Michelle Gross Bryn Mawr _________________________________________________ Spokesman Recorder April 2, 2003 By Pauline Thomas, Community Collaborative
The War for Freedom at Home
As the United States enters this war on Iraq and our sons and daughters are placed on the battlefields to fight for injustices in other countries, we should ask ourselves when will we begin our fight in our own back yard. We are at war right here in America. In this war we are also attacked by weapons, whether political, social or economic. We also have casualties, and mistrust between peoples. It is important that communities of color and white America become allies, to begin our own war against racial injustices. We must acknowledge the reality of racism and play a vital role in our own fight for justice, equality, and equal opportunity for all. We can all play a powerful and effective role in challenging racism.
Society has given us a distorted picture of history. Today people of color still face discrimination, and most are exploited economically by the upper class and viewed only as servants and doing the less valued work of our society. Racism is embedded in our institutions. But at its root, it is about individual's attitudes, practices, and behaviors. The challenge for us here at home in America, is to transform these attitudes so that we can be one America, where everyone is equal.
The first step is always education. Communities of color need to educate white America, help them understand things from our point of view. Although there are hard-core racists who are entrenched in their position, most white Americans simply do not understand what it is like to be Black.
For example, why is it that white America is so willing to accept that Saddam Hussein's soldiers jail people without cause, mistreat and beat them, and terrorize a nation? Why do they readily believe that, but cannot fathom that here in their own country, para-military police organizations regularly jail Blacks without cause, mistreat and beat them, and terrorize an entire community? When faced with a story like that, many white Americans simply assume the Black person must be lying. Why do they care about Iraqis and not their "own people?" What is the missing link?
The missing link is education. During this war with Iraq, white America is being educated by the major media about the atrocities of the Hussein regime. But the major media in America does not tell the real story of how police treat communities of color, the homeless, youth, mentally ill, and activists. We can work to get the major media to cover the problem (is this also an issue of education?), but until they do, we have our work cut out for us. We need to educate the dominant culture about what we experience. How can we expect them to be outraged, if they don't know about it?
I, for one, am willing to work to educate anyone who is willing to listen. Educate about systemic racism, educate about the frequency of police brutality, educate about jobs, incomes, equal access, and classicism. But education can only occur in an environment in which we are willing to talk about racism. Part of the problem is that this country is unwilling to talk about racism.
I also expect, from communities of color and white America, that when outright acts of racism occur, that each one of us will stand up and speak out. We should no longer witness any situation of harassment and discrimination and yet do nothing to put an end to it. People must take a stand. It is the human thing to do. When we witness racism and are afraid to say anything about it our spirituality and integrity becomes damaged. As citizens in America united, we can do much to break down the barriers. We can begin these discussions between our own communities. All of our communities. That means Black talking to white, white talking to Black, and the Black community reaching out and talking to other communities of color and others who are oppressed.
No American should witness the inequality and injustices that still exist in our own country today, the war on our own communities here in America, and sit silently and do nothing to change it. Doing nothing is approval and a form of collusion with the abusers.
This is an issue of how people are treated in this country. We need each and every person to speak out. In fact, we should expect white Americans to stand up and speak out against atrocities in their own country. This is not just our issue. We should want whites to speak out. In the words of the late, great Dr. Martin Luther King,
"We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people."
--"Letter from Birmingham Jail," Why We Can't Wait (1964).
As we attack racism together, we will need to respect each other's unique history, and strive to view things from new points of view. Things will never change unless we value each other's different perspectives. That means communities of color need to respect each other, too, a topic for next week's column.
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