testing

 

By Karen Wood, Freelance Writer, Waco, TX

 

            Whoa. You’re losing it. Get a grip, Karen. You aren’t black.

            But right now, I want to be. I received something a few days ago titled “Proud to be White.” It could’ve come straight from a Ku Klux Klan playbook.

            I’m in shock. News accounts tell about white supremacy gangs operating from prisons. People arrested for hate crimes. But those events are, well, “out there.”

            This vile diatribe actually crossed MY desk via email. I was asked to “pass it on.” I’m sickened, thinking how many did so and how far it has traveled.

            It came from whites venting they’re termed “racists” if they call minorities by racial slurs. Well, DUH. They claim it’s not so if it’s the other way around. Oh, please.

            They rail against the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), insisting a similar fund solely benefiting whites would be “racist.” Gee. Wonder how many blacks benefited from scholarships before UNCF? Or how many whites benefited from scholarships before and after UNCF? Even with UNCF, I bet blacks haven’t gotten a good deal.

            These whites mock Martin Luther King Day. Black History Month. Caesar Chavez Day. Yom Hashoah. The NAACP. “BET” (Black Entertainment Television).

            They counter whites would be “racists” if they had “WET,” “White Pride Day,” “White History Month” or organizations for whites only “to advance OUR lives.”

            Let’s see. What might we call the majority of TV programming from its inception until recent years? How has history been taught in public schools, virtually from Day One, save from the “white man’s” perspective? Why do whites need a special month when whole years, decades—centuries—have been devoted to the advancement of whites over indigenous peoples?

            This “White Pride” rant decries having a Chambers of Commerce for blacks or Hispanics when there is a “plain Chamber of Commerce.” And they mutter about tax funds supporting the “black” or “Hispanic” Chambers.

            Again, guess who’s benefited from the “plain” Chamber of Commerce from its inception until just recently? Primarily white, male business owners, that’s who. Hispanics and blacks had to create theirs to get their businesses on the economic radar screen.

            These “White Pride” adherents assail the “over 60 openly proclaimed Black Colleges in the US,” yet claim colleges catering to whites would be “racist.” Gosh. Not quite sure how to break it to them. Until forced integration of higher education, the only well-funded, predominant colleges were “white.” They were “racist.”

            The rant continues: In the “Million Man March,” minorities believe “you were marching for your race and rights.” But if whites held similar rallies or organized shows of “white” strength, such would be “racist.”

            I hate to keep repeating myself. But, um, er, well, let’s see, now. What would you call Ku Klux Klan rallies? White police officers hosing down blacks on the streets of Birmingham, Ala., in 1963 when blacks tried to claim some civil rights? Or “white-on-white” rallies where white women marched for their right to vote when white men wouldn’t allow it?

            This line really got me: “You are proud to be black, brown, yellow, and orange, and you’re not afraid to announce it. But when we announce our white pride, you call us racists.” First of all, “orange”?

            Whatever happened to that little Sunday school song? “Red and yellow, black and white; we are precious in God’s sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.” I don’t recall it saying “Jesus loves little ‘white’ children of the world.” Or “Jesus loves little ‘black’ children of the world.” Ad infinitum.

            Even the old Coke commercial got it. “I’d like to buy the world a home and furnish it with love; I’d like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony. . . .”

            But when I got to this part, I nearly lost it: “You rob us, carjack us, and shoot at us. But, when a white police officer shoots a black gang member or beats up a black drug dealer running from the law and posing a threat to society, you call him a racist.”

            I’m confident law enforcement officers will attest that robbers, car-jackers, gang members and “shooters” come in all colors, including white. And if a drug dealer is “running from the law and posing a threat to society,” then, by golly, I want the officer handling it, no matter what the person’s color.

            Sure, I’m not black. But if anyone thinks this garbage would make me “Proud to be White,” then get me a UNCF contribution envelope. An NAACP application. Honorary membership in the Hispanic Chamber.

            And color me orange.