Ethnically Speaking by Larry Meeks

Thank you for addressing the events of the NAACP. I have never had any problems till now with them on what they are doing and how it seems to be spinning out of control. After so many years of having equality or the more sensible-based "fight" for equality, I fear that now alll that will be undone due to pure name calling, angry speeches and saying that others are racists when there is nothing to back that up.

How is white Americans going to feel when they hear someone say "kill whitie, I hate all crackers, kill white babies". I was shocked to hear those words. I couldn't believe it. This is a huge dump of fuel on a fire that went out a long time ago.

I look forward as always to hear others' thoughts on this. I don't deal with race very much.

Morgan Freeman weighs in with some VERY sage advice as part of a "60 Minutes" interview: http://www.peekinthewell.net/blog/guess-what-morgan-freeman-doesnt-want/#comment-10385

Kath's note attempts to attribute statements to the NAACP which were made, I believe, by somebody from the New Black Panthers, an organization as separate from the NAACP as the KKK is from the Tea Party. If this is simple ignorance (and the lack of grammar suggest that), let the record stand corrected. However, if it's not, it's another example of the way conservative groups attempt to blur the issue.

The truth is that black racism is different than white racism. Black against white racism does exist inside certain fringe groups who sometimes show up in the edges of the more mainstream organizations. White against black racism is similar in that respect, but has a very different history.

White racism is grounded in massive amounts of violence and oppression, with thousands of black men (mostly) lynched, entire communities burned to the ground, almost unthinkable economic oppression, almost complete political suppression, all of which took place with the explicit approval of federal, state and local governments.

This is not ancient history. This happened well within the lifetime of many people who are alive today. There are still raw feelings involved. Almost every black person in America knows somebody whose family member was killed or robbed or cheated under the Jim Crow regime.

Black racism is, was and has always been a fringe movement. It has oppressed nobody, and the number of white people killed, simply for being white is relatively small. None of those killings were done with the explicit or implicit approval of the government. Black racism is just talk; there aren't gift postcards of white folk being lynched.

Yes, it's true that some racial preferences have come into play through affirmative action and that those are "discrimination" in a theoretical sense. But it simply doesn't have the sting that white racism has, because it lacks a historical basis for a major grievance.

Of course, plenty of people (Meeks is one) would like to be pretend that none of that matters any more. But it does. There are lingering economic and cultural impacts to those years of oppression. And plenty of raw feelings. That's why the n-word carries more ire and disgust than than "whitey."

Consider: until quite recently the Irish were killing each other because of battles that were fought hundreds of years ago. And those historical prejudices, in northern Ireland, are responsible for major differences in economic conditions between Catholics and Protestants.

White racism ripples into the present in many ways. In fact, one could pretty easily consider black racism a result of white racism, a misbegotten mirror effect causing the desire to victimize the victimizer. Certainly, black urban culture -- in all its dysfunction -- would never had existed without Jim Crow.

This is not to say that dwelling on one's past victimization is a good idea or that it's a productive way to better your life. I agree with Meeks on that point. But to consider black racism as somehow "as important" or "as prevalent" as white racism is like comparing an ant to an elephant.

As for the Tea Party, the Williams "satire" letter was ample proof that at least one major organizer of Tea Party rallies is a white racist. The kind of stereotypes that he trotted out show the kind of insensitivity that ignores 150 years of history.

DearLarry,

Thank you for the clear analysis of why the NAACP is losing ground. I deeply appreciate the work you do. Yours for a better America.

Chris North

I'm sorry I didn't have time to read and reread my post and re-write it like an article due to lack of time with work and other activities that take place offline which I find more productive use of my time. I hoped to read many interesting comments here on this subject and have never had first post here before. A bit hard to carry on a chat thru posts at times. So to a degree I find your comment unsavory, Geoffrey.

I'm sorry I don't have the time to draft an article like yours for here.

As to the New Black Panther comment on "kill whitie", I remember hearing that members of the NAACP were present at this event. Yes NAACP didn't say it but considering how NAACP is saying the Tea Party is racist and supposedly (I'm giving the question of the doubt due to how news media spins things) being present at this event doesn't help.

Yes there is racism on both sides for the reasons you stated. But for whatever reasons, racism is in the end that: racism. So Meeks is right on that point of black racism is "as important" as white racism. He is not lessening it for either side.

