is definitely advantaged by her sight and her sexual orientation.
So it's important that we talk about the many privileges that do exist. Class privilege is definitely one that does exist, and often times it trumps white privilege. A person of color from the upper class more than likely has the connections and the access to better job opportunities than a low income white person. One need only look at the O.J. Simpson case to see how money was able to buy the best defense lawyers in the business and get an acquittal. A white man who killed two people who couldn't afford Johnnie Cochran would probably be languishing in prison for the rest of his life.
There is able-bodied privilege. People without a disability don't have to think twice about access to buildings. They can move freely everywhere without having to plan in advance. They can travel anywhere without having to make arrangements. There are so many things that people with disabilities have to think about just to attend a public event that able-bodied people are completely oblivious to. That's privilege.
Then there is heterosexual privilege. Straight people don't have to worry about whether their sexual orientation will open them up for discrimination in the workplace. Even though it is illegal to discriminate against LGBT people, many LGBT people still do not feel safe coming out of the closet for fear of being passed up for promotion or choice job opportunities.
And then there is male privilege. Many women have experienced disparate treatment in their workplace because of their gender. I still see all the time in the media how men interrupt women and talk over them as if somehow their voices are more important.
But getting back to white privilege. Yes, there is such a thing in this country. But we need to compare like with like. For example, there was a recent case in which a white Stanford swimmer, Brock Turner, was convicted of three counts of rape. The judge only sentenced him to six months in a county jail even though the prosecutors asked for six years in prison. Yet this same judge sentenced a Salvadorean immigrant charged with rape to three years in a plea deal. Brian Banks, an African-American football player, spent five years in prison for a rape he did not commit.
Statistics have shown that although blacks and whites use marijuana at the same rate, blacks are much more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession. In fact, marijuana possession makes up nearly half of total drug arrests:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/06/04/the-blackwhite-marijuana-arrest-gap-in-nine-charts/
I challenge you to look around. Look around a grocery store. Look at magazine covers. Look at greeting cards. Look at billboards. Watch TV. What images do you see? Are they predominantly white faces? How many Asian faces do you see? How many Black faces do you see? How many Latino faces do you see? How many Native American faces do you see? Try to imagine yourself one of the above races. Do you see yourself represented on a daily basis anywhere?
Privilege is often times being oblivious to the privilege you have. Acknowledging white privilege is not about feeling guilty. It's about addressing a system which has advantaged a group of people over another group of people for hundreds of years and continues to do so. I know for a fact that there are people who acknowledge that heterosexual privilege exists, and that they even speak out on it, yet still struggle with the notion of white privilege. Why is that? Why can they see that straight people benefit from advantages that LGBT people don't, yet can't acknowledge that white people benefit from advantages that people of color don't? There are studies that support this, yet somehow the knee-jerk reaction is to simply become defensive or silent. I don't think there is anyone that would argue that being in the upper-class doesn't provide privileges that low-income people don't have. Yet when it comes to skin color privilege, people seem to have blinders on despite the preponderance of evidence that proves otherwise.
Talking about race and racism is something that is so difficult to talk about, and people tend to either NOT want to talk about it, get defensive about it, or get angry about it. I am fortunate enough this quarter to have a cohort of students who, although admittedly are new to these types of conversations, are very open to learning about the issues and how they impact their future careers as teachers of diverse classrooms.
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
The Rise of Donald Trump: The Natural Result of Decades of Republican Racist Politics
We are living in scary times. Back in 2008, I remember the unbridled joy with which much of America celebrated the election of Barack Obama, our first African-American president. Tom and I went to Seattle and people were literally dancing and drumming in the streets. People were hugging and the people all around us were so thrilled at this historic event.
But it didn't come easy. The whole campaign was marred with racist innuendos. Obama was accused of being Muslim (not that anything was wrong with being Muslim, but the accusation was meant as an insult). He was accused of associating with terrorists. His citizenship was called into question. He was simultaneously accused of being "uppity" and mocked for being a "community organizer". He received death threats while campaigning. Michelle was compared to a gorilla. The whole thing was extremely ugly. Yet not only did Obama prevail and win, he won by a landslide.
While many of us celebrated, there were those who were really angry. For white voters, particular those who weren't cosmopolitan or comfortable with diversity, Obama's election was a shock. "When coupled with the broad decline in incomes and living standards caused by the Great Recession, it seemed to signal the end of a hierarchy that had always placed white Americans at the top, delivering status even when it even when it couldn't give material benefits," writes Jamelle Bouie in Slate.com.
That night I read hateful things on my Facebook news feed. One person said, "I think I'm going to vomit." The next evening at soccer practice, one of my daughter's teammates stated, "We're going to die," presumably because Obama had been elected. She was 10 at the time--I'm sure she was repeating what her parents had said.
