"And he urged them “to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—
that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain
—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—a…
"And he urged them “to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—
that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain
—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”"
Dr. Richardson. I can hear your message. I can see what you see through your writing and historical understanding of our country.
However, I have a son. Twenty-four. I am from Texas where public education turned me from a poor East Texas dirt farmer to a senior engineer people relied on to get stuff done correctly. I was paid well after about 10 years of not being promoted because: My father is from Mexico and my mother was redhead whose lineage in the USA began in 1620.
So, I had a "Mexican" last name. For 10 years in my early career as an engineer, while folks around me in my corporation were getting raises and promotions, but, working less and doing less, I was getting zero raises.
Finally, I got out of that company (Eastman Kodak) and managed to move into a software imaging role at a company where they did give me a few raises.
When I changed jobs the group leader at my new company told me I was getting paid $25,000 per year less than a guy they hired with my same degree who was five years younger than me.
This group leader worked to give me good raises. By the time I "retired" because our organization was outsourced to India by the "new" manager in a white shirt with, shocker, white skin who decided that was a great idea.
But, I managed to make it to age 60 in America as an engineer with a minority last name and came close to getting paid the same as the another white guy who actually slept during meetings where critical aspects of the project were discussed. I routinely put in 10 hour days just to get to parity by the end of my career.
Now? My son is 24. He is an engineer. His boss just told him that he would not make the promotion milestone at two years like everyone else (all white). He told my son this even though the two year marke is EIGHT MONTHS away.
So, Dr. Richardson, I can tell you: I hear your call to action.
But, my wife is an American of immigrant parents from Greece. She is now a Greek citizen.
We are working mightily to get our children Greek Citizenship.
Then, we will get them over to the EU and out of the USA. Having a "Mexican" last name in America where only white guys get hired and promoted EVEN when "Democracy" is working?
For me, for miy kids, it does not make any sense to go and "fight" for Democracy in a Democracy that only reocognizes the existence of white people where economic success is relevant.
So, I think this time around, Dr. Richardson, you will find that there are far fewer people willing to leave their homes and go die for the concept of "Democracy" when, even when it is ostensibly "working" it is really not working for everyone.
Just white folks.
I was in engeering at three big corporations for 39 years. During that time I saw two black engineers hired (both were accused by the whites of being recipients of affirmative action EVEN though both of them had higher GPA than any of the whites that were also employed).
I saw one other person with a "Mexican" last name in the engineering ranks. Like me, he was paid below all his whte counterparts.
And I saw an ARMY of white guys whose Dad's got them jobs, whose grades from college were atrocious, whose work ethic was sleeping during meetings.
So, Dr. Richardson, I hear your call. But, I don't think Amurca, even when it is a "Democracy", is worth my kids dying at the hands of the nutcases like Rittenhouse.
Let Amurcans have "their" country. I am sure they will grind what little is left into the dirt.
The Chinese already have all of our manufacuturing and technology, outsourced by white guys in in white shirts here who were shafting America workers for big bonuses while Amurca was a "Democracy".
OK. This was too long, I am sure you will not read it.
But, AFTER Lincoln's Gettysberg address America had 100 years of Jim Crow and after the Civil Rights legislation people could vote but guess what?
They could not get good jobs and still cannot. I was lucky because my Mom was white.
Otherwise, I would never have even been hired in America as an engineer. I would never have become middle class.
I would apologize, but, I want my kids in the EU. Not dying in another civil war that won't matter any way. They, my kids, will still be "spics".
But, I will keep learning and reading from you and appreciate your passion for "Democracy".
After I moved to Rochester, after one year, my wife and I bought a small house. In a meeting with a senior Kodak manager, he asked me where I had bought the house.
I told him where and his exact response was: "I remember when people knew their place".
I had not bought a house in the poorest part of the city, which was where I was "supposed" to buy that house, but, not too far from him.
He felt outraged and he felt completely empowered to tell me directly.
There is an old saying that I have never been able to find the original source of, but it still resonates. “When one is accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression.” Thank you for writing your long and eloquent post, Mike. Your witness is important and we need to hear it. Please keep writing. We cannot afford to lose Americans like you and your family.
Appalling. What I have learned more than anything since 2015 is how prevalent racism is in this country and that it exists literally EVERYWHERE. I was well aware of it from my youth, as my family lived like an island in the middle of a sea of hatred, and as the south goes swirling down the toilet more every day, it would be easy enough to blame it on this or that state. But. It is EVERYWHERE.
Thank you for this eloquent statement of fact, Mike - just one objection: I believe to my soul that she WILL read it, possibly give a direct response, but in any case make the best possible use of it, because that is what she does. You and she have different perspectives, aims, conclusions, but when it comes to passion and values,
Well, I hope she can do all the things she is doing, teaching college, maintaining a reasonable diet (cooking takes time, shopping takes time), writing this column, taking care of her loved ones, doing her podcast, meeting with students, meeting with college leadership without compromising her health.
Because: I know from experience that 16 hour days, done over a lifetime, compromise health.
Dear Mike, Your letter is heartbreakingly powerful and is what our country needs to hear. A friend of mine (a black veteran of three wars) did not want Obama to win the presidency because he said it will unleash the hatred that lies just beneath the surface that white privileged people are clueless about. And it has. And it is so blatantly fascist now. We are now fighting a second civil war with people who feel like a different species from an insane asylum. Your story is not an exception for people with a variety of skin colors and also for women. I am so sorry that true Americans, like your family, should ever have to face what you have faced and feel the need to get your children out of America. And there is a real difference between America and Amurca. It will be another really hard day today and I will be thinking of your family's difficult decision, as our country prepares for the unthinkable.
"did not want Obama to win the presidency because he said it will unleash the hatred that lies just beneath the surface that white privileged people are clueless about."
I remain proud that America elected Obama. I only wish Obama had been less of a cerebral loner and more able to communicate where we might go.
Obama was too introverted to convert his speech giving capablity into a true movement.
I loved Obama (still do) but was so angry that he literally wasted his first two years when he had both the senate and house trying to do the right thing, trying to do everything with bi-partisan approval. Ain't gonna happen! By the time he figured this out, it was too late. I think what Penelope said above is correct but I believe it also helped to bring out things like what happened in Oklahoma and other travesties like what happened and is happening to your family. Some of us "white people" didn't know. Lived our whole lives in white communities. I guess we just didn't want to know or had our heads buried in the sand. Sorry.
I feel the same way about Obama - Seems we all, including him, had to live & learn exactly what impediments there really are (O'Connell being one) and I'm another "white person" that didnt have a clue. Mike's story makes it obvious just how pervasive this kind of attitude is. Easy to ignore it when it doesnt touch you.
I read his book about his first four years. If I recall correctly I think he said that his only mistake was not abolishing the filibuster. I hope Biden read his book.
I'm not so sure I agree with your last sentence, especially since he had GOP opponents in Congress who OPENLY said they would work against him to make him a one-term President. That didn't happen but they certainly poisoned the well for any other BIPOC or female candidates going forward.
Exactly. Mitch made outright his promise to obstruct anything Obama would try to do. This period was revealed the outright, emboldened, fascist movement in this country. The beastly shadow underbelly of "Amurca" was released.
It would have been way worse to elect another privileged white male. The country was already go so far down hill based on the policies of the Bush’s and Reagan. I don’t like living through the shake up but if you put these hidden things in the light people will start to be appalled by it and move away. When they only heard isolated cases it was easy to ignore.
I have homes that some of the real Evangelical Christians, the Mormons and Catholics will see how extreme and against their religious teachings all this hate and promoted violence is. They need to reject the glorification of Trump and actions of people like Rittenhouse, videos from Gosar should never be laughed off.
Most days I wish they would start their violent civil war so they can be swept up and prosecuted. That’s the only way we’ll stop the constant threats and covert violence.
Don’t count on them being prosecuted. Most white police officers (and most white Americans for that matter, though closer to 60% than the 90% found in the ranks of white policemen) are on their side. The Rittenhouse outcome is the standard model, not an anomaly.
It is true that we needed all of this darkness to have light shed upon it so white people could be educated and understand that the Civil War was not won, the racists just went semi-underground and have raised their stinking heads where EVERYONE can see and smell them this time, not just our POC.
Obama being elected to the presidency was an action that was good and bad. Yes, it ignited anger and such from the racist right, but the 45/Clinton election ignited the misogynistic bias in all types of in this country, but especially white males. Un educated women were included in these voters. Unless the candidate for president is a white, older male, voters in our nation will steadfastly refuse to change. When I present anything on my FB page that supports the idea of systemic racism and misogyny in our nation, I always get flack from white people that I'm calling them racist or misogynist. These people are too prickly and refusing to be educated.
So did I and I’m not blown away that this all happened in western NY. I grew up in Buffalo but moved to VA in the late 70’s. I know racism existed up there but until the last few years I didn’t realize how many white supremacists there were in Western NY. ( Including various family members 😞). If I didn’t have a 2 year old grandson, and if New Zealand would have us, that’s where I’d choose to go!
Mike, when my daughter became engaged to our son-in-law, who is 100% Hispanic, I had about a half dozen people ask me "is he legal?" These are good Christian people (and 100% Conservative) who would vehemently deny being "racist". (BTW, he was born here of legal immigrants) I did not choose to get into it with these people--friends and neighbors, but I did wonder aloud to another friend would this question be asked if I announced her engagement to "Shaun O'Sullivan"? "Jean-Paul Deloitte?" "Karl Schmit?"
Are the really "Christian" people? In my own reading of Mathew, Mark, Luke and John it seems that Jesus is going out of his way to offer complete acceptance to all of the people in his world who were hard core outcasts and downtroden.
He openly showed disdain for those in power at the time and openly empowered those who were outcast and powerless.
So, what does "Christian" really mean? That you own an AR-15 and all your friends are white and own the same gun? That you go to your all white church and listen to the white man at the front tell you what to think and who is acceptable?
I think "Christian" in America is very far from the words and teachings of Jesus.
The holier than thou "Christians" pick and choose out of the bible. They only follow what helps their cause. I think that the right wing "Christian" revolution now going on has done more to hurt organized religion that anything else in our history.
Pam, check out a book called "Jesus and John Wayne". It gives the history (which HCR has touched on) of how the religious right (oxymoron - they ain't religious, and they ain't right). This was a strategic, orchestrated stealth attack with the help of people like Billy Graham and his insinuating himself with various presidents.
I should have put that "good Christian people" in quotes. They would all self identify as such.
And I agree with you on that last full sentence--while the catch-phrase of "WWJD?" I think came out of the religious right, it is one guiding principle I take to heart, that truly people of any religion (or lack of) could adhere to. I have irked a lot of people by saying that Jesus was a liberal.