After all these years and how much education has been spent on Black History Month (I remember that way back in school along with cultural classes in grade school) as well as seeing Black History Month celebrated in work places with huge displays (or at my work there is) along with being taught tolerance that now hearing someone saying "I hate white people. Kill whitie" is a bit upsetting from how much progress I thought has been made. If a white person did this they would be fired and stringed up. These statements do nothing more than cause a wedge that perhaps wasn't there before for some. NAACP and the New Black Panthers are putting fuel on a fire that should have gone out years ago by making racist comments. It serves nothing but to cause hate. I like to think that Martin Luther King Jr. would not have wanted that.

I do not approve of what Williams did with his "satire" letter at all. I heard about it but not read it. This is something that he should know better than to release no matter what his views are. He knows that the spotlight is on his group regardless and that any bad word said would be used against them. It is a stupid move on Williams' part.

To Geoffrey, I'm sorry I did not read and reread my post but very rarely do I ever get time to sit down and write out long posts like you and to make sure that my grammar is precise since I figure I'm not writing an article. I don't spend a lot of time online mostly due to work and other offline activities which I consider more important over all. I rarely get first post and I do enjoy an occassional intelligent chat online, I didn't expect to be judged so harshly.

I believe you are right that the New Black Panthers made the "kill whitey" statement but also the NAACP was supposedly reportedly standing there while those comments are being made. I don't know if they were but considering that right now they are calling the Tea Party racist doesn't help them.

Meeks is right that racism is racism and that both sides are just as "important". He doesn't diminish either side. Yes you make excellent points on why blacks would have ire over whites on racism but we are talking about today's world. Black History Month is taught in schools and there is even a booth left up all month at my work on the subject in a main central area. Tolerance is encouraged. Classes on different cultures are available (well they are thru my work). Blacks are given grants to attend college and whatever else to help boost them. But such comments like "kill whitey" being reported by the news does nothing more than put a wedge where one didn't exist before for people like myself.

As you pointed out that many black know someone who had suffered from white "oppression". I will not deny this. But was it the blacks that suffered that are accusing the Tea Party of racism? Or is there another reason?

As to the Williams' "satire" letter, it was in poor taste to release it knowing that it will just add another log to the fire and knowing that the press is right there to pick it up and stroke the fire of racism with it. I do not agree with Williams' satire letter but that was a stupid move on his part.

I had thought that we had at least conquered many parts of racism . . .

To Geoffrey, I'm sorry I did not read and reread my post but very rarely do I ever get time to sit down and write out long posts like you and to make sure that my grammar is precise since I figure I'm not writing an article. I don't spend a lot of time online mostly due to work and other offline activities which I consider more important over all. I rarely get first post and I do enjoy an occassional intelligent chat online, I didn't expect to be judged so harshly.

I believe you are right that the New Black Panthers made the "kill whitey" statement but also the NAACP was supposedly reportedly standing there while those comments are being made. I don't know if they were but considering that right now they are calling the Tea Party racist doesn't help them.

Meeks is right that racism is racism and that both sides are just as "important". He doesn't diminish either side. Yes you make excellent points on why blacks would have ire over whites on racism but we are talking about today's world. Black History Month is taught in schools and there is even a booth left up all month at my work on the subject in a main central area. Tolerance is encouraged. Classes on different cultures are available (well they are thru my work). Blacks are given grants to attend college and whatever else to help boost them. But such comments like "kill whitey" being reported by the news does nothing more than put a wedge where one didn't exist before for people like myself.

As you pointed out that many black know someone who had suffered from white "oppression". I will not deny this. But was it the blacks that suffered that are accusing the Tea Party of racism? Or is there another reason?

As to the Williams' "satire" letter, it was in poor taste to release it knowing that it will just add another log to the fire and knowing that the press is right there to pick it up and stroke the fire of racism with it. I do not agree with Williams' satire letter but that was a stupid move on his part.

I had thought that we had at least conquered many parts of racism . . .

To Geoffrey, I'm sorry I did not read and reread my post but very rarely do I ever get time to sit down and write out long posts like you and to make sure that my grammar is precise since I figure I'm not writing an article. I don't spend a lot of time online mostly due to work and other offline activities which I consider more important over all. I rarely get first post and I do enjoy an occassional intelligent chat online, I didn't expect to be judged so harshly.

I believe you are right that the New Black Panthers made the "kill whitey" statement but also the NAACP was supposedly reportedly standing there while those comments are being made. I don't know if they were but considering that right now they are calling the Tea Party racist doesn't help them.

Meeks is right that racism is racism and that both sides are just as "important". He doesn't diminish either side. Yes you make excellent points on why blacks would have ire over whites on racism but we are talking about today's world. Black History Month is taught in schools and there is even a booth left up all month at my work on the subject in a main central area. Tolerance is encouraged. Classes on different cultures are available (well they are thru my work). Blacks are given grants to attend college and whatever else to help boost them. But such comments like "kill whitey" being reported by the news does nothing more than put a wedge where one didn't exist before for people like myself.

