The capacity to be racist
The brouhaha over the Netflix series ‘Dear White People’ died down months ago. Why, then, are we seeing a resurgence of rancor towards it? More to the point, why are so many people of non-white ethnic backgrounds suddenly raging over it?
It may have something to do with the recent reemergence of a HuffPo Black Voices clip. Published in May 2017, Justin Simien, the director, joins lead actress Logan Browning for four and a half minutes of spin: why double standards around racism simply don’t exist; why a show titled “Dear Black People” would be offensive; why the n-word is off-limits to white but not black people; why minority-focused spaces like HuffPost Black Voices exist but HuffPost White Voices does not; and why there’s simply no such thing as reverse racism. (HuffPo)
The clip was removed from YouTube but is still contained in the HuffPo article:
www.huffpost.com/entry/dear-white-people-director-and-star-break-down-why-black-people-cant-be-racist
In light of the recent uptick of hate crimes against Hispanics - committed by whites as well as by blacks - people are questioning Simien and Browning's stance that one group of people can not be racist because they belong to a marginalized group. The term 'black privilege' is gaining ground.
"If you're an American citizen, you have the Right to freedom and happiness and all these wonderful things except if you're black, except if you're part of a marginalized group..." - Justin Simien
Who determines who is marginalized? Is it by ethnic background, by sexual orientation or gender identification, by beliefs?
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mar·gin·al·ize
ˈmärjənəˌlīz/
verb
past tense: marginalized; past participle: marginalized
treat (a person, group, or concept) as insignificant or peripheral.
"attempting to marginalize those who disagree"
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When you treat someone as insignificant - be they black, white, Hispanic, Muslim, Christian, gay, straight etc - you are marginalizing them. When you group people into a marginalized category, you attempt to deprive them of all those wonderful things that you, with your proffered "X Privilege" card, take for granted.
You do not have the right to do that. Yes, you do have the Right to Free Speech but that Right does not give you the right to spout racist views and commit hate crimes just because you think your own self-perceived marginalization exonerates you from being racist.
"You have to start by understanding that black people can't be racist. Black people can be prejudiced and can be biased but they can't be racist. Why is that? Well, what is racism? Racism is the oppression of a marginalized group in a society that's based on white supremacy..." - Logan Browning
Racism has nothing to do with "white supremacy". It exists independent of it.
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rac·ism
ˈrāˌsizəm/
noun
- prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior.
"a program to combat racism"
racial discrimination, racialism, racial prejudice,
xenophobia, chauvinism, bigotry, casteism
"Aborigines are the main victims of racism in Australia"- the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.noun: racism
"theories of racism"
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"If you are a white person, you naturally benefit from 'white privilege'...when it comes to racism, there is no double standard." - Logan Browning
So does this mean that a black person is using 'black privilege' to negate any potential double standard? Simply put, "I can't be racist because I'm black"?
Meet Rodolfo Rodriguez, the victim of a double standard.
Man, 92, beaten with brick on street, told to 'go back'
"A 92-year-old senior citizen, what can he do to anybody? There's no harm that he meant," the grandson of Rodolfo Rodriguez asked.
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A 92-year-old man who was thrown to the ground, stomped on by strangers on the Fourth of July was recovering Tuesday in his Los Angeles-area home.
"Who would do this to anybody?" the victim's grandson, Erik Mendoza, told NBC Los Angeles.
"A 92-year-old senior citizen, what can he do to anybody?" Mendoza added. "There's no harm that he meant."
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department launched an investigation following Wednesday night's attack on the man, Rodolfo Rodriguez, a native of Mexico and legal U.S. resident, in the community of Willowbrook.
Laquisha Jones, 30, was arrested Tuesday night, NBC Los Angeles said. She was booked for assault with a deadly weapon and is being held in lieu of $200,000.
Rodriguez had gone out alone for his daily walk, Mendoza said, about an hour and a half before he was going to watch the holiday fireworks with his family.
While walking, Rodriguez may have bumped into a small girl, witness Misbel Borjas told NBC Los Angeles. She said she saw a woman with the girl push Rodriguez and beat him with a brick.
The woman also told Rodriguez to "go back to your country," Borjas said, according to NBC Los Angeles. The woman later told NBC News that she heard the attacker say, "Go back, go back."
Borjas had been driving by, she said, and wanted to stop, but the woman threatened to hit her car with the brick.
Borjas instead called 911 and took a picture of the woman, which she shared with police and put on social media.
Borjas said a group of men then came down the street, and the woman accused Rodriguez of trying to take the child. That's when about three of them also began beating him, she added.
Only later, when Rodriguez's family began wondering why he hadn't returned home, did they learn he suffered two broken ribs and a broken cheekbone.
Rodriguez, now recovering from his bed at home, told NBC Los Angeles that he wants his attackers to be punished and to pay his hospital expenses.
"It was their fault," he said in Spanish. "They tossed me to the ground."