Throughout President Obama's tenure, he has been treated with such disrespect. From a Congressman yelling "You lie!" during his State of the Union address, to the Trump birther accusations, to the Republican obstructionism, Republicans have tried their hardest to delegitimize him. Their latest ploy is their threat to block his Supreme Court nominee. However, the majority of Americans feel this is the wrong thing to do, and that the highest court in the land should not go with only 8 justices for a year.
During all of this, moderate Republicans stayed silent. Those who might have spoken out against this abhorrent behavior did not. Many in fact engaged in this behavior as a wink and a nod to their constitutents. How many Republicans were caught using racist language, or were found to be members of organizations that were known to have connections to white nationalist groups?
However, it was an unspoken rule that being openly racist was unacceptable. However, Trump apparently feels he doesn't have to play by the same rules as everyone else. He seems to not have any shame or embarrassment about saying things that most civilized people wouldn't say. He knows what these mostly white, mostly working class, mostly non-college-educated supporters are angry about and he manipulates these people and their anger by tapping into it and fanning the flames. He doesn't provide answers--he just ratchets up the anger. So now, these people somehow feel emboldened to wear their racism, xenophobia and bigotry proudly for the world to see. It's frightening.
At one rally, a white man sucker-punched a young African-American man. He was subsequently arrested for assault. The violence visited upon protesters has continued to escalate. In Chicago, people decided enough was enough and thousands of protesters showed up at the Trump rally, forcing Trump to cancel it. It was interesting to note, however, that the Trump people had scheduled the rally to take place at the University of Illinois in Chicago, a campus that is 25% Latino, 25% Asian and 10% African-American. Looks like he WANTED there to be violence. Why else would he hold it there? Trump is an attention whore--to him, media coverage is a good thing, regardless if it's good or bad.
So when Trump doesn't win the presidency, what's going to happen to all of these people who support Trump? They've been very open now about their racism, their xenophobia. Are they ever going to learn that they can't live in the 21st century hating everyone that doesn't look like them? It' not going to work.
But it didn't come easy. The whole campaign was marred with racist innuendos. Obama was accused of being Muslim (not that anything was wrong with being Muslim, but the accusation was meant as an insult). He was accused of associating with terrorists. His citizenship was called into question. He was simultaneously accused of being "uppity" and mocked for being a "community organizer". He received death threats while campaigning. Michelle was compared to a gorilla. The whole thing was extremely ugly. Yet not only did Obama prevail and win, he won by a landslide.
While many of us celebrated, there were those who were really angry. For white voters, particular those who weren't cosmopolitan or comfortable with diversity, Obama's election was a shock. "When coupled with the broad decline in incomes and living standards caused by the Great Recession, it seemed to signal the end of a hierarchy that had always placed white Americans at the top, delivering status even when it even when it couldn't give material benefits," writes Jamelle Bouie in Slate.com.
That night I read hateful things on my Facebook news feed. One person said, "I think I'm going to vomit." The next evening at soccer practice, one of my daughter's teammates stated, "We're going to die," presumably because Obama had been elected. She was 10 at the time--I'm sure she was repeating what her parents had said.
Throughout President Obama's tenure, he has been treated with such disrespect. From a Congressman yelling "You lie!" during his State of the Union address, to the Trump birther accusations, to the Republican obstructionism, Republicans have tried their hardest to delegitimize him. Their latest ploy is their threat to block his Supreme Court nominee. However, the majority of Americans feel this is the wrong thing to do, and that the highest court in the land should not go with only 8 justices for a year.
During all of this, moderate Republicans stayed silent. Those who might have spoken out against this abhorrent behavior did not. Many in fact engaged in this behavior as a wink and a nod to their constitutents. How many Republicans were caught using racist language, or were found to be members of organizations that were known to have connections to white nationalist groups?
However, it was an unspoken rule that being openly racist was unacceptable. However, Trump apparently feels he doesn't have to play by the same rules as everyone else. He seems to not have any shame or embarrassment about saying things that most civilized people wouldn't say. He knows what these mostly white, mostly working class, mostly non-college-educated supporters are angry about and he manipulates these people and their anger by tapping into it and fanning the flames. He doesn't provide answers--he just ratchets up the anger. So now, these people somehow feel emboldened to wear their racism, xenophobia and bigotry proudly for the world to see. It's frightening.
At one rally, a white man sucker-punched a young African-American man. He was subsequently arrested for assault. The violence visited upon protesters has continued to escalate. In Chicago, people decided enough was enough and thousands of protesters showed up at the Trump rally, forcing Trump to cancel it. It was interesting to note, however, that the Trump people had scheduled the rally to take place at the University of Illinois in Chicago, a campus that is 25% Latino, 25% Asian and 10% African-American. Looks like he WANTED there to be violence. Why else would he hold it there? Trump is an attention whore--to him, media coverage is a good thing, regardless if it's good or bad.
So when Trump doesn't win the presidency, what's going to happen to all of these people who support Trump? They've been very open now about their racism, their xenophobia. Are they ever going to learn that they can't live in the 21st century hating everyone that doesn't look like them? It' not going to work.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)