Have You Heard?
Unless you live under a rock or play video games all day while your mom does your laundry and pays your bills, you are probably aware that there was an election held in the United States. And unless you are so “spiritual” that you could care less who leads the nation in which you live, you are probably aware that Barack Obama was elected to a second term.
That being said, I thought I would share with you what happened on Wednesday morning, the day after the election.
Elementary Conclusions
If you do not already know, I drive a school bus in the mornings and afternoons to supplement my income as a bi-vocational pastor. The students I transport range in age from 5 to 18.
On Wednesday morning, after transporting the older students to school, I stopped to pick up my first elementary students. At 7:41 a.m. the first three, two girls and one boy, got on the bus
As happened earlier in the morning with the middle and high school students, chants of “Obama won! Obama won!” rang out and echoed within the aluminum walls of my bus. It was like both young and old went to the same victory rally. Then, a sweet, little girl (I won’t mention her name) came up behind me as I was driving and excitedly asked,
“Did you know Obama won?”
“Yes, I know.”
“Who did you vote for, Mr. Baker?”
“I voted for Mr. Romney.”
“Ewwww! Boooooo! Why did you vote for Romney?”
“Why do you think I voted for Mitt Romney?” I asked.
“Because he was too white, that’s why.”
How insulting! She thought (assumed) that I voted for Romney because he looked like me. Why would she think that? Whatever she believed is what she was taught at home. Whatever she thought of me was based on what she was told about all white people. What was I supposed to say?
I spoke the truth. “[Little girl],” I said, “that was a very racist statement.”
Alive and Well
Sadly, after all the progress that has been made in this great nation, racism is still alive and well, but not in the form people want to admit. Reverse-racism is just as much racism as any other kind, but few recognize it, and fewer condemn it.
Wednesday morning I was essentially labeled a bigot because I voted for a candidate that was the same race as me. If that was true, then what does it say about those of a different color who voted for the candidate that looked like them? Are they bigots, too?
Believe it or not, legalism and this story have a lot in common. Legalism assumes the thoughts and intentions of another based on outward appearances and man-made teachings. Reverse-racism, at least in my case, assumed my intentions because of my skin color. Now, what was it that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said?
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.…[1]
Legalism ignores the “content of one’s character” as long as outward appearances don’t match a pre-determined template for holiness, while reverse-racism disqualifies legitimate concern and silences those who would speak out.
Both legalism and reverse-racism tend to cause people to act out of fear, rather than conviction. Both steal a person’s God-given freedom to think.
Both are wrong.
[1] William J. Federer, Great Quotations: A Collection of Passages, Phrases, and Quotations Influencing Early and Modern World History Referenced According to Their Sources in Literature, Memoirs, Letters, Governmental Documents, Speeches, Charters, Court Decisions and Constitutions (St. Louis, MO: AmeriSearch, 2001).
Related articles
- The Unreported Racism Of The 2012 Election: 0% Of African-Americans Support Romney (washington.cbslocal.com)
- Opinion: Black-on-Black Racism During The Presidential Campaign (baltimore.cbslocal.com)
The Recovering Legalist 
Wow, it makes you wonder what that girl’s parents are filling her head with.
Was this little girl black? I can’t see her statement making much sense otherwise.
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Yes, she was.
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That is truly sad.
I had a black roommate a couple years ago and we talked about race all the time. He grew up in an all-black neighborhood in inner-city Cleveland. I grew up in the all-white sticks about two hours south of there. We talked about how ridiculous people were / are from both areas. He told me he grew up thinking white people hated black people and worked to keep them poor. I told him about my family’s rather racist tendencies…you know, they weren’t waving rebel flags but they certainly laughed at the occasional racist jokes.
We agreed that people just need to learn about other people, and reserve opinion on them until they do. He actually went on to marry a white girl, pretty awesome.
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I never thought I was racist at all until I found out how racist I really was. But thankfully most of us grow out of that. For me it was when I began to see other people, no matter what color, as souls; when I began to see all people as created by God. “I say this as a minister of the Gospel, who loves the church…” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 4/16/63 (from a jail cell in Birmingham, Alabama)
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I have experience this in college , where I was accused of taking some ones’ sit because they were black. To put it into context, no one was sitting there when I turned up, and so I sit down, the person I was meeting was of mixed race, the notion I took the chair because of his skin colour infuriated me. To the point I went pardon and excuse me no one was sat there, there is no ownership on the chair but if you want it take it. I then told my friend that I would meet him outside as the air suddenly stank of racism and their was a stench I did not want to be around. The person looked at me and said am I accusing him of racism, I said yes, because you accused me of an action based on the colour of your skin, I did not bring the race creed into the matter, you did, by blatantly telling me I had taken the chair because of your skin colour and the fact that I was white and a girl. At which point I turned on my heel and left. My friend said he then looked shocked that I had the audacity to throw his comments back, and he reported me to security. Thankfully they questioned my friend who told them what had happened and he ended up with the reprimand not me; I also got an apology from the school but ultimately the apology should have come from the person who had unjustly accused me not the school. This still annoys me today that such bigoted and reverse racism still lives on where we are supposedly all equals. Obviously not and the world still has some way to go. Apologies for the ranty comment these things just annoy me- bet you would never have guessed.
