Art Is Courtesy of Shellie Summers. Shellie, you rule!
Why Racism Might not be the Right Word:
In my last dream post titled "Tempest or Zephyr," I, as an African American, found myself wrestling with the word “racism” after waking from that dream; it seemed to me that it may have lost its meaning. Let me explain; the definition of racism is based not solely on the color of a person's skin but on the ethnic and racial group that that person belongs to. For example, there is a difference between being born among the Wind-Riders as a Zephyr Wind-Rider instead of a Tempest Wind-Rider. They are both Wind-Riders, but they are different tribes. Perhaps, Tempest-Riders are best known to be very strong and potentially dangerous, so if they see me, a Zephyr riding the wind without any investigation, it would be easy to assume that I am potentially a dangerous Tempest-Rider.
These concepts crossed my mind as the dream gave me memories that said Wind-Riders were bound together by their power and suffered similarly despite their racial and ethnic differences. To classify the Zephyr and the Tempest-Riders together is a form of cultural ignorance. Conversely, to assume that all Tempest-Riders are criminals could rightly be classified as a form of prejudice. Putting someone in a box and assuming who they are and what they are like, and then treating them differently from that assumption is the kind of prejudice I am talking about.
Using a real-world example, one might agree that this is why Native Americans, South Americans, Southern Europeans, Chinese, Japanese, Germans, Italians, Finnish, and the Irish often share experiences of prejudice and discrimination in America with African-Americans.
During World War 1 on April 4, 1918, Robert Prager, a German immigrant from the town of Collinsville, Illinois, had found himself in the power of a mob. He was stripped naked, made to sing patriotic songs, walk across the glass from beer bottles they smashed in his way. Despite his professions of love for America and kissing the American flag, he was killed, hung from a hanging tree at the edge of town.
On September 18, 1918, a small group claiming to be members of a group called the "Knights of Loyalty" lynch a Finnish man named Olli Kinkkonen. During World War 1, he revoked his American citizenship to avoid being drafted into the war, and for that, he was killed. On September 30th, 1918, he was found hanging from a birch tree.
In December 1941, just 48 hours after the Pearl Harbor attack, 120,000 Japanese-Americans were sent to American internment camps. Their crime, being of Japanese descent. Despite any loyalties to the U.S., they were perceived as a threat and treated as such. The order of internment was rescinded in December of 1944. Upon arriving home, many of these Americans had found that their homes had been looted or their property confiscated by banks or by other means. I bring this up specifically because it is very similar to what is going on right now in this country because of the Covid-19 Pandemic.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Asian-Americans have been both verbally and physically harassed, regardless of whether they were descended from Chinese immigrants or not. They have been blamed for a virus that they had nothing to do with. On July 31, a woman was spat on by a man who told her, "Asian cause this virus!" and "Go back to China." Others were told, "In this place, no Asians allowed." Others had drinks thrown at them or have been physically assaulted. I've also seen videos online of African-Americans being instigators or aggressors in these blatantly racist acts of discrimination. Many Asian-Americans have been treated like biological weapons despite the presence of any and all factual information that could distance them from the virus. It is truly sad.
In the "Speech on Lynch Law in America" by Ida B. Wells, it is pointed out that the practice of lynching in the United States was in no way exclusive to the African-American experience. According to Mrs. Ida B's findings, to cover the atrocities of lynching, the United States paid China $147,748.74 for the Rock Springs Massacre in Wyoming and another $276,619.75 for another series of events on the Pacific Coast. She includes the $24,330.90 the United States paid to Italy for the deaths of Italian prisoners in New Orleans and another $10,000 for a lynching that took place at Walsenburg, Col. Lastly, she speaks about the $2,800.00 paid to Great Britain for what she describes as "Outrages on James Bainand Fredrick Dawson. These are peoples of Asian and European descent that were lynched throughout the United States. Acts like these are not uncommon in the U.S. at both the civil and governmental levels and are not hard to find at all. One such example is the Southern European bands.
