I Can’t Simply Let It Pass

“mikeova 02:37:38 PM Mar 13 2008
And you left wing jerks wonder why there is hatred for these B sons of a Bitches. There will be a revoution one day!”

Dear Bigot:

I guess that I’m what you would consider a left wing jerk; however, I don’t wonder why there is anger and hatred towards these men. People who murder people generally do not inspire love; hate is a pretty normal reaction to the perpetrators of these vicious crimes. What I wonder is what the actions of these individuals have to do with their skin color?

So much of the commentary on the AOL News stories, regardless of the subject matter of the story, always includes multiple comments about how stupid, evil, vicious, worthless, etc. black people are. I wonder what level of insecurity and anger exists in the hearts of so many people that they are quick to assert that an entire race of people are responsible for the crimes of individuals who happen to belong to that group. I wonder is this belief coming from a soul filled with hate or just plain ignorance. I wonder if you really believe that all white people are intelligent, kind, loving, and only do good things.

Maybe I’m just a left wing jerk, but it never crossed my mind to conclude that all white men are incapable of being faithful to their wives because Spitzer, Clinton, Gingrich, Larry Craig, and others were unable to keep their pants zipped. I’ve never concluded that all white people are power hungry conquerors based on the tendency of the European explorers to subdue and often eradicate the native cultures in the lands that they “discovered” in the Americas. Although I do confess to being puzzled as to how you discover a land that is already inhabited. It’s as if someone came into the neighborhood where I live and pronounced that it had been discovered because he was new to the area.

I know that the people who celebrate their marriage of ignorance and bigotry, won’t get my point at all. They will continue to find any excuse to shout about the awful things that black people do and how Sharpton and Jackson fan the fires of so-called black racism. They will continue to insist that the liberal left aids and abets blacks in walking all over the rights of white people.

I have a suggestion for you. Due to generations of miscegenation, many people who identify themselves as black appear to be white based on external physical characteristics. If you are really convinced that black people get over in America, that there are unfair advantages to being black, that black racism is a powerful force that threatens the white race, why don’t you get your slice of the pie and start telling everyone that you are black?

Sincerely,

Left Wing Jerk Liberal Feminist Black Woman

When Silence Isn’t Golden

I read most of my news on the Internet. It saves my house from being cluttered with newspapers. I am not very domestic and I try to avoid housekeeping to the extent possible.

I’ve been following a tragic story regarding the shooting death of a young college student, Eve Carson. She was student body president and in her senior year at my alma mater, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. By all accounts, Ms. Carson was a highly intelligent, caring young woman with a promising future. The police have been very efficient and have arrested her killers. The motive appears to have been robbery. One of the alleged killers is also a suspect in the shooting death of a young graduate student, Abhijit Mahato, back in January of this year.

As I typically do, after reading the news story online, I read the comments left by AOL members in response to the article. Why do I read the comments? Because I’m Ethel of Lucy and Ethel; I know better but I am so gosh darn nosey that I can’t help myself.

As usual, there were the sane comments about the tragic loss of lives and vitriol as to the punishment that should be exacted on the alleged perpetrators, but what caught my eye was the litany of bigoted, hateful, observations based on the race of the suspects.

Eve Carson was white; the suspects are black. Mr. Mahato was originally from India, but no one in the comments section seemed particularly concerned about his death or ethnicity. I’ve been down this road before, so why am I going there again?

Partly because it kicks me in the gut every time I come into contact with blatant prejudice. I try to dismiss it as the rantings of ignorant people, but it still stings. Partly because I don’t think that I should have to avoid a common activity such as reading comments in order to avoid being belittled and insulted by strangers based on my skin color. I know that they aren’t speaking to me individually, but that doesn’t take the sting out of it. So I keep writing about this because I think that such people will not cease and desist until enough decent people make it clear that their bigotry and hate is not wanted.

You see, what disturbs me the most, is that it is rare that anyone challenges the bigots. I know the argument that people trot out; we have freedom of speech and people have a right to say what they think. For the most part that is true, but not an absolute. (Try plotting a little treason and sedition and see how far that freedom of speech argument gets you.) However, freedom of speech works both ways. You have a right to express your thoughts and beliefs, and I have a right to respond. Freedom of speech doesn’t mean that we have to let hate speech pass with no comment. If you don’t agree, say so. Don’t let bigotry go unchallenged; to do so is to offer tacit approval by virtue of your silence.

I have my own dream, that if decent, thoughtful people speak out, that eventually their voices united will drown the hateful words, shut them out, force them to go back into the dark where they belong. So I left my own comment in response to some of the more bigoted remarks. As this post is getting way too long, I’ll include my comment in a follow-up to this post.

What I will include here are some of the comments that I read following the news story, exactly as written, with the identifying screen name.

noapeface 03:53:44 PM Mar 13 2008 EVERYTIME THEY COME OUT OF THE TREE’S, THERES TROUBLE !!

snakeisback04 04:03:00 PM Mar 13 2008 TYPICAL BLACK FOR YA.

jimitty 02:16:19 PM Mar 13 2008 Dont you think cornrows and dreadlocks just make a man? Soooo jungle ghetto chic.Low-life coward scumbags.

veres36 12:40:52 PM Mar 13 2008 AND WE WANT TO PUT ONE IN THE WHITE HOUSE,HOW LOW CAN WE GO?

oct2nov1971 01:48:22 PM Mar 13 20 Obama’s first job should be to put his animals in check.

oct2nov1971 01:40:30 PM Mar 13 2008 Obama supporters will kill ya for less than buck. They will kill ya for CHANGE.
University of North Carolina student Eve Carson it is said, was an Obama supporter. An Obama supporter murdered by Obama supporter thugs. ANOTHER REASON WHY I WONT VOTE FOR OBAMA.