Does Race Really Matter?

Does race matter? It’s a question that was brought to me the other day. And in the midst of all that’s going on in America — the first black President in the White House, politicians remarking that black people were better off during slavery, celebrities using inappropriate and racially charged words — it’s a question that’s not out of place. So, does race matter?

I’m torn. Part of me wants to say that, no, race doesn’t matter. It shouldn’t matter. After all, race is a socially constructed concept with no real, inherently biological traits to distinguish any one person from any other person. Race is a category based on the society of which we’re a part at any given time. Race has changed over time, and indeed will continue to change as society itself changes. In other words, ultimately, it means nothing. read more

When Interracial Dating Goes Wrong

While browsing YouTube the other day, I noticed an interesting ad, placed below a video entitled, “Single black women find the search for love is especially difficult.” The ad pictured a Black woman with a shirtless White man next to the text, “AfroRomance — Where love is more than skin deep.”

It seemed that YouTube, with it’s consistent ad placement was saying: “Hey Black women, you know your pickings are slim with all the black men being either unemployed or incarcerated. Not to worry, come try out this interracial dating site and find you a nice White man!” (Ok, perhaps that wasn’t the intent, but that’s certainly how I took it.) read more

A Reflection on King's "Letter From Birmingham Jail"

Since today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I feel that “blogger’s obligation” to write something deep about the day. Instead of writing something new, I’ll share something with you that I wrote a few months back. Nothing uber deep here, just more of a journal entry. We had an assignment for a class to read Dr. King’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail” and discuss with paragraph had the biggest impact on us and why. The following is my response:

I decided that the paragraph where he describes his disappointment in the “white moderate” and their participation in the freedom efforts (which I included below for reference). This paragraph stuck out primarily because of the fourth sentence where Dr. King writes about who he, “should have realized that few members of a race that has oppressed another race can understand or appreciate the deep groans and passionate yearnings of those that have been oppressed and still fewer have the vision to see that injustice must be rooted out by strong, persistent and determined action.”

I had hoped that the white moderate would see this. Maybe I was too optimistic. Maybe I expected too much. I guess I should have realized that few members of a race that has oppressed another race can understand or appreciate the deep groans and passionate yearnings of those that have been oppressed and still fewer have the vision to see that injustice must be rooted out by strong, persistent and determined action. I am thankful, however, that some of our white brothers have grasped the meaning of this social revolution and committed themselves to it. They are still all too small in quantity, but they are big in quality. Some like Ralph McGill, Lillian Smith, Harry Golden and James Dabbs have written about our struggle in eloquent, prophetic and understanding terms. Others have marched with us down nameless streets of the South. They have languished in filthy roach-infested jails, suffering the abuse and brutality of angry policemen who see them as “dirty nigger-lovers.” They, unlike so many of their moderate brothers and sisters, have recognized the urgency of the moment and sensed the need for powerful “action” antidotes to combat the disease of segregation.

So the question now becomes: Why did this have such an impact on me? read more

What If Glenn Beck Was A Black Man?

“This president [Barack Obama] has exposed himself as a guy over and over and over again who has a deep-seated hatred for white people… this guy [President Obama] is, I believe, a racist.”

As of late there has been a lot of uproar about the above statement made by conservative radio and television host, Glenn Beck. In this statement, taken from the show “Fox & Friends” he says that he believes President Obama to be a racist. In order to not speculate about the phrasing or the context, you can watch the video for yourself. The statement in question begins at 1:55. read more