There are exceptions, but I'm a UCC pastor and I'm saying that for nearly 2000 years, in the name of Christ, more murder, violence and misery has visited humanity than from any other single source. When asked, I call my self a friend and student of the brown-skinned Jewish rabbi, Jaschuah ben Josef.
Can you imagine Jesus singing “Onward Christian soldiers, marching off to war, with the cross of Jesus, marching on before?” In the many Crusades, the Crsusaders often tested their swords on a fringe Christian group in southern France before heading towards Jerusalem. One might say that the Crusaders behaved like ‘Moslems’ in their rape and pillage while Saladin behaved like a ‘Christian’ in his benevolence towards these European invaders.
Well, in some groups, being "Christian" means literally showing up in a church on Sundays, Easter & Christmas. What I remember from Sunday School was it takes compassion & empathy & caring for your fellow man. Not a church-goer anymore but the rest remains.
Actually, Christians in America are not. They are Paulists (Puritans) run out of Europe and settling in this New World where they promptly set up theocratic colonies. Like you, I only read the 4 books of the Gospel of Jesus (and Thomas) but that didn't have the divisive messages of Paul who was proselytizing a new religion and had to separate his Greek & Roman followers from those who preferred the heathen traditions.
One of the best bits of ancient history I learned in seminary, is that the Galatians were the Celts that had migrated to what is now Turkey after they got licked by the Greco-Romans. If you have a chance, go to the Pergamon museum in Berlin. There you will see the altar that was built to celebrate the victory over the Celts. The entire altar is a scene of the beautiful Greco-Roman gods tearing into the monstrous Celts. Ancient historians were fascinated by these huge, pale-skinned, blue-eyed humans with wild hair and whose women were just as fierce as the men. It was a time when white was not beautiful - interesting but scary. That's part of what Paul is trying to get at when he wrote to the Galatians, which is what 300 years later they were called. Dr. Brigitte Kahl wrote a book, Re-imagining Galatians, if you're interested.
Based on their behavior, too many American 'Christians' don't know Jesus. But Jesus knows them:
"And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward."
I sometimes worry that we might very easily have an American Taliban growing in determination and self righteousness violence. The bold presence of legislators who would happily support them in exchange for their vote is unnerving.
Having grown up in the South, among 'good Christian people', whenever I hear that "so and so is a GOOD Christian', I grab my wallet. I've seen too many 'good Christians' use their self-appointed status as an excuse to take advantage, and in some cases purely ROB folks. But they hide behind their so-called Christianity,dDoing things Jesus wouldn't be caught dead doing. Words, not deeds. Give me deeds, not words, every time.
My family is from the South. My uncle was deacon of his Southern Baptist church. He was also in the Ku Klux Klan. It is a requirement to be “Christian” in the KKK, preferably Southern Baptist. WWJD?
I once saw the KKK in the 60’s in my small Baptist town in NC. It was in the evening where they gathered at a “roundabout” in the middle of the road. I was with my parents, Holocaust victims. It was chilling!
In my small Southern town, there was a church on every corner. Guess they thought the First Baptist Church needed sisters to preach about the Almighty in multitudes. Never understood that.
Reminds me when years ago, a guy broke into my house and raped me. My sister asked if he was white or black, as though the trauma would be less if the guy was white. I must admit to having a bit of satisfaction to respond to her that he was white.
Our moments in life can be so large, dimpled, scarred, simple, breathtaking and painful. Lynell, You just dropped that trauma in the line. May I embrace you?
I am so sorry for what you went through Lynell. Rape is a sundering of the soul that never leaves us. We can heal and we learn to live with the damage but it is with us always.
Your sister’s question was wrong. Sadly understandable given our society and what we absorb - or are taught. But still wrong. I hope she took that lesson to heart.
Hi Lynell. Thank you for the lovely compliment. I’ve never been called that before. How nice!
I have had a lot of blips, bumps, tragedies & traumas in my life but that doesn’t make anyone else’s any less by comparison. What happened to you was as wrong & awful as what happened to me. Quantity of blips doesn’t change that. All my best to you.
Ahh, thank you for reaching out, Jean-Pierre. I think a goodly percentage of us do have a not-so-pleasant story to tell. And it is so nice to have words of encouragement such as yours.
Not just reading, Mike, but copied onto my "good things from HCR" document to read again later.
My story of my lack of promotion (I worked in a field where all people of the same rank were paid equally, promotion up the chain of command was the way to "achieve") was not based on race (I'm white as is 98% of my department) but on gender (in 35 years with that agency, we've had one lieutenant that was female, in the corrections division where she was an expert in community based (non custodial) corrections; one of my contemporaries who ultimately retired as a sergeant was an AIC (acting in capacity, working out of classification) Lieutenant who had to sell her soul to get that far). I was an AIC Sergeant for 80% of my work days from 10/99 through 12/03, tested #1 on the one promotional exam that I took but was not promoted (the two who were promoted included the soul seller mentioned above). My lack of promotion was based on both gender and being an out lesbian. To my knowledge, my wife has been the only "retiree spouse" acknowledged at a retirement ceremony.
I'm glad you said this. I am sitting here, reading all the comments, thinking "I'm a white single mother who has been pushed down in the white collar workforce. I need the income. All the white guys have stepped on me while they worked their way up to join the boys club." I'm 60 and in debit up to my earlobes. My daughter is attending college totally on loans. (I work really hard to not pay attention to these details. ) Interestingly, the company I work for is based in Sweden. I interviewed and got a position with the Swedish organization. They talked about my skills and what I had to offer. It came with a $10,000 a year raise that I didn't even have to negotiate. I've worked for the US division of this company for over 20 years. This is my first raise beyond the 1 - 2 % I got each year as a merit raise.
Argh. My wife is the only same sex retiree spouse. All the wives, and so far, none of the husbands. We do have one married couple in the department and both are career deputies. I suspect they will go to each other's retirement ceremony.
Interestingly, I had a lovely chat with the "girl deputy" in this scenario one time when she came down to Creswell for lunch while I was working. She and her husband were planning to have another child, and she had been cautioned by the then existing administration (which was an 8 year mistake) that her "lifestyle choices" (i.e. having a second child) might inhibit her promotional opportunities. Her husband was not given that warning.
I said something to the effect of "bet you'd never thought you'd be sitting talking to a heathen lesbian about your career threatening "lifestyle choices" as a straight, Christian woman." She looked at me and said "why do you think I am talking to you? You see the irony. No one else does."
A friend of mine, an officer in the Marines, got pregnant and the Marines actually had maturity uniforms. She was very proud of that. What do you call a woman Marine? A Marine! Love that, too.
My good friend and coworker as an air engineer nurse has 3 children wile on active duty. Her contract required her to ask permission to stay in. it was a massive task because they wanted pregnant women out. I entered a few years behind her and my contract kept me in with a clause that I could request a discharge for pregnancy. This was the mid-70s.
It was a standard joke for many things in the military but I was deliberately called on the carpet in front of my bosses (outranked me but not really superior), told that in a hostile way and then told to request a discharge for being pregnant. Which I did not do. So, you are correct - that line can be used as a joke but it can also be used as a weapon or discriminatory tactic.
Wow, Mike S, how powerful. How personal. How thought-inspiring. I’m blown away this Saturday morning. Thank you, from an aging, white, privileged, LCA-Lutheran-raised, corn-fed-Midwestern, increasingly more woke long-sober woman. Just … thank you. And please reconsider not leaving the U.S — we really need you.
(If, however, you still live in Texas, I strongly suggest relocating to a less hostile state or territory.)
Oh, duh, Mike S, you live in Rochester, NY. Excuse me for my blunder.
(True, there are racists, misogynists, anti-Semites, homophobes, supremacists, etc., everywhere, but Texas is especially hostile. It was in the ‘80s, when I lived there, and it still is.)
Interestingly, when was in high school in East Texas, 1974-1978, my school way out in the sticks, was fully integrated and had been since 1967. Blacks, whites and us meskins all went to the same school.
But, honestly, all us kids got along. No lie. No joke. Nobody seemed to notice white, black, brown. The school WAS majority white, but, the kids were kind to me. Of course, living arragements WERE segregated JUST like they are in the north.
I definitely have all good things to say about the public education system in Texas including Texas A&M which, even today, ignores the SAT and allows in the top 10% of all high school students.
I graduated number 3 in my Chemical Engineering class. Number 14 out of 3500 students in 1982.
My SAT was 990.
And there you have it. The SAT is also a white supremacy tool to keep down minority populations.
Mike, I add my thanks for your comments, which I did read completely. Also, to say I have some good, liberal friends in Texas, even in Midland! I don't know how they stand it.
Texas actually has some wonderful qualities and characteristics -- and pockets of delight -- Mike, but Texans are very parochial and nativist and exclusionary. While I lived there, I was made to feel "so welcome" -- while also getting the subtle but distinct message that "of course, you don't really belong here." I can only guess how much more creepy, maybe threatening, that message is for people of color.
Mike, thank you for this well thought out response to Dr. Richardson’s letter today. I DID take the time to read the whole thing, and it pains my heart to see how minorities and perceived minorities are treated. Like you, I’m afraid I don’t this changing, and fear the direction our country is going. I sincerely hope you find what you are looking for in the EU.
We like the Yucatán Peninsula of México just fine. We'd considered and checked out various other locations around the world to hang our hats and ended up here. At some point in the future we'll apply for permanent residency. I cannot imagine living in the United States ever again.
Not too long, Mike. The words both valuable and heartbreaking. I, an American, who has lived in three other countries, has seen the truth of your words for many years.
An all-white America is an anemic parasite - and will die without the support and substance of the whole human race - maybe the way to defeat it will be to shun it ....
What a great post, Mike. Racism, which at it root it based on fear, is alive and well in America. The fear is so great that whites are doing their best to prevent the true history of our country to be taught in college. Like the Soviet Union, we have been taught revisionist history in K-12. The far right is using Critical Race Theory as a catchword to stoke racist flames in order to get votes; they are using fear as a weapon to retake power.
I often wonder how good, law-abiding Republicans turned into suckers. Growing up, every night after dinner my parents would sit down and read the newspaper from cover to cover and discuss current events. Voters did their best to come to their own conclusions over the issues of the day. Has talk radio, Fox News and social media sterilized individual critical thinking, allowing only for sound bytes to get through?
One last thing. Is Kyle Rittenhouse the OJ Simpson of the 21st century?
I agree with everything you say until you get to OJ Simpson. Simpson may be a murderer but he did not gun down 3 people in plain view of dozens of witnesses AND get the aid and support of law enforcement in the area. Simpson's crime was personal. Rittenhouse's crime was a public statement of hostility. Now Rittenhouse will become the poster boy for the right wing's idea of patriotism. Simpson never held that kind of power.
