My Thoughts On Racism In America

[Rico]

My Thoughts On Racism

Racism. Nothing in Satan’s arsenal against mankind is more powerful than racism. It is the very essence of hatred. It has the power to manifest itself in the most vicious and unholy of ways. Racism can rear its ugly head blatantly, such as the hundreds of years this country suffered because of slavery. Lynching, rapes, beatings, and denial of basic human rights are just a few examples of the atrocities committed because we fell victim to the power of racism. Racism also has the power to make its presence known in subtle ways. A fleeting thought of resentment towards someone for no reason other than the color of his or her skin, that disapproving glance towards a mixed couple, the fear we feel when we are outnumbered by a group of people from another race. In one way or another we have all been touched by racism.

Racism is a cancer, determined to destroy everyone and everything in its path. It is truly no respecter of person, for the rich and poor, white and black, saved and unsaved among us have been trapped in its snare. Our corporate structure, our economic structure, our class system, our law enforcement, our very government has been influenced by this cancer in some form or fashion.

Sure, we’ve fought against it. We recognized our sins and set the slaves free. We’ve put programs into place to right the wrongs of the past. We’ve passed laws against discrimination on the basis of race. No one can deny the progress we have made in America. Still, racism lives among us. We go to work eliminating it from one area of society and it rears its ugly head somewhere else. The peace we so desperately search for, the equality so many have fought for, the eradication of this evil called racism eludes us. It is such a cunning and devious enemy. We are caught in the middle of a war against Satan himself when it comes to dealing with racism in America. It is the war we absolutely must win in order for our society to survive.

I am going to share some of my own experiences with racism, and I will make some observations based on discussions I've had on racism. I am in no way trying to exclude other races, but the bulk of my experience in discussing racism has been with white people and black people.

My Own Experiences

Let me begin by making you aware that I am a white Puerto Rican. The overwhelming majority of people I meet would never guess I am Puerto Rican because I don’t speak English with an accent, and I don’t look the part either. I spent the first 8 years of my life in Gary, IN, a city that is predominantly black. We moved to a predominantly white city called Hobart, where I lived until I turned 13 and moved back to Gary. At 18 I moved to California and at 23 moved back to Gary. From there I moved further south in Indiana, and I now live in Southern Indiana, right along the Ohio River. I have experienced different forms of racism all throughout my life.

So, how have I experienced racism? My first taste of racism was when we moved to Hobart. My sister and I were the only Puerto Ricans in an all white school system, so I fought my way through school until the 8th grade. I had to deal with being called a spic, a wetback, confused with being Mexican, and even denied “A’s” in some classes for no other discernable reason other than because I am Puerto Rican. No, everyone wasn’t guilty of treating me like dirt because of being Hispanic, but it happened enough that I grew to hate living in that town.

When I moved back to Gary, at 13, I had trouble with many of the black kids at the High School. The black folks in Gary got along with the Puerto Ricans, but because I don’t look Puerto Rican, the assumption was that I was a white boy, and that made me fair game for fights, being called a honkey and other names, etc. Basically, I went through the reverse of what I had been going through in Hobart. Even though my preference has been for those gorgeous black women I have always liked, dating one was completely out of the question during my time back in Gary schools, unless I wanted to get jumped and beaten up.

My time in California was basically racism free, and I can’t remember any incidents worthy of mention. California is where I met my current wife, who is half black. I will be honest with you; she doesn’t have a clue that she is black. It’s been a sort of running joke between us these years we’ve been together, because, when we really started dealing with some serious racial issues, she honestly could not understand why, because no one in her family had ever been black except for her dad. (I know it doesn’t make sense to you, but you just have to know my wife.)

The year and a half or so my wife and lived in Gary, after moving from California, were difficult for me because it seemed like the disgust the black folks had in Gary towards white people had increased. The black folks I knew in California didn’t have this same attitude, so it was hard for me to adjust. We finally decided to move out of Gary, for several reasons, but one of them is because I didn’t feel comfortable living there. The racial tension was something I simply did not want to deal with. Little did I know what was waiting for me when we moved.

