Fighting racism begins at home

Pardon me, as I have become completely unhinged as this school year gets ramped up. My daughter tried out for two plays, shooting for substantial parts.  She was put in the chorus. Again. The last time she was in the chorus, we barely saw her at all in two hours at the theater.  And she was the only black person on the stage, so she should have stood out.  But she was way in the back. Almost behind the set.  So, even though she got a better chorus part this time, a dancing chorus member, we have decided to decline the part. 

And I can’t help but think racism plays a part here.  This is the same girl that walks in choir rehearsal and wins all the solos.  She did so well in dance class that she was considered a genius.  Similarly so with the drama team at church. Why should she submit to being hidden in the background, on the sidelines, again, just because she likes to perform?  And she wasn’t alone. Several of her friends tried out for their high school musical, and didn’t get in at all.

I began searching the Internet for miserable company. And I re-discovered the Jena 6 story.  It really put my little concerns in perspective.

I don’t think this story indicates that we have come no where as a country as far as racism is concerned.  If this had been the fifties, those nooses would likely not have been empty, and certainly black boys Louisiana would not have tried to retaliate by fighting. 

It is nevertheless disturbing to see the way justice is served in this case. The boys should not have beat anyone up, and if they had been better supervised, I’m sure that would not have happened.  But they should not have to pay for it with their lives.  Suspension, sure, maybe even expulsion from school, but prison? And what of the boys that thought it was a good idea to intimidate people with nooses?   Suspension was good enough for them.

It reminded me of an incident in my town a few years ago. Veronica* was in our small group.  A black single mother from Georgia, she felt a stigma for having four children alone in the north that she hadn’t felt in the south.  She fiercely loved and protected her children, spending time at the school volunteering and tutoring hers and others’ children.  One day, that all changed. Her 11 year old son was involved in a game of king of the mountain, a very popular game in snowy Michigan. Basically, it involves standing on a snow drift and pushing off everyone that tries to get to the top, so you can be ‘king of the mountain.’ Her son was king, and he pushed a white boy.  The boy claimed he was hurt, and the parents wanted to prosecute. Veronica’s son was served a subpoena. He was threatened with suspension and expulsion, even though the other boy, twice his size, had suffered no injury.  Veronica withdrew her son from the school, and taught him at home that year.  She lived in fear of her son having a criminal record just for being a kid.

After a year the charges were dropped against the young boy, and the family moved to Texas. I can only hope for a similar solution to the Jena 6 case.

The venom that this case incites in the white supremacy community is terrifying.  Websites that publish private addresses, and promise maps so they can administer their own version of justice should be shut down.  The lack of justice being leveled at these groups is more disheartening than the criminal charges against the Jena 6. 

There was a huge protest march in Jena Louisiana on the 20^th of this month.  Large groups of college students joined Jesse Jackson and others to demand better representation for the boys involved. Jackson has called President Bush to intervene.

Shoving equality down people’s throats hasn’t worked.  It has only served to make them more resentful.  I think self-control is the answer here. That’s where we as soccer moms come in.  We should be teaching our children to control themselves.  That you can’t always have it your way, and you can’t intimidate other people to make things go your way. 

Veronica took care of her son.  She did not allow him to hang out to dry.  I will take care of my daughter, and I urge us all to take care of our own children.  We must teach them the way civilized people behave, and expect them to live that way.

*name has been changed