Ethnicity vs Racism Pondering

Dad and I had a good conversation this morning over coffee due to a couple of noteworthy news items over the last couple of days. Later in the morning Jen and I had another discussion about the same thing with a slightly different outcome. The difference in discussion is a reflection of what I feel is taking place in the U.S. today. Viewpoints vary even when, like Jen and I, you see eye to eye on most of the opinions of the other. Environmental? I’m sure. Personal experience? Well yes. Observational opinion? Without a doubt the most common situation. I certainly fall into the latter group. As a manager, I had some experience with hiring practices and the requirements that you have to follow when made aware of race or ethnicity. Although I felt it would have been better to have been oblivious to the knowledge of either and simply hire on the merits of the interview, experience, and recommendations, but, we were held to a different accountability because we were made aware of the fact. It didn’t stop anything from happening that I was ever made knowledgeable about, but I always had to provide all paperwork, notes, scoring, etc., from the process of narrowing down candidates. I also had to write a summary of explanation as to why we didn’t hire a minority or woman if they weren’t chosen. I never let either sway my decision and every time I was involved in pushing a selection forward, I was confident I had picked the best candidate. In fact, I wouldn’t have been aware of it had the federal government not mandated hiring practices.

Do I feel women and minorities always get a fair shake in hiring? Of course, they don’t. I only know they did when it came to my input and hiring recommendation. But I do understand the problem. When we talk about what it would take to put racism behind us, one point is obvious to me, not everyone is trying to eliminate it. I don’t mean white America; I mean all races aren’t really trying to eliminate it. For instance, if every white person in the world raised their children to never know the history of racism, where they all were only taught that all were equal without ever mentioning color or ethnicity of anyone, would this eliminate racism in the world? If you think so, I would have to call you foolish to believe that only whites perpetuate racism and ethnic differences. Do you believe that blacks, browns, reds, or yellows around the world would also teach their children by the same understanding? Of course, they wouldn’t. I’m sure there would be some that would try, but there are many in this world whose identifiable position or status in life is uniquely tied to the color of their skin or the ethnic background they come from. Whoopi Goldberg got into trouble this week and ultimately is serving a two-week suspension from her daytime show because she claimed that Jewish people of the holocaust didn’t suffer racism, instead they suffered ethnic cleansing at the hands of Hitler and Nazi’s. Although I understand the distinction she was trying to make, the line between ethnicity and race is such a fine line that it would be hard to distinguish which was suffered. We certainly can say that Jews suffered persecution. Frankly, I feel they were victims of racism as well as ethnic cleansing. She actually apologized and recanted her statement saying she was wrong and that the Jews were, indeed, victims of racism. This would have been fine, she even received acknowledgment from high-ranking Jewish leaders that absolved her of her mis-guided statement. However, later she went on the Stephen Colbert show and once again justified her original statement. This is probably what really got her suspended I suspect.

There are people of color that make a great living from shouting about the persecution of the black person in America and in the world. I feel they certainly don’t really want to see racism end as it would remove their platform and voice. We can remove symbolism of slavery in the south by removing statues of men and flags that remind us of the plight and reason this country went to civil war. Fair? I don’t really know. I think time will tell and provide the answer, but I understand the reaction of why in this cancel culture society we now live in. I ponder though, that if we remove history and don’t teach all viewpoints of a time in our history, are we not minoritizing another group, race, or American foundation in this country? In other words, twenty years from now, after years of teaching nothing but one side of history, can we give a non-biased viewpoint about that history? I don’t think so. I think all we’ve accomplished is teaching people what you want them to believe because you don’t think they are smart enough to come to a conclusion on their own with all the facts. Which segues into Critical Race Theory. I understand the concept, but not sure I believe in teaching its philosophy of our history of civil-rights. A cross-disciplinary intellectual and social movement of civil-rights scholars and activists who seek to examine the intersection of race and law in the United States and to challenge mainstream American liberal approaches to racial justice. Would this be a conclusive answer to the why racism exists? Of course not. That would be like saying racism never existed until Americans suffered racism. I’m reminded of the old saying, “If you see a turtle sitting on top of a post, it didn’t get there by accident.”. Meaning, racism doesn’t exist without the history. This includes all history, not just since the landing of Columbus on the shores of the Atlantic. But then again, maybe those wanting to acknowledge that we are here, we don’t know how we got here, but let’s start from here and move forward with no history or bias, maybe they know more than the rest of us. I just mumble, kumbaya y’all!

I don’t have any answers other than for us all to be kind to one another. I don’t need to understand the plight of someone for me to treat them with dignity and fairness, I just need to do it. People should be paid the same for the same work. Education should be available to all. No one should have to soap box how they were wronged in life and is why I can’t get a fair shake. But obviously, it probably will never happen or ever stop. Why? Because we are still trying to strong-arm people into having to do something instead of convincing them why. The coach fired from Miami Dolphins, for who knows what. We only know the coach is claiming racial discrimination and has filed a class-action lawsuit against the NFL on the behalf of all potential black coaches. I hear comments how hard it is to understand why there is now only one black head coach in the NFL. I agree, it is hard to believe. But do I have the right to tell an owner how to spend his or her money and that they don’t get to decide who will be a good fit in their organization? There is a rule in the NFL that if a head coaching job is open, then you must interview at least one black coach. As opposed to what, only interviewing white coaches or non-black coaches? Aren’t there qualified coaches of other color too? I don’t know. I do know football is a business. Owners should be able to hire and fire as necessary, just as they trade players. Sometimes performance isn’t the only reason for job retention, being a good fit and flowing into the future with the same common goal as the owner is pretty important too. That being said, if it turns out the coach was fired due to being black, then shame on the owner and the owner should be penalized. As part of this topic, I also heard people bringing up that there are no black owners and that this should change. I love how people present a problem or injustice but fail to propose how this should be remedied. If I’m an owner and selling my team, which teams now are selling for several billion, and if there is a black owner with enough money and interest in owning a NFL franchise, then I would say, buy it. But to merely point out a fact that no teams are owned by a black person is just someone trying to rouse disdain for the organization and rile people up. They don’t have a solution and know the perpetuation of racism is newsworthy and thereby they create a platform for topic to better their ratings in the sports talk show business. They really don’t care about anything but ratings, plain and simple.

Do we have a problem in America? Yep. The world has a problem and bringing everyone together in a fight to end racism and ethnicity distinction bashing is a task I never see being possible. But it is nice to think of a utopian world and how wonderful it would be to live in it. Maybe, I’m not sure if a world where we all agree would be good or somewhere we would be happy. Someone will always be the Logan and run from conformity. Watch Logan’s Run if you are wondering the reference. Most days I sit silent on my mumbled opinions for this type topic as this is such a sensitive topic, but today I’m frustrated at the lunacy expected of us when the hope was diminished before the idea was thought of. I want a better world not in black and white, but in a rainbow of colors equal in their amazement. All at the hand of something higher than all of us with a result that produces peace and equality!