We ended up in a small county in West Central Indiana. We moved there because my dad had bought a house there, and it was a good place to go fishing and enjoy nature. We weren’t there three months before the problems started. I started having problems at work because some of my co workers thought it would be cute to nick name me Chico, and I didn’t like that nick name. Coming from them it felt like an insult. It didn’t help that one of them thought it would be a good idea to threaten us with burning a cross in my front yard. I bought a shotgun, for the first time in my life, and gave my wife instructions on what she needed to do if a group of people showed up to terrorize her and my son (who was less than a year old at the time) while I was at work. Fortunately, my dad had some friends who knew who it was that was making these threats and took care of the situation for us. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the only incident we had to deal with.

My wife and I rented a lot we were planning on moving a trailer on to. We signed the papers, paid the deposit and the first month’s rent, and proceeded to make our plans for the move. A couple of days later the landowner showed up at my job, gave me my money back, and told me she couldn’t rent us the lot. She gave me a letter that explained that her phone had not stopped ringing since she rented us the lot. You see, we went into the local bank of this town she lived in to have the papers we signed notarized. Those people took one look at my wife, realized that I was Hispanic, and decided they didn’t want our kind moving into their little town. So, the phone campaign to this lady’s house started and did not stop until she agreed not to rent the lot to us. We could have taken her to court and won, but we’re not those kinds of people.

There were other things that happened to us while living in this county, but what hurt us the most is the racism we had to deal with at church. That’s right. I said at church, and I mean an apostolic church. The pastor thought it was ok to use the “n” word from the pulpit because he had lots of black friends and they knew he didn’t mean anything by it. Well, if the pastor thinks it’s ok to use derogatory terms like that you can imagine how free some of the brothers felt in the church to just be themselves, racist as they were. After one brother got upset with me about something, he came to my house, while I wasn’t home, and scared the daylights out of my wife with his screaming about her n***** husband! He and I almost came to blows in the church parking lot over his display of ignorance.

Racial jokes were ok there, segregationist rhetoric was ok there, and using the “n” word was ok there. Keep in mind; it wasn’t everyone in this church. It was just a few who thought they were better because they were white. Many of the people in this church were very good people who did not have a racist bone in their body and would never stoop so low as to treat anyone that way, let alone a brother from the church. It took some time, but I eventually talked the pastor into dealing with the racism that was going unchecked in his church. At least, I like to think I did. He eventually quit cussing like that from the pulpit, and I was glad because I loved him. We ended up leaving the church for other reasons, but I was glad I was gone once I made the decision to leave.

There have been other types of racism I have had to deal with as well. I’ve been pulled over before and the car and my person searched only after I produced my license and the cop saw my last name. It’s amazing how some cops’ attitude immediately changed when they found out my last name. The cordiality stopped, and they went from being the good cop to the bad cop in a flash!

[Rico]

My most recent brush with racism happened where I last worked. The company had contracts with a bank that served customers from Venezuela and another bank in California, both of which had large numbers of Spanish speaking customers. After awhile, I realized that, even though we were taking literally hundreds and maybe thousands of calls per week from Spanish speaking people, there wasn’t even one Spanish speaking supervisor or assistant supervisor, even though our contracts stated that anyone asking for a supervisor had to be transferred. You try explaining to someone that you are transferring their call to someone who can’t speak their language! When I brought this up I was given the explanation that there was no reason fir why they didn’t have any Spanish speaking supervisors. In other words, “Don’t rock the boat, Rico, and be glad you have a job.” The more I brought this up, the more I realized they didn’t have any black supervisors either. Every single person who had been moved up in this company was white. Go and figure out what that means.

