{"id":322277,"date":"2017-08-18T21:30:31","date_gmt":"2017-08-18T20:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/surprised-by-charlottesville-you-havent-been-paying-attention\/"},"modified":"2017-08-18T21:30:31","modified_gmt":"2017-08-18T20:30:31","slug":"surprised-by-charlottesville-you-havent-been-paying-attention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/surprised-by-charlottesville-you-havent-been-paying-attention\/","title":{"rendered":"Surprised by Charlottesville? You Haven\u2019t Been Paying Attention"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

America is a funny place.<\/p>\n

On the one hand, we\u2019re one of the first modern Democracies, a product of Enlightenment thinking and unabashed pluralism and cultural diversity.<\/p>\n

On the other, we\u2019ve built our entire society on a cast system that is the basis of our economics, politics and cultural mores.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re the land of Benjamin Franklin, the Wright brothers, Duke Ellington, Toni Morrison, and Sandra Day O\u2019Connor.<\/p>\n

But we\u2019re also the land of Andrew Jackson, Jefferson Davis, Charles Lindberg, Bull Connor, and David Duke.<\/p>\n

Tolerance and love are as American as apple pie. But so are racism, sexism, prejudice and anti-Semitism.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not as though the United States is the land of opportunity, or a hypocritical racist state,\u201d says sociologist John Skrentny<\/a>. \u201cIt is one or both, depending on context.\u201d<\/p>\n

So this week when people saw Nazis marching openly in Charlottesville, Virginia,<\/a> the only thing that was really so surprising about it was how surprised so many people seem to be.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not my America!\u201d they seem to be saying.<\/p>\n

To which I reply, \u201cHell, yes, it is! Where have you been the last 241 years!?\u201d<\/p>\n

We base our salary scales on genitalia! You think we\u2019re really so freaking advanced!?<\/p>\n

The shade of your epidermis determines the likelihood of police arresting you, charging you, even killing you regardless of your having a weapon, whether you resist arrest or simply lay on the ground with your hands in the air.<\/p>\n

Regardless of the evidence, if you\u2019re convicted, the length and severity of the sentence are all partially determined by the amount of melanin in your skin. The cultural derivation of the name on your resume determines the likelihood of employers calling you back for an interview. In many places, your rights are legislated based on whom you love.<\/p>\n

Our schools are segregated. Our taxes are levied most heavily on those with the least means to pay. Our prisons house more black people today than did slave plantations in the 1860s.<\/p>\n

Yet a bunch of white dudes carrying Tiki torches shouting hate filled puns (\u201cJew will not replace us\u201d? Seriously?) somehow doesn\u2019t compute?<\/p>\n

Come on.<\/p>\n

This is America.<\/p>\n

Racism and prejudice are not threats smuggled in past border security. They\u2019ve always been here. At least since Europeans came offering trade and peace with one hand and guns and smallpox with the other.<\/p>\n

The land of the free was stolen from the Native Americans. Our national wealth was built on the backs of slaves. Our laws and electoral system were built to empower one group at the expense of others.<\/p>\n

Yet reformations in this process are rarely met with celebration. Instead of memorializing the end of slavery, we embrace the institution with fond remembrance.<\/p>\n

Nor did prejudice and bigotry end when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat, after Brown vs. Board, the Voting Rights Act, Freedom Rides, sit-ins or civil rights protests.<\/p>\n

America has always been a place hostile to the under privileged, the second sex, religious dissenters, the brown skinned.<\/p>\n

At most, we had become less confrontational in recent years, but we never really changed our core values, our social structures, who has power and who does not.<\/p>\n

During my lifetime, people started to equate having a black President with the end of racism. Somehow they ignored the everyday reality for most black people.<\/p>\n

They ignored the constant prejudice against the poor, the continued bigotry against LGBTs, the Islamophobia, the increase in hate crimes.<\/p>\n

If there has been any change during the past eight months, it hasn\u2019t been with the degree to which Americans are prejudiced. It\u2019s the degree with which we\u2019re willing to hide it.<\/p>\n

Whereas before racists would claim to be colorblind, that their actions were completely devoid of racial bias, today they sigh and repeat the dusty slogans of Jim Crow Alabama or 1930s Berlin.<\/p>\n

And somehow people are actually surprised about this.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

It\u2019s because too many of us have swallowed the lies about living in a post-racial society.<\/p>\n

You thought we were beyond all that. It was a brave new world, morning in America, and we were finally treating everyone equally \u2013 unless you looked at what we were actually doing.<\/p>\n

Mainly this is the reaction you get from white people. They rub their eyes and just can\u2019t believe it.<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t see this too often from people of color, Muslims, LGBTs and some Jews. Why? Because they never had the luxury to ignore it.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what we white folks have been doing since the beginning.<\/p>\n

Whenever these issues come up, we have a knee jerk reaction to minimize it.<\/p>\n

Things aren\u2019t that bad. You\u2019re just blowing it out of proportion.<\/p>\n

But, no. I\u2019m not.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why you\u2019re so damn shocked, son.<\/p>\n

You haven\u2019t been looking reality square in the face.<\/p>\n

So when we\u2019ve got undeniable video footage of angry white males (mostly) marching through Southern streets brandishing swastikas and assault rifles, it catches many white folks off guard.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re not prepared for it \u2013 because they haven\u2019t been doing their homework.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve been living in a bubble. Especially those living in major metropolitan areas.<\/p>\n

That kind of thing never happens around here, right?<\/p>\n

Of course it does!<\/p>\n

Just because you live above the Mason Dixon Line doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re safe.<\/p>\n

You have a black friend, you like authentic Mexican food and you laugh while watching \u201cModern Family.\u201d<\/p>\n

But you haven\u2019t opened your eyes to the reality outside your door.<\/p>\n

You send your kids to private school or live in a mostly upper class white district. You have an exclusive gym membership that keeps out the riff-raff. You work in an office where that one token person of color makes you feel sophisticated and open-minded.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve got to wake up.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve got to educate yourself about race and class in America.<\/p>\n

Because those people you saw in Charlottesville aren\u2019t an anomaly.<\/p>\n

They are an authentic part of this country, and if you don\u2019t like it, you have to do something about it.<\/p>\n

You can\u2019t hide behind denial.<\/p>\n

You have to take a stand, pick a side, and be counted.<\/p>\n

Because one day soon, the torches will be outside your door.<\/p>\n

\u00a0You have to decide now \u2013 do you want to brandish or extinguish them?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Via Common Dreams<\/a>. This piece was reprinted by RINF Alternative News<\/a> with permission or license.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

America is a funny place. On the one hand, we\u2019re one of the first modern Democracies, a product of Enlightenment thinking and unabashed pluralism and cultural diversity. On the other, we\u2019ve built our entire society on a cast system that is the basis of our economics, politics and cultural mores. We\u2019re the land of Benjamin […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":322148,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[519],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-322277","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-newswire"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=322277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322277\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/322148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}