-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: [BRC-NEWS] The Myth of Black Racism
Date: 23-Nov-99 at 23:07
From: Ron Daniels, INTERNET:rdanielcr-ny.org
TO: INTERNET:brc-newsists.tao.ca
November 1999
Hating Whitey: The Myth of Black Racism
By Ron Daniels <[log in to unmask]>
I recently appeared on the Fox News Channel's Hannity and Colmes show to
debate/confront one David Horowitz, a radical turned conservative who once
served as the editor of Ramparts Magazine in the 60's. A self-proclaimed
former supporter of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense, Mr. Horowitz
has a controversial new book out called Hating Whitey. In the book he
alleges, among other things, that there is pervasive anti-White racism and
anti-Semitism in the Black community. He contends that Black people have
betrayed Dr. King's dream of a "color blind" society where people are
judged by the "content of the character" rather than the pigmentation of
their skin. Like other conservatives, Horowitz claims to be fed up with
Black people blaming White people and racism for the persistence of
problems which he implies are due to defects in the culture and character
of Black people. He also argues that there is a double standard in
sanctioning bigots and racists in America, suggesting that Rev. Jesse
Jackson can speak at the Million Man March or be seen with Rev. Al
Sharpton (he labels Farrakhan and Sharpton racists and anti-Semites) with
impunity, while if he were to appear with David Duke he would be condemned
for standing with a white supremacist.
Of course Mr. Horowitz's calculated ranting is not new. Accusations of
"Black racism" or "reverse racism" have been in vogue since Ronald Reagan
first popularized these terms during his tenure in the White House.
President Reagan, who professed to never having seen racism in his life,
was hell bent on eradicating what he considered to be encroachments on the
rights of White people as a result of policies aimed at remedying
discrimination against Blacks. Reagan was the most prominent point person
for the White backlash, the counter attack designed to undermine the gains
of civil rights movement. Isolated expressions of hostility towards Whites
were cited to demonstrate that Black people could also be racist. In that
vein, affirmative action was attacked as the embodiment of reverse
discrimination, an infringement on the rights of Whites. The civil rights
movement had gone too far. Black progress was impeding White progress.
Mr. Horowitz's convoluted contentions resonate among some within the White
community because they play to the fears and anxieties that conservatives
have exploited to push what is essentially a racist, sexist, homophobic
and anti-labor political agenda; an agenda which has propelled
conservatives into positions of power including control of the U.S.
Congress. The problem is that the conservative's agenda would ultimately
lead to a retreat to the "good old days" of White male dominance, power
and privilege. The popularity of commentators like David Horowitz and
simplistic books like Hating Whitey suggest that there are a significant
number of White Americans who would welcome such a retreat. Hence,
Horowitz's horrific views must be confronted and discredited at every
opportunity.
While no one would claim that there is not some hostility towards Whites
in the Black community, it certainly is not pervasive. On the contrary,
forgiveness, tolerance and reconciliation are traits, which are deeply
imbedded in Black culture. There is absolutely no history of Black people
systematically advocating or conducting campaigns of hatred and terror
against White people. Hence isolated incidents of overt hostility and/or
violence by Blacks towards Whites are the exception and not the rule. Such
rare incidents cannot be equated with the long history of terror and
racist violence which Black people have suffered in this country at the
hands of hostile White individuals and organizations.
By definition, racism is the capacity/power to translate prejudice/bigotry
into custom, policy or law. Black people have not had the predisposition
or the power to oppress White people in this country. Hence the notion of
"Black racism" is a contradiction in terms. It is odd that Mr. Horowitz
would focus on so called anti-White racism when Black people like James
Byrd are still being lynched in this country or police brutality, mostly
at the hands of White police officers and the racist phenomenon of DWB,
Driving While Black, have reached epidemic proportions. I am not aware of
any organized group in the Black community, which, is going around
painting swastikas on Jewish Synagogues or burning down White churches.
The resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan and other Neo Nazi and white
supremacist organizations and militias is real. Benjamin Nathaniel Smith
who went on a killing spree in the Mid-West or Buford Furrows who wounded
several children in a Jewish daycare center and killed an Asian American
postal worker in Los Angeles are not figments of the imagination. There
are real white supremacist terrorists in this country who are armed,
dangerous and intent on preserving America as a White Anglo Saxon
Protestant nation.
Why are people like David Horowitz blaming the victim rather than shining
the light on the real villains in American society? Perhaps it is because
it is now quite profitable for closet/polite racists to publish
distortions and misconceptions that reinforce the fears and anxieties of
sizeable numbers of White people in a society where racism and white
supremacy are still alive and well. Black people have no choice but to
continue to demand affirmative action, reparations and other governmental
policies designed to overcome past and present oppression and exploitation
of Africans in America.
Copyright (c) 1999 Ron Daniels.
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Subject: [BRC-NEWS] The Myth of Black Racism
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