Addiction To Racism

 

 

               Seldom does anyone, black or white, ever want to be told that they have issues.  Just try getting an alcoholic to admit that they are an alcoholic, or a husband or wife to admit that they are the reason the marriage failed. It gets worse when you try to get a racist to admit to being a racist.

 

 I have for some time now, felt that racism is an addiction not unlike addiction to drugs or alcohol.  Donald Sterling   retreated into denial the second his blatant racism was revealed before the world.  After having his addiction to racism exposed, he denied that there could have been even the slightest possibility of racism underlying his “unfortunate words”.

 

Just as Scarlett O’Hara in “Gone with the Wind”, boasted about how well she treated her slaves, Sterling continues to boast about how well he treats “his” blacks, especially his black players. He talks of buying them “food, and cars, and houses”. He doesn’t have a clue how that sounds to his millionaire players, whose exceptional talents helped him make his billions. He is so blinded by his racist superiority complex, that he actually believes that his players love him. In all actuality, they probably want to open up a can of ass-whipping on him.

 

               Like most addicts, Sterling has failed to seek the help he most urgently needs.  He is learning the hard way, a very important lesson; that in 2014, he lives in a society where the majority of its citizens, at the very least, want to appear to treat its fellow citizens with a degree of fair-mindedness and humanity.  The blatant transgressions of a few brought on by years of unbridled addiction to a tradition of racism will no longer be tolerated.

Mothers of the Wilmington Ten

There has been much said about Ben Chavis and the Wilmington Ten. No one ever mentions some of the greatest civil rights workers of all time, our mothers. As Mothers’ Day approaches, I am dedicating this entire week to the mothers of the Wilmington Ten.  

These women fought hard and valiantly for our freedom. Dolores F. Moore, Louise Hyman Carolyn Vereen, Margaret Jacobs, Etta Patrick, Sarah Wright, Elisabeth Chavis, Florence Epps, and Lue Vell Tindall. Though Ann Sheppard was also a co-defendant she was also like a mother to some of us. These brave women risked their jobs and reputations to fight for justice and freedom. They marched tirelessly around the country demanding justice for the Wilmington Ten. They car-pooled to prisons around the stare delivering comfort and home-cooked meals to us. 

Most of them never lived to see to us pardoned, but it is never too late to honor them. I honor them now. I will do a special honor to my mother in my blog on Thursday.