OJ was a black man in love with a beautiful white woman who was being stolen by a very dumb white guy. Who knows what I would do if someone comes on to my wife? Probably nothing good.
Rittenhouse, on the other hand, shot three people for the sheer entertainment of killing, which, he started out to do for fun and sport.
Rittenhouse is a perfect represenative for the white man of today. Arrogant, ignorant, selfish, self absorbed and dangerous.
And Rittenhouse is just a kid. Hasn’t developed reliable brains yet. Wait till he sucks up all this adulation from *ucker Carlson and Madison Cawthorn and the lot.
I was finding this thread interesting and informative. Right up until this comment. My husband and sons are white men, and would never EVER do anything like this. They are decent, caring men. Being a white man does not make you inherently evil.
I have known and loved old white men and they were a credit to the country. but there are plenty who feel entitled to the privilege that the white race has long enjoyed with no thought whatsoever to those who don't "qualify." So glad I have known decent, caring white men.
I think he’s a walking dead man. He evaded Justice yesterday but he won’t be able to do that for long. Someone somewhere is going to put in a correction and he’ll join the people that he murdered, if he had killed my son he’d never see the end of the year. I read the statement one of his victims parents posted yesterday, the pain they are feeling is unbearable, he was not alone in his actions the police were also complicit and were coordinating their actions with the militias. The fact that they let him calmly walk out of there speaks volumes.
I'm imagining he will get sued for "pain and suffering" by the parents and the one survivor. I do't think he'll ever be "free". And I hate those fake baby tears!
Thank you. Aye, "how good, law-abiding Republicans turned into suckers".
Randy, those folks were never how good, law-abiding Republicans. They were always nasty, judgemental selfish people interested in only their own outcomes.
How else did Ronald Reagan convince everyone that taxes are bad?
Taxes are part of community thought process.
Republicans never had such a thought process and as soon as Reagan gave it voice, they collapsed like the avalanche of selfish people they were.
And Rupert made it smell patriotic… as Kemp said “Rupert Murdoch used the editorial page, the front page, and every other page necessary to elect Ronald Reagan President of the United States.” Boy did that pay off for Rupert, and our world will likely never recover
I have been thinking the same thing. He will be a pariah to the liberals and used by the Carlson, Gaetz folks. I am sad to see this turn of events.
No one won in that courtroom yesterday. The families of the victims must be in agony. I am praying this does not ignite the power keg that is America right now. It is a good thing it is winter. Less protests.
I am praying and hoping this will be swallowed up by the upcoming Holidays and everyone will be distracted by crass good cheer and phony songs of peace on Earth. (Sorry if I sound bitter).
Something has been ignited that I am not sure can be tamped out. And I am always the optimist in the room. We are all wearier and wearier.
I read every word. I am so sorry that you have been forced to endure this in this country. I am appalled at what is happening now. If the Republicans have their way, this is going to be an even more dangerous country.
Sandra, maybe the good thing about today is: Instead of Amurca being hidden from view and invisibly (to you and many others) holding back talented people from economic success, America is now outed and open about white supremacy.
Maybe this open approach to white supremacy is better than hidden white supremacy under the guise of "Democracy".
At Kodak, there were zero black workers when I arrived in 1992. Zero.
When they did start to hire them they gave them the lowest paid, most difficult job in the plant. Something called "chiller" operator. This required 8 hour shifts of lifting 40lb bags onto a cart with no break.
AND: The whites were all screaming about affirmative actions because Kodak finally, after 140 years, started hiring blacks.
I like it that the white supremacy is now open and obvious.
I agree. I think that, as difficult as it is and is going to become, having all this ugliness out in the open is a good thing.
As much despair as the black American flags, Q flags, etc cause me by having to see them every day I am also grateful. Nor I know where they are - which people and which businesses hold such hateful beliefs. That knowledge is good to have. You can’t create change if you don’t know what you’re up against.
Couldn’t agree more, Kasumii and Mike. Oddly, scarily, this exposed ugliness is one of the gifts of the horrible pandemic response and the video-captured murder of George Floyd.
‘Now’ not ‘nor’. I did not do that on purpose to prove a previous point 🙄. Feeling sad & angry at new flags I saw yesterday & my proofreading skills went pffft!
Those "black American flags" are the subdued National Colors with the colored (blue, red, green, gold, white) ones, right? I think that those flags originally come from the subdued patches that the military began wearing during GWOT, and have become part of that culture as part of the "fandom" of all things military.
FWIW, I quit flying my "thin blue line" flag I flew for my friend that was murdered in the line of duty when a dear friend of mine pointed out how it was being subverted by the racists, and that as long as I flew it, I was supporting that perspective. I now fly the flag that originated with the "concerns of police survivors" group that supports the families of fallen officers.
The black American flags are regular flags with no extra colors that are covered in black. You can faintly see the stars & stripes but it’s all black.
They harken back to a military tradition of flying a black flag in battle that meant no prisoners will be taken. In other words - kill everyone. It is a clear threat of violence and death.
Mike, I agree. Now that the systemic racism is out in the open perhaps people with a conscience will stand for equality and equity not simply pay lip service to it. We have never been the land if equal opportunity. It's about people are made to acknowledge the depth of our ugliness. I am grateful you took the time to tell us your story. I hope you and your family thrive in Greece. Best wishes always.
I think it is unlikely that America will change much over the shorter historical arc. How knows about the long term and, here is the thing about the long run.
In the long run we are all dead, so, the long run does not matter.
it is the short run that counts, and, in my lifetime nothing changed nor will it change.
I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately - about the time it will take to change things for the better and how much worse it could become before better change begins to takes hold. I’m noodling on it to better prepare myself for the fight and for enduring it. I’ve got to get a handle on the despair I feel so it doesn’t swamp me to the point of being useless.
Yep, my strategy is to really feel that despair for a moment, then get up and go forth one more time. Mostly, I live in joy, but there are spaces like today when that balloon is deflated.
Mike, I am eighty years old and have been pretty much complacent about the state of affairs. In the years since Trump was elected President( I was so naive, I never thought it would happen.) I have been making myself more aware.
Mike you should read Kurt Vonnegut’s first novel, Player Piano, based in his experience as an engineer in Rochester, back in the 50s. Bitter, surreal, brilliant. Even as a white man he saw.
I heard the comments about affirmative action, too. Not about me to my face, but about any person who advanced to first-line supervisor who wasn't a white man. I heard it as recently as 3 years ago at my last place of employment (I'm retired now), a well-known aerospace company in CT.
In my job at Kodak I befriended a seemingly nice white guy and we had lunch every Friday.
ONCE, while I was at Kodak they interviewed a black guy for my white friends group. I interviewed him too so had his resume.
This black guy was from Georgia tech and had a 3.92 GPA. He had three internships.
But, my white friend? He had told me at a previous lunch that his grades were so bad when he got out of school that he could not get a job and his Dad, who worked in HR at Kodak, had obtained the Kodak job for him.
When the black guy came for the interview my friend, Brian, went berserk at our Friday lunch about "affirmative" action for blacks. ONE black guy.
So, I remembered Brian's story about his Dad.
I asked him? Brian, this black guy seems more qualified and accomplished than anyone we have interviewed since I came here. Hiring him would be "competitive hiring" not "affirmative action".
I said: Brian, YOU are the real recipient of affirmative action are you not?? Right? YOUR DAD provided that affirmative action and got you a job you would not have been able to get because of your grades and YOU told me that story.
Brian looked stunned, dumped his plate on the table and left.
He did not speak to me for 6 months, then, he came and apologized. The black guy had been hired and he was a hard worker and good engineer, probably better than Brian who had 5 years experience on the new kid.
Brian said: "Mike, you are a real "a..hole" BUT, you were right. If we start lunch again, do me a favor, don't bring it up.
I never did again. But, he will always know that he, Brian, was the real affirmative action candidate. For all his life.
A friend worked for Coca-Cola in Ga.The black employees were required to use “their” restroom unattached to the building. Our friend worked , amid pushback, to desegregate the restrooms.The year:1988
1988? Good Lord! North Carolina was forced into integration in 1964, my freshman year of high school. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. We never had those issues, thank goodness!
Kudos to you for speaking up. I saw a lot of that kind of "affirmative action," too, but I was usually too timid to point it out except for one particularly egregious case.
Beautiful story Mike. Our ancestry is similar: my redheaded mom’s lineage goes back to Britain before the Revolutionary War. My Italian dad (1st generation American)
who fought in WWII and was his only family member to gain a college degree (in engineering!). Looked like Lucy and Desi Arnaz *in color*.
So,
I was able to apply and received my Italian citizenship. I believe (my dad passed on at 98 a month before the pandemic….he missed BOTH pandemics!) he needed to be alive for his children’s success in applying…..Best of luck.♥️ There was also some thing about our family on my dad’s side had children before they did paperwork to become US citizens…I say that because my brother-in-law‘s Italian immigrant parents did their paperwork first and then had children and he did NOT have the means to gain Italian citizenship.
I heard similar comments in the military but not about my race. About my gender. Every promotion or special assignment I was told “you only got that because you’re a ____” (usually ‘bitch’, sometimes’slash’, sometimes ‘cunt’) or “did you fuck the company commander or the battalion commander for that promotion?” Didn’t matter what rank, the comments/accusations came both my peers & bosses.
In my case I didn’t ask. I was 18 and desperate to get away from “home” (white supremacy, religious cult, highly abusive parents). So, I skipped school one day & went to the recruiter’s office, joined with a leave date right after high school graduation. Didn’t tell anyone until a few weeks before my leave date. When I did, my parents (mother, stepfather) said “you’ll never make it through basic let alone jump school and you’ll become a slut”. The church elders said “you’ll become a whore or lesbian”. You can see why I didn’t tell anyone.
And, even with all the MST (military sexual trauma) I went through (several assaults) and endured (daily verbal sexual harassment), the military was a step up from my childhood. Had there been actual support for victims of MST and legal consequences against the perpetrators I would have stayed in for 30 years instead of just 10. There is a lot of good about serving. If only our militaries valued everyone equally and created an atmosphere that backed that up…
They were just confused. It probably seemed very unfair that they'd been giving their commanders sexual favors for weeks but got nothing, you just waltz up and get a promotion just for being great. That's discrimination!
Anthropologically, characteristics that don't really have much bearing on actual survival -- like skin coloration, hair color, semantic intelligence, gender, religiousity, etc. -- are the very characteristics we use for mate selection and intraspecific competition. In other words, the we use those features to discriminate precisely because they don't actually matter in terms of one's ability to survive as an individual in a particular environment.