I don’t want to give you the impression that my life has been nothing but one incident of racism after another. I am only sharing with you some of the things that have happened to me as a Latino. I can not tell you how many times I have felt caught in the middle of this whole race issue. If it wasn’t the white people it was the black people giving me a hard time. I have caught myself getting bitter at times and have had to stop it from getting a hold of me.

White Folks

Based on what I have gathered from my discussions with white folks, it seems that there is a bit of resentment on your part over some the programs our government has put in place to help right some of the wrongs racism has produced. Some of you feel it is unfair for a white man to be turned down for a job because of Affirmative Action. Some of you have also indicated that you don’t see what all the fuss is about among black folks because, from your point of view, they have more in their favor than they ever had had in the past. Another common complaint I hear is that you don’t feel it is right to be made to feel responsible for slavery when you have never owned a slave, or have ever wanted to own a slave. You feel like this is all in the past and don’t understand why you are being made to pay for something you had nothing to do with. Your parents taught you that racism is wrong, you believe what they taught you, and have never displayed any sort of racism towards anyone of color. Well, let me say that your complaints are valid, in my opinion. You are right. Slavery wasn’t your fault and you shouldn’t feel like you are being punished for what happened so long ago. I believe you when you say you are not racist. I also think it is unfair for you to get turned down for a job because Affirmative Action says the job should go to a black man.

With that said, I would like to point out an observation I have made. Granted, slavery was a long time ago; long before you were born. But slavery is only the deepest part of the well, so to speak, when black folks talk about racism. They know slavery days are long gone. They also, however, know that this well of racism is far from dry. Its waters still flow. They see it in the poverty they have to live with. They see it in the way they are treated when they walk into department stores and get followed by security. They see it when they get pulled over for “matching the description” of someone the police are looking for. They see it in the jobs they don’t get despite the programs the government has put in place to help. They see it in the programming on television that is dominated by white actors. They see it in the cashier who won’t put their change in their hands. They see it when white women clutch their purses closer because a black man happens to be walking past them. They see it in churches where the pastor refuses to marry them because they are marrying someone who is white. They hear it in the voices of people they talk to on the phone who figure out they are black. The list goes on and on.

Racism is much more than just slavery to the black folks of America. It is something they have to deal with on a daily basis. They deal with things you never see because these things don’t happen to you. This cancer, this evil is still at work in the black community, bent on stealing, killing, and destroying them. I don’t know any other way to put it other than to say that some acknowledgement on your part that what they are experiencing is real would go a long way. Stop telling them that this is all a thing of the past. Take the time and make the effort to understand the totality of what black people are saying to you as white people. Racism is a thing of their past, present, and will continue to be part of their future unless something is done to tear down this wall that keeps both sides from communicating with each other. Black people don’t hate you for being white. They hate the racism they see at work in so many white people.

Black Folks

I almost don’t know where to begin. I am so proud with you, when I see how far you’ve come. Last month I watched some programs on BET dedicated to your leaders and the progress you’ve made. I am impressed. You have so much in your favor today; things you didn’t have a few short generations ago. I saw one program dedicated to the NAACP, the colleges it supports, the changes that are being brought about through its programs. Honestly, I didn’t know there were that many black colleges in this country. What an accomplishment. As I watched this program I could see the pride, the dignity, the poise, the feeling of fulfillment present during this award ceremony. One of the recipients was Carol Moseley Braun. Wow. She is definitely a force to be reckoned with! I can’t remember his name, but there was another man who had run a huge corporation, one of the largest in the nation. He was inspiring, regardless of whether you’re black or white. In my opinion, what you are doing for yourselves is proper, needed, and a good example for any other minority in this country. I can only wish that Latinos will some day be as organized. Maybe someday. Still, I believe we have reaped some of the benefits your struggle has produced.

With that said, I would like to comment on some observations I have made. I don’t pretend to understand the depths of what black folks feel when it comes to racism in this country. I can not imagine what it would be like to know that my ancestors were enslaved and some died horrible deaths at the hands of people controlled by racism. I do not know what it’s like to know that a distant relative from the past was hung by an angry mob of people. I can only go by what I hear, what I see, what I have experienced as a Latino, and what I feel in my spirit.

