Reply #12: My first real introduction to race-related issues came in the third grade... [View All]

I will never forget it. My parents were preparing for their retirement, and had begun to work on building a small rental business. They didn't have much money, but they managed to purchase a home in a black neighborhood. The home required extensive renovations, and I remember helping them as a young boy pull up broken tiles, and sweep floors and what not. After we had finished, the home was attacked. All of the windows were broken. Black spray paint with tombstones where everywhere. It said, "Kill the White People." I remember my mother having to explain to me why it happened and what it meant.

More than that, though, I remember other things. I remember the NAACP standing up for us. I remember the elderly black woman who was the next door neighbor living in a trailer offering her support to my family, and how she stood watch over the home to call the police if she spotted more vandals. I remember my black third grade school teacher. My parents were afraid that the vandals would come after my sister and myself at school and try and hurt us, and as she tried to explain what had happened to my third grade teacher, she broke down and cried. I remember my teacher comforting her and promising that she'd do everything in her power to ensure that I was safe.

That was my first introduction to race-related issues. I am fully aware that there are black racists out there, but I am also aware of white racists. Some of them are in my family. I have a cousin (well several, actually) who absolutely hate black people. One of them actually took a black baby doll, created a noose, and hung the doll on her front porch to intimidate her black neighbors.

I have another (white) cousin who married a black man. They have two interracial children.

Like it or not, racism is something that is deeply rooted in this country. All of it's wrong - as a gay man I believe I can confidently say - all bigotry is evil and wrong. However, I can also confidently say with certainty, not only based on my life experiences but on others, that bigotry exists. Pretending it doesn't won't make it go away. People like to pretend it doesn't exist because it makes them feel better because it's an uncomfortable subject. I mostly see it among white people, because some white folks seem to be afraid that if they bring it up and talk about it, the bigotry will jump off the bigots and somehow land on them. It's like cooties I guess.

That's not the approach I take: When you encounter a bigot, denounce their actions, and push them to the fringes of society where they belong. Those who vote based on race or sex are a minority and that should be made clear. By dancing around the issue as so many pundits and the like do, they give credence to bigots because most of them are little more than bullies. What is a bully? It is someone who lacks self-confidence and are full of insecurities, so they attack other people in order to prop themselves up. How do you deal with bullies? You confront and crush them, showing everyone exactly how weak and pathetic they are so that they no longer need to be feared. The longer the issue is danced around, the longer it sits on the table, but everyone knows its the truth. The problem is there aren't that many people who have the courage to step forward and actually talk about it.