Racism

One day, many years ago, I was working in my college bookstore when this guy walks in wearing a T-shirt. "White Power," it said. I was chatting with a friend, Cathy Duncan, and what happened next was as smooth as if we had rehearsed it. All at once, she's sitting on my lap or I'm sitting on hers -- I can't remember which -- and that white girl gives this black guy a peck on the lips. In a loud voice she asks, "So, what time should I expect you home for dinner, honey?" Mr. White Power glares malice and retreats.

Over the past few weeks, I have quietly waited for someone to write in a sensible argument regarding the issue of the White Student Union at Towson University. I can no longer remain quiet. Let us remind ourselves of a few facts. White people are still in the majority in this country and on the campus of TU. Black people are still in the minority in this country as well as on the campus of TU. Lest we forget the atrocities that have been committed against our black brothers and sisters in this country.

If Rabbi Chaim Landau had castigated any American ethnic group — say, African Americans — as hateful, duplicitous and violent, which is how he describes Palestinians, The Sun would never have printed such vile racism ("Mr. Obama, don't equate Israel with its enemies," May 27). But Zionists and their apologists have to revert to such sophistic rationalizations to justify a brutal and illegal occupation in Palestine. It's much easier than facing up to the true nature of Israel's policies in the region.

Really, Mr. Conaway! In his defense of dirt bike riders ("Don't penalize city kids for riding dirt bikes," April 25), Baltimore Circuit Court Clerk Frank M. Conaway Sr. places blame for this problem on the Baltimore Police Department and their vendetta against black youth. The inner city is rife with Mr. Conaway calls a "nuisance" while Baltimore drivers see it as a clear and present danger. I have slammed on my brakes numerous times and swerved into other lanes trying to avoid a collision.

As we prepare to celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King, it is right to take pride in our determined, if unsteady, march toward racial understanding. But it is also right to recall the pain that our acts of bigotry — large and small — have inflicted along the way and that remain, indelibly, in memory. I can give such testimony. I witnessed and began to understand for the first time the personal humiliation of racial discrimination during my senior year at Haverford College.

I have had all I can stomach of Leonard Pitts' ranting and raving about racism ("For Obama, there's no reason to make nice," Aug. 7). I am offended, as are many of my friends, at being labeled "racist" every time I or they disagree with President Obama's socialistic, Marxist policies. It has absolutely nothing to do with his color, and Mr. Pitts and the Democrats know it. But they continue to go down the same old tired road of disingenuously labeling dissension as racism. Mr. Pitts claims that "this is not politics as usual," referring to Mr. Obama being black.

The tea party is made up of different groups and their organization is broken up among those different groups. You don't have leaders in the tea parties, only organizers, and each member can volunteer to be an organizer. How can the tea party come out against racism within their group, if it is just an assembly of people? Some may not even be registered members of the tea party but just show up at the rally. All large groups have some small elements of racism because racism exists among all ethnicities.

Really, Mr. Conaway! In his defense of dirt bike riders ("Don't penalize city kids for riding dirt bikes," April 25), Baltimore Circuit Court Clerk Frank M. Conaway Sr. places blame for this problem on the Baltimore Police Department and their vendetta against black youth. The inner city is rife with Mr. Conaway calls a "nuisance" while Baltimore drivers see it as a clear and present danger. I have slammed on my brakes numerous times and swerved into other lanes trying to avoid a collision.

In the midst of the fracas over whether Shepherd Pratt can run a home for psychiatric patients ("Discrimination in Ruxton," April 25), isn't everyone forgetting Ruxton's intransigence when a light rail stop was proposed 20 years ago? Not only does the light rail conveniently bestride the Ruxton commercial district, but trains stopped there for many years when there were few if any black passengers on them. But although the MTA more or less begged Ruxton to acquiesce to a light rail stop, the community refused to have any access via the light rail.

