{"id":5,"date":"2008-07-21T17:24:23","date_gmt":"2008-07-21T17:24:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=5"},"modified":"2008-07-21T17:24:23","modified_gmt":"2008-07-21T17:24:23","slug":"racism-redux","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rant.godshell.com\/?p=5","title":{"rendered":"Racism Redux"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ah, life.  Life is interesting, and ironic at times.  Why just the other day I posted this long rant<\/a> about racism, and then I was treated to a very interesting episode of Without a Trace<\/a> over the weekend\u2026  After some searching, I\u2019ve discovered that \u201cWhite Balance<\/a>\u201d is the title of the episode.<\/p>\n

In short, this episode deals with the disappearance of a white girl and a black boy.  Both children go missing around the same time, but the cases are dealt with differently.  The agent in charge is pressured to put all of his resources into finding the girl, while the boy\u2019s case is left with a single agent.  After putting forth a rather uninspired fight, he essentially rolls over and shifts resources to the girls case.  Reporters interview the mother of the girl and her picture and details of the case are broadcast to the general public.  In the meantime, the mother of the boy is promised interviews, but the reporter is supposedly called to another location and cancels the interview.  In the end, both kids are found, one dead and one alive.  The show ends, however, without informing the viewer which has survived.<\/p>\n

This show made me realize that my earlier rant only dealt with one form of racism, that of verbal racism.  I touched slightly on persecution, but didn\u2019t really delve into it.  Hey, racism is a pretty tricky topic, so sue me.<\/p>\n

Anyway, racism as described in this show does exist, and it sucks.  Seriously.  It\u2019s similar to the battle between the rich and the poor.  The rich tend to get their way, while the poor suffer.  In the arena of race, the whites are akin to the rich, and the blacks to the poor.  No, I\u2019m not saying one race is better than another, just pointing out the current perception.<\/p>\n

This type of racism happens all too often, yet you don\u2019t hear a lot about it.  That\u2019s pretty sad because it has a more profound affect than someone shouting \u201cnigger\u201d or some other racist slur.  Persecution based on color, religion, or whatever is a big problem, and some people don\u2019t realize they\u2019re doing it.  Seriously!  How about an example.  Ever walk into an area that is predominantly some other race?  Feel comfortable?  No?  Gee, why not?  It has to do a lot with the way you\u2019re brought up and what you are exposed to.  That\u2019s a tough thing to overcome, and most people can never overcome it.<\/p>\n

Hell, I still feel uncomfortable when faced with certain people, purely based on their color, dress, or whatever.  I find myself acting in odd ways, such as moving away from them, being more aware of myself and what\u2019s going on, etc.  Why?  In many of the situations, it has to do with what they call racial profiling.  Quite simply, there is a perception, somewhat based in fact, that certain people are more apt to engage in violent or illegal activities.  So, I tend to keep an eye on my belongings, keep myself aware of exits, who\u2019s around, etc.  It\u2019s a defense mechanism, and it\u2019s mostly automatic.  Think about it.  Since 9\/11, have you been more aware of foreigners, especially Arabs?  I\u2019ll bet you have, even without realizing it.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure there\u2019s a good way to deal with this form of racism, though.  I could go on about how everyone needs to stand up for their rights, and maybe even the rights of others, but not everyone wants to get involved.  For instance, my personal opinion is that were I faced with the same situation the agent in charge was in Without a Trace, I would have made a different decision.  I’ would like to believe that I would have refused to follow those orders, even at the risk of my job.  But, of course, not being in that situation, I\u2019m not sure how I would have responded.  I do know that I have stood up for others before, though, and it did cost me my job at one point.  I\u2019d do it again, though, because it was the right thing to do.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

So, racism\u2026  yeah, it sucks.  If it\u2019s someone shouting slurs at you, get over it.  They\u2019ll stop when they realize it\u2019s not bothering you.  If it\u2019s this other form\u2026  Well, I\u2019m not sure what I can advise other than to keep fighting.  But seriously, use your head.  Don\u2019t whine and cry over the little stuff, move on.  Choose your battles and make sure they\u2019ll count.  No one cares that you weren\u2019t waited on first at the local restaurant, but they might care if you\u2019re being ignored by the police or the hospital.  Yes, it sucks, but if you make a big deal of the little stuff, no one will be listening when something big happens.  That\u2019s not to say you shouldn\u2019t say something, but let\u2019s not call the 5 o\u2019clock news over it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ah, life.  Life is interesting, and ironic at times.  Why just the other day I posted this long rant about racism, and then I was treated to a very interesting episode of Without a Trace over the weekend\u2026  After some searching, I\u2019ve discovered that \u201cWhite Balance\u201d is the title of the episode. In short, this … Continue reading “Racism Redux”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-3"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rant.godshell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rant.godshell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rant.godshell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rant.godshell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rant.godshell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rant.godshell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92,"href":"https:\/\/rant.godshell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5\/revisions\/92"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rant.godshell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rant.godshell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rant.godshell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}