So, Judge Sonia Sotomayor is a racist because she suggested that she would hopefully reach more fair and just decisions, due to her lifelong experience as a wise latina in America, better than a white man?  Many white, conservative males are in fact proclaiming that Sotomayor is in fact a racist for making the remark, and that her intimations make her unfit to be a justice on the Supreme Court.  I find this position—their position—somewhat ironic and hypocritical, if not hypercritical on some level.

Of course Sotomayor backed off of her remark, suggesting that it was only meant to inspire the young hispanics in her audience at that time, and that it was a “rhetorical flourish that fell flat.”  When you are a racial minority in America who is attempting to get elected or appointed to any type of office or position of authority in government, you have to be politically correct.  Well, as a private citizen, I don’t have to worry about my political correctness, and as a person and writer who does not like to beat around the bush, I can tell it like I see it.  Some of the same people who are questioning Sotomayor’s ability to be a fair justice have made public remarks that I deem are much more offensive than Sotomayor’s pandering to her latino audience.  The main person opposing her nomination is Senator Jeff  Sessions.  Sessions had the audacity to tell his colleagues one time that he thought the Ku Klux Klan was OK, until he found out that some of them smoked pot.  Another leader that many conservative white males look to is Rush Limbaugh.  Limbaugh has made such remarks as calling President Barack Obama a halfrican American , and saying that James Earl Ray, the killer of Martin Luther King, deserves a posthomous Medal of Honor.  And now people like Sessions and Limbaugh would have you believe that they make fair and just decisions in the performance of their public duty.  Don’t get me wrong. People do grow spiritually over time, but casting stones is still casting stones.  Senator Sessions, Rush Limbaugh,  and others are hypocrites, plain and simple.

Moreover, white men have been atop the leadership in America for hundreds of years. From an economic, social and political standpoint it’s pretty great to be a white male in America.  Conditions for hispanics, blacks, American Indians, and even white women, have been a little less favorable.  If one scrutinizes the social and economic conditions of   minority populations in America, then it is not a stretch to conclude that white male leaders have not been fair and just in their decisions regarding social and economic matters, particularly in regards to racial minorities in America.  Now many would say that it’s a person’s own fault if they do not succeed in America, and some would suggest that perhaps blacks and hispanics are just not as intelligent as whites.  Yes, it is true that people have to bear the ultimate responsibility for their decisions in life—decisions that have a profound impact upon whether or not someone is successful, but it is very disingenuous and intellectually dishonest to discount the effects of historic and systematic racism and oppression against racial minorities in America.  It is highly irrational, if not insane, to deny and/or neglect the adverse results of racism within minority populations in America.  People like  President Obama, Michelle Obama and Sonia Sotomayor should leave no doubt in anyone’s mind that blacks and hispanics (as well as all racial minorities in America)  have just as much innate intelligence as white males.  In fact, in some ways, these people are smarter because they have scaled obstacles and barriers that most people have not been able to overcome.  It is exactly these obstacles and barriers—along with the life experiences and knowledge attained by being able to confront, challenge and circumvent these unfair impediments that may indeed make Sotomayor better able to reach better decisions than the “good ol’ boys”, because it has afforded her (and others) the ability to see the big picture.  People may not want to hear it, but a good number of white men—particularly those who have little direct and/or intimate contact with non-whites—just see things from a myopic, white male perspective.  At many times these same people have been in positions of privilege and power for so long that they are just ignorant and/or apathetic to the needs of not only poor blacks and latinos in America, but poor whites as well.  Over time, these white males either purposefully or mindlessly adopted a belief that they truly are inherently superior to other races because this is what they know, see, and have experienced all of their lives.  After living in this reality they begin to internalize the belief that it is their God given right to be in positions of leadership and legislate to their advantage, and rule as they see fit.  These types may attempt to veil their true feelings and the exploitative manner in which they do business, but their position becomes quite evident by scrutinizing the legislation and laws that they do or don’t support.  It is their positions that have led to the continued oppression, economic and social malaise of certain racial groups and/or disadvantaged communities within America.  Their lack of fairness in the performance of their public duty, along with their basic inability to lead in reference to closing racial disparities within education and other private and public institutions after hundreds of years in America,  is the capstone of the institutional racism that still thwarts America’s social and economic infrastructure in the 21st century.  If white men can’t get it right after hundreds of years, isn’t it quite natural for someone to think that perhaps a person of color, or maybe even a white woman, could possibly come to better decisions in all areas of government, including the Supreme Court?

White men in America have basically had carte blanche over the decision making at the top levels of federal government for decades.  Yes, there have been some blacks, hispanics and women that have slipped through the cracks of the political glass ceiling, but let us not fool ourselves into believing that just because Barack Obama, Sonia Sotomayor, or Hillary Clinton have been able to attain a certain amount of status and authority that the racial and gender floodgates to congressional power have been opened.  This truth becomes especailly poignant when you study the historical make-up of the U.S. Congress, particularly the Senate.  And, don’t get me wrong:  this is not an indictment on all white men in America—far from it.  There are plenty of decent, empathetic, fair, just, and wise white men in this country.  Just like all black men are not ignorant, violent thugs, all white men are not white supremacist, racist rednecks.  There are many who are able to understand that for America to sustain itself as the greatest nation on earth, then everyone should have equal access to social and economic opportunities regardless of race.  There are plenty of men like Senator Edward Kennedy, President Bill Clinton, and Bill Gates who don’t make choices or decisions—as a routine matter of course—that cater to the best interests of white men to the detriment of others.  But, then you have many white men who cannot and/or refuse to come down from their ivory towers.  These are the men who will never have the benefit of the wisdom and experience of a wise latina like Judge Sonia Sotomayor.

