Oh boy, have you guys seen this? I know many of us are well-versed in the anti-racism, victimhood tactics, mainly from our time at certain other websites. And we know how hurtful it can be. But I don't think I've ever seen a better example of just how much damage false accusations of racism can cause.
Here's a city council meeting where some kids from a special program at an area school were presenting a gift to the city. Their project involved spending a couple days in the town of Martinsville, VA, after which they were going to write reports and stuff about their experience and what they learned about the history of the town. Somewhere along the way, they decided it would be nice to make a quilt with each of the kids designing their own patch showing how they felt about the experience and to show their appreciation for the history of the town. In this city council meeting, the kids and their teacher were showing the quilt that they were about to present as a gift to the city.
If you want to skip right to where the controversy begins, it starts at about the 2:00 mark, and then after a lull, it picks up again a little after 10:00. But I suggest you watch the whole thing (it's only around 13 minutes long) to get the full flavor of what a wonderful moment this SHOULD have been had it not be for one certain person, a person who apparently thought she'd teach these kids a thing or two about racism. And oh DID SHE!... but not quite what she envisioned.
(I've learned a few more things about this councilwoman over the past couple days. I'll post them as an update, or in the comments, after people have first had a chance to digest this part.)
Martinsville councilwoman offended by quilt students presented as gift to city council
Comments
Thank you for posting this.
I watched the "whole" 13 minutes. It was disgusting how that one city council member treated those children, and yes, they're still children, and you're right about the 2 minute and 10 minute mark but it's important to watch the whole thing.
The young man portrayed his sentiments from a dark color, duh, black, to a light, enriched color, gold, good for him. He did a great job.
And the teacher was breaking up when speaking, you could see that, and she allowed the young man to speak for a bit and then stopped him when she knew that he was rightfully upset and angry and might say something that would hurt him later.
Yeah, that's exactly what I thought
The young guy was about THIS close to going off on that woman. Luckily the teacher kinda pulled him back. I also liked the one councilman who started to ask the kids a question, and then Racist Woman interrupted. He was like, "Just shut up! You've had your say!" Ok, well maybe he didn't use those words, but I'm sure it's what he was thinking.
Excellent case study subject.
I may be being inconsistent when I say this, but I would call that situation borderline. I can understand and believe that the student didn't have any ill intent. However, using a black person as a symbol of lack of knowledge transitioning to a golden person as a symbol of knowledge is fucking stupid. I would blame the teachers and their lack of training on this one. I mean come on, it's plays right into past stereotypes. I disagree with treating any criticism of Obama as racist, vehemently, because I believe I've been just as critical of all Presidents. To me they all suck. It's like the pledge they had on Daily Kos a while back. the racist labels. They listed three, 1) saying Obama is not black, 2) calling him Boy, and 3) saying he has no balls. I certainly can live with the first two. The third one is questionable. There may be a history to it but the saying itself doesn't refer to that history as far as I know. Boy has a history. The not black thing, ridiculous anyway. But intelligence or lack of knowledge? Yes, there is a history to that.
Or the old memes on TV, the good guys wears the white hate, the bad guy black. Borderline to me although it could be racist depending on how its used. But the colors white and black have always been associated with light and darkness, good and evil as well without racial overtones.
This one however specifically uses a black person as the one with the lack of knowledge and the golden person as the one with knowledge. I believe it wasn't racially intended, no doubt. But it was stupid as shit.
I worked 30 years in the federal govt as a HR professional. I was trained so many times I can't remember on racial issues, discrimination, etc. These kind of things are taught to ensure a nondiscriminatory environment. A teacher should have caught onto that one in my opinion.
But like I said, I'm torn because I detest it being taken too far. In that Daily Kos diary with the pledge, I made a comment but did not ask that my name be put on the list. They put it on anyway. I wasn't going to challenge it but in the very next diary I visited, one of the appointed racial police challenged the use of dog when describing Obama's term as President (or something like that). Pissed me off where they were taking it. So I specifically asked that my name be taken off the list, twice. Many are assuming I'm racist just because of that. There's also a difference when criticizing an office such as the Presidency rather than generalizing about an entire race.
So anyway, my thots.
Just to add,
I certainly don't agree with how it was handled.
Thank you, Big Al, for writing that.
You've given me something to think about.
