I Can't Say Nothing

So I've stayed away from the whole Imus thing . . . until now.

I don't want to get too into it. I've had a couple of discussions with my husband about it. I've been listening to NPR and the evening news; I've heard the "experts" and the friends; I've heard about how the Imus Ranch charity will suffer and therefore so will the children with cancer - I think I've heard it all by now.

But all I want to say, at least to Imus, is that no matter what the intention - it wasn't funny; it wasn't a joke. And it's not because it wasn't politically correct or because the public has become too sensitive and we don't know how to take a joke anymore.

It was racist. It was sexist. He was a public figure on the public airwaves and while he has every right to say what he wants to say, the public also has a right to react to it. Free speech has its consequences. Yet, this isn't really about free speech for me. The greatest impact this whole "controversy" has had on me has been with regard to my disappointment with the society we live in in 2007.

My first disappointment came when I realized that there was even a discussion as to whether what Imus said was "OK" or not; whether since it was said in humor - Just stop right there. Of course it wasn't OK! These women were playing an athletic competition; they were representing Rutgers with pride and dignity; They were respectful and should have received the same respect in return. Yet, Imus did not make a joke - he tried to reduce these women to nothing more than sub-human, sex objects.

Which led to my second disappointment. People were outraged - as they should have been - and some people were defending him saying that it was just a joke and "why can't people take a joke anymore?" It just really took the wind out of me when I had to face the fact that things really haven't gotten all that much better for women and minorities in the U.S. if there was a debate going on as to whether or not such derogatory speech was humorous.

Seriously, why is it that there are still so many people out there who think it's OK to use derogatory terms to describe other people? How is that humorous? Because I really don't see the humor in making fun of people because of their gender or their ethnicity or their sexual preference or even the way they happen to wear their hair for that matter. Why is it funny to make fun of other people at all? Shouldn't we be a little more civilized than that?

I love a good laugh as much as anyone, but not at the expense of hurting someone else. That to me just isn't funny. Whether they're in the public eye and "asking for it" or they're your next door neighbor - I wouldn't like it if someone was making fun of me, so I try not to do it to others.
Making jokes at the expense of others, so that you can feel like you're part of the "in" group or so that you can feel like you're somehow "better" or smarter or whatever - I guess I was just hoping that that sort of thing was on the decline. I mean, why do people have to do it? Whether it's through supposed humor or music lyrics or in conversations they have at the dinner table? Why do they feel compelled to make such negative generalizations and use terms that are only meant to demean and oppress other human beings? Aren't the majority of us just trying to survive this crazy, mixed up world; to take care of ourselves and our families?

And it's not just the issue of speech that upsets me. While women and minorities have been legally given the right to vote, it's disheartening to know that they're not always given an easy route to exercise that right. While African Americans are no longer enslaved on the cotton fields of the South, they certainly do not experience social or econmoic equality, equal protection under the law or the same access to opportunity afforded to those of lighter skin tones. African American and Latina women are probably discriminated against most often because they have two strikes against them in their ethnicity and their gender. Gee, look who Imus' comment was aimed at.

I don't believe in coincidences.

We certainly can't fire every person who is racist or sexist, but we can make an example of those who publicly show their hatred. We must declare as a society that we will not tolerate such behavior. We need to make that declaration together, beyond gender and culture lines; to say that we will not allow racism, sexism, discrimination of any kind, etc. in our society because it is simply wrong and should not be tolerated.

Because it just isn't funny.

If I Weren't So Angry, I'd Cry

This morning when I checked my email I received something that has really got my blood pumping, and not in a good way. It was from someone I am very close to which is only of importance when you see my response. (I will keep the sender anonymous, except to say they are family and even with family there are times when I think it is important NOT to hold your tongue.)

So this email, or should I say forward (which my husband would immediately question why I read it in the first place because most of those things are trash, aside from a few that are truly humorous and some actually informative on occasions), and it started out quite harmlessly. It was apparently (or should I say supposedly) authored by a Denver, Colorado resident who spoke about the recent snowstorms:

"Up here, in the "Mile-Hi City", we just recovered from a Historic event--- may I even say a "Weather Event" of "Biblical Proportions" --- with a historic blizzard of up to 44" inches of snow and winds to 90 MPH that broke trees in half, knocked down utility poles, stranded hundreds of motorists in lethal snow banks, closed ALL roads, isolated scores of communities and cut power to 10's of thousands."

