A Message to White America: "It's Time We Woke Up"
I am of European descent and, while I prefer to be called European American, given the American practice of classifying people by their race, I need to state unequivocally that I am "white". And it is of this "whiteness", it's repercussions and responsibilities that I write.
All of my adult life I have been a political activist. For more than 30 years I have participated in virtually all the major movements for justice in this country encompassing civil rights, anti-war, anti-apartheid, anti-nuclear, anti-corporate, anti-death penalty, on and on. Throughout this vast experience invariably racism and class oppression raise their ugly heads. For me, however, the most compelling and disturbing of these is racism and its companion white supremacy. The brilliant and profound scholar W.E.B Dubois warned us that the issue of race would define the 20th century which indeed it has. And because America has been so lax in adequately addressing this disease of racism and all it's augmented problems, race will likely define the 21st century as well.
Racism in America is of epidemic proportions and whoever denies this must be a fool or blind. It surrounds us in our economic strata, in our prison system, in our schools, in our political infrastructures, in our foreign policy, in our health system, in our housing, in our banking to name only a few! It is not a problem only in white conservative circles where most activists would expect it to be lodged, but in the so-called liberal and progressive circles as well. All will attempt to state otherwise. Conservatives might claim some of their best friends are Black. Liberals might state that they are working for changes of some policies which will "make life better for Blacks". Progressives in various organizations might say that they are working under the leadership of Blacks so they must be doing something right. None of this is ever enough and it is literally and figuratively "white wash". It is true that historically there have always been whites who have taken a stand against racism but the numbers have been far too limited given the enormity of the problem. This has frustrated me to the point that a few years ago I wrote a lengthy poem entitled "Being White and Angry" in which I delineated what some have described as an epistle of "white" ancestral and present day immoral, disgraceful and tragic exploits from slavery to the Gulf War.
The dreadful realities of racism and white supremacy have always teetered on the walls of decay because the foundation is built on lies and deception. No one has gained from racism despite claims to the contrary. If anything, we as whites have diminished our souls through racist practices and any economic gains are tainted - I refer to such gains as blood money.
Are some of us nervous about reactions from other whites if we take up the call against racism? For some, this is likely true. Are we ignorant of racism? No, but nevertheless it seems the majority of whites claim ignorance. Are we apathetic? Yes. Do some of us feel guilt? Probably. Would we prefer to pass the buck? Always. Strangely, we prefer to blame those who are the victims of our prevailing racism as if they were architects of their own victimization and not us. The insanity and hypocrisy of this is mind boggling.
We need to recognize that we should never pursue any struggle against racism or for justice alone - or any other struggle for that matter. With whites leading the way we have experienced untold disasters for centuries. Forbid we should revisit such devastating consequences and pain. Actually this is rather a non-issue. Our deceit and lies are now out there for everyone to see, we could never get away with leading the way even if we tried. Let's admit our ignorance and false vacuous, hopeless pride. It's time we started to learn and do something worthwhile. We are centuries too late, but now is as good a time as any to start!
