Racism

          I’d planned to write a short essay on racism, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized how complicated this subject is. Racial or ethnic racism isn’t complicated, but when you add in national or group stereotyping, things get very complicated. Almost every national group that came to this country had to overcome painful stereotyping that centered on physical characteristics or supposed behaviors. Most were labeled with pejorative names: Wops, Bohunks, Micks, Dagos, Frogs, Nips, Chinks, Coons, Spicks, Hymies, Kikes, Sambos, Shylocks, Greaseballs, Jigaboos, Wetbacks, Krauts, and the list goes on and on. We even keep adding to that list with recent slurs like Ragheads. And we dodge the insulting slur word for blacks by saying “the n-word.” How stupid, how silly.

Just look at how nationalities were too often considered. The Italians were all part of the Mafia and couldn’t talk if you had them in handcuffs. The Irish were all drunken brawlers, but all were sweet tenors who sang “Danny Boy.". The Scotch were all cheap tightwads. The Jews were all short-statured usurers or loan sharks. The Germans were all humorless beer guzzlers. The Polish were all stupid. The Mexicans and the other nationalities south of the border were all drug-running criminals. The Chinese all ate Chow Mein and fortune cookies, all looked alike, and all were skilled in Kung Fu and table tennis. The Japanese all ate sushi and rice and drank only Saki, the women were all subservient and docile, and the only sport at which they excelled was sumo wrestling. The French from childhood up all drank wine, ate snails and frogs’ legs, were rude, were all mimes, and all stank. The Indians were all filthy, charmed snakes, worshipped cows, were uneducated, and loved curry in all foods. Native Americans were all lazy, drunken, red-skinned scalpers who ate dog meat and lived in teepees.

As with all stereotypes of all races and cultures, the stereotype allows those who use it to feel superior to those being stereotyped. Ridicule is the weapon of those who fear the ridiculed.

My main topic, however, is the stereotypical image of African Americans. All say “ax” instead of “ask,” all males have an extra tendon in the calf that lets them jump higher than whites, all males favor idiotic hairstyles like corn rows and dreadlocks, all males have longer than normal penises, most blacks physically resemble monkeys or apes, all blacks love watermelon and grits, all love and excel at gospel music, and most are fat, ignorant, and foul smelling. And most black youths love “gangsta” rap and point finger pistols to show how tough and cool they are.

Let’s simplify it. Black athletes in the NFL often go to great lengths to celebrate their successes—long runs, touchdowns, sacks, spectacular receptions—by thumping chests, staring down the camera with arms pumping, and doing prepared elaborate dances and celebrations in the end zones. Granted, some white NFL players do the same, but not to the same extent. What’s my point? That the behavior of the blacks is not some inbred behavior; it’s what they saw as acceptable a generation ahead of them, just as young black and white boys today will see such behavior and will emulate it whenever they get the chance both on and off the field. I wish they wouldn’t. Such behavior only serves to separate races and cultures instead of bringing them together. Such behavior is learned, not genetic. It’s nurture, not nature. I’m not a racist. Are you?