This may come as a shock to you, but the white man is not your enemy. Your enemy is the racism at work in the white man. Your enemy is also the racism at work in your own people. All this resentment, anger, fear, and sometimes hatred you feel towards white people is misplaced. This struggle is not against flesh and blood. It is against principalities, powers, and rulers of the darkness of this world, like the Bible talks about. Over the last few days I have struggled to find the right words to say to you in this post. In my spirit I have prayed and asked God to give me something I can share with you that will shed some light on this racism issue. You are so busy blaming the white man for the condition you find yourself in, and he is not your enemy. He is merely the tool through which Satan has oppressed you.
Victory over racism can only be won through God. Only He can open the eyes of white people who just don’t see your struggles. Only He can heal your hearts of the resentment and anger you feel. Only God can break the bonds of the overwhelming poverty some of your people find themselves in. Only God can break through that corporate ceiling that keeps you from advancing economically. Only God can give your men the integrity and strength to raise the children they produce. Only God can open the eyes of your young men who are killing each other on the streets of this nation over drugs and money. There is no government sponsored program that can set you free. Your freedom lies in the hands of God and Him alone. It’s all in Jesus. I don’t know what else to say.

[SDG]

Overall, excellent thoughts .... Rico.

I'm saddened by the overt racist remarks sometimes guised in political rhetoric found in forumland.

Let's get passionate about this as the Church.

[SDG]

This is about the time someones says .... some of my best friends are black, white or hispanic ....

[LadyChocolate]

sorry you had to go through that! I hate racism with a passion.... yeah, I am as white as can be, but I can't stand racism... I was just arguing with my brother a couple of weeks ago about this issue. He couldn't believe that I was okay with my cousing marrying a black man... He was the best thing that every happened to her. Unfortunately he passed away. I find it ridiculous that many I know are more willing to accept family members becoming gay than to have them with someone of another race.... It sickens me.

I also remember being in church when a young person actually got up and testified how God delivered him from racism.... His family was that way and he even said that he hated n******s and he never knew why but God delivered him... It was crazy.... AND I do believe that anyone who is racist needs deliverance from a spirit of hatred........I don't care what color you are!

[DividedThigh]

we are all brothers and sisters, some from other mothers, racism is a sin in any form, trust me i grew up in the deep south, seen it, it is bad, dont practice it, and abhor racism completely, good thoughts rico, dt

[LadyChocolate]

Originally Posted by Daniel Alicea

This is about the time someones says .... some of my best friends are black, white or hispanic ....

...and many of mine are!!!!!!!!!!


...my first crush was on a little black boy...
...my first kiss was a spanish boy....
then I married a white man, who spent most of his life around black churches and he speak spanish!

[Rico]

Originally Posted by LadyChocolate

...and many of mine are!!!!!!!!!!


...my first crush was on a little black boy...
...my first kiss was a spanish boy....
then I married a white man, who spent most of his life around black churches and he speak spanish!

So you almost married a Latino? Is that what I am hearing you say Sister? There's an old song that says, "Ain't nothin like the real thing." Well, at least you came close. lol!

[LadyChocolate]

Originally Posted by Rico

So you almost married a Latino? Is that what I am hearing you say Sister? There's an old song that says, "Ain't nothin like the real thing." Well, at least you came close. lol!

You know my husband.... did you know that he was teased about being the "blackest" man in church...Especially when it came to singing and playing music! Some had a hard time adjusting to his style of music!!!!

[Rico]

Originally Posted by LadyChocolate

You know my husband.... did you know that he was teased about being the "blackest" man in church...Especially when it came to singing and playing music! Some had a hard time adjusting to his style of music!!!!

Yup. I remember it. I also remember the pastor thinking God had played a cruel trick on him because, when He finally gave him someone black to pastor, my wife didn't have rhythm! Don'tcha just love the Lord?