[Peace-discuss] Flag Flap

[Linda Evans]

I've started several emails on this one and deleted
them all because I think it is a 'loaded' topic and
tough to deal with over email.

I talked for several hours yesterday with different
friends of mine from all over the country on Dean's
comments.  Some of the friends were people of color
and few were white southerners.  Most of them had an
opinion on Dean's comments...none of them had read the
entire speech or even the whole context in which the
comment was made.

After reading the speech, discussing the context, etc.
everyone agreed that it was a 'stupid' comment, but
probably not meant to be a racist comment.  The
confederate flag is a 'red flag' to most people who
are sensitive to race issues and Dean could have made
him point without using this symbol.  I thought it was
interesting that the African American friends I talked
to originally thought Dean's comment was racist.  The
white southerners who I talked to originally thought
Dean's comment was a stereotypical put down to white
people in the south (no matter what their feelings
regarding the confederate flag).  He seems to offended
the gamut or more accurately, the media seems to have
sold the comment in a way to offend the most viewers.

I am no fan of Dean, believe me I never expected to
defend him...especially this early in the political
'game'.  I believe what Dean was trying to express (in
a pretty insensitive horrible way) is that even people
who would be as far away from your 'normal' democrat
could vote for Dean/and or the Dems because they have
been disenfranchised by the current administration as
well.  It is ironic that a point that could have
brought people together has actually done the opposite
just because of his extremely poor choice of
words...or possibly because of his unconscious racism.
 

Is Dean a racist?  (Someone who believes that race
accounts for differences in human character or ability
and that a particular race is superior to others.) 
I'm not sure.  It is always hard to tell what
politicians truly believe.  It sounds to me that he
thinks himself superior to white southerners who drive
pickup trucks...but he still wants their votes.  :-) 
Do most people in our culture tend to put people who
are like themselves in a higher esteem than those
unlike themselves?  Yes.  We had some emails recently
arguing about 'progressives' working with
'conservatives' and the 'dangers' of this type of
cooperation.  Sure, we aren't born with C's or P's on
our foreheads so this isn't a race issue and race is
definitely different than political preferences...but,
most of us (if not all) discriminate.

If Dean was more a crusader for the rights of
minorities, I think the comment would have come off
differently.  Let's face it, he is pretty much an
unknown as far as race issues so it is easy to assume
a racist comment.  John Lennon said 'women are the
niggers of the world' and I don't know anyone who
views this as a racist comment.  At the point in his
life when Lennon said this, it was already clear what
type of person he was, what he stood for, etc. 
Perhaps if Al Sharpton had read Dean's speech, people
would view the comment differently.  Perhaps not.  We
will probably never know.

I think it is good for these type of events to come up
on this list.  It is always helpful to have
race/racism discussed in a group that is working
against racism.  Even if the discussion gets heated or
sarcastic, I believe it is better to discuss than
ignore.

Linda (hoping she will not be kicked off the
anti-racism working group for this email)

=====
Kindness and compassion towards all living things is a mark of a civilized society. Conversely, cruelty, whether if is directed against human beings or against animals, is not the exclusive province of any one culture or community of people. ... Racism, economic deprival, dogfighting and cockfighting, bullfighting and rodeos are cut from the same fabric: violence ... only when we have become non violent towards all life will we have learned to live well ourselves. Cesar Chavez, 1927-93 (letter, 12/90)








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