Racial ignorance still rampant in America

Thursday, October 9, 1997

Racial ignorance still rampant in America

THE TRUTH:

By Chad Williams

When I was a young child, I would often say and do things that I
knew nothing about, as I am sure we all have done. Thankfully, my
mother, father and other family members would pull me aside and
explain to me why what I did was wrong and what I should do in the
future. These little chats, deemed insignificant at the time, were,
in reflection, very important in shaping my understanding of life
and the world around me.

As I read Alex Balekian’s article, I realized that he must have
seriously lacked this type of support growing up. So, being the
chair of the African Student Union (ASU), an organization that I am
sure Mr. Balekian feels naturally attacked by, I thought it would
be irresponsible for me not to try and help Mr. Balekian through
his clearly painful internal issues. While this might appear
somewhat, shall I say, paternalistic on my part, I feel that at
this point in Mr. Balekian’s life, it is sorely needed. He is
clearly a confused individual and in dire need of help.

Let me begin by speaking directly to Mr. Balekian. Alex, believe
it or not, I can understand how you can feel the way that you do.
Being an immigrant, displaying no clear sense of racial identity
and living in the midst of an era of growing conservatism, it is
easy to see how you can be misinformed and blindly led to believe
that you are the root of the problems of people of color.
Conservative political jargon combined with the intoxicating
effects of the media have lulled a large segment of American
society into a state of intellectual pacificity, where we don’t
take the time to educate ourselves. This in turn leads to
individuals, such as yourself, who manipulate empty rhetoric to
justify their own personal beliefs, regardless of how baseless they
may be.

I am wondering how you, an immigrant of Turkish descent, who
admitted to having no ancestral ties outside of your native country
can feel personally responsible for anything in this country? What
type of internal and personal trauma are you currently suffering
from? It is so completely illogical for you to think that anyone
would view you personally as the root of their problems. Who are
you? It seems to me that you are the wrong person to write an
article such as this. Because you personally have no historical
ties to this country and the experiences of people of color and
whites are foreign to you, it makes no sense for you to speak on
such issues. Malcolm X often spoke of the importance of putting
current issues within a historical context. When you fail to do
this, your arguments have no basis and strength whatsoever.

At one point while reading your unbelievably irrational article,
I had to stop and collect myself. I thought, "what right does this
individual have to speak upon issues such as these?" How dare you
trivialize the harsh brutality and injustice of the American prison
system? Everyday men and women of all races suffer under a system
of modern slavery, far from the "lax" lifestyle that you describe.
I think that it would be for your benefit if you spoke with someone
that has been incarcerated, or better yet, you should visit a
prison and see the conditions for yourself. How could you have the
audacity to nonchalantly mock the actions of the police and federal
government, when there is documented evidence that they have
carefully planned the destruction of numerous organizations and
orchestrated the murder of several individuals dedicated to the
struggle of human upliftment and development? (Do some research on
COINTELPRO, and you might be surprised with what you find.) These
are facts, something that is desperately missing from your entire
article.

In many ways, I cannot blame you for your ignorance. Your
article is incoherent at best and merely an example of growing
intellectual stagnation and irresponsibility plaguing this country.
It is painfully obvious that you have made no effort to educate
yourself about the history and experiences of people of color, both
in this country and throughout the world. If you had, you would
realize that your arguments concerning people of European descent
residing in Africa have no relevance because they are not
originally from the continent and came with the clear purpose to
colonize the indigenous people, and exploit and plunder their
natural resources. (In the process, murdering, raping and
brutalizing millions, but that’s another article.) Paulo Freire
said, "One of the gravest obstacles to the achievement of
liberation is the oppressive reality absorbs those within it and
thereby acts to submerge human beings consciousness." Like it or
not, deny it as much as you want to, the fact remains that we live
in an oppressive world and society. But we cannot let this fact
deter us from seeking out knowledge and the truth. The result is a
world full of Alex Balekians.

Much has been said about people of color and specifically people
of African descent referring to instances of past injustice, or as
you so eloquently put it, "crying over spilled milk." Alex, I do
not hold you guilty for slavery. I do not hold your parents, or
even you grandparents, guilty for slavery. However, if you are
directly benefiting from the blood and sweat that was shed
throughout the institution of slavery, and as long as people of
African descent continue to be subjected to injustice and acts of
inhumanity, someone must be held responsible for these past and
present offenses. As long as whites continue to benefit from the
effects of Jim Crow segregation and de jure racism, keeping in mind
that this occurred a mere 33 years ago, someone must be held
responsible. If you expect me to forget that my ancestors were once
brutally forced into enslavement in order to build this "great"
country, I am sorry, but I cannot do that. If you expect me to
ignore the fact that my grandfather, because he was an African
American man, was denied the most basic of human rights, you are
expecting the impossible. I would hope that if your ancestors were
abused in any way, that you would not see it as an "unorthodox
gesture" to hold those responsible accountable in some way. But
then again, you seem to excel in the unorthodox.

Don’t get me wrong Alex, I do not hate you. I don’t hate white
people. When someone is anti-racism, anti-oppression,
anti-exploitation, anti-degradation, they are assumed to be
anti-white. I am not anti-white for believing in the merit of these
ideals, just as anyone else, regardless of race, is not anti-white.
If you want us so-called minorities to not be anti-white, then take
it upon yourself to encourage your fellow brothers and sisters of
European descent to cease in committing acts of racism, oppression
and exploitation on people of color throughout the world. The
burden of proof is on you. You don’t have the right or the
privilege to accuse people of African descent of anything, being
that whites in this country have yet to take responsibility for
their past wrongdoings.

In some strange way, I thank you for writing this article. You
demonstrate that racial ignorance and intellectual laziness
continue to run rampant on this campus and in American society. You
make it clear that the work of progressive students and
organizations like ASU must continue and increase. I hope that you
will take the responsibility and initiative to educate yourself
about issues before you blindly write about them for all to read.
With this in mind, I have listed some books and phone numbers that
might help you along your path to recovery.

"Live From Death Row" by Mumia Abu-Jamal, "Pedagogy of the
Oppressed" by Paulo Freire, "Malcolm X Speaks" by Malcolm X, "The
Mis-Education of the Negro" by Carter G. Woodson, "Assata" by
Assata Shakur, and "The Souls of Black Folk" by W.E.B. Du Bois.

ASU can be reached at 825-8051, the Center for African American
Studies library at 825-6060, and Student Psychological Services at
825-0768.