As you pointed out that many black know someone who had suffered from white "oppression". I will not deny this. But was it the blacks that suffered that are accusing the Tea Party of racism? Or is there another reason?

As to the Williams' "satire" letter, it was in poor taste to release it knowing that it will just add another log to the fire and knowing that the press is right there to pick it up and stroke the fire of racism with it. I do not agree with Williams' satire letter but that was a stupid move on his part.

I had thought that we had at least conquered many parts of racism . . .

Re: Geoffrey James
To Geoffrey, I'm sorry I did not read and reread my post but very rarely do I ever get time to sit down and write out long posts like you and to make sure that my grammar is precise since I figure I'm not writing an article. I don't spend a lot of time online mostly due to work and other offline activities which I consider more important over all. I rarely get first post and I do enjoy an occassional intelligent chat online, I didn't expect to be judged so harshly.

I believe you are right that the New Black Panthers made the "kill whitey" statement but also the NAACP was supposedly reportedly standing there while those comments are being made. I don't know if they were but considering that right now they are calling the Tea Party racist doesn't help them.

Meeks is right that racism is racism and that both sides are just as "important". He doesn't diminish either side. Yes you make excellent points on why blacks would have ire over whites on racism but we are talking about today's world. Black History Month is taught in schools and there is even a booth left up all month at my work on the subject in a main central area. Tolerance is encouraged. Classes on different cultures are available (well they are thru my work). Blacks are given grants to attend college and whatever else to help boost them. But such comments like "kill whitey" being reported by the news does nothing more than put a wedge where one didn't exist before for people like myself.

As you pointed out that many black know someone who had suffered from white "oppression". I will not deny this. But was it the blacks that suffered that are accusing the Tea Party of racism? Or is there another reason?

As to the Williams' "satire" letter, it was in poor taste to release it knowing that it will just add another log to the fire and knowing that the press is right there to pick it up and stroke the fire of racism with it. I do not agree with Williams' satire letter but that was a stupid move on his part.

I had thought that we had at least conquered many parts of racism . . .

To Geoffrey, I'm sorry I did not read and reread my post but very rarely do I ever get time to sit down and write out long posts like you and to make sure that my grammar is precise since I figure I'm not writing an article. I don't spend a lot of time online mostly due to work and other offline activities which I consider more important over all. I rarely get first post and I do enjoy an occassional intelligent chat online, I didn't expect to be judged so harshly.

I believe you are right that the New Black Panthers made the "kill whitey" statement but also the NAACP was supposedly reportedly standing there while those comments are being made. I don't know if they were but considering that right now they are calling the Tea Party racist doesn't help them.

Meeks is right that racism is racism and that both sides are just as "important". He doesn't diminish either side. Yes you make excellent points on why blacks would have ire over whites on racism but we are talking about today's world. Black History Month is taught in schools and there is even a booth left up all month at my work on the subject in a main central area. Tolerance is encouraged. Classes on different cultures are available (well they are thru my work). Blacks are given grants to attend college and whatever else to help boost them. But such comments like "kill whitey" being reported by the news does nothing more than put a wedge where one didn't exist before for people like myself.

As you pointed out that many black know someone who had suffered from white "oppression". I will not deny this. But was it the blacks that suffered that are accusing the Tea Party of racism? Or is there another reason?

As to the Williams' "satire" letter, it was in poor taste to release it knowing that it will just add another log to the fire and knowing that the press is right there to pick it up and stroke the fire of racism with it. I do not agree with Williams' satire letter but that was a stupid move on his part.

I had thought that we had at least conquered many parts of racism . . .

To Geoffrey, I'm sorry I did not read and reread my post but very rarely do I ever get time to sit down and write out long posts like you and to make sure that my grammar is precise since I figure I'm not writing an article. I don't spend a lot of time online mostly due to work and other offline activities which I consider more important over all. I rarely get first post and I do enjoy an occassional intelligent chat online, I didn't expect to be judged so harshly.

I believe you are right that the New Black Panthers made the "kill whitey" statement but also the NAACP was supposedly reportedly standing there while those comments are being made. I don't know if they were but considering that right now they are calling the Tea Party racist doesn't help them.

