Clarification for my own peace of mind

My blog has remained dormant for a very long time but over the past few weeks, following the string of reported events dealing with police brutality, I acted. I admit it was hashtag activism, however, at the time it was the only thing I could think to do. The point was to showcase how portrayals of African-Americans, especially males in this instance, are far too often portrayed as aggressive, violent, or uneducated. It was simple but I had hoped it would be poignant. I knew the message was needed, even among educated colleagues. I recall at Mercer Law discussing with an older student in my class how he believed the picture that was then being used of a young Trayvon Martin “mischaracterized” him as less of a threat because it was a four-year old picture.

I have included a picture of a 17-year-old Trayvon just because that conversation still bothers me. That it is not the point of this post though.

 

The mental image of Trayvon and other African-American males as thugs both seems to make more sense, at least in some peoples’ minds, and better fits a belief system that demonizes a group thus making that groups problem easier to dismiss. This was the mental state I was coming from when I made a post featuring myself with cornrows and a basketball jersey at 16 years old, and then again, at 23 after a successful National Moot Court competition. After thinking about it however, I realized that putting the photo up was disingenuous because without explaining it all that I succeeded in doing is perpetuate another stereotype.

 

I came about this late revitalization after stumbling upon The Daily Banter website that featured an article about the trend. Never having been to the website before, it being a Monday, and me still being in a somewhat good mood I made the mistake of reading the comments. Aside from the obvious trollish racist blather that one would expect, one gem caught my attention. It wasn’t the comments vitriol that caught my notice but instead the commenters self-perceived  enlightenment.

 

It read:

I’m not white or black, but grew up in a black neighborhood (northwest Baltimore City). As a member of neither race, I LEARNED to grow up scared of black people. Now, before you get all “you’re racist” on me, any logical person would understand that this is not a commentary on an entire race. What is is a commentary on, is the state of cultural affairs in low-income urban neighborhoods, which in my specific experience, was black.

First off, regarding these pictures, to anyone who has not grown up in a violent black neighborhood, it looks like the pictures prove the point of profiling/racism. Well, in my personal experience, it actually reaffirms my environmental “education”, that many blacks (even educated individuals), grew up in rough neighborhoods, and no matter how “clean” the appearance is, MAY have a penchant for aggressive, self-preservation-type “back-in-the-hood” behavior. What I’m saying is, there’s been plenty of times I’ve either witnessed, or been the victim of, a person who looks apparently non-stereotypical, but when the situation presented a variable that touched the wrong button, all hell breaks lose.

This is not indicative to all cultures, but rather, to those that go through many hardships in low-income, violent neighborhoods. In most places it’s black, in some it’s hispanic, and in some, even asian.

Second, over the years, it has become engrained in american black culture (especially to the youth), that certain values are important. Things like clothing, toughness, respect (through intimidation and fear), a certain type of music, etc. are profliferated through the culture. This is true for those blacks that don’t even live in bad neighborhoods. It’s just “expected” because of the color of your skin. In fact, if you reject these things, those blacks are often shunned by their own kind as sell-outs.

My parents owned a store in a bad neighborhood, and COLLEGE STUDENTS from a nationally recognized historic black college, came in on a WEEKLY basis to steal stuff (yes we literally have thousands of hours of video footage to prove it). Just because you clean up well and go to college doesn’t always free you from your background or the way you were raised.

As a kid, I was subjected to more bullying and violence from blacks then I was from whites. No one ever taught me racist rhetoric. In fact, my parents went out of their way to try and make me empathetic to the urban plight. However, I am a product of my own experience, and while I’m not a confrontational person, almost every confrontation I’ve ever had in my life was with a black person who just couldn’t “let it go” and walk away like most normal people, even when I try to (often being ridiculed by “walking away”). There’s always some underlying issues that makes that person want to exert their power over another human being.

Every race has their issues. The biggest disservice that a race can do in situations like this (In my opinion), is to AUTOMATICALLY take the side of your race. Is that not itself a form of racism and color blindness? This creates a perception that anything you say in support of your race is irrelevant to the rest of the world. Afterall, if you cannot prove yourself impartial in a situation, all words spoken after that are null and void. Essentially blind lies said in support of your own agenda.

