What will it take for race, racism, and race relations to become as much a part of the issues to discuss as healthcare, housing, and employment?
One can hardly consider themselves current with anything going on in this country, or their own communities, if they are unaware or oblivious to the incidents that occur all too often that are at a minimum insensitive, a show of ignorance, lack of concern, or downright racist or bigoted.
I can hardly consult any news outlet today, without confronting several reports of some racist or race-related incident.
Today alone, it was reported that late night comedian, Jay Leno is being sued by an Indian-American man for a comedy segment where Leno depicted the Golden Temple of Amritsar as the home of Republican candidate, Mitt Romney. Randeep Dhillon, who filed the suit on behalf of all Sikh people, alleges that Leno’s depiction of their shrine as a place for the rich exposes their religion to ridicule, contempt, and hatred. Some Sikhs are demanding that actions be taken against NBC for airing what they see as a racist and derogatory portrayal of the holiest place in the Sikh religion.
When one might think that police departments are improving in how they treat minorities, a New York City Police officer acknowledged this week that he falsified charges to arrest a black man after the two of them exchanged heated words when he, the officer, was in plain clothes — not in uniform, but plain clothes. The police officer, who is a white 32-year old with eight years on the police force admitted to misusing his authority and violating the black man’s civil rights. FBI agents had overheard the officer talking about the encounter, using the N-word and describing the trumped up charges.
And then, there was the “taco comment” made by the mayor of East Haven, Connecticut. The community is outraged and calling for Mayor Joseph Maturo to resign over what a writer in the New Haven Register says was, “A blatant racist, ignorant, and arrogant slur against members of the community Maturo is charged with leading.” What was even more compelling is the writer said: “Today, it is an embarrassment to see predominantly Italian-American East Haven and proudly Italian-influenced Connecticut become known for harassment of and racism toward people who were in my own family’s position years ago”
These are just three incidents that occurred in the last couple of days. And we think all is well when it comes to race, racism, and race relations in America?
Dare we not scratch beyond the surface…