My Take on "Acceptable Racism"

Okay, let's begin.

Getting the itch to write anything sometimes is difficult, especially in my busy, no-time like the present life, where getting things done yesterday is the norm. But the following writing is something that I'm seeking to write because it seems to creep up in conversation and rear its ugly head from time to time, even amongst the closest people in my life – friends, family, people I trust, coworkers, etc.

Have you ever given thought to the idea of “acceptable” racism around you? I mean, seriously. Think about what I'm talking about. In college, this was something that we as resident advisers attempted to slow the pace of and even eliminate, but it never seemed to work, because the world around us was just too caught up in the “realities” of life not to get caught up in the life we all hope for. For those of us lucky enough to go to college and experience the chance to eliminate such “acceptable” racism, the unfortunate part of this idea is that eventually, well, for lack of a better term, we “grow up.” The habits for calling it for what it is go away because we ourselves awaken to the “reality” of life, or at least some do. For some of us, we carry the noble ability to call it out when we see it into our everyday lives, in the hopes that someday we'll help erase it from the world around us.

Ah, to dream...

But what “it” am I referring to? Well, for those of you who may not have experienced the university push to eliminate such “acceptable” racism, let me give some examples. I'm sure everybody and anybody will know what I'm referring to.

For example, everybody has that Uncle who we all love. He's worked on the line for 30 years at a car plant, starting when the mix of whites to blacks was 90% to 10%. He's the one, who now is looking at retirement, is willing to say that “life on the line isn't the same as it used to be.” He's the one who says, “well now that all the black people are coming on board, it isn't the same.” He may even use a more colorful word as an adjective to describe those black people, but nonetheless, without being overtly racist, he is being racist enough that you know what he's trying to say. But, he's your favorite Uncle. You chalk such a statement up to the fact that he has thirty years of experience, and you really don't want to argue with him. You figure he's just of an older generation, and that's his mindset – no sense arguing with him because after all, you can't “change the spots on a leopard,” right?

Or a better one for you, and the truth behind the reason I write such a blog. Somebody close to you decides to blame the ills of the economy, perhaps the personal ills that he or she is experiencing on a particular sect of our society. Partly to blame are the politicians in Washington whose oldest political game in the book is to say “the world is this worse off because of this particular group of people. Blame them!” And so, without knowing it, suddenly a person close to you falls on hard times, and listens to such radical hate-filled speech and before you know it, is spewing the same hate-filled speech out for all to hear. “America has lost its values because more than half this country is filled with minorities now.” Such a statement while seemingly an opinion, is a racist-filled statement of hate. To blame a particular group of people for the ills of the society as a whole, instead of choosing to accept any part of the responsibility, or truly throw the responsibility where it lies. It's easier to blame the “outsiders” who do things differently than we do. It's easier to say “they're the reason why we don't live the way we 'used to.'” When we have somebody, a scapegoat, to place the blame on, it's easier to accept that this reality of which we live may not be permanent, and the only thing we have to do to get back the “perfect harmony” of the yesteryear is to eliminate the threat that is there from these outsiders. I have a feeling that a certain group of people may object to this take, this thought process, that in many ways, began as something as innocent as “they don't belong here.” It is a dangerous line of thinking that can lead to a very tragic ending. It's already happened once in history on a very large scale, and has been attempted on a much smaller scale as well.

Other “acceptable” forms of racism may not be as overt. Working a construction job with a bunch of buddies as each tells a racist stereotypical joke about the local Jewish man; the employer who looks at a name on a resume and actually tosses it in the trash simply because he cannot pronounce it; referring to a particular group of people as “all doing something.” For example, “all Arabic people who shop, shop dirty and leave the store a mess.” At one point or another, you have probably heard somebody around you say something to that effect. Heck, you very well may have said something to that effect yourself. And when you think about the why behind such a statement, it is easy to arrive back to the same conclusion. You are able to say such a statement because it is an “acceptable” form of racism to do so.

Okay, so I've pointed out the obvious that such “acceptable” forms of racism exist, right? I've made everybody feel horrible about the state of their friendships, and you're going “why would you say such things Casey?” Well the answer to that question is simply this: “why are these forms of 'acceptable' racism truly that – acceptable?” Why? Why, in our society, do we let such forms of racism exist in our lives? Why do we let such horrible stereotypes that seek to hurt rather than mend our lives permeate as an acceptable form of practice in those around us?

Take the situation with the Uncle – everybody's favorite Uncle. It is not acceptable for a man, such as he, to talk about how the “black man” is ruining the work environment he so cherished for thirty years. And you should not be afraid to call him on it. Yet, for whatever reason – the unwillingness to start a riff in the family, the fear that he will have good reasoning to say what he said, or in many cases, simple laziness – you are not willing to step up and say something about the inappropriateness of the comment.

