The Courage Not to Move
Mourners pay tribute to Rosa Parks
I wonder what it would be like if Rosa Parks decided to actually move for the white person on the bus all those years ago? It is so important to look back at what a HUGE moment that was on the bus that day. It goes to show, how ordinary people can spark a huge revolution. I believe that we need more leaders like Martin Luther King in the world today. There are a lot of civil liberties being destroyed day in and day out and not much is being done about it. If true leaders are born at a time of crisis, then Rosa Parks set fire to the crisis which is racism in American. This in turn gave MLK, who is a true leader, a way to motivate and lead the charge in the civil rights movement.
Today African Americans high school students are graduating with a reading level 4 grades below their white counterparts. There are still not enough opportunities in the work force for African Americans to rise in the corporate world. There are US policies that indirectly, or directly affect minorities in a negative way. Today there is more stealth racism in the world that there ever has been. When former Education Secretary William Bennett makes a comment that "aborting every black baby in this country would reduce the crime rate" , and President Bush then says "I believe that the comments were not appropriate", I want to cry. Bush should not "believe" anything, he should "know" that the comment was inappropriate, and should have come out much stronger than he did. He should have come out and said, the comments were awful, upsetting, and totally ignorant. But why do that when a lot of your party actually believes it is true!
We need another Rosa Parks in this world, to motivate another MLK. Not just for African Americans, but for everyone. Maybe we are not in a big enough crisis yet, but we are getting there.
Rest in Peace Rosa, and pray for us that we all have the courage to not move to the back of the bus.
posted by Jonathan @ 6:04 PM
9 comments
9 Comments:
I think Mr. Bennett is a moron who looks to simplify a problem by making an unBELIEVABLY insensitive and ignorant comment. The crime problem in this country is NOT as simple and black and white as "black people cause more crime." And the fact that Mr. Bennett implied that says that education secretary needs to be EDUCATED! When you actually interact with poor people and talk with poor people, you get a better idea of why crime rates are up. Poverty and lack of education breed crime. Plain and simple. Its not your RACE that makes you a criminal and to say that black babies are predestined to be criminals just makes my blood boil. Kids get into crime because they are brought up with it and don't have the chance to get out. Our country does NOTHING for these people to help them break their crime habits. Oh a scholarship here, a house built there, a welfare check here will appease everybody and make them think that America cares about its poor...PLEASE! Give me a break. And if you think that its their own fault they're poor, they can break out of it if they want, they CHOOSE to be poor then go back and continue to worship Bush as the savior of this county because i cannot help you. These people are stuck and have no way out. yeah you may say, "this is america...where dreams are made...blah blah..." yeah thats true, unless you are ALREADY TAGGED AS A CRIMINAL WHEN YOU'RE BORN.
I agree with our first esteemed commentor, but remember when Bennett said that, in th same breath he said that actually doing so would be reprehensible and wrong. So he never actually suggested it. So before you stick him on a stake and light the match remember the next sentence out of his mouth. But I echo what is being said above.
There are many policies in the U.S. that are "stealth" racist. The goal of many is to keep the rich richer, and the poor, poorer. Racism is a belief structure in society. As long as our leaders are getting on TV and saying that aborting black people will lower the crime rate, we have a race problem in our country. Would it have been better if he said aborting poor people’s babies would lower the crime rate"? There are statistics that show all over that poor people have more kids, are less educated, and commit more crimes. A lot of poor people are African Americans because of racist policies in America today. While what the secretary said might have been statistically true on a level, any stat can be turned around to make any argument. The conclusion here is that what he said was a very racist. He could have said it in a different manner, but he did not want to. He used the color of someone’s skin to describe a terrible situation. As long as people in power are doing that, racism is alive.
Actually Brian if we think in terms of Race, then Race becomes the issue! This is the problem. Imagine a day when you will not have to put you race down when taking a standardized test. Imagine a day when people are not classified by the color of their skin. There are some people that do not want that to happen. Saying that black people are the source of the majority of crimes in this country is true in some cases, but that is an incredibly superficial comment. Why is it that African American’s are involved in more crimes? Is it our broken welfare system? I am sure it has a lot to do with money and not a lot to do with the color of their skin. If the average non educated American reads what the Secretary had to say that day, I am sure that are not thinking that socioeconomics have anything to do with crime. We need to start changing the language Brian, and get to the bottom of what really causes crime.
Amen Jon...amen. i couldn't have said it better myself.
Racism exists because we compare. Any statistical educator will tell you that African Americans do at least 25% worse on a test if the have to identify their race before they take it. The absence of racism would be we would no longer compare the color of our skin anymore. Talking about socioeconomics instead of the color of ones skin is not hiding from the problem it is changing the focus. I believe we would be better off to focus on poor people rather than Black people, or Hispanic people. And I think that a person who is in charge of the education department of the United States would know that there is a difference between saying abort black babies, and poor babies. So I do not think he is allowed to talk the way he did. There are a lot of people that use the argument that black people are a bunch of criminals to fuel their own racism. There are a lot of people that want to think that white people are superior to other races and a top government official standing up and saying that, only proves their point.
I am now done with you defending this guy!
I honestly do not care what context his comment was in. I am sure I can go up to any black person on the street and poll them, asking them how they felt by his ENTIRE speech and I believe that I am going to get the same answer. Hurt, angry, discriminated against. His comments show how out of touch white people are with the realities and struggles of minorities in this world. Of course it is easy to say people have taken it out of context, but give me a fucking break! You are ignoring the argument of comparing skin color. It boils down to this; statistical comparisons of groups will always show one group over another. When you show that most black people poor and criminals and point this out, most people are going to believe that black people are poor and criminal. The white majority uses statistics to OPPRESS other groups. I do not care how much freedom of speech is protected; talking like that is uncalled for. Christian groups use stats out of context all the time to show how Gay couples should not be allowed to adopt and ruin the family structure. If you really want me to go further I HAVE read his ENTIRE speech and I believe it is all out of CONTEXT. He could have delivered that speech 100 different ways but he decided not to. He is also from the REAGAN Administration who was almost the least tolerant government the US has had. I know that his comment was not a real suggestion, but then again I could stand up and say…”Statistically most teens that commit suicides are gay, therefore being gay is a disorder which should be fixed” and in the next sentence say… but that is not what I believe, still makes the point that I said the stat (which is correct) and that comment compares a minority and makes them look bad! This is bad form, and bad fucking politics!
My blog is just getting started
Well I am glad that we at least agree that, he is a dumb ass. I think I did not make my point clear about racism. I am the last person to say ignore the issue and it will go away. What I am trying to say is racism is not only a belief issue, but a language issue as well. If you are going to change people’s beliefs about the color of their skill you also need to change how you talk about it. Negatively portraying a race in general when skin color has nothing to do with the issue, is wrong. That is what I was trying to say. Not ignore race as an issue and it will go away.
They gay teen comparison was poor in the sense that it was not parallel which I did not intend it to be. I was trying to explain how the language you use can portray a minority in a negative light, when they have no control over that issue.
Hey this is Cy. Read the book Freakonomics by Steven Levitt. Or, if you lack the desire/time to read the whole book, go to your public library or nearby bookstore and read just the first 5 pages or so.
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