It's not a question of black or white

OK. So I'm reading in this evening's news about how the NAACP passed a resolution condemning Tea Party racism, and then how the Tea Party takes umbrage at this smear. Tea Party leaders are mostly smart enough not to publicly embrace their racist followers. But the racists do think the Tea Party is on their side, and I'm sure the Tea Party accepts their donations.

If you are unsure that outright racists support the Tea Party, look at the junk on the back side of the news stories -- all those public comment pages. You'll find plenty of evidence that ignorance and bigotry are alive, though diseased rather than "well." [Do I really have to throw in here that I know not all Tea Partiers are racist and I know not all racists are Tea Partiers? Fine. Please note the disclaimer.] Many of these fine thinkers trot out "reverse racism" to justify their own prejudice. Is there any way to explain to them the fatal flaw in their reasoning? That in spite of the appearance here of a clear contrast between "black" and "white," the terms, as developed in American history and as used to the present day, are not parallel. "White" is not the opposite of "Black." Instead, "White," when it comes to race in America, means "not Black." And that is a distinction that makes a vast deal of difference. For hundreds of years, it meant the difference between slavery and freedom. The point was not your skin color, but your heritage.

Check your gut-level reaction to these terms: Black Student Union, White Student Union. When I was in college, there was an active BSU group (now called AAU), and some dimwit demanded a "White Student Union." If you are a clear-thinking person with the least bit of sensitivity to language and culture, the idea of "White Student Union" gives you the creeps, and rightly so. Just go ahead and call it the "Not-Black Student Union" or, more simply, the "KKK."

Although I knew it would be futile, I wrote up a shorter form of this argument and posted it in the midst of a news feeding frenzy. I was in the company of comments such as "The NAACP is a much larger racist organization than the Klan ever was," and "America would think better of blacks if they didn't rally behind those whose actions would shame a white family." You know? Wow. But I'll depressed for a whole week instead of just tomorrow if I read any more of that junk.

I was not surprised at the fate of my post. Immediately I collected 5 comments and 10 thumbs down to 1 thumb up, almost enough to have my comment hidden along with the really nasty ones. You may be amused to know I am an "idiot" with "logic like mud," and perhaps you even agree. But I think the point stands, that a few people, by showing prejudice against the majority, cannot upend the power differential. Racism in the USA is still too embedded in social, political, and commercial structures. No one can "reverse" this racism simply by being angry at those in power. That is my view.

At heart I am an optimist, and I know we are progressing. It is just so damned slow. From Emancipation to Civil Rights -- that took 150 years. Perhaps in another 100 years we will reach another such milestone. Century-stone. Whatever. Progress on human rights takes a constant sense of urgency and a deep patience for a long, long road. Walk on.