Playin' the Race Card
I spend more time than you would think pondering race relations in this country. Racial prejudice and bigotry is something that's odd for me because it infuriates me on the inside, but on the outside, I have yet to figure out what my appropriate response should be. As an American white male in his mid twenties, I fit the bill for pretty much any "domineering, majority group" that comes to mind. At first, this sounds pretty cool...except that, as I've read recently, I am the most likely of any demographic group to be the victim of a random violent crime...not so cool. Of course, none of us can take credit for simply existing within our own demographic group. It wasn't our decision, so the best thing we can do is strive for equal opportunity and mutual respect across demographic boundaries.

Today, I read the report on the broadcasting faux-pas of Don Imus, the latest white man to cross the line of racial decency. By referring jokingly to the Rutgers women's basketball team as a group of "nappy-headed ho's" or something of the sort, Imus has come under the scornful glance of Rev. Al Sharpton and even sacrificed his dignity further by appearing on Sharpton's radio show. Of course, I cannot condone Imus's comments; from the looks of it, they were inappropriate, unecessary, and ignorant. However, we've seen in the past that visits to Sharpton's media Mecca do not lead to racial reconciliation even though it has ironically become the proverbial principal's office of high-profile African-American slanderers.

I wonder who I should complain to when I feel that I am the object of racial bigotry. It's happened to me at least twice in the last three weeks. That's right...even American white males in their mid twenties endure those strange encounters in our own neighborhoods. I hate that it pans out so frequently in Mississippi that the tension is a black/white tension. But, you know, when I was living in France, the tension was there between the traditional "Christians" and the minority "Muslims." And if you look in the history books (or in today's headlines) the same tensions exist everywhere in the world between different groups. Again, I guess the only thing to do is to play out respect and equality across these gulfs...man-woman, rich-poor, etc. (See! Even now, I'm privileging man over woman by placing it first in the dichotomy! It's inextricable. Dang that logocentrism.)

Perhaps I've said too much. I probably have. That's the main pratical problem for me, you know? Maybe I know how to act after all; I can build relationships with people no matter how different they are from me. I just don't know how to express my opinion on these things. I know that I can get fired up on these issues, but I don't know what's safe to say. I think that's because I'm an American white male in his mid twenties. It's assumed (is it?...I don't know) that I have the majority power, so I have to be careful about stepping on others' toes. I can't appear to have any shade of male chauvinism, any racial prejudice, any homophobia, etc. Maybe I can handle that. After all, the appearance is all that really matters.