I think that's why racism, as well as a lot of other "-isms," will always be a part of human society, even among otherwise intelligent people. It's a reflexive way of organizing one's social world and, I suspect, happens on a neurological level. As such, it acts sub-rationally and gets rationalized later -- sort of the same-but-opposite process of lusting after a new car and justifying it to your spouse later.
This is not to mean that it's not worth every erg required to combat this tendency. It's just that lots of people are going to see this tendency as inspiration and a competitive advantage, not as an innate weakness. Hence, we have Trump, Marion Sims, Tucker Carlson, and Rittenhouse.
Sorry for the disquistion, but I just had to nerd-out for a few minutes to sooth my nerves...
This would explain more if there had always been racism. But (I speak as your fellow nerd, a historian of its emergence in Europe) there hasn't. And even in the thought world we now inhabit in the developed West there have been periods when racism had different targets.
Why for instance are descendents of the Irish now allowed to be presidents and mayors and millionaires when they used to be called the N-- word even in Boston, their children thrown from the roofs of orphanages or burned alive in their schools? I wouldn't say it's progress that that's changed for the Irish, because now Mexicans and people from the Middle East, who didn't used to be seen as lesser beings, can be described by slang vituperation and suffer discrimination and random violence..
Just nerding out with you! Soothes my frazzled nerves too.
Thank you for sharing Mike and all the best to you and your family. What a loss for the US, but I get it, I hear you! So much of our society saddens me to no end.
I hear you loud and clear! I grew up in Texas and got a decent education in the 1950s and 60s. I have an Anglo last name, but my ancestry is Greek, and those who cared about such things noticed right away I didn't have the blue eyes an Anglo with the name "Foster" should have. Still, I had a decent career as a software engineer, never being paid as much as the white men because I'm a woman. Greek residency and citizenship requirements are pretty narrow -- I know because I looked into it during the Bush II regime. I hope you succeed in getting EU citizenship for your kids. If they can't get it through birth, they're young enough to get permanent residency in a number of other countries if they have job skills that are in short supply. Good Luck!
My grandmother was born in Cuba in 1870. Sometime later her family moved to the United States. Her brother went to Annapolis and was a career Navy officer. Her two sisters became public school teachers in Philadelphia for their entire careers. My great uncle’s son went to Annapolis and was Exec Officer on a sub sunk shortly after Pearl Harbor and, after three years as a Japanese POW, continued his career in the Navy.
Immigrants have provided the backbone of an evolving America. I am angry when I hear of how many immigrants were/are treated. Historically it was the Italians, the Jews, the Irish and others. Now it can be Hispanics, Asians, Middle Easterners, and others. This reflects the philosophy of the American (called “Know Nothing) Party of the 1840s-1850s, which morphed into the Republican Party. It remains a tenet of Trump’s ‘white Republicanism.’ My hope and belief is that Biden is dedicated to serving all Americans where bigotry has no place.
Pretty much most, if not ALL of our ancesters came from somewhere else - unless you were fortunate enough to have one or more that was native born! According to my aunt who "researched" this - someone in my mom's family married an Indian woman way back when - no princess (which is the usual claim, right?) just a down to earth gal who smoked a pipe!!! Thats all I know about her. But mainly - my family on both sides were immigrants from somewhere else. These "righteous" individuals who complain about "others" need to wake up & smell the roses (grandmother expression) they dont have any more claims on calling themselves citizens than anyone else.
We are a nation of immigrants except for our Native People. Can you imagine what they are thinking about allowing these greedy, white immigrants who lied and decimated them and then shoved the last ones onto "Christian" Indian Schools and reservations? If anyone wants to build a Wall, it would be our indigenous people around all the lying, greedy, white supremacists. The bell now tolls for all of us, and our democracy, no matter where our ancestors are from. Will we rise to this occasion? Will our justice system be transparent enough to help us understand if Justice will prevail? Will our military support our democracy or allow an overthrow of our government by fascist traitors? PEOPLE, The passage of the federal voting rights act is THE MOST important thing in our country right now. If we cannot vaporize the republican gerrymandering and the EC that rig and destroy our democracy, THEN the climate crisis, abortion rights, our post office, trafficking, prescription prices, healthcare, infrastructure, voting rights, etc., will not matter. If they win, they intend to destroy everything we, our ancestors, our sons and daughters and others have fought for and it may feel in vain.
Welcome to my world as a woman in the computer software field. A company hired 6, 4 men 2 women out of the same exact program. The women were paid less, not given the same promotion opportunities and often dealt with remarks considered to be sexual harassment. This was not so many years ago in 1993.
I am glad you have risen above instead of giving up. All we want is to be able to do the best we can in our life and it’s hard when being pushed down.
I was so lucky with where I worked (retired now) It was a construction company office with 1 other woman (in the beginning). The guys were great & we gave as good as we got from them - never felt un appreciated or less than. But like I said I was lucky.
I cannot believe we are still fighting this fight! I think it started when I was in my teens...1/2 a century ago.
Shall we all tell our stories?
I was imminently qualified to take care of the Clydesdales who worked at Walt Disney World. This was 1972. Was told, to my face, "doesn't matter, you are a girl, girls are not allowed in the barn". Oh well, had a good career as a veterinarian, no complaints, except, really, Still no equal rights?
From my own experience (horse-wise) you were even more "imminently qualified" just by being a girl! We (women & girls) are so much better with horses than the male of the species. (I'm thinking there might be some backlash on that statement). Brute strength does not win out over calm, quiet handling. Frankly Lynn, a good veterinarian is worth HER weight in gold. Be it large animal or small. But yeah, still no equal rights!
I often thought it would've been too cool if they ever needed a veterinarian, and I got the call! But life took me to different parts after graduation. Thanks for the kind words re vets.
Mike, thank you for sharing this. We "white people" need to keep hearing these stories. I have lived a long life in America and I have witnessed so much racism and hate and ignorance. There are no adequate words, but I'm so sorry.
"And he urged them “to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—
that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain
—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”"
Dr. Richardson. I can hear your message. I can see what you see through your writing and historical understanding of our country.
However, I have a son. Twenty-four. I am from Texas where public education turned me from a poor East Texas dirt farmer to a senior engineer people relied on to get stuff done correctly. I was paid well after about 10 years of not being promoted because: My father is from Mexico and my mother was redhead whose lineage in the USA began in 1620.
So, I had a "Mexican" last name. For 10 years in my early career as an engineer, while folks around me in my corporation were getting raises and promotions, but, working less and doing less, I was getting zero raises.
Finally, I got out of that company (Eastman Kodak) and managed to move into a software imaging role at a company where they did give me a few raises.
When I changed jobs the group leader at my new company told me I was getting paid $25,000 per year less than a guy they hired with my same degree who was five years younger than me.
This group leader worked to give me good raises. By the time I "retired" because our organization was outsourced to India by the "new" manager in a white shirt with, shocker, white skin who decided that was a great idea.
But, I managed to make it to age 60 in America as an engineer with a minority last name and came close to getting paid the same as the another white guy who actually slept during meetings where critical aspects of the project were discussed. I routinely put in 10 hour days just to get to parity by the end of my career.
Now? My son is 24. He is an engineer. His boss just told him that he would not make the promotion milestone at two years like everyone else (all white). He told my son this even though the two year marke is EIGHT MONTHS away.
So, Dr. Richardson, I can tell you: I hear your call to action.
But, my wife is an American of immigrant parents from Greece. She is now a Greek citizen.
We are working mightily to get our children Greek Citizenship.
Then, we will get them over to the EU and out of the USA. Having a "Mexican" last name in America where only white guys get hired and promoted EVEN when "Democracy" is working?
For me, for miy kids, it does not make any sense to go and "fight" for Democracy in a Democracy that only reocognizes the existence of white people where economic success is relevant.
So, I think this time around, Dr. Richardson, you will find that there are far fewer people willing to leave their homes and go die for the concept of "Democracy" when, even when it is ostensibly "working" it is really not working for everyone.
Just white folks.
I was in engeering at three big corporations for 39 years. During that time I saw two black engineers hired (both were accused by the whites of being recipients of affirmative action EVEN though both of them had higher GPA than any of the whites that were also employed).
I saw one other person with a "Mexican" last name in the engineering ranks. Like me, he was paid below all his whte counterparts.
And I saw an ARMY of white guys whose Dad's got them jobs, whose grades from college were atrocious, whose work ethic was sleeping during meetings.
So, Dr. Richardson, I hear your call. But, I don't think Amurca, even when it is a "Democracy", is worth my kids dying at the hands of the nutcases like Rittenhouse.
Let Amurcans have "their" country. I am sure they will grind what little is left into the dirt.
The Chinese already have all of our manufacuturing and technology, outsourced by white guys in in white shirts here who were shafting America workers for big bonuses while Amurca was a "Democracy".
OK. This was too long, I am sure you will not read it.
But, AFTER Lincoln's Gettysberg address America had 100 years of Jim Crow and after the Civil Rights legislation people could vote but guess what?
They could not get good jobs and still cannot. I was lucky because my Mom was white.
Otherwise, I would never have even been hired in America as an engineer. I would never have become middle class.
I would apologize, but, I want my kids in the EU. Not dying in another civil war that won't matter any way. They, my kids, will still be "spics".
But, I will keep learning and reading from you and appreciate your passion for "Democracy".
I thought I would add one more Kodak story:
After I moved to Rochester, after one year, my wife and I bought a small house. In a meeting with a senior Kodak manager, he asked me where I had bought the house.
I told him where and his exact response was: "I remember when people knew their place".
I had not bought a house in the poorest part of the city, which was where I was "supposed" to buy that house, but, not too far from him.
He felt outraged and he felt completely empowered to tell me directly.
This was 1993.
Amurca the Bootiful.
There is an old saying that I have never been able to find the original source of, but it still resonates. “When one is accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression.” Thank you for writing your long and eloquent post, Mike. Your witness is important and we need to hear it. Please keep writing. We cannot afford to lose Americans like you and your family.
I wish I was surprised. When we moved to the Rochester area, we were shocked by the arrogance of racists.
Yes,
Rochester was and is more racist overall than rural East Texas was 40 years ago.
And that is pretty freaking racist.
My school was integrated in 1967. 11 years before Boston integrated and since Rochester, NY has NEVER integrated, .........
Whaaat? That’s insane and isn’t it illegal??
Appalling. What I have learned more than anything since 2015 is how prevalent racism is in this country and that it exists literally EVERYWHERE. I was well aware of it from my youth, as my family lived like an island in the middle of a sea of hatred, and as the south goes swirling down the toilet more every day, it would be easy enough to blame it on this or that state. But. It is EVERYWHERE.