OK. Seems harmless. Not really sure where this is going and then I got to the next paragraph. Now, I won't reprint this email in its entirety because I am so disgusted by it. I won't give the author the satisfaction, but I do want you to see what I'm reacting to so here are a few excerpts:

FYI: George Bush did not come.
FEMA did nothing.
No one howled for the government.
No one blamed the government.
No one even uttered an expletive on TV.
Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton did not visit.
Our Mayor did not blame Bush or anyone else.
No one asked for a FEMA Trailer House.
No one looted.

Obviously, this "person" is referring to the situation in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. There were a lot of things that went wrong there starting with not evacuating people who had no transportation to get out of the city themselves; Not having any adequate shelter to house and feed the people who were left in the city during the storm; And not having, at a city, state or federal level, an effective plan to get to those who were drowning in the great floods that resulted from ineffective levys that were supposed to prevent New Orleans from being drowned.

Anyway, the author of this email continued to illustrate how the great people of Denver simply picked themselves up by their bootstraps, unlike those "other" people who just complained and expected someone to come help them.

Local restaurants made food and the police and fire departments delivered it to the snowbound families.
Families took in the stranded people - total strangers.
We put on extra layers of clothes because up here it is "Work or Die".
We did not wait for some affirmative action government to get us out of a mess created by being immobilized by a welfare program that trades votes for 'sittin at home' checks.
. . . I hope this gets passed on. Maybe SOME people will get the message. The world does Not owe you a living.

OK. I must stop here. I'm sure the people of New Orleans would have liked to do all of those things, but IT WAS ALL UNDER WATER!!!! It was never a question of simply "digging out." And I know I shouldn't let these things bother me, but I do. I seethe over them. I just can't believe that not only are there people out there that write this trash, but there are people out there that pass it on as "interesting," "something to think about," and so on. What it is is racist and I called it as much when I sent my reply back to the person who sent it to me:

RE: Thousands of folks in Denver weren't evacuated to a convention center without adequate food, water and bathroom facilities. They weren't then locked in the convention center and told they could not leave even though there were people who had died in the convention center and were now rotting on the floor. They were not stranded for days on their roofs because the water was so high it was the only chance they had to prevent drowning.

The government failed New Orleans by not providing the thousands of people living there without transportation a way out of the city BEFORE the disaster. And I haven't heard of how many died in this snow event of "biblical proportions" in Denver, but I'm pretty sure it's nowhere close to the more than 1,800 people who died in New Orleans as a direct result of Hurricane Katrina. And I'm pretty sure that Denver has dug out and people can use their cars and go to the grocery stores and go about their lives. New Orleans was underwater for weeks and there are still people who cannot go back to their homes because of the dangerous mold, sludge and sewer waste that covers their walls, floors and streets.

You're right, the government doesn't owe anyone a living. But they do owe us leadership in times of crisis, and in New Orleans they did not get that. They didn't get it before the storm when they were told it was safe to live there; that the levys would hold back the water and when the levys failed they didn't get it after the flood waters rose. Did you know that there were National Guard soldiers standing on a bridge that led out of the city, to places where the flood waters weren't so high, and they refused to let people cross due to the orders they were given? They should have been leading those people out to safety, and yet it was like trying to cross the border into another country without the proper papers - all within the borders of the United States of America, home of the free.

It was deplorable and I am ashamed of how the government (mis)handled the situation and continues to drag its feet. I don't pay taxes so the government can continue to make the rich richer (although in reality I do, that's not where I want my money going) - I pay taxes so that my fellow human beings have help when they need it; their children get an education; and as few people as possible have to go hungry and homeless. The people of New Orleans believed they had been abandoned and I don't blame them. Put yourself in their shoes for one day during that week of horror and you tell me that they don't have a right to be angry.

