Racism

A comment on Facebook:

"I worked with people of color in every job I’ve had since the mid-80s, and I didn’t see or feel racism in those places, all of which were professional work areas. As every other employee in those companies were working with them too, and didn’t seem to have a problem with it, I hoped that racism in any area was becoming a thing of the past."

This conversation started out as a discussion involving #BlackLivesMatter versus #AllLivesMatter.  Of course I have my own thoughts about this subject but that is not what this post is about. There was a comment that was voiced that has started getting under my skin a lot lately, and that is of people making “canned” comments whose sole purpose is to deflect from the real subject.  

There was talk about [unarmed] young Black men being killed by the police.  The next comment was:
“More young black men are killed by other young black men than police. By a very wide margin.”

Over the last couple of years of “Continuing the Conversation” and other meetings I have listened to the concerns of many when it comes to family and friends who have less than loving attitudes about people not like themselves.  I will admit to not having a lot of experience with this (except for those who, through business interactions, made it clear they had no problem with “screwing me over” because of my race, but would attribute it to other “excuses”). Pizza and Social Justice has tried to find ways to help our members deal with these kinds of people.  We have viewed a number of videos that tell the story of others who have had success in HELPING people make profound changes in the way they see others, and in how they relate to people who are different from themselves.  In reviewing these videos there were some elements that were similar.
 

In the news this week was word that Kate Smith’s “God Bless America” had been banned by the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Flyers.  The reason for this ban was because it was learned that Ms. Smith had recorded some songs that were considered racist.  The songs pointed out were “That’s Why Darkies Were Born,” and “Pickaninny Heaven. Along with that I sense that people are judging Ms. Smith as being racist for singing these songs, which truthfully do contain wording that is fundamentally racist.  

Originally posted here:  http://nibahai.org/blogs/adrian-mckee/forgiveness-wake-charleston-massac...

There has been a lot of discussion about forgiveness lately that started after the families of the victims of the Charleston Massacre expressing their forgiveness to Dylann Roof at his arraignment. Then yesterday a friend shared a Washington Post news article titled “Black America should stop forgiving white racists”.  She then commented on the article asking the question, “The notion of forgiveness has been on mind recently -- after reading The Sunflower by Simon Wiesenthal -- on the possibilities and limits of forgiveness - "You are a prisoner in a concentration camp. A Nazi soldier asks for your forgiveness. What would you do?"