😡😡😡 Disgusting
No.
It is just Amurca as it really is.
I wasn’t raised that way and I’m sorry yiu had to put up with such creepy jerks.
Susan,
They are not creepy jerks. They are the managers and leaders of most American corporations and in government.
They are the America that is economically represented.
Thank you for this eloquent statement of fact, Mike - just one objection: I believe to my soul that she WILL read it, possibly give a direct response, but in any case make the best possible use of it, because that is what she does. You and she have different perspectives, aims, conclusions, but when it comes to passion and values,
you are not enemies.
Well, I hope she can do all the things she is doing, teaching college, maintaining a reasonable diet (cooking takes time, shopping takes time), writing this column, taking care of her loved ones, doing her podcast, meeting with students, meeting with college leadership without compromising her health.
Because: I know from experience that 16 hour days, done over a lifetime, compromise health.
I hope those things, too, but I do think she has a true partner and neither of them is high maintenance.
:’-(
Dear Mike, Your letter is heartbreakingly powerful and is what our country needs to hear. A friend of mine (a black veteran of three wars) did not want Obama to win the presidency because he said it will unleash the hatred that lies just beneath the surface that white privileged people are clueless about. And it has. And it is so blatantly fascist now. We are now fighting a second civil war with people who feel like a different species from an insane asylum. Your story is not an exception for people with a variety of skin colors and also for women. I am so sorry that true Americans, like your family, should ever have to face what you have faced and feel the need to get your children out of America. And there is a real difference between America and Amurca. It will be another really hard day today and I will be thinking of your family's difficult decision, as our country prepares for the unthinkable.
"did not want Obama to win the presidency because he said it will unleash the hatred that lies just beneath the surface that white privileged people are clueless about."
I remain proud that America elected Obama. I only wish Obama had been less of a cerebral loner and more able to communicate where we might go.
Obama was too introverted to convert his speech giving capablity into a true movement.
I loved Obama (still do) but was so angry that he literally wasted his first two years when he had both the senate and house trying to do the right thing, trying to do everything with bi-partisan approval. Ain't gonna happen! By the time he figured this out, it was too late. I think what Penelope said above is correct but I believe it also helped to bring out things like what happened in Oklahoma and other travesties like what happened and is happening to your family. Some of us "white people" didn't know. Lived our whole lives in white communities. I guess we just didn't want to know or had our heads buried in the sand. Sorry.
I feel the same way about Obama - Seems we all, including him, had to live & learn exactly what impediments there really are (O'Connell being one) and I'm another "white person" that didnt have a clue. Mike's story makes it obvious just how pervasive this kind of attitude is. Easy to ignore it when it doesnt touch you.
All I will say to this stream of comment is Bah humbug, Rahm Emmanuel.
Yes, this comment section is definitely not about a white Christmas and happy times around the hearth. You are right.
I read his book about his first four years. If I recall correctly I think he said that his only mistake was not abolishing the filibuster. I hope Biden read his book.
I'm not so sure I agree with your last sentence, especially since he had GOP opponents in Congress who OPENLY said they would work against him to make him a one-term President. That didn't happen but they certainly poisoned the well for any other BIPOC or female candidates going forward.
Exactly. Mitch made outright his promise to obstruct anything Obama would try to do. This period was revealed the outright, emboldened, fascist movement in this country. The beastly shadow underbelly of "Amurca" was released.
It would have been way worse to elect another privileged white male. The country was already go so far down hill based on the policies of the Bush’s and Reagan. I don’t like living through the shake up but if you put these hidden things in the light people will start to be appalled by it and move away. When they only heard isolated cases it was easy to ignore.
I have homes that some of the real Evangelical Christians, the Mormons and Catholics will see how extreme and against their religious teachings all this hate and promoted violence is. They need to reject the glorification of Trump and actions of people like Rittenhouse, videos from Gosar should never be laughed off.
Most days I wish they would start their violent civil war so they can be swept up and prosecuted. That’s the only way we’ll stop the constant threats and covert violence.
Don’t count on them being prosecuted. Most white police officers (and most white Americans for that matter, though closer to 60% than the 90% found in the ranks of white policemen) are on their side. The Rittenhouse outcome is the standard model, not an anomaly.
I am going to insert here that we need to think more positively right now. Give a little hope...
It is true that we needed all of this darkness to have light shed upon it so white people could be educated and understand that the Civil War was not won, the racists just went semi-underground and have raised their stinking heads where EVERYONE can see and smell them this time, not just our POC.
Obama being elected to the presidency was an action that was good and bad. Yes, it ignited anger and such from the racist right, but the 45/Clinton election ignited the misogynistic bias in all types of in this country, but especially white males. Un educated women were included in these voters. Unless the candidate for president is a white, older male, voters in our nation will steadfastly refuse to change. When I present anything on my FB page that supports the idea of systemic racism and misogyny in our nation, I always get flack from white people that I'm calling them racist or misogynist. These people are too prickly and refusing to be educated.
Not too long at all, Mike. I read every word.
... likewise, Mike ... read and heard every word ....
I heard every word, Mike.
Word.
So did I and I’m not blown away that this all happened in western NY. I grew up in Buffalo but moved to VA in the late 70’s. I know racism existed up there but until the last few years I didn’t realize how many white supremacists there were in Western NY. ( Including various family members 😞). If I didn’t have a 2 year old grandson, and if New Zealand would have us, that’s where I’d choose to go!
Buffalo is more like Kansas than like NYC.
Mike, when my daughter became engaged to our son-in-law, who is 100% Hispanic, I had about a half dozen people ask me "is he legal?" These are good Christian people (and 100% Conservative) who would vehemently deny being "racist". (BTW, he was born here of legal immigrants) I did not choose to get into it with these people--friends and neighbors, but I did wonder aloud to another friend would this question be asked if I announced her engagement to "Shaun O'Sullivan"? "Jean-Paul Deloitte?" "Karl Schmit?"
Are the really "Christian" people? In my own reading of Mathew, Mark, Luke and John it seems that Jesus is going out of his way to offer complete acceptance to all of the people in his world who were hard core outcasts and downtroden.
He openly showed disdain for those in power at the time and openly empowered those who were outcast and powerless.
So, what does "Christian" really mean? That you own an AR-15 and all your friends are white and own the same gun? That you go to your all white church and listen to the white man at the front tell you what to think and who is acceptable?
I think "Christian" in America is very far from the words and teachings of Jesus.
Very far.
The holier than thou "Christians" pick and choose out of the bible. They only follow what helps their cause. I think that the right wing "Christian" revolution now going on has done more to hurt organized religion that anything else in our history.
Pam, check out a book called "Jesus and John Wayne". It gives the history (which HCR has touched on) of how the religious right (oxymoron - they ain't religious, and they ain't right). This was a strategic, orchestrated stealth attack with the help of people like Billy Graham and his insinuating himself with various presidents.
Also read brilliant Jeff Sharlott’s The Family (on the same subject)
Ditto. A real eye-opener, wasn't it?
I bought it and it arrived today!
I should have put that "good Christian people" in quotes. They would all self identify as such.
And I agree with you on that last full sentence--while the catch-phrase of "WWJD?" I think came out of the religious right, it is one guiding principle I take to heart, that truly people of any religion (or lack of) could adhere to. I have irked a lot of people by saying that Jesus was a liberal.
And brown-skinnend.
And a Jew.
There are exceptions, but I'm a UCC pastor and I'm saying that for nearly 2000 years, in the name of Christ, more murder, violence and misery has visited humanity than from any other single source. When asked, I call my self a friend and student of the brown-skinned Jewish rabbi, Jaschuah ben Josef.
Can you imagine Jesus singing “Onward Christian soldiers, marching off to war, with the cross of Jesus, marching on before?” In the many Crusades, the Crsusaders often tested their swords on a fringe Christian group in southern France before heading towards Jerusalem. One might say that the Crusaders behaved like ‘Moslems’ in their rape and pillage while Saladin behaved like a ‘Christian’ in his benevolence towards these European invaders.
Exactly! We tell ourselves so many lies
Well, in some groups, being "Christian" means literally showing up in a church on Sundays, Easter & Christmas. What I remember from Sunday School was it takes compassion & empathy & caring for your fellow man. Not a church-goer anymore but the rest remains.
Actually, Christians in America are not. They are Paulists (Puritans) run out of Europe and settling in this New World where they promptly set up theocratic colonies. Like you, I only read the 4 books of the Gospel of Jesus (and Thomas) but that didn't have the divisive messages of Paul who was proselytizing a new religion and had to separate his Greek & Roman followers from those who preferred the heathen traditions.
One of the best bits of ancient history I learned in seminary, is that the Galatians were the Celts that had migrated to what is now Turkey after they got licked by the Greco-Romans. If you have a chance, go to the Pergamon museum in Berlin. There you will see the altar that was built to celebrate the victory over the Celts. The entire altar is a scene of the beautiful Greco-Roman gods tearing into the monstrous Celts. Ancient historians were fascinated by these huge, pale-skinned, blue-eyed humans with wild hair and whose women were just as fierce as the men. It was a time when white was not beautiful - interesting but scary. That's part of what Paul is trying to get at when he wrote to the Galatians, which is what 300 years later they were called. Dr. Brigitte Kahl wrote a book, Re-imagining Galatians, if you're interested.
The battle was ca. 250 BCE
Thank you, Rosalind. I appreciate the history lesson and will read Kahl's book.
I am in complete agreement with you on this point.
Based on their behavior, too many American 'Christians' don't know Jesus. But Jesus knows them:
"And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward."
Amen!
I sometimes worry that we might very easily have an American Taliban growing in determination and self righteousness violence. The bold presence of legislators who would happily support them in exchange for their vote is unnerving.
Always the case? No - but all too often nonetheless.
Having grown up in the South, among 'good Christian people', whenever I hear that "so and so is a GOOD Christian', I grab my wallet. I've seen too many 'good Christians' use their self-appointed status as an excuse to take advantage, and in some cases purely ROB folks. But they hide behind their so-called Christianity,dDoing things Jesus wouldn't be caught dead doing. Words, not deeds. Give me deeds, not words, every time.
My family is from the South. My uncle was deacon of his Southern Baptist church. He was also in the Ku Klux Klan. It is a requirement to be “Christian” in the KKK, preferably Southern Baptist. WWJD?
I once saw the KKK in the 60’s in my small Baptist town in NC. It was in the evening where they gathered at a “roundabout” in the middle of the road. I was with my parents, Holocaust victims. It was chilling!
:’-(
Definitely deeds. "You will know them by their fruits."