Meeks is right that racism is racism and that both sides are just as "important". He doesn't diminish either side. Yes you make excellent points on why blacks would have ire over whites on racism but we are talking about today's world. Black History Month is taught in schools and there is even a booth left up all month at my work on the subject in a main central area. Tolerance is encouraged. Classes on different cultures are available (well they are thru my work). Blacks are given grants to attend college and whatever else to help boost them. But such comments like "kill whitey" being reported by the news does nothing more than put a wedge where one didn't exist before for people like myself.

As you pointed out that many black know someone who had suffered from white "oppression". I will not deny this. But was it the blacks that suffered that are accusing the Tea Party of racism? Or is there another reason?

As to the Williams' "satire" letter, it was in poor taste to release it knowing that it will just add another log to the fire and knowing that the press is right there to pick it up and stroke the fire of racism with it. I do not agree with Williams' satire letter but that was a stupid move on his part.

I had thought that we had at least conquered many parts of racism . . .

To Geoffrey, I'm sorry I did not read and reread my post but very rarely do I ever get time to sit down and write out long posts like you and to make sure that my grammar is precise since I figure I'm not writing an article. I don't spend a lot of time online mostly due to work and other offline activities which I consider more important over all. I rarely get first post and I do enjoy an occassional intelligent chat online, I didn't expect to be judged so harshly.

I believe you are right that the New Black Panthers made the "kill whitey" statement but also the NAACP was supposedly reportedly standing there while those comments are being made. I don't know if they were but considering that right now they are calling the Tea Party racist doesn't help them.

Meeks is right that racism is racism and that both sides are just as "important". He doesn't diminish either side. Yes you make excellent points on why blacks would have ire over whites on racism but we are talking about today's world. Black History Month is taught in schools and there is even a booth left up all month at my work on the subject in a main central area. Tolerance is encouraged. Classes on different cultures are available (well they are thru my work). Blacks are given grants to attend college and whatever else to help boost them. But such comments like "kill whitey" being reported by the news does nothing more than put a wedge where one didn't exist before for people like myself.

As you pointed out that many black know someone who had suffered from white "oppression". I will not deny this. But was it the blacks that suffered that are accusing the Tea Party of racism? Or is there another reason?

As to the Williams' "satire" letter, it was in poor taste to release it knowing that it will just add another log to the fire and knowing that the press is right there to pick it up and stroke the fire of racism with it. I do not agree with Williams' satire letter but that was a stupid move on his part.

I had thought that we had at least conquered many parts of racism . . .

To Geoffrey, I'm sorry I did not read and reread my post but very rarely do I ever get time to sit down and write out long posts like you and to make sure that my grammar is precise since I figure I'm not writing an article. I don't spend a lot of time online mostly due to work and other offline activities which I consider more important over all. I rarely get first post and I do enjoy an occassional intelligent chat online, I didn't expect to be judged so harshly.

I believe you are right that the New Black Panthers made the "kill whitey" statement but also the NAACP was supposedly reportedly standing there while those comments are being made. I don't know if they were but considering that right now they are calling the Tea Party racist doesn't help them.

Meeks is right that racism is racism and that both sides are just as "important". He doesn't diminish either side. Yes you make excellent points on why blacks would have ire over whites on racism but we are talking about today's world. Black History Month is taught in schools and there is even a booth left up all month at my work on the subject in a main central area. Tolerance is encouraged. Classes on different cultures are available (well they are thru my work). Blacks are given grants to attend college and whatever else to help boost them. But such comments like "kill whitey" being reported by the news does nothing more than put a wedge where one didn't exist before for people like myself.

As you pointed out that many black know someone who had suffered from white "oppression". I will not deny this. But was it the blacks that suffered that are accusing the Tea Party of racism? Or is there another reason?

As to the Williams' "satire" letter, it was in poor taste to release it knowing that it will just add another log to the fire and knowing that the press is right there to pick it up and stroke the fire of racism with it. I do not agree with Williams' satire letter but that was a stupid move on his part.

I had thought that we had at least conquered many parts of racism . . .

Does anyone else have trouble posting here? I have a comment but cannot post. Did so five times.

Is anyone else having trouble posting? I am. Tried 6 times.

To Geoffrey, I'm sorry I did not read and reread my post but very rarely do I ever get time to sit down and write out long posts like you and to make sure that my grammar is precise since I figure I'm not writing an article. I don't spend a lot of time online mostly due to work and other offline activities which I consider more important over all. I rarely get first post and I do enjoy an occassional intelligent chat online, I didn't expect to be judged so harshly.

I believe you are right that the New Black Panthers made the "kill whitey" statement but also the NAACP was supposedly reportedly standing there while those comments are being made. I don't know if they were but considering that right now they are calling the Tea Party racist doesn't help them.