But one thing that hasn't changed my mind is that the student intentionally set out to to portray a racist image.
No, the student and the teachers looked completely
dumbfounded about the criticism. I agree they had no intention of that and evidently it didn't even cross their minds. I have to think it should cross a teachers mind. I'm pretty sure it would have crossed mine.
I'm sorry Al...
... but I've had people tell me the term "Dark Ages", and as you mentioned, the use of black vs white cowboy hats, should be "reconsidered". That's not much different than complaining about these kids using the black/dark figure vs the golden one. There are people out there who believe just the use of anything black or dark as symbolizing something "bad" or "scary" or whatever, tends to make races with darker skins feel less positive about themselves. I'm not kidding... I've had people say those things to me. And it's very, very wrong.
both of your examples are explainable thusly:
dark ages refers to "in the dark", as in not being able to see because the lights are out. The only reason to not refer to that time as "the dark ages" is because it was only in one part of the world and it happened to be Europe. In plenty of other places a lot of stuff was happening.
As for good guys wearing white hats, take that up with the Hollywood of the 50s (or probably even earlier). Obviously now people don't believe it, don't make movies like that, or if they do they're either mocking it or are plain dumb. But yes, there were weirdnesses in American entertainment for a really long time. I don't know if the movie makers back then were deliberately thinking along racial lines. God knows the movies are full of embarrassing racial items. Seeing William Powell conversing with an African American porter in a train sequence is a pretty squirmy couple of minutes.
In any case, I think that white hat thing is now a relic.
This looks to me like the precise metaphor the student went for
Thanks for the comment, Al
But I can't say I agree.
"But the colors white and black have always been associated with light and darkness, good and evil as well without racial overtones. This one however specifically uses a black person as the one with the lack of knowledge and the golden person as the one with knowledge. I believe it wasn't racially intended, no doubt. But it was stupid as shit."
Yes, it's a black as in "dark" (NOT dark skin-colored) person. And are white people (or at least non-black people) now "golden"? Look at the size and body position of that first one. Compare that to the second one... larger, arms raised, etc. And GOLD colored. The kids described it perfectly. The first one was about lack of knowledge and awareness, the second was after being "enlightened". As the kid asked the councilwoman: What color SHOULD he have used for the first one?
And I don't think these kids, or their parents, or their teachers, or anyone else need to apologize for this. There was NO intent. Oh but there sure WAS intent on the part of that council woman, or others who took offense. THEY are the ones trying to perpetuate racism in this country. I am thoroughly convinced that some people -- like the Sharptons, the Tim Wises of the world -- WANT racism to still be a problem in this country. They BENEFIT from it. And yes, many people BENEFIT from being able to take offense of every little thing.... being a perpetual "victim" has its benefits.
No problem. I'm separating the quilt from the response
of the one person. Her response was certainly bullshit. There's a time and place and that was neither. If she had a problem she should have brought it up privately after the meeting without the students there. Whether the symbolism is wrong or not is a matter of opinion. That's why I referred to it as an excellent case study, i.e., one that would bring different views and spur discussion like this.
Well said, Al. I disagree somewhat.
There may well be an issue here. My reaction before watching the video was much more solidly on your side, and when the teacher or whoever was describing it said, "black person" to describe the figure, I was proud of the councilwoman for speaking up. But after that, wow, my sympathies vanished. People make mistakes out of ignorance, and when those people are acting out of love, then loving correction is appropriate. I can imagine mitigating circumstances, for example, I wouldn't feel very comfortable being one of the only black people in that room and seeing something like that go down. Plus, we don't know the history of that group or that area. There is a lot we don't know.
Yeah, there is that history of black being associated with negative. It has nothing to do with who are called, maybe unfortunately, "black" people. Actually, "black" people are not black and "white" people are not white. A dark room, with no light, can be frightening. Not being able to see is a fine metaphor for ignorance. These things have nothing to do with race and I see no reason to ignore this universal aspect of human experience because of nothing more than words.
Before this issue was used as a bludgeon with no integrity or even sincere concern for the issue, I would have viewed this as a sad example of the continuing saga of slavery echoing down the years, as a terrible example of mistrust and hurt. Since dkos, I am much more likely to be angry about it. These are the seeds that are sown when a real issue and problem is co-opted and manipulated for ends having nothing to do with the actual issue. There is a parallel with the boy who cried "Wolf!"