Letter writer Lyle Rescott chides The Sun for correctly outing Newt Gingrich as a bigot ("Newt Gingrich isn't a racist," Jan. 22). I can't resist paraphrasing the old adage: If it looks like a duck, waddles like a duck and pontificates like a duck - it's definitely a duck! Ann Power, Catonsville

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is alleged to be one of the great intellects of conservative jurisprudence, but his comments during oral arguments over a challenge to the 1965 Voting Rights Act displayed all the mental acuity of a third-tier talk radio bozo. Shelby County, Ala., is making the case against the voting law. Section 5 of the act empowers the federal government to negate new local and state voting rules if they would lead to discrimination against minority voters.

One day, many years ago, I was working in my college bookstore when this guy walks in wearing a T-shirt. "White Power," it said. I was chatting with a friend, Cathy Duncan, and what happened next was as smooth as if we had rehearsed it. All at once, she's sitting on my lap or I'm sitting on hers -- I can't remember which -- and that white girl gives this black guy a peck on the lips. In a loud voice she asks, "So, what time should I expect you home for dinner, honey?" Mr. White Power glares malice and retreats.

Just as there are many roads to glory, there are myriad ways to grapple with the ghosts of racism past. Some seek, and eventually obtain, apologies such as the one issued by the Howard County school board last month. Others seek, and sometimes obtain, financial reparations — such as those who, decades after it happened, eventually divided several million dollars because of a 1920s racial cleansing in Rosewood, Fla. But last month, Morgan State University took a giant step in a different direction, breaking ground for a new home for its business school.

John Ellis "Bo" Blackwell, one of the first African-Americans to be appointed to the Baltimore Police Department, who overcame racism and enjoyed a 30-year career with the department, died Oct. 30 of respiratory failure at Sinai Hospital. The Ellicott City resident was 83. "John was a pioneering African-American officer and he kept us focused. We stand on his shoulders," said Edward V. Woods, who served as police commissioner from 1989 to 1993. "Thank God for people like John who always gave his all. We are a better community for it and the department is now a healthy and representative mixture of people," said Mr. Woods.

Thanks for your two excellent commentaries by Stephanie A. Flores-Koulish and Lionel Foster ("Lost lesson of the Indian schools," and "What we (don't) talk about when we (don't) talk about race," Oct. 5). Ms. Flores-Koulish's piece about American "Indian schools" reminds me of the effort of our European-immigrant forebears to obliterate an entire ancient civilization and culture in order to take over its land. The empire builders from the so-called "Christian" nations of Europe who invaded this continent after Columbus practiced a systematic genocide and slavery that is well documented, including in records maintained by church officials.

Responding to questions about a reporter who interrupted President Barack Obama's immigration address in the Rose Garden on Friday, Rep.Elijah E. Cummings said he expected racism "probably had something to do with it. " In questioning Cummings during a television interview, MSNBC host Martin Bashir drew a line from Friday's incident to what he called "disrespectful behavior" toward U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. Holder, who is also black, has been under fire for months from congressional Republicans over a widening weapons scandal at theBureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

I HATE racism," Andy's paper reads. He has chosen his essay topic "racism" from a list I put on the board this morning."It's not fair to be racist against fat people or girls either. People can't help being fat or girls," he argues.This is where I slap my hand to my forehead and mutter to myself, "Why didn't I suggest they look up their topic in the dictionary first?" Not every eighth grader in our village fully understands the basics of racism, much less the implications."Your essay is well done, Andy," I tell him as I roll up beside his desk.

Thomas Schaller is to be commended for his commentary revealing a dark side behind the avuncular charm of Ron Paul ("Ron Paul disavows ... Ron Paul?" Dec. 28). As a progressive, I've long been skeptical (to put it mildly) of Dr. Paul's right-wing libertarianism, which prefers a rapacious market over community and an anarchic rugged individualism over social justice and human solidarity. A society is much more than a market, and the individual is a social being. Democracy is a kind of community.

A controversial student group at Towson University has again drawn criticism from other students who claim it is racist. But school administrators say they won't be taking any action against the group. On Saturday night, the group, Youth for Western Civilization, chalked messages that included the words "White Pride" at several visible locations on campus, including the Student Union and Freedom Square, said its president, Matthew Heimbach. When discovered Monday, the messages angered other student groups, who saw them as having nationalist connotations.