You Say Tomato, I Say To-MAH-To
Wowzer! Just when I thought the biggest deal was my husband completely wrecking the Seitan Stir Fry last night, I wake up to the shocked headlines about...drum roll please...Race and Katrina!
I think some folks in this country are really surprised that black people and white people are seeing our federal response to Hurricane Katrina's whomp on the Gulf Coast a bit differently.
Polls are showing that 6 out of 10 of African-Americans think race was a factor, compared with only 1 out of 8 white Americans. There are a good many people sitting around the breakfast table this morning probably wondering how black Americans could get it so twisted. America and Condoleeza Rice still want to believe that racism is a vestige of the "Old South" and that remnants of that lynching, burning, Jim Crow, Emmett Till legacy just are so hard to get away from.
Because really, race is not a factor...
I think some folks in this country are really surprised that black people and white people are seeing our federal response to Hurricane Katrina's whomp on the Gulf Coast a bit differently.
Polls are showing that 6 out of 10 of African-Americans think race was a factor, compared with only 1 out of 8 white Americans. There are a good many people sitting around the breakfast table this morning probably wondering how black Americans could get it so twisted. America and Condoleeza Rice still want to believe that racism is a vestige of the "Old South" and that remnants of that lynching, burning, Jim Crow, Emmett Till legacy just are so hard to get away from.
Because really, race is not a factor...
- Because most white Americans have several non-work-related black friends that they invite over to their homes on a regular basis. Right?
- Because it's not a big deal when someone non-white graces the cover of Vogue, Elle, or Vanity Fair. Right?
- Because we all know white parents who voluntarily bus their children to the lowest performing schools in Watts, Gompers Middle School and Locke High School, because it wouldn't be fair for black and Latino students to have to stick it out at those schools alone. And besides, those schools that are just as nice, if not nicer, than schools in Beverly Hills. Right?
- Because white Americans regularly tune in to shows like "One on One" and stalk reruns of "Girlfriends". Right? Oh wait, I don't even watch those shows so I guess that one doesn't count...or it's just proof that not all black people are the same.
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