October 7th, 2014
· An
underlying belief in the superiority of one race over another and its right to
dominate.
· Generalizing one group of people by believing in simplistic stereotypes of that group.
· Affects every aspect of the lives of communities of color: social, economic, political, health, etc.
· May take three main forms (though all work together to maintain a system of oppression).
· Individual Racism-individual acts that overtly reflect racist attitudes/beliefs. This is the easiest one to identify. I.e. racial slurs, jokes, etc.
· Systemic Racism and Institutional Racism-organizational policies and practices at the structural level that indirectly target communities of color and maintain white privilege. I.e. racism in the criminal justice system (police profiling); racism in the educational system (all white authors on a course reading list.)
· Cultural Racism-value system that supports and allows discriminatory actions against racially and ethno culturally marginalized communities. I.e. white privilege.
Ferguson
Editor Says
This Cartoon Was Not
Intended
To Be Racist
The Nation continues to watch and wait for
the grand jury to make a decision in the beginning of the year 2015 on whether
or not the person (I won’t dignify this
killer by stating his name) who shot and killed unarmed Michael Brown will
be criminally charged. Michael Brown was a teenager who was scheduled to begin
his freshmen year in college, the teen who has been unjustifiably labeled a
gang member and a thug…Wow I think I just wrote a blog entry not too long ago about
a young football player who was also unjustifiably labeled a gang member and a
thug. Hmmm, is this the behavioral pattern of scared white men in authority???
With the continued justified unrest
surrounding the killing of unarmed Michael Brown in Ferguson Missouri, I
decided to search the internet for any updates regarding this racist cartoon (above)
drawn by Gary McCoy and published in the Columbia Daily Tribune. I must have been
operating on the notion that professional journalist and nationally known
newspaper editors would weigh in on the negative impact of the media on the
issues of racism in America today. To date, I cannot find one published opinion
or editorial column from any of the highly publicized Newspapers, the heavy
hitters such as The Washington Post, The New York Times, and the like
exploring. Where’s the conversation, where’s the dialog on racism in America
today which we keep saying needs to occur??
Ohhhh, I get it, not only is it a “ Good Ole’ Boys
Club”, I completely forgot, it is a “Good Ole’ White Privileged Boys Club”! Please
forgive this white woman’s nativity. I forgot that this “club” if you will, is still
closed to Black Men … this explains the high level of stupidity and club
mentality!!! I then read an article on another blog detailing that Robertson so
eloquently stated that he would have axed the cartoon if he had insight that
the cartoon would have caused such an uproar! Oh really??!!
Mr. Robertson was also quoted as saying:
"Even
though I don't necessarily agree that it had no value, it's not worth the
trouble it has caused," he says. "There is no journalistic principle
involved here. You'd rather not piss people off."
Since when do racist messages
have value??
have value??
To my mind, a newspaper editor has the
responsibility to report the news, fact finding news not to spew biases,
stereotypic characterization of OUR Black community who did more than just help to build this country…but rather
the thread that keeps our US flag from fraying. The idea that the editor had
the pure audacity to state the Ferguson cartoon was not intended to be
racist….Lol! Are you serious or like another pompous rich white man, did you
eat too many of your Glaucoma brownies??
Please do enlighten this white person and tell me then, what was the
intent? I would bet my paycheck that if the tables were turned and a white teen
from a wealthy community was murdered, and the editor allowed the publication
of a cartoon depicting this teen with a silver spoon in his mouth and who was
asking to be murdered, the out cry for justice would resonate throughout this
country!!
Mr. Robertson please try and educate yourself
on the true definition of racism. Once
educated then maybe you will speak with a tad more intelligence rather than
compare this racist cartoon with that of George Bush! Depicting George Bush with Dumbo ears is not
a disparaging stereotype of a racial group but rather a derogatory slight of
one person‘s intelligence.
· Generalizing one group of people by believing in simplistic stereotypes of that group.
· Affects every aspect of the lives of communities of color: social, economic, political, health, etc.
· May take three main forms (though all work together to maintain a system of oppression).
· Individual Racism-individual acts that overtly reflect racist attitudes/beliefs. This is the easiest one to identify. I.e. racial slurs, jokes, etc.
· Systemic Racism and Institutional Racism-organizational policies and practices at the structural level that indirectly target communities of color and maintain white privilege. I.e. racism in the criminal justice system (police profiling); racism in the educational system (all white authors on a course reading list.)
· Cultural Racism-value system that supports and allows discriminatory actions against racially and ethno culturally marginalized communities. I.e. white privilege.
By: Anti-Racism Media Education (ARMEd)