In this entire situation, the most respect and admiration I find, are for those young black men who stood in front of broken store windows, guarding it from potential looters. These are the real activists. The ones that take accountability for actions, regardless of skin color, and understand that empathy (in this case, for store owners) ultimately is the path to understanding and tolerance.

 

The reason that this comment caused me to break my retirement was multifaceted. I am sure the sentence about learning to be afraid of blacks kept me reading. The line about the expected attitude of the black race and the commenter’s understanding black sellouts both provided a chuckle. What I believe did it though was his justification that his parents “went out of their way” to explain my folks plight, while blacks even if they “clean up” well and attend college just can’t seem to escape, in this author’s mind, the way that they’re raised. Well my friends my mother raised me well so I will not call the author names, but still, those are some simple-minded statements. Instead of the correcting the comment point by point, which would be a waste of all of our time, I use it simply to be illustrative of why I feel I need to provide context to my photo. It all boils down to two simple points, the first is that perception is not reality, and the second is one that I have been preaching to the point of evangelization, is that African-Americans are as diverse a group as any other.

 

On perception, our naive commenter seeks to look in on the whole of African-American experience by his dealings in Baltimore. Assuming for a second that I take everything said at face value and believe Morgan or Coppin State students have marked weekly heists of convenience stores on their dorm room calendars, the whole argument remains moot. The commenters failure is the same as mine, without context both are meaningless. My context, I come from a very fortunate situation with two loving parents. Since I was around ten years old I knew I wanted to be an attorney when I grew up. I was never told that this wasn’t possible and it never crossed my mind for a second that it wouldn’t occur. My “hood-ish” photo was me just being me. I wasn’t trying to fit in with the other black kids, like the author of the comment claims, well because there weren’t many at my parochial high school to begin with. Going to a HBCU, I never felt out of place, in fact I felt more comfortable there then I ever had. Walking through the inner city never struck me with fear, at least not nearly to the same level of apprehension as seeing flashing lights or eyeing a cop as he walks past. We are conditioned to fear situations, to the commenter it is being a minority surrounded on all sides by people who don’t look like him. For African-Americans all across the country that is the norm, being a black face in a white place.

 

The commenter makes one point that I do agree with, there is a self-preservation mindset. That mindset is formulated based upon centuries of inhuman treatment and being called racial epithets  from grade school to law school; sorry there I go again putting my experience where it doesn’t belong. Perception isn’t reality because we can’t divorce ourselves from these strong images in our minds. For the commenter it is a handful of interactions growing up with non- “normal people” who can’t just walk away. I had the same experiences with white and indian kids growing up but I never assumed that their culture taught them to be violent. Still we all have negative perceptions based on our individual experiences that aren’t supported by fact. I hate the state of Georgia to my core. This despite having fun in Atlanta almost every time I have had the opportunity to go there and knowing several terrific people from there or who chose to move there. Still my hand…. well to be fair, it is more like bag full of negative experiences mean I just tend to ascribe the worst anecdotal evidence to support my view. Perception therefore lies, yet it is still important to us individually. The commenter can use his experience, his perception to extrapolate to all of African-American culture. It is his right to have that view, but it in no way makes such a viewpoint right or justified.

 

The second point I make is even more important and infinitely simpler, everyone is unique. Race shouldn’t matter because all people come into life with similar goals. African-Americans are unique because we share a unique forced immigration and slavery story. This is not an excuse but it is a fact. Still African-Americans are not all the same, we differ over religion, politics, regionality, and economic circumstance. All the differences that make any two people in America different make two randomly selected African-Americans just as different. All that aside, knowing what we know, when an unarmed African-American is shot to death by the police it tends to make us suspect something foul occurred, it is more than anecdotal evidence, it is enough history to write a text book. There are stats and figures which I will link to at the end of the article that support this viewpoint. We see our brother or sister or relative as the victim, shot seemingly with little to no provocation just as I am sure the commenter only saw the looting victims because his family owned an inner city store. We all do learn from experience. So I will end by saying your misguided or justified opinion aside, no matter how someone looks or acts we all have worth; regardless that person’s skin color or whether the court they favor features a ball or a gavel.