One of my late mother-in-law's favorite sayings was "You shouldn't have to tell me you're a Christian, I should already know."
In my small Southern town, there was a church on every corner. Guess they thought the First Baptist Church needed sisters to preach about the Almighty in multitudes. Never understood that.
Reminds me when years ago, a guy broke into my house and raped me. My sister asked if he was white or black, as though the trauma would be less if the guy was white. I must admit to having a bit of satisfaction to respond to her that he was white.
Substack should have a caring emoji or a sad one.
Hey, Mim. I agree. Thanks for caring!
Our moments in life can be so large, dimpled, scarred, simple, breathtaking and painful. Lynell, You just dropped that trauma in the line. May I embrace you?
Ahh, trauma no more, Fern, but I'll embrace your embrace with gratitude.
Thank you, Lynell. It is good to feel your presence.
Yes, Fern!
Life’s joys and sorrows…here’s to being “100,000 years” past that, Lynell❣️
Oh Lynell!!!! My heart is shattered! Much love to you and I hope your rapist was caught and hung by his scrotum.
Much love back, Marlene! Never caught, as far as I know. But thanks for the visual!
I am so sorry for what you went through Lynell. Rape is a sundering of the soul that never leaves us. We can heal and we learn to live with the damage but it is with us always.
Your sister’s question was wrong. Sadly understandable given our society and what we absorb - or are taught. But still wrong. I hope she took that lesson to heart.
Thank you, Kasumii. Mine was but a "blip" in my life compared to you, who is a shero in my eyes, for sure.
Hi Lynell. Thank you for the lovely compliment. I’ve never been called that before. How nice!
I have had a lot of blips, bumps, tragedies & traumas in my life but that doesn’t make anyone else’s any less by comparison. What happened to you was as wrong & awful as what happened to me. Quantity of blips doesn’t change that. All my best to you.
Thank you, Kasumii. Hurray for us!
I'm so sorry, sister Lynell. Ditto Marlene's statement.
Thanks, Kim. It was 100,000 years ago, but the memory sparked when Misele talked about getting questioned about her new son-in-law, "Is he legal?"
Awful, Lynell, just awful. And her question was bad.
Appreciate it, Ally. I was never physically hurt, so the trauma was short-lived; and so, too, at least for me, the mental anguish.
Trauma is trauma. I'm glad your experience could be short-lived.
😢
Oh Lord, Lynell. I am so sorry.
Thank you, Daria. Not to worry, though; it's all OK now. Really.
What fern said!
Hey, Lynn!
How horrible for you. To both things. I hope all is well with you now.
It was horrible at the time, Sandra. But all is well now, thanks!
I’m saddened and sickened that you were wronged and injured. :’-(
Ahh, thank you for reaching out, Jean-Pierre. I think a goodly percentage of us do have a not-so-pleasant story to tell. And it is so nice to have words of encouragement such as yours.
Sending hugs. 🫂🫂
🙂
You all need to check out the news on the San Antonio Texas megachurch Cornerstone. Really gotta love those "good Christian people."
Talk about WWJD? I think there will be a lot of 'splaining on Judgement day.
They have always been wack-doodle-doos!
Dang it! Wacka-doodle-doos!
Not just reading, Mike, but copied onto my "good things from HCR" document to read again later.
My story of my lack of promotion (I worked in a field where all people of the same rank were paid equally, promotion up the chain of command was the way to "achieve") was not based on race (I'm white as is 98% of my department) but on gender (in 35 years with that agency, we've had one lieutenant that was female, in the corrections division where she was an expert in community based (non custodial) corrections; one of my contemporaries who ultimately retired as a sergeant was an AIC (acting in capacity, working out of classification) Lieutenant who had to sell her soul to get that far). I was an AIC Sergeant for 80% of my work days from 10/99 through 12/03, tested #1 on the one promotional exam that I took but was not promoted (the two who were promoted included the soul seller mentioned above). My lack of promotion was based on both gender and being an out lesbian. To my knowledge, my wife has been the only "retiree spouse" acknowledged at a retirement ceremony.
I'm glad you said this. I am sitting here, reading all the comments, thinking "I'm a white single mother who has been pushed down in the white collar workforce. I need the income. All the white guys have stepped on me while they worked their way up to join the boys club." I'm 60 and in debit up to my earlobes. My daughter is attending college totally on loans. (I work really hard to not pay attention to these details. ) Interestingly, the company I work for is based in Sweden. I interviewed and got a position with the Swedish organization. They talked about my skills and what I had to offer. It came with a $10,000 a year raise that I didn't even have to negotiate. I've worked for the US division of this company for over 20 years. This is my first raise beyond the 1 - 2 % I got each year as a merit raise.
I get it. I am glad you have an OK job now and hope it works out.
Argh. My wife is the only same sex retiree spouse. All the wives, and so far, none of the husbands. We do have one married couple in the department and both are career deputies. I suspect they will go to each other's retirement ceremony.
Interestingly, I had a lovely chat with the "girl deputy" in this scenario one time when she came down to Creswell for lunch while I was working. She and her husband were planning to have another child, and she had been cautioned by the then existing administration (which was an 8 year mistake) that her "lifestyle choices" (i.e. having a second child) might inhibit her promotional opportunities. Her husband was not given that warning.
I said something to the effect of "bet you'd never thought you'd be sitting talking to a heathen lesbian about your career threatening "lifestyle choices" as a straight, Christian woman." She looked at me and said "why do you think I am talking to you? You see the irony. No one else does."
When I had a child while in the military my superiors told me “if the Army wanted you to have a child it would have issued you one”
A friend of mine, an officer in the Marines, got pregnant and the Marines actually had maturity uniforms. She was very proud of that. What do you call a woman Marine? A Marine! Love that, too.
My good friend and coworker as an air engineer nurse has 3 children wile on active duty. Her contract required her to ask permission to stay in. it was a massive task because they wanted pregnant women out. I entered a few years behind her and my contract kept me in with a clause that I could request a discharge for pregnancy. This was the mid-70s.
🤬 So, so wrong. And not surprising.
Funny how they don't say that to the guys...
Well, they might now that guys are having kids too.
Bastards!
Yeah, that’s what I thought too because they clearly were not joking.
Kasumii, yep, as if you did something wrong by being normal.
It was a standard joke for many things in the military but I was deliberately called on the carpet in front of my bosses (outranked me but not really superior), told that in a hostile way and then told to request a discharge for being pregnant. Which I did not do. So, you are correct - that line can be used as a joke but it can also be used as a weapon or discriminatory tactic.
"Which I did not do." Well done soldier.
Right on, Kasumii!
🤬🤬
I wish I could say I'm surprised, Ally. I'm sorry.
I’m sorry that happened to you. Not at all surprised but definitely sorry.
Ally,
Yes, being different (from a white man) is not the way to riches and promotions.
Intrestingly, if you are a white guy who hardly works, says yes to everyone, sleeps at meetings? Promotions are rapid.
Yes, being different in any way from the accepted norm is not a good thing.
:’-(
Wow, Mike S, how powerful. How personal. How thought-inspiring. I’m blown away this Saturday morning. Thank you, from an aging, white, privileged, LCA-Lutheran-raised, corn-fed-Midwestern, increasingly more woke long-sober woman. Just … thank you. And please reconsider not leaving the U.S — we really need you.
(If, however, you still live in Texas, I strongly suggest relocating to a less hostile state or territory.)
“increasingly more woke”
SL- I just had to inject some humor:) from Rep Jamie Raskin:
“I must admit Kevin McCarthy has accomplished one thing. America is no longer woke.”
Oh, duh, Mike S, you live in Rochester, NY. Excuse me for my blunder.
(True, there are racists, misogynists, anti-Semites, homophobes, supremacists, etc., everywhere, but Texas is especially hostile. It was in the ‘80s, when I lived there, and it still is.)
SL,
Interestingly, when was in high school in East Texas, 1974-1978, my school way out in the sticks, was fully integrated and had been since 1967. Blacks, whites and us meskins all went to the same school.
But, honestly, all us kids got along. No lie. No joke. Nobody seemed to notice white, black, brown. The school WAS majority white, but, the kids were kind to me. Of course, living arragements WERE segregated JUST like they are in the north.
I definitely have all good things to say about the public education system in Texas including Texas A&M which, even today, ignores the SAT and allows in the top 10% of all high school students.
I graduated number 3 in my Chemical Engineering class. Number 14 out of 3500 students in 1982.
My SAT was 990.
And there you have it. The SAT is also a white supremacy tool to keep down minority populations.
While my SAT was 990, I DID know how to work 16 hour days, seven days a week, which, works out well when studying engineer.
I just read the UC schools here in California are going to quit using the tests scores in their admission requirements.
SL,
All of what I wrote about took place at Eastman Kodak company in Rochester, NY.
btw: Rochester, NY is the number one most segregated public shool system in America so, maybe Texas ain't so bad??
Mike, I add my thanks for your comments, which I did read completely. Also, to say I have some good, liberal friends in Texas, even in Midland! I don't know how they stand it.
Well, yes, there are a few good people everywhere, but the image of white Texans as loudmouth, gun-toting, barbarians is a cliché for a reason.
Texas actually has some wonderful qualities and characteristics -- and pockets of delight -- Mike, but Texans are very parochial and nativist and exclusionary. While I lived there, I was made to feel "so welcome" -- while also getting the subtle but distinct message that "of course, you don't really belong here." I can only guess how much more creepy, maybe threatening, that message is for people of color.
Well, thanks for ignoring all the misspelled words and still reading.
I have to be more careful when I am writing emotional thoughts.
You “done” just fine Mike!
:-)
Some day's I just ain't got the writin down.
Mike, thank you for this well thought out response to Dr. Richardson’s letter today. I DID take the time to read the whole thing, and it pains my heart to see how minorities and perceived minorities are treated. Like you, I’m afraid I don’t this changing, and fear the direction our country is going. I sincerely hope you find what you are looking for in the EU.
Well, the EU is not perfect by a long stretch either.
Maybe Panama?
:-)
We like the Yucatán Peninsula of México just fine. We'd considered and checked out various other locations around the world to hang our hats and ended up here. At some point in the future we'll apply for permanent residency. I cannot imagine living in the United States ever again.
Daria, thanks for this information. Maybe I will take a look. I am not fully fluent in Spanish, but, can get by and learn.
Not too long, Mike. The words both valuable and heartbreaking. I, an American, who has lived in three other countries, has seen the truth of your words for many years.
An all-white America is an anemic parasite - and will die without the support and substance of the whole human race - maybe the way to defeat it will be to shun it ....
