April 28, 2012

• Malcolm X and Racism

  I just finished reading the Autobiography of Malcolm X.  The X stands for the African last name he would never know, erased by slavery.  Malcolm X was a truly honest man.  He was a fiery, passionate speaker of what he understood as truth.  I want to be like that.  I don't want to hold back.  I think back to those times, and white people, you understand what I'm talking about, when I've heard a friend or acquaintance make a racist joke, and I've just given them an awkward grimace, not wanting to offend them by censure.  But silence is racism.  Silence perpetuates the problem.  Malcolm X's vigorous and thorough dedication of his life to end racism has helped me realize that I cannot call myself a Christ-follower and NOT speak out.  So I'm going to try this new thing called courage, and I'm going to reject racist jokes of all kind, no matter how rude I am perceived to be.  

  People like to justify racists jokes, because they're "harmless" or "just for fun,"  but jokes of that nature couldn't be more serious for several reasons.  First, they consciously or unconsciously hurt interracial relations.  In most cases, the joke perpetrator would not share the joke with members of the race it offends.  That creates a facade, a veil of truth. A "Here's how I act with my own race, and here's how I act with them,"  kind of mentality that obscures true solidarity.  Second, the jokes proliferate a false levity that has no place associated with racism.  The manner of a joke is such that humor is expected to ensue, but how are we justified a laugh at something that has its origins grown in slavery, rape, battery, and murder?  Third, the jokes cultivate an undeserved sense of superiority.  By saying the joke, one has placed his or her self into a position above the race at which the joke is aimed. "It's funny, because, clearly, 'we' wouldn't do anything so ridiculous."  

  Post-1964, when white people asked Malcolm X what they could do to help his cause, he would say, "Where the really sincere white people have got to do their 'proving' of themselves is not among black victims, but out on the battle lines of where America's racism really is--and that's in their own home communities; America's racism is among their own fellow whites.  That's where the sincere whites who really mean to accomplish something have got to work."  America has come a long way since the Long, Hot Summer of 1964, but we are still not bigotry-free.  If you say you are an unprejudiced person, then you will take a stand for what you claim and reject prejudiced-attempts at humor.

  • 11:26 am
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