2013 Black History Month 1 of 1

For the past two years during Black History Month I had been writing daily musings. I genuinely enjoyed it, but to be honest when I thought whether continue it this year I really could not come up with enough good reasons. I still want to do something but with work and life the month of February kind of snuck up on me. Work has pushed a lot of my side projects to fall by the wayside, which is not necessarily a bad thing. As rushed as it always was I seemed to still, for the most part, manage to get point across. Also, it was cool getting other peoples reactions. But I wouldn’t want to again if I really wasn’t into it.

Also, being back in NY and with good ol’ boy loving Macon, GA behind me – never to be seen again, it seemed right to change it up. But to what? Still haven’t figured that out. I have some ideas, none of them that much good. See I never have really celebrated Black History Month; instead I always thought of it more like an observance. Sharing your culture with others and helping people better understand your story. Coolest moment of any of the posts was when someone from my law school came up to me and started telling me that he never knew the things that I wrote about the Black Panthers and Malcolm X. You could tell it had altered his opinion just by throwing a few facts out there. That is stuff we could all be doing anyway.

I am very aware, however, that the reason I started this blog remains unfulfilled. Just a few months ago a person I considered a friend got all bent out of shape post Obama’s election. It however, wasn’t about politics but about something much deeper. Do I think that person is a racist, absolutely not. That individual was one of the most inviting people I dealt with while I was in Georgia but he believed, like many do, that when a African-American man has a strong opinion about something that means he is “harboring anger in [his] heart”. Still gets me mad thinking about it, but for every failure there is a triumph. And being honest the fact that I gave someone the chance only to see there malice towards people who look like me, well as strange as it sounds I count it as a win.

So where does that leave me I still don’t know but I know that a Black fact a day doesn’t keep racism away. Read a Baldwin book or watch an Alvin Ailey performance. Just open your mind to something new. Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Learn, teach, do. And well at least for now…

Until I think of something or YOU give me a great idea, talk to you next time.

Day 29: The Close

After a longer then average month of February it comes to a close. 3 years of this and it still is amazing to me that there is enough to talk about. New subjects and new incidents that spark discussion. I know that we don’t all agree and that can unite us just as much as it divides us. Yesterday, I posted the following, http://wp.me/p1kx2e-7A. Why did I post it is real simple WE DO NOT live in a post racial America. Race, class, and education still serve as barriers that limit so many. It takes luck and great fortune to for me to be able to write this blog, many should be here with me. For as sure as I am going to be the only black male in my graduating law school class, I am just as sure that there are 10-20 African-American men who should be celebrating with me, but money, community, violence, and the fluke of the skin of their birth denied them the opportunity.

People love to talk about progress and change but here is the thing, people are not ready to abandon their preconceived notions and take a chance. Learn, grow, discover, and inquire. People want to just say that things are over and done with because they are told so. Those same people never have investigated themselves. When I went into college at an HBCU I was angry and confused. Unfortunately, after years of leaving that feeling behind. I have reverted to that pre-HBCU state in a lot of ways. I am now quick to be annoyed by the ignorance that I experience, hear, read, and see. The problem is though I am starting to get apathetic about it. You get desensitized to the statements, comments, and jibes. You begin to start to question what is the matter with me why am I so sensitive? Well at least that is how I have been feeling lately.

Black History Month comes around once a year, during the shortest month of the year, simply to get us to wake up and realize everything is not all sunshine and daffodils.  A wake up to those who while trying to turn the other cheek keep getting slapped down further and further. It is a call to bring back the Renaissance of Harlem and the words of Baldwin, Langston, and Zora. A call to remember our strength from Ali and Louis all the way back to Jack Johnson. A call to remember our leaders Martin, Malcolm, and Nelson. A call to remember heroes and visionaries like DuBois, Sojourner, Tubman, Douglass. We are American history, that is very true, but our story, our tale, of perseverance, of fight, of cunning and bravery is so unique that nothing compares to it.

What we all (and I do mean all races, genders, religions, etc.) can be do is to remember and hear that call. I mean usually it is only 28 days, I think that it is the least we can do.

Until Next Time.