What a great post, Mike. Racism, which at it root it based on fear, is alive and well in America. The fear is so great that whites are doing their best to prevent the true history of our country to be taught in college. Like the Soviet Union, we have been taught revisionist history in K-12. The far right is using Critical Race Theory as a catchword to stoke racist flames in order to get votes; they are using fear as a weapon to retake power.
I often wonder how good, law-abiding Republicans turned into suckers. Growing up, every night after dinner my parents would sit down and read the newspaper from cover to cover and discuss current events. Voters did their best to come to their own conclusions over the issues of the day. Has talk radio, Fox News and social media sterilized individual critical thinking, allowing only for sound bytes to get through?
One last thing. Is Kyle Rittenhouse the OJ Simpson of the 21st century?
I agree with everything you say until you get to OJ Simpson. Simpson may be a murderer but he did not gun down 3 people in plain view of dozens of witnesses AND get the aid and support of law enforcement in the area. Simpson's crime was personal. Rittenhouse's crime was a public statement of hostility. Now Rittenhouse will become the poster boy for the right wing's idea of patriotism. Simpson never held that kind of power.
Daria, OJ and Rittenhouse are very different.
OJ was a black man in love with a beautiful white woman who was being stolen by a very dumb white guy. Who knows what I would do if someone comes on to my wife? Probably nothing good.
Rittenhouse, on the other hand, shot three people for the sheer entertainment of killing, which, he started out to do for fun and sport.
Rittenhouse is a perfect represenative for the white man of today. Arrogant, ignorant, selfish, self absorbed and dangerous.
And Rittenhouse is just a kid. Hasn’t developed reliable brains yet. Wait till he sucks up all this adulation from *ucker Carlson and Madison Cawthorn and the lot.
his mama has done a good job of creating a monster
So glad I have known and loved a couple of old white men. Men who are the best the country has to offer. Keeps me sane...
I knew some out in rural East Texas too.
Some exceptional white men had some exceptional influences on me.
I was finding this thread interesting and informative. Right up until this comment. My husband and sons are white men, and would never EVER do anything like this. They are decent, caring men. Being a white man does not make you inherently evil.
I have known and loved old white men and they were a credit to the country. but there are plenty who feel entitled to the privilege that the white race has long enjoyed with no thought whatsoever to those who don't "qualify." So glad I have known decent, caring white men.
"Being a white man does not make you inherently evil."
I think you are right and appreciate your post. Mine was not fair, I agree.
I think it might be more accurate to say that the highly visible white men of today, in various media, appear to be quite racist.
I think he’s a walking dead man. He evaded Justice yesterday but he won’t be able to do that for long. Someone somewhere is going to put in a correction and he’ll join the people that he murdered, if he had killed my son he’d never see the end of the year. I read the statement one of his victims parents posted yesterday, the pain they are feeling is unbearable, he was not alone in his actions the police were also complicit and were coordinating their actions with the militias. The fact that they let him calmly walk out of there speaks volumes.
I'm imagining he will get sued for "pain and suffering" by the parents and the one survivor. I do't think he'll ever be "free". And I hate those fake baby tears!
The fake tears convinced me that he is a bully play acting as human. His mama taught him well. Woe to them who call evil good and good evil…
...and I don't think he'll see the truth about what he did-wouldn't want to.
"if he had killed my son he’d never see the end of the year"
yep, same here. much less than a year. much.
Thank you. Aye, "how good, law-abiding Republicans turned into suckers".
Randy, those folks were never how good, law-abiding Republicans. They were always nasty, judgemental selfish people interested in only their own outcomes.
How else did Ronald Reagan convince everyone that taxes are bad?
Taxes are part of community thought process.
Republicans never had such a thought process and as soon as Reagan gave it voice, they collapsed like the avalanche of selfish people they were.
And Rupert made it smell patriotic… as Kemp said “Rupert Murdoch used the editorial page, the front page, and every other page necessary to elect Ronald Reagan President of the United States.” Boy did that pay off for Rupert, and our world will likely never recover
I have been thinking the same thing. He will be a pariah to the liberals and used by the Carlson, Gaetz folks. I am sad to see this turn of events.
No one won in that courtroom yesterday. The families of the victims must be in agony. I am praying this does not ignite the power keg that is America right now. It is a good thing it is winter. Less protests.
Amurca won and America lost.
I am praying and hoping this will be swallowed up by the upcoming Holidays and everyone will be distracted by crass good cheer and phony songs of peace on Earth. (Sorry if I sound bitter).
Something has been ignited that I am not sure can be tamped out. And I am always the optimist in the room. We are all wearier and wearier.
my sentiments exactly, the holidays ring hollow for me, and have since so many "Christians" became Pharisees.
Perfectly put. I think I need a tee shirt.
“I often wonder…”. That is my 24/7 question. Then I remember Rupert. He must be laughing his arse off as we grapple with why we are where we are…
I am probably a 109% whitie, and am embarrassed. “Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity. MLK
No need to be embarrassed about an evolutionary outcome that you had nothing to do with specifically.
Be proud to be human and be able to think, do, and bring people together.
I read every word. I am so sorry that you have been forced to endure this in this country. I am appalled at what is happening now. If the Republicans have their way, this is going to be an even more dangerous country.
Sandra, maybe the good thing about today is: Instead of Amurca being hidden from view and invisibly (to you and many others) holding back talented people from economic success, America is now outed and open about white supremacy.
Maybe this open approach to white supremacy is better than hidden white supremacy under the guise of "Democracy".
At Kodak, there were zero black workers when I arrived in 1992. Zero.
When they did start to hire them they gave them the lowest paid, most difficult job in the plant. Something called "chiller" operator. This required 8 hour shifts of lifting 40lb bags onto a cart with no break.
AND: The whites were all screaming about affirmative actions because Kodak finally, after 140 years, started hiring blacks.
I like it that the white supremacy is now open and obvious.
Because, it was always there and powerful.
I agree. I think that, as difficult as it is and is going to become, having all this ugliness out in the open is a good thing.
As much despair as the black American flags, Q flags, etc cause me by having to see them every day I am also grateful. Nor I know where they are - which people and which businesses hold such hateful beliefs. That knowledge is good to have. You can’t create change if you don’t know what you’re up against.
Couldn’t agree more, Kasumii and Mike. Oddly, scarily, this exposed ugliness is one of the gifts of the horrible pandemic response and the video-captured murder of George Floyd.
‘Now’ not ‘nor’. I did not do that on purpose to prove a previous point 🙄. Feeling sad & angry at new flags I saw yesterday & my proofreading skills went pffft!
Those "black American flags" are the subdued National Colors with the colored (blue, red, green, gold, white) ones, right? I think that those flags originally come from the subdued patches that the military began wearing during GWOT, and have become part of that culture as part of the "fandom" of all things military.
FWIW, I quit flying my "thin blue line" flag I flew for my friend that was murdered in the line of duty when a dear friend of mine pointed out how it was being subverted by the racists, and that as long as I flew it, I was supporting that perspective. I now fly the flag that originated with the "concerns of police survivors" group that supports the families of fallen officers.
The black American flags are regular flags with no extra colors that are covered in black. You can faintly see the stars & stripes but it’s all black.
They harken back to a military tradition of flying a black flag in battle that meant no prisoners will be taken. In other words - kill everyone. It is a clear threat of violence and death.
Yes it’s better to see our enemies in plain view than having them lurking in the shadows. They’re everywhere they’re everywhere!
Very, very well written. I could not agree with you more. Thank you.
Mike, I agree. Now that the systemic racism is out in the open perhaps people with a conscience will stand for equality and equity not simply pay lip service to it. We have never been the land if equal opportunity. It's about people are made to acknowledge the depth of our ugliness. I am grateful you took the time to tell us your story. I hope you and your family thrive in Greece. Best wishes always.
Daria,
I think it is unlikely that America will change much over the shorter historical arc. How knows about the long term and, here is the thing about the long run.
In the long run we are all dead, so, the long run does not matter.
it is the short run that counts, and, in my lifetime nothing changed nor will it change.
I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately - about the time it will take to change things for the better and how much worse it could become before better change begins to takes hold. I’m noodling on it to better prepare myself for the fight and for enduring it. I’ve got to get a handle on the despair I feel so it doesn’t swamp me to the point of being useless.
Yep, my strategy is to really feel that despair for a moment, then get up and go forth one more time. Mostly, I live in joy, but there are spaces like today when that balloon is deflated.
Kasumii, based on some of your other posts, it is clear that you are not ever going to approach being "useless".
It is just not in you.
You are naturally useful.
:-)
Mike, I am eighty years old and have been pretty much complacent about the state of affairs. In the years since Trump was elected President( I was so naive, I never thought it would happen.) I have been making myself more aware.
Sandra,
I highly recommend you enjoy being 80 and spend your time in peaceful, happy pursuit of whatever you love.
I don't recommend getting all bent out of shape about stuff you have not control over and cannot change.
Stay healthy.
I realize all this has little effect on me perfectly. However, I have seven grandchildren I worry about—especially, as five of them are Jewish.
Mike you should read Kurt Vonnegut’s first novel, Player Piano, based in his experience as an engineer in Rochester, back in the 50s. Bitter, surreal, brilliant. Even as a white man he saw.
I will do. I have taken note. I am closing down farm stuff mostly for winter and will have time to read some if it ever snows again.
I heard the comments about affirmative action, too. Not about me to my face, but about any person who advanced to first-line supervisor who wasn't a white man. I heard it as recently as 3 years ago at my last place of employment (I'm retired now), a well-known aerospace company in CT.
Yes,
here is s short, true story.
In my job at Kodak I befriended a seemingly nice white guy and we had lunch every Friday.
ONCE, while I was at Kodak they interviewed a black guy for my white friends group. I interviewed him too so had his resume.
This black guy was from Georgia tech and had a 3.92 GPA. He had three internships.
But, my white friend? He had told me at a previous lunch that his grades were so bad when he got out of school that he could not get a job and his Dad, who worked in HR at Kodak, had obtained the Kodak job for him.
When the black guy came for the interview my friend, Brian, went berserk at our Friday lunch about "affirmative" action for blacks. ONE black guy.
So, I remembered Brian's story about his Dad.
I asked him? Brian, this black guy seems more qualified and accomplished than anyone we have interviewed since I came here. Hiring him would be "competitive hiring" not "affirmative action".
I said: Brian, YOU are the real recipient of affirmative action are you not?? Right? YOUR DAD provided that affirmative action and got you a job you would not have been able to get because of your grades and YOU told me that story.
Brian looked stunned, dumped his plate on the table and left.
He did not speak to me for 6 months, then, he came and apologized. The black guy had been hired and he was a hard worker and good engineer, probably better than Brian who had 5 years experience on the new kid.
