Understanding Modern Racism

I'm sure that everyone is aware of the current media blitz concerning racial tension in our country.  After all, Mr. Obama has been touted as the first post racial president of the United States.  I decided to take this opportunity to discover for myself why there is such a deeply rooted racial divide between black and white Americans, and how this animosity has survived for several generations.

I did this by talking to my good friend Ken.

Ken and I have been friends for years, and although we regularly debate a variety of subjects we both seem to shy away from the discussion of race.  But now that we have a post racial president, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity for me to get some questions answered that have been bothering me for years.

Ken, being the open minded man that he is, told me the reasons in a context that was simple and clear.  He told me that his people had suffered greatly at the hands of white Americans for generations and that he understood how a white person today may find it hard to understand just how severe our prejudice could be.   
He told me that his people have been ridiculed for years.  Characters like Al Jolson, a white man who portrayed a comical black character in vaudeville shows. He stated that the black Americans have always been subjected to cruel jokes and harsh names (i will not print these different slang terms, but we all know what they are).

He said that his people were subjected to discrimination and segregation. They were not allowed to participate in whites only events, join whites only clubs, go to whites only colleges, and they were refused scholorships based on their race.

He said his people lived in fear of groups such as the KKK, and other white supremacist groups. He said I've never experienced being refused the right to vote, or intimidated at the polls by these groups.  He said that his people were afraid to go into certain parts of town that were considered white areas.

He told me that I would never understand because I had not lived through discrimination the way he had......

After our little talk, I was feeling really guilty.  I went home sat down on the couch and turned on the television. There I sat, flipping through the channels until I came to the BET Network. As I sat there pondering what my friend said, I listened to Dave Chappelle tell a series of white cracker jokes during his comedy special. He then made fun of he way white people walked and danced and told how stupid they were. hmmm...

I decided to watch something else so it started changing the channels.  I passed a commercial for an upcoming NAACP meeting.  That led me to remember the Miss Black America Pageant, United Negro College Fund, and all the black fraternities and sororities at the predominantly black college just up the road. hmm.......

I kept flipping through the channel and settled on a news commentary show.  They did several pieces that night.  One was on  Dr. Kamau Kambon, a former NCSU professor who stated, "The problem on the planet is white people" .  He also said that all white people should all be exterminated.  Then I saw a film clip of two new black panther party members standing outside a polling station turning away white voters.  They were dressed in military type clothing.  One of them, a Mr. King Samir Shabazz was carrying a nightstick.  That's the same Shabazz that said all black men need to kill some crackers and kill white babies.  hmm...............

I was still thinking about it as I told my wife that it wasn't safe to visit a particular grocery store because it was "in a bad neighborhood" and not safe.  She was upset to miss the sale, but told me she would stay away so I wouldn't worry.  You see, we just can't go to into some parts of town anymore............hmmm.........

Maybe I understand Ken more than he realizes.