Day 28: I Love Youtube…

This is going to be a two part post to close out the month. For today this is all I wanted share and we can talk tomorrow.

Until tomorrow.

Day 27: NASCAR???

It is coming down to the last few days of the month, and honestly I am running out of steam. When trying to figure out what to talk about about today my mind went and then stayed blank. Well that was until the internet saved me. Stuck in the South, the rough south, not the nice crawfish and gumbo South, I have noticed that there are more than a few things that are different. One glaring difference is peoples fascination with NASCAR. Now, I never have and probably never will put a NASCAR race on my to do list. Driving in a oval, albeit fast, never struck me as much of a sport or even a sport at all. NASCAR never had the athleticism of basketball, the action of football, the legacy and tradition of baseball, or the grace of futbol or soccer. In person I get how it could be exciting but then whose interest is peaked enough to go? I also feel pretty safe in saying that I am not the only African-American who has had this thought process. It would be hard to imagine a sport with a more specific demographic but of course there are always exceptions.

The women above is Tia Norfleet. I who consider myself pretty up to date on sports was more than surprised to see this, a Black Women in NASCAR. Well I guess she is not technically in NASCAR. To be honest in the several pieces that have been written about her there is relatively little information about her career apart from a pretty impressive 37 wins out of 51 races in Drag Racing. Why then all the buzz? Tia is the first and to date the only African-American woman to be issued a NASCAR license according to several websites. When after a little digging I found that to become a NASCAR licensed driver you need to pay the registration fee of around $2,500, http://community.nascar.com/jimmie_johnsons_crew/blog/2009/06/28/nascar_licensing_fees_released, and well not really sure what else. Details are so vague that as of now whether or not she will race anywhere soon, let alone a NASCAR event, is sketchy.

All and all it is pretty interesting. Whether this is an interesting internet buildup or Ms. Norfleet ends up competing with Danica the idea is intriguing. Sports are so often tied to a group, African-Americans in Basketball, Latin Americans in Baseball, and Canadians in Hockey. Yes, those are oversimplifications but they are generally believed. In that context is it any surprise that the sports media went nuts when Jeremy Lin, an Asian-American, comes out of seemingly nowhere and starts playing well? The thing about sports that is so great is that it is really were capitalism and money take a back seat. The best were born with it and then worked long and hard perfecting their talents just to get a shot. Contacts, legacy, don’t win you a spot, at least not in the long term. Sports are based more purely than most things just on skill.

Maybe it is that fact that has prevented me getting into NASCAR. Tia in several of her interviews was citing the cost of going forward. In no other sport is the equipment and its maintenance more important. Yes, the great drivers probably saw gaps better and probably knew when to take the risks need. But I guarantee no matter how good a driver I am my 2000 Hyundai Elantra is not going to beat a Ford Mustang in a race. At the top level they are all pretty close but still the you don’t see the American Ethanol, C&J Energy, or Smithfield “Helping Hungry Homes” sponsored cars winning a lot of races.

So while I hope to one day have a reason to turn on a NASCAR event, of any level, or at least not be as annoyed when Sportscenter reports on a race, I am not holding my breath. But hey its fun to dream. Oh and Tia claims the number 34 in homage to Wendell Scott, the first African-American to win a sanctioned NASCAR race. To learn about him when you have the time I encourage you to watch the following:

Until tomorrow.

Day 26: Black Voting History Lesson

Immediately after the Civil War, the Reconstruction period provided former black slaves and free blacks with rights that they had never before enjoyed, this included the ability to participate in the political process. This newly garnered freedom, however, lasted very briefly, only about 30 years, before the Plessy vs. Ferguson decision. This case which established separate but equal also changed voting. According to American Politics and the African-American Quest for Universal Freedom the separation of the races “required the use of separate polling places”. This became the beginning for the disenfranchisement of black voter.