I'm glad that your friend in Denver fared well in the blizzard ... Maybe it has to do with snow being more manageable than water - they say water damage is the worst. Maybe Denver was just more prepared because they are used to heavy snowfall and there was a plan in place. Maybe Denver just has more money allotted for natural disaster cleanup - after all they certainly have more wealth.

What I do know is that Denver is a city of just under 2.5 million people where 80% of those people are white and the median family income is about $48,000 per year. New Orleans (Orleans Parish where the hurricane hit hardest) is a city of less than 500,000 with just over 70% being non-white (including African American, Hispanic, Asian, etc.) and the median income for a family was less than $33,000 per year ... Maybe that has nothing to do with it, but maybe it does. If you ask me, whoever wrote this email sounds like a racist and I won't be passing it along.



So, yes, while I agree that this is trash, that I shouldn't let it bother me, etc. etc. I also think that it's time to respond, to be vocal and let people know that we recognize trash when we see it and not leave it out on display as if it were not the toxic sludge that it is. Trash goes in a trash can (some things cannot be recycled), is incinerated and the energy produced should be used to heat someone's home or provide them with electricity - then, and only then, will this kind of sludge not be so hazardous.

My rant is now over.

Hysteria Wins Out Again

Image from the New York Times website - November 22, 2006

I heard this story first on the radio, then again on the evening news last night and went to the New York Times this morning to try and get some more information - but no matter how many sources I heard the story from it was all the same - Racial profiling and public hysteria have won out again. Or has it? Were the actions taken by US Airways justified?

Apparently six Muslim Imams were removed from a US Airways flight Monday night in Minneapolis because of "suspicious behavior" observed by both US Airways staff and passengers. The men were handcuffed and led off the plane by police, then were detained for five hours of questioning before being released. As you can see by the note passed to a US Airways flight attendant by a passenger on the plane these men were acting "very suspicious."

First of all, what's with them not all sitting together? They are all after all Muslims, or "suspicious arabic men," as the not above states. Why wouldn't they want to sit together? They must all be close personal friends and we all know how easy it is to get six seats together on an airplane is, right?

Then of course there is the whole praying issue. I mean, who do you know that prays before or during a flight? (I know a few people, but I wouldn't categorize them as "suspicious" or, come to think of it, maybe they are . . .) It was reported by witnesses that the six men, who had attended a conference of the North American Imams Federation in Minneapolis and were on their way home when the incident occurred, were chanting "Allah ... Allah ... Allah," in the waiting area before boarding the plane and were also heard uttering "Anti-American" sentiments regarding U.S. involvement with Saddam Hussein.

And are you ready for this? Some of the men actually requested seat belt extensions as well, although one flight attendant did not believe they really needed them.

Of course, the gentlemen had explanations for their "suspicious" behavior - the prayers in the waiting area were nightly evening prayers and the three who were praying "had not meant to be disruptive and indeed had taken pains not to disturb other passengers." The seatbelt extensions? Dr. Omar Ahmad Shahin, one of the suspicious men, said they had been requested because of their "big bodies." Sounds plausible, right?

But at the same time the flight attendants and passengers could have prevented a terrorist plot from coming to fruition, right? Probably not.

What kills me about this whole thing is that we are ALL more likely to be killed in our automobiles everyday than we are to be killed in a terrorist attack in the United States. It it nothing but hysterics and ignorance to assume that a few men, who have dark skin and appear to be of Middle Eastern descent, traveling together might be terrorists. I mean, where was all this hysteria when Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, two white, American citizens killed 168 people with a Ryder truck full of explosives that blew a gaping hole out of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City? Does that mean when we see a young, white man driving a Ryder truck in a downtown area that we should assume there's potential there for terrorist activity?

Absolutely not. It's ludicrous. And it doesn't happen because McVeigh and Nichols aren't seen as "bad" by nature, but two sick, evil abnormalities among a generally peaceful population. Well, there are an estimated 1.3 billion Muslims, the second largest religious group in the world behind Christians at an estimated 2.1 billion people. So I guess it makes sense to assume that the actions of a handful of terrorist groups who also claim to be Muslims are a telling representation of 1.3 billion people.

Right?