Brian said: "Mike, you are a real "a..hole" BUT, you were right. If we start lunch again, do me a favor, don't bring it up.
I never did again. But, he will always know that he, Brian, was the real affirmative action candidate. For all his life.
I feel great about that story.
Thanks for making a difference, Mike.
A friend worked for Coca-Cola in Ga.The black employees were required to use “their” restroom unattached to the building. Our friend worked , amid pushback, to desegregate the restrooms.The year:1988
1988? Good Lord! North Carolina was forced into integration in 1964, my freshman year of high school. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. We never had those issues, thank goodness!
Yep. The amazing thing is that the economic disenfranshisement is like the cold. If you are inside the house, you don't notice it.
But, if you are outside the house, it never warms up.
That is how we do it. One guy at a time. Well done, sir.
Kudos to you for speaking up. I saw a lot of that kind of "affirmative action," too, but I was usually too timid to point it out except for one particularly egregious case.
Affirmative action is so common for white people that it has a specific word: Nepotism.
Beautiful story Mike. Our ancestry is similar: my redheaded mom’s lineage goes back to Britain before the Revolutionary War. My Italian dad (1st generation American)
who fought in WWII and was his only family member to gain a college degree (in engineering!). Looked like Lucy and Desi Arnaz *in color*.
So,
I was able to apply and received my Italian citizenship. I believe (my dad passed on at 98 a month before the pandemic….he missed BOTH pandemics!) he needed to be alive for his children’s success in applying…..Best of luck.♥️ There was also some thing about our family on my dad’s side had children before they did paperwork to become US citizens…I say that because my brother-in-law‘s Italian immigrant parents did their paperwork first and then had children and he did NOT have the means to gain Italian citizenship.
Carol. Thanks. The Greek Consulate is dragging their feet because so many people are trying to immigrate to the EU now.
I heard similar comments in the military but not about my race. About my gender. Every promotion or special assignment I was told “you only got that because you’re a ____” (usually ‘bitch’, sometimes’slash’, sometimes ‘cunt’) or “did you fuck the company commander or the battalion commander for that promotion?” Didn’t matter what rank, the comments/accusations came both my peers & bosses.
Ugh. Such abuse, Kasumii. Life is hard enough …
Yeah. It is.
This is why my parents flatly refused permission for me to join the armed services back in the late '60s.
I understand their worries.
In my case I didn’t ask. I was 18 and desperate to get away from “home” (white supremacy, religious cult, highly abusive parents). So, I skipped school one day & went to the recruiter’s office, joined with a leave date right after high school graduation. Didn’t tell anyone until a few weeks before my leave date. When I did, my parents (mother, stepfather) said “you’ll never make it through basic let alone jump school and you’ll become a slut”. The church elders said “you’ll become a whore or lesbian”. You can see why I didn’t tell anyone.
And, even with all the MST (military sexual trauma) I went through (several assaults) and endured (daily verbal sexual harassment), the military was a step up from my childhood. Had there been actual support for victims of MST and legal consequences against the perpetrators I would have stayed in for 30 years instead of just 10. There is a lot of good about serving. If only our militaries valued everyone equally and created an atmosphere that backed that up…
Wow, does that sound familiar...
They were just confused. It probably seemed very unfair that they'd been giving their commanders sexual favors for weeks but got nothing, you just waltz up and get a promotion just for being great. That's discrimination!
Anthropologically, characteristics that don't really have much bearing on actual survival -- like skin coloration, hair color, semantic intelligence, gender, religiousity, etc. -- are the very characteristics we use for mate selection and intraspecific competition. In other words, the we use those features to discriminate precisely because they don't actually matter in terms of one's ability to survive as an individual in a particular environment.
I think that's why racism, as well as a lot of other "-isms," will always be a part of human society, even among otherwise intelligent people. It's a reflexive way of organizing one's social world and, I suspect, happens on a neurological level. As such, it acts sub-rationally and gets rationalized later -- sort of the same-but-opposite process of lusting after a new car and justifying it to your spouse later.
This is not to mean that it's not worth every erg required to combat this tendency. It's just that lots of people are going to see this tendency as inspiration and a competitive advantage, not as an innate weakness. Hence, we have Trump, Marion Sims, Tucker Carlson, and Rittenhouse.
Sorry for the disquistion, but I just had to nerd-out for a few minutes to sooth my nerves...
This would explain more if there had always been racism. But (I speak as your fellow nerd, a historian of its emergence in Europe) there hasn't. And even in the thought world we now inhabit in the developed West there have been periods when racism had different targets.
Why for instance are descendents of the Irish now allowed to be presidents and mayors and millionaires when they used to be called the N-- word even in Boston, their children thrown from the roofs of orphanages or burned alive in their schools? I wouldn't say it's progress that that's changed for the Irish, because now Mexicans and people from the Middle East, who didn't used to be seen as lesser beings, can be described by slang vituperation and suffer discrimination and random violence..
Just nerding out with you! Soothes my frazzled nerves too.
this won't be news to either of you, but Isabel Wilkerson's latest book "Caste" is absolutely seminal on the subject of racism
I mean to read that book! I've heard disagreement on it from some Black friends, but am interested.
"either" being Agriesti and Campbell (comments coming thick & fast! thanks all)
Thank you for sharing Mike and all the best to you and your family. What a loss for the US, but I get it, I hear you! So much of our society saddens me to no end.
I hear you loud and clear! I grew up in Texas and got a decent education in the 1950s and 60s. I have an Anglo last name, but my ancestry is Greek, and those who cared about such things noticed right away I didn't have the blue eyes an Anglo with the name "Foster" should have. Still, I had a decent career as a software engineer, never being paid as much as the white men because I'm a woman. Greek residency and citizenship requirements are pretty narrow -- I know because I looked into it during the Bush II regime. I hope you succeed in getting EU citizenship for your kids. If they can't get it through birth, they're young enough to get permanent residency in a number of other countries if they have job skills that are in short supply. Good Luck!
Welcome to Amurca! At least Amurca is now outed and open about what it is.
My grandmother was born in Cuba in 1870. Sometime later her family moved to the United States. Her brother went to Annapolis and was a career Navy officer. Her two sisters became public school teachers in Philadelphia for their entire careers. My great uncle’s son went to Annapolis and was Exec Officer on a sub sunk shortly after Pearl Harbor and, after three years as a Japanese POW, continued his career in the Navy.
Immigrants have provided the backbone of an evolving America. I am angry when I hear of how many immigrants were/are treated. Historically it was the Italians, the Jews, the Irish and others. Now it can be Hispanics, Asians, Middle Easterners, and others. This reflects the philosophy of the American (called “Know Nothing) Party of the 1840s-1850s, which morphed into the Republican Party. It remains a tenet of Trump’s ‘white Republicanism.’ My hope and belief is that Biden is dedicated to serving all Americans where bigotry has no place.
Pretty much most, if not ALL of our ancesters came from somewhere else - unless you were fortunate enough to have one or more that was native born! According to my aunt who "researched" this - someone in my mom's family married an Indian woman way back when - no princess (which is the usual claim, right?) just a down to earth gal who smoked a pipe!!! Thats all I know about her. But mainly - my family on both sides were immigrants from somewhere else. These "righteous" individuals who complain about "others" need to wake up & smell the roses (grandmother expression) they dont have any more claims on calling themselves citizens than anyone else.
We are a nation of immigrants except for our Native People. Can you imagine what they are thinking about allowing these greedy, white immigrants who lied and decimated them and then shoved the last ones onto "Christian" Indian Schools and reservations? If anyone wants to build a Wall, it would be our indigenous people around all the lying, greedy, white supremacists. The bell now tolls for all of us, and our democracy, no matter where our ancestors are from. Will we rise to this occasion? Will our justice system be transparent enough to help us understand if Justice will prevail? Will our military support our democracy or allow an overthrow of our government by fascist traitors? PEOPLE, The passage of the federal voting rights act is THE MOST important thing in our country right now. If we cannot vaporize the republican gerrymandering and the EC that rig and destroy our democracy, THEN the climate crisis, abortion rights, our post office, trafficking, prescription prices, healthcare, infrastructure, voting rights, etc., will not matter. If they win, they intend to destroy everything we, our ancestors, our sons and daughters and others have fought for and it may feel in vain.
Welcome to my world as a woman in the computer software field. A company hired 6, 4 men 2 women out of the same exact program. The women were paid less, not given the same promotion opportunities and often dealt with remarks considered to be sexual harassment. This was not so many years ago in 1993.
I am glad you have risen above instead of giving up. All we want is to be able to do the best we can in our life and it’s hard when being pushed down.
I was so lucky with where I worked (retired now) It was a construction company office with 1 other woman (in the beginning). The guys were great & we gave as good as we got from them - never felt un appreciated or less than. But like I said I was lucky.
Well, at age 60 I did "give up". When our team was outsourced (keeping a few white guys one staff only), I tried to get a job for 6 months.
Here in Rochester, NY, Harris has hired pretty much every dead body white guy that ever worked at Kodak or Xerox.
Harris has many, many open engineering jobs.
I applied for 15 and all 15 of them were closed out without comment or contact with me.
So, now, I was fortunate to have bought a small farm about an hour south of here. I am active in reforestation and sustainable farming.
Back to the work of my youth, which, honestly, outdoor physical work is just the best work there is.
Sounds like you are in the right place (farm) right now. Being able to be outside and near nature is the best.
Like rbg said, we want simply for men to remove their boot from our necks.
Absolutely - and once again - ERA anyone? Care to guess who puts the kibosh to that every time it comes up?
I cannot believe we are still fighting this fight! I think it started when I was in my teens...1/2 a century ago.
Shall we all tell our stories?
I was imminently qualified to take care of the Clydesdales who worked at Walt Disney World. This was 1972. Was told, to my face, "doesn't matter, you are a girl, girls are not allowed in the barn". Oh well, had a good career as a veterinarian, no complaints, except, really, Still no equal rights?
From my own experience (horse-wise) you were even more "imminently qualified" just by being a girl! We (women & girls) are so much better with horses than the male of the species. (I'm thinking there might be some backlash on that statement). Brute strength does not win out over calm, quiet handling. Frankly Lynn, a good veterinarian is worth HER weight in gold. Be it large animal or small. But yeah, still no equal rights!
I often thought it would've been too cool if they ever needed a veterinarian, and I got the call! But life took me to different parts after graduation. Thanks for the kind words re vets.
Mike, thank you for sharing this. We "white people" need to keep hearing these stories. I have lived a long life in America and I have witnessed so much racism and hate and ignorance. There are no adequate words, but I'm so sorry.
Your letter is not too long. Thank you for writing it. I am very sorry for how you and your family have been treated.