The way people have acted on dkos make it more difficult for the races to reach mutual understanding and respect. They have made the problem much worse. I'm not sure that councilwoman deserves to be thrown into the same basket with people who, to me, are lacking in intergrity. That is when I get angry about ill-founded accusations of racism--when there is no integrity. Slightly less upsetting is an unwillingness to engage in respectful dialog, which must come from both sides.
This is the "about" statement...
... for the Facebook page demanding the councilwoman's resignation:
"As a proud black man, and a human, I am very offended at her ignorant statement, 'I'm not one of your locally home-growned house negras....I don't shuffle, I don't tap dance, and I don't take out garbage'. WE DEMAND HER RESIGNATION IMMEDIATELY!!"
https://www.facebook.com/sharonbrookshodge
Seems over the top from both ends to me
Slavery was a scourge, and these scourges echo through the generations (just as Obama's killing will). I'm not a big fan of self-righteousness from anyone on this problem. There are very real reasons that people would act in less than ideal fashion. What I would wish for was compassion. The students or teacher could have said, "Wow, I never thought of that. I can see how you might see it that way. Of course, that's not what we meant." They could have been empathetic. It seems we are all agreed that the councilwoman also lacked empathy. I grant no one any place to stand from which to view this ongoing suffering in stark terms of right and wrong.
I forgot to add to my other comment:
"Integrity"? Nope, this woman seems to have none.
There's apparently a recall being organized
I guess lots of people living in that town didn't know much about her before she was elected. But now some stuff is being dug up. Here's a quote from her Facebook page awhile back (I don't know if it's still up; some people have said it's gone now):
"I'm sitting in the Mezzanine of the Mayflower Hotel enjoying a cup of tea and discussing marriage education with a colleague. I forgot how much I love the ambiance of Washington, D.C. I am going to savor the next two days and remind myself that I am living in Martinsville for a reason. When I accomplish my mission, I can return to civilization!"
And another thing. After the firestorm began over what she did at the City Council meeting, she went on a radio call-in show and started saying some pretty nasty things. I apologize if this is not verbatim, because I haven't been able to find the actual audio, I'm just going by transcripts of the show I've read:
"I'm not one of your locally home-grown house negras. I don't shuffle, I don't tap dance, and I don't take out garbage."
What a wonderful, Sharptoneque lady, eh?
Not that is either here nor there, but was the student
white?
What, the student who did the quilt patch?
Yeah, it's the tall guy standing next to the teacher near the end. And what bothers me more than probably anything else about this whole thing, is how it might change these kids. And NO, changing them by making them more "conscious" of what sybolism is good and which is bad, is NOT a good thing.
No, I'm sorry. I just watched it again.
For some reason, I thought he was Latino or Hispanic. Frankly, after watching it again, there is no way to tell, at least I can't.
That's what I meant to say, that the teacher and the children were color blind so to speak, with no mal intent meant.
Ah, ok. That makes more sense. ;)
I mean, I knew you had watched the video, so I couldn't figure out how you missed that part. Now I see what you're saying. But no, hard to be certain. I "think" he's white, but maybe only part?... don't know.
ridiculous...
Nothing like shitting on a gift.
Yeah. And "teaching" these kids...
... about racism at the same time. Yep, I think that woman taught those kids a lesson they'll NEVER forget.
You know what? Do NOT be surprised if this town isn't soon overrun by Al Sharpton, Tim Wise, and their buddies in some kind of "protest". I'm not joking.
the councilwoman
Could have taken the opportunity , you know, teach, in a teachable moment. I don't have a problem she pointed it out. I have a problem with alienating people who might have learned something if not for what they did learn: assholes are everywhere.
I have a big problem she brought it up
This was a GIFT. And she might as well have just spit in those kids and the teacher's face! The "people" in that patch were stick figures. They had NOTHING to do with real people with real skin and real color to their skin. It was totally and completely symbolic. And not BAD sybolism, in any way, shape, or form. Oh, and by the way, what about the other patch, with the parkour guy? That one was black too. Isn't it also racist to show something like that, considering that it's showing blacks are only good for athletics, for entertainment? Yeah, I'm being sarcastic... but political correctness, and grovelling to the likes of that woman aggravates me to no end. (Sorry Nemesis, this wasn't aimed at you... I'm just ranting a bit.)