Over the years since the Plessy vs. Ferguson decision blacks have been diluted, hindered, or stopped from voting in several dubious ways. The four ways that this paper will briefly look at are literacy tests, poll tax, gerrymandering, and grandfather clause. The one that is perhaps the most racially based is the grandfather clause which is very simple to understand, if you could prove your grandfather voted you to would be allowed to vote. The problem for African- Americans was that they had just gotten the right to vote and with a slave as their grandfather they would be thrown in to a continuous cycle of disenfranchisement. The next were literacy tests that were almost only administered to blacks and were made so difficult that they were in most cases impossible to pass. Blacks were not only as a whole not as educated because even basic education was hard to obtain but questions on literacy test also had civics questions that would be as hard for Whites to pass as it was for blacks. Another policy was a poll tax and this policy prevented not only blacks but also many whites from voting. Only those that owned their own land and had a higher income could afford to vote, which could cost as much as a month’s wages for a regular farm worker. The last way that this paper will discuss the hindering of the black vote has unlike the others not been totally done away with; the process by which this is done is called gerrymandering. “To divide (a territorial unit) into election districts to give one political party an electoral majority in a large number of districts while concentrating the voting strength of the opposition in as few districts as possible”², this definition can also be applied to race as blacks have been redistricted to keep the number of districts the are a majority in down so that less candidates who are black have the backing to run for national offices.

Each measure whether it was literacy tests, poll tax, gerrymandering, and grandfather clause was able to influence and potentially change elections by keeping black people from the polls. For over 65 years until the passage of the voting rights act in 1965 black had been oppressed by the majority and denied the rights that the period after the civil war had promised them. With this history it should be obvious why you should exercise your right to vote.

 

Day 25: Black Entertainment Television

I was on twitter after the Whitney Houston News broke and one of my friends made a pretty insightful comment. Why did he have to turn to MTV Jams to see Whitney Houston videos played? Specifically, WTF BET? I mean media is increasingly important. More people get their news from TV and the internet then what was the name of that thing… oh yeah Newspapers. I still like newspapers myself. I subscribe to the New York times because that is what I grew up looking. I like the familiarity and reliability of print journalism, still one can not fight progress.

Back to BET. In the beginning, the vision of the founder of Bob Johnson was largely positive. BET became a broadcasting giant that claimed an audience of more than 70 million households. In 1991, BET became the first black-controlled company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Since then well it has gone downhill pretty fast, well at least in terms of content. In 2000, Johnson sold BET for 3 Billion Dollars, so you can not really blame him. Since that time 2003 saw the last news program on the network get cancelled. The network has its own scripted television but it is usually poorly done and has tended to copy the formulas of better know original programing of other networks. Despite these facts there is really no other alternative.  The days of the Cosby Show, Family Matters, and Fresh Prince are behind us, there are still very few, if any, other African-Americans as the main character on major networks aside from BET. So it should not come as too much of a surprise that last year at the end of Q1 BET set records for viewership. Yup, here are some of the highlights:

· BET among the top 20 ad-support cable networks among adults 18-49(moved from #20 in 2010 to #17 2011 YTD);
· BET had more top 10 weekday telecasts among blacks 18-49 than any other network on television;
· BET is the #1 growth network among Blacks 18-49; and
· The network ranks among the top cable growth networks among total viewers.

Is this bad or evil, no. It just in some cases does not showcase the various aspects of the African-American experience, and really if it is doing this well why would it. I mean for the money it has to output, which is relatively little, it has a huge return. The business model is sound even if the product is below par.

In terms of alternatives there really is not much out there. I am hoping that the HBCU Network does well but it is facing an uphill battle (http://www.hbcunetwork.com/) being a niche market and choosing to focus more on sports telecasting. So we are still left guessing where to go for news. I guess you could keep reading this blog or better yet start your own network ,the more alternatives and competition the better. Hey got to get that capitalist model working and hey if it goes well you too might be able to sell out for 3 Billion Dollars; shoot I would.

Until tomorrow.

Day 24: You Can Quote Me

I got a good idea from a close friend of mine for today’s post. I have always liked quotations, so I thought sharing some of my favorites would encourage those reading to share their favorites with me. Pretty simple right?

If you have no critics you’ll likely have no success.
– Malcolm X

I had reasoned this out in my mind, there was one of two things I had a right to, liberty or death; if I could not have one, I would have the other.
– Harriet Tubman

Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can’t practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage.
– Maya Angelou

If you even dream of beating me you’d better wake up and apologize.
– Muhammad Ali

Work like you don’t need the money. Love like you’ve never been hurt. Dance like nobody’s watching.
– Satchel Paige

I submit to you that if a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.
– Martin Luther King, Jr.

