<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>FW: racist "humor" in WSJ today</TITLE>
<META content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META content="MSHTML 5.00.2919.6307" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY>
<DIV>Hello everybody,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>A friend of mine in the state capital (Madison, if anyone wants to know)
sent me this email with the attached pdf cartoon. I have my own thoughts about
it:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>Yes, I would say this qualifies as a gross distortion, equal to any of the
"Pollock" jokes that I used to hear the German-American kids in Appleton tell
about the residents of neighboring Menasha when I was growing up. To parse what
passes for "thought process" here <EM>ad absurdum</EM>, there is a faulted
logical premise that receipt of checks is uniquely associated with persons of
specific racial or ethnic heritage, when we all know more people who think of
themselves as "white" receive checks than any other racial stereotype.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>But let us take the lemon and make lemonade by taking a quick look at where
"Black History" is going. Originally, the discipline within the study of history
known as "Black History" served to bring into the light all kinds of facts and
associations which had been deliberately and literally "whitewashed" out of the
history books. Hopefully "Black History" will soon cease to exist as a distinct
category, not because those facts are forgotten again, but because they become
so inseparably woven into American history, world history, western hemisphere
history, that nobody can take them out again. Nobody of any color can call
themselves proficient in the history of the USA who is ignorant of the facts and
events and personalities submerged and reconstructed as "Black History."</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>We do need to phase out the practice of putting some accomplished person on
a shaky pedestal as "a black scientist" or "a black engineer" or "a black
lawyer," as if there is something EXCEPTIONAL about that. It sends the wrong
message to children, who instead of being inspired by the example, give up on
the idea that they could reach the same heights. There is no more difficult or
subtle nuance in a society at the current level and form of racism we live in,
than making it clear that all kinds of people with dark complexions are in every
trade and profession, without making a big deal about the fact that someone of a
dark complexion is there. And let's face it: kids who identify as "black" are
just as bored with "black history" as any other kids are bored by any other
history. Their teachers, "white" or "black" love it, but the kids are bored. It
takes a special effort to inspire any child to really love any history, even
"their own."</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Siarlys</DIV>
<DIV>----- Forwarded Message -----</DIV></DIV>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>I was pretty appalled that this ran in this morning's
State Journal. I called the paper, found out the features editor is on
vacation, so talked to a high level person who agreed there was a problem once
he saw the strip. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>I have no idea who the cartoonist is, but I'm going
to find out a little more about him. We've come to expect this level of
thinking from the Supreme Court, but I still have higher expectations for
pillars of the community like cartoonists!</FONT></P></BODY></HTML>