His wife, meanwhile, said Rodriguez did plan to go back to his native country this month — but it was to visit the gravesite of their son who had recently died.
"We just lost our son," she said in Spanish through tears, "and to see him like this was unbearable."
by Erik Ortiz / / Updated - NBC NEWS
Let me clarify for those sharing Mr Simien and Ms Logan's mindset:
- If a white person beat me with a brick while shouting, "GO BACK TO BUDAPEST!", it would be racist - and a hate crime.
- If an Hispanic person beat me with a brick while shouting, "GO BACK TO BUDAPEST!", it would be racist - and a hate crime.
- If black person beat me with a brick while shouting, "GO BACK TO BUDAPEST!", it would be racist - and a hate crime..
- If a Rom person beat me with a brick while shouting, "GO BACK TO BUDAPEST!", it would be bigotry - and a crime.
The Huffington Post and several other major news agencies have labeled the attack on Rodriguez as a blatantly racist attack on an Hispanic individual. The woman responsible is not some neo-Nazi or skinhead. She isn't exercising her "white privilege" and free speech. She is Laquisha Jones and, according to people like Logan Browning, she is not capable of being a racist. 'Black privilege, yo'.
Witnesses and investigators said that one woman and several men attacked Rodriguez with the block of concrete because Rodriguez allegedly bumped into the young girl while walking down the street. “The woman pushed him and dropped him. She took the block of concrete and hit him in his head many times,” a witness said. The beating left Rodriguez with injuries to his face, cheekbone, head, and ribs.
Jones sets an unhealthy example for her offspring. She is a prime example of the modern racism prevalent in today's society. She isn't 'woke'. She isn't a hero. She is being held in lieu of $200,000 bail. She is a piece of shit. She does not represent all black people, thank god, but she is representative of the racist mentality found in all societies regardless of ethnicity.
Let's touch upon Justin Simien's opening quote once more:
"If you're an American citizen, you have the Right
to freedom and
happiness
and all these wonderful things except if you're black,
except
if you're part of a marginalized group..."
Under the United States Immigration Law, U.S. Citizenship is the highest status of citizenship that someone can attain. ... U.S. citizens have the same rights as green card holders but they are also allowed to: Vote in elections; Petition for a distant relatives and in-laws to be granted asylum.
In other words, Rodolfo Rodriguez has the right to walk down the street without having to worry about some citizen beating the fuck out of him because of his ethnicity. He has the Right to freedom and happiness. He is a permanent resident. Nobody has the right to marginalize him to the point of extreme physical abuse.
Putting aside Laquisha Jones' racism to look at the bigger picture, we also see the good side of humanity. Rodriguez's neighbors - black, Hispanic, and white - have reached out to him with love and support. Someone started a gofundme campaign to assist with his recovery. We also need look no further than the victim to see how compassion and tolerance can manifest in our daily lives.
WILLOWBROOK, LOS ANGELES (KABC) --
The 92-year-old man who was viciously beaten with a brick in Willowbrook says he does not resent the woman who assaulted him and wishes God's forgiveness and blessings upon her.
"She did hurt me, but I cannot be an enemy and say I condemn her," Rodolfo Rodriguez told Eyewitness News during an interview at his daughter's home on Wednesday.
Rodriguez said he is thankful that Jones was arrested, but he does not harbor resentment toward her or the other men. He said the law should take its course with regard to punishment.
"She did hurt me, but I cannot be an enemy and say I condemn her," Rodolfo Rodriguez told Eyewitness News during an interview at his daughter's home on Wednesday.
Rodriguez said he is thankful that Jones was arrested, but he does not harbor resentment toward her or the other men. He said the law should take its course with regard to punishment.
"May God forgive her for what she did to me," he said, adding that he wishes God's blessings on the woman as well as himself. He said he is grateful for the support he's received from the community and thanked the people who have helped him during this difficult time.
- ABC7
Everyone has the capacity to be racist. Whether or not we embrace racist views, regardless of our own ethnicity, is on us. It's on us to not act upon our bigotry, prejudices, hatred, racism, and anger. It's on us to behave like civilized human beings and to treat each other with forgiveness and respect. It's on us to set an example for our children rather than to promote 'faux woke' slights spewed by 'Dear White People' and other shows riding the coat tails of "black privilege". It's on us to not support popular things that further divide us as a society. There is nothing funny about racism or the marginalization of those different from us. There certainly isn't anything noble to be found in harming an old man.
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FURTHER READING:
Washington Post: Woman arrested in assault of 91-year-old Mexican man who was told to ‘go back to your country’
USA Today: Woman arrested in beating of 91-year-old man reportedly told to 'go back to Mexico'
HuffPo: Police Search For Suspects In Alleged Racist Attack On 91-Year-Old Mexican Man
HuffPo: ‘Dear White People’ Director And Star Break Down Why Black People Can’t Be Racist
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