Category Archives: Racism

Hidden biases and how they may affect others

March 13, 2015 6:44 AM , Leave a Comment ,

Most people have by now heard about the racist chant incident at the University of Oklahoma.  They have also probably heard about  the University’s swift response in dealing with the incident.  Most people will leave it there.

I would like to believe that the incident was an anomaly.  A fluke that only existed in a single chapter of a fraternity and that it wasn’t representative of a hidden problem throughout the Greek system.

It’s difficult to tell as the national organizations that coordinate the Greek system don’t carry statistics on the racial make up of these frats.  By accident or by design we are left in the dark as to how integrated these groups are.

Why does it matter?  It matters because first and foremost these frats (and sororities) are networking clubs.  Social connections that help bind future business, political, and military leaders of tomorrow.  The people who help set the agenda for the rest of the population may be found in some of these groups.

Secondly, the opinions, attitudes, lessons, and biases that they receive while they’re in these frats may affect these individuals hiring practices, social attitudes, and thinking patterns well into adult life.

Lastly, the fact that these groups are exclusionary and in some cases may be deliberately excluding people based on some arbitrary standard means that some groups may be denied the opportunities to rise that these frat members enjoy.

Look, I’m not saying that every frat in America and every frat member is a bigot of some sort.  Far from it. Many fraternities are very community minded groups that really do take to heart the ideals that they espouse.  They help to mold young college students into the future leaders of America.  While all that is true however I think there is also no denying that some individuals and even chapters out there are trapped in outdated and bigoted mindsets.  Mindsets that purposefully try to exclude others for a variety of reasons.

It’s long past the time that these type of ideas are allowed to exist, even unofficially, in these type of groups.  The Greek system owes it to the nation as well as to itself to root out these attitudes and clean its house of this hidden cancer.  If fraternities an sororities want to stay relevant or even just exist in the 21st century then they must leave the 19th century behind.

 

Posted in: life in general, racism, school, social networks

Are we closer to or further from racial equality?

January 18, 2015 7:15 AM , Leave a Comment ,

[Author’s note:  This is the next in a series of writing challenges first proposed to me by Leslie Farnsworth.  Leslie has organized and expanded the challenge to include a larger group of excellent blog writers.  Once per month, one member of the group will propose a topic and we will all give our own unique take on the subject.  I proposed the latest topic.  You may want to look at the other bloggers listed below to see what they came up with.]

I suppose that I am fortunate that I’ve only really felt the sting of prejudice a couple of times in my life.  Most of the people who I know or associate with are open-minded individuals that look past the outer shell of their fellow human beings and don’t care what the outside looks like.

But I also know that my experience is for the most part unique and I am aware that in some situations that my race will come into play.  Every Latino or Black male knows what to do during a traffic stop.  Hands firmly on the steering wheel or on the front dash-board, no sudden moves, always answer “yes, sir” or “no, sir”.  Never give them a reason to hold you or to draw their weapon.  Police interactions with minorities have been unfortunately too well documented in the last year.  What you look like does make a difference in the way that an individual policeman or the justice system in general will deal with you.

But that could just be outdated attitudes within governmental structures and those kind of structures take time to readjust and change.  In general are we as a society or just as individuals beginning to get past racial differences and treating each other equally?

On the surface I would say yes.  I mean you really have to search hard and roam far and wide to find the most backward and out of touch corners of the country with people who openly use racial slurs and pridefully display their prejudicial attitudes.

For the most part people who engage in reprehensible bigotry in our day and age are routinely pilloried and lashed by public opinion.   That type of racism is a dying institution.

But does that mean we’re there? Do we live in a colorblind society? I wish I could say yes but I routinely encounter what I term “passive racism”.  I’ve been in office buildings where I was mistaken for janitorial staff just due to the way that I look or sometimes people will assume that I don’t “hablo Ingles” and start speaking to me in a pidgin English to try to communicate with me.

Are these people doing these things in a mean or spiteful spirit?  No, of course not.  But they have been raised in and live in a system where they see a particular skin color and make some assumptions based off that and sometimes the results are not as benign or merely annoying as the above examples.  Sometimes the results of this type of attitude can mean that certain opportunities are closed off even before anything happens or sometimes the consequences can even be deadly.

Will it get better?  I think so.  More than ever before mass media is homogenizing the culture and its message reaches out in every direction.  The message being broadcast is that despite any outward differences that we are all humans and carry the same type of problems around and are all looking for the same type of solutions to those problems.  It will take time of course but given time and honest effort I think that it can happen.

 

 

 

Posted in: life in general, prejudice, racism, thought

Why I don’t support pressuring the Redskins to change their name and why they should do it

June 26, 2014 6:40 AM , Leave a Comment ,

It’s no secret that I am no fan of censorship in any form.  I do not agree with any forms of restriction on speech in any format.  Whether it’s censorship in some sort of art form or in actual words.  Using the threat of force or law to alter or diminish speech is wrong no matter what the intention.

Many people will say that when the subject becomes objectionable that it becomes difficult to justify my stance on free speech.  People will say that some things need to be curtailed or dissuaded for the greater good of society as a whole.  Another argument is that pragmatism demands that although ideally we should be allowed to say what we want that reality demands that some sacrifices be made for the greater good.

These are the arguments of those that already have made up their minds and are just casting about for an excuse to justify censorship.

Nowhere is there a greater need to allow free expression than in those things that we deem objectionable.  The unpopular opinion, mindset, or idea needs to be present and readily accessible in the public discussion.  It may seem a small, insignificant point to exclude those ideas that we don’t like but any disruption to the stream of ideas that are available to the public creates a rift, a chasm that will ripple outwards towards other ideas that you may agree with.  Maybe not today or tomorrow but eventually.

If for no other reason these ideas have to be expressible and accessible to future generations at the very least as educational examples of the way that humans can be cruel to each other and may be cruel again in the future.  The key to not committing the errors of the past is to study them in the future.

Now as to the Redskins football team in particular, why should they voluntarily change their names?  Well, the very property that they seek to protect (the name, the logo, etc) is now damaged beyond repair.  It’s now well established that a large number of people find the name objectionable and that they consider it to be something hurtful and downright insulting.

The fan base that treasures the brand is going to age and slowly disappear over time.  The younger fan base will not support the brand and as a result they will lose fan support.

The pragmatic argument to change the brand is that it is no longer tenable or desirable to keep.  Changing the brand to something else is the smart course of action to maintain the fan base of support and keep the franchise going for the long-term.  But whatever they do, they should do it on their own.

 

 

 

 

Posted in: culture, football, language, pop culture, prejudice, racism, sports