[Kamikaze] Still Racial | Jackson Free Press | Jackson, MS

[Kamikaze] Still Racial

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Brad Franklin

So, you're tired of hearing folks talk about race, right? Tired of reading about it? Sick of seeing all the articles and all the pieces on CNN? You could do without another rally, without another Facebook or Twitter campaign, correct?

Tough.

As much as I'd like to believe in this "post-racial" America that folks thought President Obama would usher in, we're constantly reminded that not everyone is prepared to join the rest of us in this century.

Ironically, through some sheer force of ignorance, some pundits believe that if we only would stop talking about race so much, the issue would just disappear.

You know, it's just those "race baiters" like the Jackson Free Press and Jerry Mitchell who keep bringing up those atrocities. There's no more racism in America, let alone Mississippi, and those darn agitators are just distracting us from the real issues (sarcasm off).

Funniest thing, though: Those who say we should stop pointing out injustice are usually the ones who still vicariously benefit from the vestiges of said racism.

How dare we make you uncomfortable by pointing out how society devalues black life (sarcasm off).

Fact is, remaining silent on race matters would not have prevented Trayvon Martin from being shot. It would not have stopped Deryl Dedmon and his accomplices from killing James Craig Anderson. Remaining silent won't prevent the next hate crime, either. It won't stop police such as Oscar Grant from harassing or gunning down the next young black male. Silence won't stop the next retail clerk from following around the next black person in a store.

All silence accomplishes is to make some white folks comfortable because they don't have to face reality. It allows those same folks an opportunity to abandon political correctness and say things like, "You plant corn, you get corn," as Frank Taaffe told Soledad O'Brien on CNN.

Yes, we are just as angry about black-on-black crime. And yes, hundreds of groups and organizations are already dedicated to stomping out violence in black communities. Try another excuse. When blacks kill blacks, it isn't because of the color of their skin, making those crimes decidedly different from hate crimes.

You post statistics and numbers on blogs trying to "prove" to everyone that "black people really are bad," and that we somehow "deserve" the treatment that we get.

Nope—no numbers you can roll out justify George Zimmerman's actions, or Dedmon's, or the cops who killed Sean Bell.

I could go on. In actuality, the excuses I've heard for each of the aforementioned cases only proves that we aren't past racism and that we won't ever be—unless we keep talking about it. And if it makes you uncomfortable, so what?

And that's the truth ... shonuff.

Legacy Comments

Point of clarification. Oscar Grant was killed by B.A.R.T cops on an Oakland subway. He is NOT a police officer, he was a victim. For those that havent heard of this case just google "Oscar Grant". thx

Kamikaze2012-04-11T19:11:09-06:00

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