The second comment is even worse. As I alluded to as I brought it up – such thoughts are dangerous. Not at first, they don't seem that way, but if you let such thoughts of “these are the people to blame,” permeate your consciousness, eventually you'll start to think of ways to eliminate them from the equation, or find some radical who promises a way to do just that. Think about it – Hurricane Irene struck because our country allowed the repeal of don't ask don't tell – those gays are to blame for the loss of life on the East Coast. Oh my, those Arabics, they're all terrorists after all, and that's why we can't have our simple freedoms as we wait to board an airplane. Blame them – if they would all just leave our country, we'd be better off. Sound familiar?

I've got an even better one, “if you're going to live in our country, you need to speak our language.” This particular “acceptable” form of racism truly gets my blood boiling, because the people who say it truly don't think it all the way through. I mean, even if you take the passion out of such a statement, and the opinions on such matters away from the statement – you arrive at the simple logic of such a statement truly doesn't add up. Think about it – how long does it take to learn a new language? If you think of just toddlers, at the height of their ability to learn from things all around them – it can take at least 3 years to begin to learn the language, and even longer to grasp the details within. But if you take an adult – somebody who has been immersed in their native language for years and ask them to fluently learn another language – how long would that take? 5 years? 10 years? Let's say 5 and be conservative.

Okay – so we have a person, let's say 21 years old. They only know Spanish. They were born in Texas, so they are an American citizen, but because their family speaks Spanish, that is what they were raised on, and therefore only speak Spanish. Now, let's use the racist's idea for a second – the United States passes a law that says “if you're going to live in the United States of America you need to speak our official language of English.” Now the fallacy of such a statement is another matter indeed as the United States doesn't have an official language. But let's just say we were able to make such a statement true.

Now Joe, our Spanish-speaking American citizen, needs to learn how to speak English at the age of 21 and fluently in order to conduct business inside the United States. By the logic of the person who has ordered such a concept – Joe should not be able to go out to restaurants, to stores, hang out at a bar, talk on the phone, or conduct conversations with his family because he doesn't know how to speak English. Logically, does that make sense? Logically, can you truly tell somebody that they need to be an outcast to society for five years until they can learn to speak “correctly?”

This example points to the issue I'm trying to make today. People who make statements like the ones above do so out of ignorance of the society of which they live. They are afraid, they don't know how to respond, or in many cases, know what it will take to change it but choose not to, and rather unproductively criticize the status quo without providing any substantive response on how to fix the ills of which they criticize. They believe something is wrong, but they provide no solution on how to fix it, and then react negatively to any form of change presented by somebody else.

It's not just true for racism – this is a common theme in our society. We live in a land where we can freely speak out mind on anything we want, as long as it doesn't threaten or hurt anybody else and impede their rights. But just because one has the ability to speak their mind, doesn't mean that they should always do so. Sometimes saying something just for the sake of saying something creates more of a problem instead of fixing it. Sometimes, it's just simple bitching, and simple bitching doesn't solve anything. It may very well announce to the world that there is a problem here, but what it doesn't do is give solutions on how to fix that problem.

Take the idea of illegal immigration. We all recognize that it is a problem, for sure. We all recognize that people living in our country illegally needs to be dealt with, but what the general public doesn't think through when they make such statements as “deport them all” is the complexity of how such a process would work. You're dealing with people who have sometimes been in this country for 20 years, who have families established, who work jobs that our typical Americans wouldn't dream of taking, and by exercising such a practice as deporting all illegals, we'd be navigating through a complex host of issues that a person who makes such a three-word statement with passion, wouldn't even think to figure out how to handle.

The point of this blog is that I get frustrated just as anybody else does on the state of things in our culture. Truthfully I do. But my frustration does not grant me the free reign to express an ignorant and naïve opinion on a group of people in this country simply because I think they may or may not be the reasons for our ills. Frustration is an excuse for nobody. And even if I do express such an opinion, I should not get more upset when somebody around me calls me out on it. That's their, and everybody's job to call racism and hate for what it is. Because if we don't, if we're so quick to take away the rights of everybody that we don't like, and nobody is there to stand up for them when it happens, what will happen when somebody else comes around to take away your rights because you've pissed them off in some way?

Racism and hate should never be acceptable, no matter who uses it. Racism and hate are evil, and they have no purpose in our society because all they do is divide. Stand up to those around you today and here on out who seek to use such words to put somebody down, and maybe unknowing to them, begin something that could wind up as tragedy in the end.

Comments welcomed. Be respectful please.

What Obama has to do on Thursday to win my vote in the next election

Okay, so in case most of you don't already know, the President is scheduled to give a huge speech this Thursday regarding the jobless rate and job creation in the country.  It's to a joint session of congress, which is typically reserved for an emergency situation like going to war, a terrorist attack, etc.