However, all of this uses America as an example; you can find these same behaviors in any country. It could be based on religion, like the Muslims in Burma that were forced out by the hundreds of thousands, or those in India that have been falsely accused of eating beef and are then killed for the act. One could also look at how Jews have been treated in the West or how the Ethiopian Jews are treated in Israel. These examples are just based on religious/cultural differences.
Prejudice can be based on color, ethnicity, race, gender, hair color, hairstyle, eye color, eye shape, religion, political stance, clothing, job (all police being bad because they are police), economic class, tattooed skin, just to give a few reasons that people might conjure. If all of the above is true, then white skin does not protect someone from all the various forms of discrimination within or outside of any racial or ethnic group. Discrimination based on hair color, eye color, and skin color is reported globally. Keep in mind that this claim is stated without the inclusion of the African diaspora. If you don't believe me, I encourage you to go and research this for yourself. It is not hard to find.
Lastly, political legislation can't change what is inside the human heart. Only a relationship can do that. The way we fight for the lives of those experiencing discrimination, regardless of race or ethnicity, is to become friends with them and introduce our kids to kind people who don't look like us. Daryl Davis puts this into practice and is successfully combating racism with love and friendship.
A Clash of Norms: In every culture, the majority sets the standard of what is normal. Anyone that does not fit that stereotype regardless of ethnic or racial background will experience prejudice or discrimination. I believe that what we are facing today is the clashing of cultures, cultural norms, and prejudices passed down between groups of people. However, these are just the speculations of a mind tainted by dream logic.
Here are a few other dreams circulated around the topic of race.
A Clash of Norms:
- Ida B. Wells, "Speech on Lynch Law in America, Given by Ida B. Wells in Chicago, Illinois, January, 1900," Civil Rights and Conflict in the United States: Selected Speeches, Lit2Go Edition, (1900), accessed September 27, 2020, https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/185/civil-rights-and-conflict-in-the-united-states-selected-speeches/4375/speech-on-lynch-law-in-america-given-by-ida-b-wells-in-chicago-illinois-january-1900/.
- ADL. “Reports of Anti-Asian Assaults, Harassment and Hate Crimes Rise as Coronavirus Spreads.” Anti-Defamation League. Anti-Defamation League, June 18, 2020. https://www.adl.org/blog/reports-of-anti-asian-assaults-harassment-and-hate-crimes-rise-as-coronavirus-spreads.
- Callis, Lydia. “Deaf Discrimination: The Fight for Equality Continues.” HuffPost. HuffPost, July 17, 2015. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/deaf-discrimination-the-f_b_7790204.
- Frail, T.A., and Paul Kitagaki . “The Injustice of Japanese-American Internment Camps Resonates Strongly to This Day.” Smithsonian.com. Smithsonian Institution, January 1, 2017. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/injustice-japanese-americans-internment-camps-resonates-strongly-180961422/.
- Lovrien, Jimmy. “Finnish Immigrant Was 'Victim of Warmongers' 100 Years Ago in Duluth.” Duluth News Tribune. Duluth News Tribune, September 18, 2018. https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/4500591-finnish-immigrant-was-victim-warmongers-100-years-ago-duluth.
- Morris, Amanda. “Deaf And Unemployed: 1,000+ Applications But Still No Full-Time Job.” NPR. NPR, January 12, 2019. https://www.npr.org/2019/01/12/662925592/deaf-and-unemployed-1-000-applications-but-still-no-full-time-job.
- Siegel, Robert. “Lynching Of Robert Prager Underlined Anti-German Sentiment During World War I.” NPR. NPR, April 6, 2017. https://www.npr.org/2017/04/06/522903398/lynching-of-robert-prager-underlined-anti-german-sentiment-during-world-war-i.
- ushistory.org. “Japanese-American Internment.” ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association. Accessed September 27, 2020. https://www.ushistory.org/us/51e.asp.
Check Out These Citations for How to Overcome Prejudice & Racism in Your Life?
I agree I think we are dealing with a clash of cultures more then anything.
ReplyDeleteI think conversation and friendship is what will do us some good
Everyday I believe it more and more! Thank you for your comment!
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