First Jena, Now This
Oct. 1st, 2007 04:12 pmI've been having various discussions with people online who insist that race (or gender, etc) is no longer a problem. The 14th Amendment says everyone is equal so everything is fine. And anyone who says otherwise has a victim mentality or is overreacting or wanting special rights or so on.
Some people I've been going back and forth with argue that hate is hate...that it is all the same. I was trying to explain that a black kid punching a white kid isn't actually the same as a white kid punching a black kid because of institutional racism. In Jena Louisiana nothing happened to the white high scool kids, but the black high school kids got arrested for attempted murder, and the town mayor has been quoted on White Supremacist web sites being supporting of those groups. I was mocked when I tried to tie prejudice with institutional oppression...because the laws say we are all equal.
Well, another incident just happened, this one right here in Los Angeles. A high school girl was assaulted by a high school security guard and her wrist broken by him. Her crime? She dropped a piece of birthday cake and despite cleaning it up three times, she did not clean it up to his satisfaction. So the wrestled her against a table calling her a nappy-head and broke her wrist in the process. Then she got suspended and arrested for assault and littering. When her mother went to the school to demand the guard be fired, they arrested her as well...and she got suspended from her job (she works for another school in the same district). Of course, since it is 2007, the whole thing was captured on a student's cell phone video. The video taping student and his sister were also assaulted, arrested for battery, and suspended.
You can read about the story here:
http://feministing.com/archives/007831.html
http://infowars.net/articles/september2007/280907Cake.htm
Something jacked up with racial overtones happens, and when people complain, the power structures close ranks.
Even pals of mine who aren't random internet people refuse to see a difference between prejudice of the oppressor towards the oppressed that is backed up by the institutional power structures of our country and prejudice of the oppressed towards their oppressor...which doesn't have any institutional backup.
Ah well. Happy Monday.
Some people I've been going back and forth with argue that hate is hate...that it is all the same. I was trying to explain that a black kid punching a white kid isn't actually the same as a white kid punching a black kid because of institutional racism. In Jena Louisiana nothing happened to the white high scool kids, but the black high school kids got arrested for attempted murder, and the town mayor has been quoted on White Supremacist web sites being supporting of those groups. I was mocked when I tried to tie prejudice with institutional oppression...because the laws say we are all equal.
Well, another incident just happened, this one right here in Los Angeles. A high school girl was assaulted by a high school security guard and her wrist broken by him. Her crime? She dropped a piece of birthday cake and despite cleaning it up three times, she did not clean it up to his satisfaction. So the wrestled her against a table calling her a nappy-head and broke her wrist in the process. Then she got suspended and arrested for assault and littering. When her mother went to the school to demand the guard be fired, they arrested her as well...and she got suspended from her job (she works for another school in the same district). Of course, since it is 2007, the whole thing was captured on a student's cell phone video. The video taping student and his sister were also assaulted, arrested for battery, and suspended.
You can read about the story here:
http://feministing.com/archives/007831.html
http://infowars.net/articles/september2007/280907Cake.htm
Something jacked up with racial overtones happens, and when people complain, the power structures close ranks.
Even pals of mine who aren't random internet people refuse to see a difference between prejudice of the oppressor towards the oppressed that is backed up by the institutional power structures of our country and prejudice of the oppressed towards their oppressor...which doesn't have any institutional backup.
Ah well. Happy Monday.