Before I get any critics starting to scream at me, let me set the record straight.  I absolutely think the joint session of Congress forum is absolutely appropriate to have such a speech.  We ARE in an emergency situation that needed to be addressed two years ago, and most definitely needed to be addressed all this year.  So for all you critics out there going "he should have just submitted it in writing to the Congress," I completely and wholeheartedly disagree with you.  This is a dire situation we are in, and it's time that President Obama actually used his bully pulpit to push some stuff through.

Now, with that said, a lot of controversy is in the political punditry about what he should or should not say and do.  This blog is basically to sum up my feelings on the entire situation, and what Mr. Obama needs to do to win my vote next year.  Yes, it's that serious.  I'm fed up.

Mr. Obama needs to quit being such a spineless pushover to the Speaker of the House and the House of Republicans.  I'm serious!  I voted for a man with such a vision of how America could be, and was hoping to see that man throughout the last three years.  He appears every once in a while - usually when answering questions off the cuff at town hall meetings or local events.  But I NEVER see that man at a prepared speech to the nation, or to lawmakers.  It's very frustrating.

Mr. Obama needs to ditch the teleprompter, use old fashion note cards, and not be afraid to ad-lib if necessary.  He needs to respond to the room, the feeling, the temperature, the responses and not place applause lines in expecting the members of Congress to agree or not agree simply because he wants them to.  He needs to speak like Michael Douglas does in "The American President," with heart, with conviction, and finally, like a true democrat.

For those of you who know me, you know that I advocate working in the middle, avoiding bi-partisan bickering in order to compromise.  The problem, however, is that the rules of the game were switched on Mr. Obama from the moment he took office, and everybody but Mr. Obama himself has realized it.  There is no compromising with this republican party, because this republican party has made it THEIR PRIORITY to ensure that Mr. Obama is a one-term president.  Even Senator Mitch McConnel has said in not so many words that it is his mission to see the President fail.

So I ask you Mr. President, if the rules of the game have been changed, and there is no compromise with the republican party, why do you keep talking in rhetoric like you're going to see a compromise form John Boehner and his house republicans?  What in the world makes you think that you're going to see him move even an inch closer to the center where you currently stand and wait?  No Mr. President, he has slowly and surely pulled your politics to the right and has titled you so far away from where you once stood, it's not even funny.

Do you want to know why your approval rating is so low Mr. President?  It's not because you passed health care, or because you want to raise taxes on corporations.  No, it's because you have bowed to the republicans every step of the way.  Most Americans want to see a universal health care system, and MOST Americans wanted to see a public option.  But when that option was no longer a possibility you pissed off the liberals.  And now, after the Debt Ceiling debate finally passed, we find that yet again, you gave up a little bit more yardage and unfortunately you sit on the republicans side of the field as we move into one of the worst jobless situations we've seen in decades.  Your approval rating isn't low because people don't agree with your original policies.  Your approval rating is low because you've given too much back to the republicans and your base is PISSED.  I am, and many of the people who voted for you in 2008 are as well.

You need to walk into the House on Thursday night with an agenda.  You need to walk in with a "my way or the highway mentality."  Yes, you do.  More partisanship is exactly what the country DOES need FROM YOU.  It's not counter-intuitive, it's the fact that the country needs to see a man take charge of his convictions and not sway with the wind.  Because, it's there, whether you like it or not.  The republicans know your game and they will continue to take and take and take from you and will never give anything up to you.  So why in the world would you walk into the House Thursday and start in the middle with things you THINK the republicans would be willing to compromise on?  Whether or not they are anything the republicans agreed about before or not, their #1 priority is to get rid of you.  The easiest way to do that is to block anything you have to propose.  So if you start in the middle with things you THINK the republicans would agree to, and they end up saying no to even those then you lose anyway.  You look like a coward to the left, and still are hated on the right.

You need to walk into that House on Thursday and you need to go big with leftist ideas.  RAISE taxes on corporations, and those Americans making $250,000 or more a year, even more so on those Americans making $1 million or more a year, and even more on those Americans making $10 million or more a year.  You know the facts just as I do - we pay less and taxes than we have in the last fifty years.  Make millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share.  Next, FUND another stimulus.  You have to spend more money.  The deficit is NOT the problem right now and unfortunately the debt ceiling fight was merely a distraction to the problem in front of us - we need to spend our way out first, and then deal with the deficit.  Construction projects, high-speed railways, green-project initiatives, more fuel efficient cars, more government jobs all need to be proposed WITH SPECIFICS AND DEADLINES.  Don't just get up there and spew the same old rhetoric out there.  Tell me where and when you want to see these done - get those local communities excited.  Oh yeah, make it fair for us to send products overseas at a fair tariff and tax overseas companies that ship products over here the same they tax us.  Tax companies that ship American jobs overseas more than you tax companies that don't.  These are all things that will grow our economy.

