Just as I sat down to type this post, I listened to a voice-mail message my Dad had just left a few minutes ago…to say he was heated was an understatement. To paraphrase this message from ole dad, racism in America is not dead…I repeat racism is not dead.
The sitting president of the United States, Barack Obama just held a press conference to release the long form of his birth certificate. Why? Because a guy with a bad toupee and a few shekels was making the choir sing louder and louder on the issue of whether or not the president is a real American. Yep the Donald , the embodiment of all that is wrong in this country who now tells us he is thinking of setting his sights on the presidency apparently made the choir of wing nuts sing so loud that Obama really had no choice but to address this issue once and for all.
All jokes aside it’s a sad day for America and serves as a reminder for something most people of color in these divided states have long known, racism is not dead; it simply has taken a new form. We don’t put up signs that say Colored Only, or lynch folks but damn it if this new racism is not equally as tiring and dangerous to the those who deal with it on a daily basis.
In some ways I am reminded of how good white privilege is, it’s the tastiest dish on the menu. After all only with white privilege can folks who at times seem borderline illiterate (I am talking to you Sarah Palin, Trump, and others of their ilk) run around making baseless statements yet a substantial enough amount of the general population will buy into their tripe. Why? Because the white folks said it, so it must be true.
I weep for this nation yet I am convinced that perhaps through our younger generations things will indeed change. Eventually the color of a person’s skin will be no more important than eye color when judging content of character until that time, pass the wine!