I feel saddened by the death of Stephen Johns at the hands of James Von Brunn, the white supremacist who was so filled with hate for non-whites that, even at 88 years old, he succumbed to the evil within his heart and attacked the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C.

It would seem that Von Brunn would have gained some wisdom after living for so many years.  True wisdom, which obviously escaped him, would have led him to the conclusion that people are people, regardless of skin color.  Stephen Johns was not doing anyone any harm. In fact, he was protecting the public.  Johns did not harbor any ill will in his heart, or malice aforethought in his mind.  Johns was doing what so many of us do: help to support a family. Johns was helping to make his son’s world a better place.  Von Brunn, on the other hand, had already raised his son.  Von Brunn made his son’s world worse—if merely by causing his child  shame and embarrassment for being the son of a cold-blooded murderer, who killed much the same reason as Bloods and Crips kill one another: because of differences in color.

It is pretty much juvenile and outright senseless to hate or kill someone because they sport a red or blue “flag” (i.e., bandana), which signifies being a part of either gang.  But, isn’t it just as inhumane and simpleminded to kill someone because of differences in skin color or racial make-up?  Think about it.  Ironically, there are some similarities in the train of thought of Bloods and Crips, white supremacists and other racists.

It may be arguable (simply because some would say that they have no choice to associate themselves with certain groups), but one major difference is that unlike choosing to be a Blood, Crip, Neo-Nazi, etc., one cannot choose their race or color of skin.  So isn’t it highly irrational for a person to dislike, mistrust or hate another person based on something that that person has absolutely no control over?  On some level it truly is “crazy”, in the purest sense of the word.  One thing that we all have ultimate control over is the decision to base our actions on love for our fellow man.  I am pretty sure that Stephen Johns was helping to protect visitors, and his fellow employees,  at the Holocaust Museum out of love for his fellow man.  Too bad that James Von Brunn did not have the same spirit.

NOTE:  You may wonder why I am prefacing something that happened nearly a decade ago. It’s because I wrote this years ago, but the message still applies today.

“School’s white students skip program on black history” said a headline of the News and Observer during Black History Month of 2001.  According to the Raleigh, North Carolina newspaper, of Whiteville High School’s approximately 350 white students, during that time, only 50 attended the program in observance of Black History Month. Even more shocking, if not telling, is that more than 200 of the students “submitted written notes from their parents stating that they needed to be excused for doctor, dental and personal appointments.” And, 75 of the students skipped the observance without permission in this country town which lies about two hours south of Raleigh.

Personally, I was a little dumbfounded when I read the report. To think that in the twentyfirst century, many whites still don’t see the need to participate in learning and acknowledging the profound part that blacks have played in this country’s rich history.  But after really analyzing the situation, I have concluded that perhaps I, like many others, have deluded myself into believing that America’s true racial condition is better than it really is.  To see this kind of systemic ignorance, subtle indignation, and/or just plain apathy really slaps me back to the reason that I write about racial issues in the first place: because it is needed.

Not only are many white adults ignorant to the dire social consequences of belittling black history and achievements in this country, they are also poisoning their children’s minds by their covert, and overt, racist acts.  How do whites think that blacks are going to react to such telling instances of their true thoughts about blacks? Furthermore, does white America truly believe that apathy to the needs of people—that will have a lasting detrimental effect upon our country’s social and economic well-being—is a smart policy?  What does America think that the benefit of not teaching a complete and accurate account of American history will be?  Notwithstanding a few stories about Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King Jr., and perhaps less than a handful of others, you would think that black history was really not a vital part of American history (and perhaps blacks would not even be mentioned at all, but for the exploitation by whites during slavery).  Slavery conjures up all kinds of negative and unfair connotations about blacks, but  when you view it from a more indepth perspective it makes whites look even worse.  It would seem that people would realize the benefits of teaching about some of the more positive aspects of black history as a matter of course.  Racial harmony is a noble ideal, and it should be America’s goal.  Every man, woman and child should be able to know, without a doubt, that they have the same opportunities to realize their dreams as anyone else.  Every person should be able to look himself or herself in the mirror, with a clear heart, without feeling any sense of guilt about their predecessors’ treatment toward a whole race of people.  As black kids mature and realize that racial discrimination against them is still alive and well, and white kids grow to the point where they are forced to “face the music” for their forefather’s sins (in the form of black hate and/or white guilt), the result may be a big festering sore of resentment for our children along racial lines.  Where will this lead this great nation?

The white parents of Whiteville should truly analyze their motives, whatever they were (are), for allowing their kids to skip their school’s Black History Month program. Moreover, the parents of the kids that simply skipped the program should ask themselves, “Why would my child do that?”  These parents should ask themselves why they feel the need to permit their children to make light of a history that should rightly be a part of every school’s curriculum?  To do this is dangerous, people.  The future of our country is at stake.  Let’s not bankrupt the promise and potential of our future generations by displaying apathy, hatred, and a lack of wisdom.

It seems that wisdom has escaped this part of North Carolina—this part of the Bible Belt.  Ironically, there were probably plenty of self-proclaimed Christians in the midst of these Black History Month detractors who would do well to follow the words of Jesus when he said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”