It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity.
– W. E. B. Du Bois

An American, a Negro… two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.
– W. E. B. Du Bois

I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.
– James A. Baldwin

People might not get all they work for in this world, but they must certainly work for all they get.
– Frederick Douglass

Negroes – Sweet and docile, Meek, humble, and kind: Beware the day – They change their mind.
– Langston Hughes

I’m not interested in trying to work on people’s perceptions. I am who I am, and if you don’t take the time to learn about that, then your perception is going to be your problem.
– Jim Brown

Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company? It’s beyond me.
– Zora Neale Hurston

Until tomorrow.

Day 23: Revisiting the idea of the Black Conservative

“Many interviewers when they come to talk to me, think they’re being progressive by not mentioning in their stories any longer that I’m black. I tell them, ‘Don’t stop now. If I shot somebody you’d mention it.”
Colin Powell

Today I am going to revisit a very old piece that I wrote for a short research paper detailing the rise of Black conservatism in America. The theory was that a potential for the divide in blacks as a political group could make politicians work harder for the Black vote and to actually cause an increased level of political activism. Well this the old article that details the rise:

“A new approach needs to be taken. Conservatives need to highlight the positive and showcase the benefits that have  black conservatives can bring to the party. When looking at blacks in high government positions of power it is surprising to many that the Republican Party has had higher ranking blacks in prestigious positions. From Alan Keyes during the Reagan administration to the appointment of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court under George H.W. Bush to the choices of Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice to serve as Secretary of State by George W. Bush, African-Americans have continued to rise in positions of power and influence within the GOP.

The rise of Clarence Thomas is particularly interesting when looking at the shift from black liberalism to black conservatism because of whom Thomas replaced on the bench. Thomas who has been one of the most conservative justices since his appointment replaced Thurgood Marshall, the defender of civil rights for all and killer of segregation in public schools. Thomas was appointed in what many saw as a quota move but as Bush put it “he was the best man for the job”. Thomas had been considered the most influential African-American until the appointment of Colin Powell who helped gain Bush initially some amount of favor in the black community. Powell unlike Thomas was considered to have the best interest of his people at heart. Many in the black community approved when Powell publicly supported affirmative action, saying to CNN, “I wish it was possible for everything to be race-neutral in this country, but I’m afraid we’re not yet at that point where things are race-neutral.” Powell appeal had long made him susceptible to rumors he would run for the presidency in 1996 to 2008 but he has always declined. The man who may beat Powell to the title of the nation’s first black president also may end black conservatism as we know it. All conservatism’s gains in regards to African-Americans are in danger of being trumped and the black conservative movement may very well cease to be the major political force it has become all because of Senator Barack Obama.”

Since the piece and Obama’s election well Conservatism and Blacks took a major step back. Even though Michael Steele was elected head of the GOP and Herman Cain had a bizarre Presidential campaign the rise of the Tea Party movement with its many fresh and blatant racial attacks has really spurred progress. Ironically Obama for all his historic significance to me came from the wrong party. Now don’t get me wrong I support much of what Obama has done and is trying to do but I think that if Colin Powell had been the history maker then African-Americans could once again become an important player in the two party system. Colin would have made African-Americans really examine Republican policies, some of which they may support. Unfortunately, many republicans hostility to Obama has also brought out racial tensions that many have seen in a while. Oh what could have been, well that is if the community did manage to finally get out and vote.

Until tomorrow.

Day 22: Religion, Race, Hate and Hope

Barack Obama is a Muslim. Well at least that is what some say. I am not writing today to debate that point. What I am writing about is how religion, on this Ash Wednesday, is so divisive and used to label, attack, and demean others. In essence if Barack somehow became a Muslim, why the hell would it matter?