Meeks is right that racism is racism and that both sides are just as "important". He doesn't diminish either side. Yes you make excellent points on why blacks would have ire over whites on racism but we are talking about today's world. Black History Month is taught in schools and there is even a booth left up all month at my work on the subject in a main central area. Tolerance is encouraged. Classes on different cultures are available (well they are thru my work). Blacks are given grants to attend college and whatever else to help boost them. But such comments like "kill whitey" being reported by the news does nothing more than put a wedge where one didn't exist before for people like myself.

As you pointed out that many black know someone who had suffered from white "oppression". I will not deny this. But was it the blacks that suffered that are accusing the Tea Party of racism? Or is there another reason?

As to the Williams' "satire" letter, it was in poor taste to release it knowing that it will just add another log to the fire and knowing that the press is right there to pick it up and stroke the fire of racism with it. I do not agree with Williams' satire letter but that was a stupid move on his part.

I had thought that we had at least conquered many parts of racism . . .

Sorry about the mass posting. One day I had no problem seeing my posts coming up right away but most days I post NOTHING will come up. If I can delete most of these. . .

The NAACP should be taking up the fight against injustice, not necessarily racism. I've seen schools that have only one working water fountain for 600 kids, no outdoor recess, lunches that are incredibly unhealthy, and the kids aren't even allowed to bring their own lunch to school, becsue the school board fears that the kids might use them to sneak in cell phones.

I'd like to see the NAACP step in to deal with problems like these. Segregation is over, and it seems like the NAACP is just looking for sensational stuff, not workable solutions.

I might add that I've seen white racism in some pretty disgusting forms. In the early 60's my all white church held two "minstrel shows" as fund raisers, with everyone in black face. I remember asking my father why they didn't ask the janitor (the only black person who ever entered that church to my knowledge) to be in the show. I figured he'd be a natural. My father (who was the pastor, BTW) merely coughed and changed the subject. Needless to say, I had no idea how offensive that stuff actually is.

A few years later, at about the age of 12, I became involved in civil war re-enactments on the confederate side. This involved hanging around with a lot of older men who were very much into "southern culture." I later found out that those men -- whom I had been taught to look up to -- got drunk one night during a re-enactment campout, found some random black kid, and castrated him, by separating his legs and slamming them against a tree.

That was when I lived in Virginia, where my sister (and all the other white kids) were bused past the incredibly dumpy black high school. The white boys used to hang their butts out the window and yell the n-word. Day after day after day. Nothing was done about it. If anything, the "power that be" thought it was funny.

Most of the people who were involved in all that junk are still alive today. The kid those jerks mutilated is probably still alive; the janitor's kid (whom I used to play with) is undoubtedly still around, as are the black kids who went to that sub-sub-standard high school. And millions of others who experienced much the same thing.

Under the circumstances, it's not at all surprising that there's still plenty of anger out there. And that anger grows -- justifiably, I think -- when you have pinheads like Glenn Beck claiming that Obama "hates white people" and idiots like Williams equating affirmative action and the NAACP with "racism." It's just not the same thing.

As for Meeks, his point of frustration is that most black people keep voting democratic. It never seems to occur to him that the preference for the democratic party might be the result of that fact that most black people realize that there's a reason that the Republican party lacks black leaders. It's because Republican policy is inimical both to blacks specifically and poor people generally.

Of course, Meek's entire career is based upon being a black voice that's acceptable to white readers who want to forget the past and their role (and the role of their parents and grandparents) in creating that past. But that's only to be expected because, as Upton Sinclair said: "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it."

If Meeks wrote the simply truth, which is that democratic policies, however flawed, are more likely to help blacks than republican ones, he'd be out of a job.

Re: Geoffrey James
Your post about black racism was idiotic. Fringe movement? What planet are you from? I was raised on the south side of Chicago and blacks were the most racist group. In my high school they had race riots and the only whites involved were the ones who weren't fast enough to get out of the way. This whole white guilt thing is some sort of fantasy created by the media - I've never met one white person who feels guilty for being white or for crimes against humanity that they had no part in. You honestly think white people are trying to forget slavery? LOL - that's hilarious. I've never met a white person who even cares about slavery because they had no part in it. I think its incredibly racist for someone to blame all white people for slavery - I hope you enjoy being one.

Re: Diana. Well put. I don't even read his posts anymore, and now you see why.

Re: Matt. Because you're too dumb to understand them?

Stay classy, Brock. Always glad to hear your mature perspective. (snicker)