Once you've proposed them - force the Republicans into a deadline.  Say it right on stage, "Mr. Boehner, I expect a vote on this by October 1st; Mr. Boehner I expect to see a bill on my desk by November 30th."  Make them be the bad guys, make them make the choice.  If they go along with you GREAT!  Then we get jobs back in America.  If they don't go along with you, then the American people will see that you did your part but the Republican party didn't do theirs.  Don't pass it as some omnibus legislation; each bill should be its own, and each bill should be voted on.  If the republicans are truly obstructionists and want America to fail, put them on the record, because in 2012 the American people can see when a republican has voted not to lower taxes, or to put America back to work, and in 2012, they will choose the true party of the people - the democrats.  And then you can finally have your way, the American way and get us moving again.

YOU NEED TO PLAY HARDBALL MR. PRESIDENT and quit being spineless.  You need to quit being the adult in the room.  The American People are the adults in the room and you need to take what is rightfully yours.  If you don't start acting like the liberal democratic president that I elected, you will not get re-elected Mr. President.  I am upset, I'm pissed that I have a president that won't act like a president.  Quit getting pushed around by Boehner the bully!  Please!

The old phrase of "if you don't stand for something you'll fall for anything," seems to be applying to you and it's truly disturbing.  You haven't stood up for anything that you want to pass and because of that, you're falling for everything the republicans SAY they'll compromise on, only to yank it away and pull you even more right.  America will stand behind you if you stand up for the true progressive agenda, because, at heart, most Americans are progressive.  Mr. President, it's time to start acting like the President.

Sincerely,

Casey Wooley

COMMENTS WELCOMED.

A Politically Incorrect President is what we need now...

I've been itching to write something new for a while, but have held off because there is so much out there to write about. Truthfully, it seems a lot of my statuses and/or blogs seem to divide more than spawn productive dialogue, though the dialogue I do get out of them seems to be useful for the times of which they are written.

But today's blog, I think is something that both my conservative and liberal friends can get behind - or at least I hope they can. It's a mere observation on the type of leader our country needs right now. Let me preface, as I always seem to do, with the fact that I do like President Obama, and I like the things that he is attempting to do. But I also feel that he's not the leader I voted for in one large capacity - he's too afraid to tell it as it is.

What our country needs right now is a person (man or woman, black or white, or whomever else things they can get the job done) who can talk to the American people on their level, without dumbing it down, and who is also willing to take a political risk in what he says.

I feel as though President Obama is too dreamy in his speeches - he talks too much of what America should be. While there is a time and a place for this, he also is missing the most important part - we're not that America right now. We have got some major problems! We have a debt that just won't stop, wars in three different countries now, major natural disasters around every corner, a huge homeless problem, a jobless problem, the potential for a terrorist attack at any moment, and our President worries about his wording and how it will affect him at the polls.

Now, granted, this isn't just his problem - it's a growing problem with our presidents, and it gets worse every term. The president literally has a team of people telling him how a choice of just one word could affect his poll numbers. To me, this just seems as though this would affect the actual communication that President Obama is trying to have with the American public.

We need a leader who can step into office and get up to the podium and tell it how it is. "To my fellow Americans, we've got a problem. If we, and I mean all of us don't share in some form of sacrifice, our debt is going to grow way out of control. We have to not only cut from discretionary spending, but as a country, we have to cut from the defensive budget, and we have to cut from social security, and from medicare. All around, we have to to cut our spending. And, there is potential, that taxes might have to be raised. We have dug ourselves into a situation that we cannot easily get ourselves out of..."

I mean that right there is truth...that right there is honest. The president knows he has to cut social security, but he is afraid to say it. Our republican friends know they have to cut the defense budget, but they're afraid to say it because of fear that it will cost them numbers at the polls and therefore their job. But until we actually get not only a President who is willing to say such things, but also Congress is willing to say such things, I'm afraid we're never going to get anywhere.

Both parties are at fault here...both parties have unleashed out of control spending. I just wish that the people we elected would stop passing the blame. I mean, it's just downright ridiculous how much both sides blame the other for misfortunes of the past! We need a leader who can step forward and who can say enough is enough and get things done.

I know, I'm preaching to the choir. I just can't understand why it is so simple for us normal, every day Americans, to recognize the ridiculousness of our politicians and they cannot see it themselves. It truly makes me wonder if I should eventually get into politics and throw my thoughts into the ring.

The point of this blog is simply to say we need somebody who isn't afraid to stand against the people in his own party, the other party, and even the lobbyists and "politically correct" groups that got him or her there and say "enough is enough, this is what we're going to do."

What are your thoughts?