Politics today is less about your ideas and more about your background. The only reason the GOP are still in the race that they are in is because their major frontrunner is Mormon. His rival on this Ash Wednesday, I am sad to report, is like myself a fellow Catholic. I can’t even blame his holier than thou approach on him being a Southern Catholic, who as I have  personally observed in GA are a different breed of believers. Still, Santorum has placed himself as the defender of Christianity from that Moor Obama and that ideological fringe in Romney. It is truly ironic, a Catholic pulling the religion card, the same card that was used against JFK. Trust me the two could not be further apart, but Santorum is from Pennsylvania and you have to be more than a little nuts to support the Eagles.  Click on the following for a nice discussion of Rick Santorum and how Religion plays a part in politics #46486181. Still this divide has been researched:

“Through a nationwide telephone survey of 2,000 people and an additional 200 face-to-face interviews, Michael O. Emerson and Christian Smith probed the grassroots of white evangelical America. They found that despite recent efforts by the movement’s leaders to address the problem of racial discrimination, evangelicals themselves seem to be preserving America’s racial chasm. In fact, most white evangelicals see no systematic discrimination against blacks. But the authors contend that it is not active racism that prevents evangelicals from recognizing ongoing problems in American society. Instead, it is the evangelical movement’s emphasis on individualism, free will, and personal relationships that makes invisible the pervasive injustice that perpetuates racial inequality. Most racial problems, the subjects told the authors, can be solved by the repentance and conversion of the sinful individuals at fault. Combining a substantial body of evidence with sophisticated analysis and interpretation, the authors throw sharp light on the oldest American dilemma. In the end, they conclude that despite the best intentions of evangelical leaders and some positive trends, real racial reconciliation remains far over the horizon.” Michael O. Emerson and Christian Smith, Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America, Oxford Press (2001).

The uber-Christian fringe of the Republican party don’t get me wrong has faith and at heart are very spiritual people. My only question to the group is why religion always is used to be divisive? Shouldn’t religion be private, a way to bring us internal peace so that we can be better people. I don’t like quoting the Bible, it has always seemed to come off as preachy to me, but one of my favorite passages comes from Matthew: Chapter 6.

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. ⁶ But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. ⁷ And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. ⁸ Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”

Anyway as a Catholic I have been asked some crazy questions, like do I believe in Jesus? When I responded flippantly “yeah, the Catholic church kind of started the whole belief in Jesus thing”, well I got a pretty strong reaction. Being an African-American Catholic has drawn much more animosity since I have resided in Georgia. I remember an argument with a fellow classmate who swore that gays were sinners. Maybe it is the churches that I have been a part of but it was always that religion was inclusive. Didn’t matter your skin tone or any other factor if you showed up on Sunday you were accepted. No admission fee, no questions, just come on in. To me church was always meant to display the hope of what the world could be like, if everyone accepted each other as brothers and sisters in faith.

One of my new favorites is Desmond Tutu. I just started reading his books about a summer ago. If you don’t know who he is well you need to get to know who he is. Some help… http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1984/tutu-bio.html. The reason I admire the man is not his Nobel Prize but his approach to religion which I was surprised to find is so much like my own. It is not about division and it is not a battle to see who gets to the promised land first or the rankings of the different sects. Religion is the understanding that there are forces outside our control, that God (whichever way you call him) wants us to love each other, and that we should be aiding each other in our own individual growth.

To quote Archbishop Tutu, “This is a matter of ordinary justice. We struggled against apartheid in South Africa, supported by people the world over, because black people were being blamed and made to suffer for something we could do nothing about — our very skin. It is the same with sexual orientation. It is a given. I could not have fought against the discrimination of apartheid and not also fight against the discrimination that homosexuals endure, even in our churches and faith groups.”

Why see hate, why see race, especially in religion. Ash Wednesday is the start of the Lenten season. I never will probably ever preach to anybody but I just humbly ask you reading to take a minute to do this, you probably will think its stupid but ask if you are a Christian: What would Jesus do? Haha I know but hear me out. Ask  yourself the question in this context, not whether he would run a red light or cheat on his taxes, but instead whether he would care about race, religious divide, or sexual orientation. Well the Jesus I have read about hung out with tax collectors (hustlers/thieves), prostitutes, and lepers. Seems like that kind of a guy may sit down and listen to a discussion between a African-American, a Mormon, a Muslim, a Jew, and a Homosexual. But hey you debate and argue, I am going to talk it over with who really matters.

Until tomorrow.