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I have an extra seat if you want one 😉
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Thank you, may take you up on that one day 😎
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Pingback: Thank you for doing your jobs « altheavlive
I have been amazed at the number of times I have been called a racist, because most of those instances made absolutely no sense.
One example came 10 years ago when I worked at McDonald’s. We were instructed to look at someone specific when it was busy and ask if we could help them. One day when our lobby was packed for dinner, I looked at a young black family and said with a smile “May I take your order?” An older black woman with her grandkids began screaming “Racist!” She told my manager I skipped her (she was quite short and behind her tallest grandson) because she is black … even though the people I called were also.
In the last election, I was told I was not voting for Obama because he was black. I said, “No, I am not voting for him, because he never does anything! He skates by and says a lot.” (His record in the Illinois senate was almost entirely “Present” votes, and he pretty much continued that at the Federal level.) This time around, I was not directly accused of racism, but someone did repeat that line to me that white people not voting for Obama are racists.
Personally, I have dropped all pretext when that word starts flying. I make it clear that the biggest racists today are actually those who blame everyone else, take no responsibility, and accuse others with whom they disagree.
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I sometimes wonder if the word “racism” has become a living organism, like a mutating virus, or an amoeba. It no longer means what its definition says it means. It has mutated. But for one person it means one thing, and for anther it means something else, and in the meantime we are all getting sick from it.
My husband is an over the road truck driver, and on Tuesday was in a truckers rest stop watching the election news over his lunch break. A local black woman and her teenaged daughter came in. She ended up talking to one of the truck drivers my husband had been talking with, about the election, stating she had voted for Obama. He asked her why, and she said because he’s black, to which he replied that that was ignorant, and listed off ways in which Obama was costing her money and taking away her protection from the military, etc. She vehemently called him a racist. Her daughter started getting her out of the store, reminding her that they had talked about this and no more ranting about politics, and so on.
The truck driver looked at his skin which was actually a lot darker than the woman’s and said, with trucker language, “Did that black [woman] just call me racist??” The whole place erupted with laughter.
Honestly, what did she think the word meant? This happens too often for people to understand the true meaning of the word. If a child is raised being told “It’s just greenism, because your eyes are green,” every time someone disagrees with them or is mean to them, then they will believe and begin to see greenism in everything that gets in the way of them getting what they want. They will cry “greenism” every time someone doesn’t agree with them. Even when the other person has green eyes, too.
I am not saying true racism doesn’t exist. It does. But there is just way too much of this word being thrown around as if it’s a one size fits all magic button of denial. They are demeaning those who truly suffer because of racism, or even their own experiences when they have been treated badly by a real racist.
See, now I’m ranting. Sigh. That’s why my blog is about cooking and family and mushy stuff. I’ll come here to rant. Here, where no one knows me…
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I’ve nominated you for the “Food for Thought” blogging award. You can get all the details here: http://pastorchrisjordan.wordpress.com/2012/11/09/food-for-thought-blogging-award/
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Thanks, Chris! Now if I can just figure out how to “receive” the award.
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@Overwhelmingpeace, Wow, I never even considered the idea that some people had no idea what true racism really meant. That’s just crazy!
One thing that caused my husband and I to look at each other with a “what-the-heck” expression was when we began to hear the term(s) “reverse” discrimination and “reverse” racism. Wonder who first coined those phrases? And what was their mind-set to consider it “reverse” rather than just racism/discrimination from one people toward another?
We first heard it on the news, in connection with a story of whites being discriminatory towards blacks then the blacks showing discrimination toward whites in “reverse” discrimination.
For me, it gave the connotation that society as a whole felt whites are racist toward minorities and this was the first (general) rule of thought, so whenever a minority would show the same racist/discriminatory behavior towards whites, it was in retaliation, hence the term “reverse” (?), I’m guessing.
I don’t know, maybe I’m misunderstanding the term, but to me, racism/discrimination are just that, no matter who is showing it to whom.~
With that being said, I know a few minorities who voted for Obama and a few who are not minorities who did also and so far, among them all, their only positive reasoning is because he wants to give out “free” stuff, i.e. healthcare and food (and I’ve no doubt that list will be added to). What frightens me is that some of the minorities and lower-income demographics who have this mind-set of getting something for free are being very stereotypical and these kids are being taught that this is the right frame of thinking. So you don’t have to worry about growing up and working hard and getting YOURSELF out of (or preventing) poverty, because the government is so willing to supply all of your needs even when you really don’t need their help. It’s very sad.~
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Right on AB! I fully agree that racism is alive and well. I have thought this way for many years, but have had trouble understanding how it is thriving in the shadows. We rarely see overt signs like cross burning’s or signs telling people of color they aren’t welcome. It seems to have taken a mutated form, or dare I say, a more civilized form so that it’s motives are hidden.
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Amen! It appears many care more about skin color than character.
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