AT&T 's demeaning commercials go unopposed.

Paula Deen has been the subject of public scrutiny. She has lost several sources of income. Deen is now infamous for being a racist in addition to being famous for her cooking.  Yet, one of the largest phone service providers airs multiple "It's not complicated" commercials showing young black children saying downright dumb things or simply looking dimwitted while the white children deliver the intelligent lines and this egregious practice goes unopposed. 

At first, I decided that it was one commercial and not worth making a fuss over.  "I wonder who that mother is who would want her child to appear in a commercial so badly that she would allow AT&T to demean her kid by having him (or her) look stupid on national television," I commented to my son. That was pretty much the end of it for me. 

It was just the beginning. The AT&T commercials apparently have commercial appeal (pun intended) because the communications giant keeps rolling them out. I believe there are at least four of them.  In each instance, the African-American child is saddled with the less than sharp commentary while the white children are made to look clever.  The host of the question/answer session with the children is a white male.

With racial tensions running high because of the controversial Zimmerman verdict, the last thing that I wish to do is stir the pot.  However, it is evident that AT&T is going to continue to exploit these children and no one is paying attention. Again, the parents are allowing their children to appear in the commercials, but that does not mean that the general public cannot speak up on their behalf. Let's let AT&T know that we are watching and it's not because we find their commercials amusing. They offend me each time they air, hence my post. 

AT&T, Change your shameful practices! It's not complicated.

Note: While searching for the commercials to add to my post, I found this video of another person who feels the same as I do, that there is a clear pattern of the black children being made to look ridiculous in these commercials.


  

Tim Wise on White Privilege

I heard about this via a Facebook post by a writer named Jeremy Williams a.k.a. Push Nevahda.

From the DVD:

The Pathology of Privilege
Racism, White Denial & the Costs of Inequality

For years, acclaimed author and speaker Tim Wise has been electrifying audiences on the college lecture circuit with his deeply personal take on whiteness and white privilege. In this spellbinding lecture, the author of White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son offers a unique, inside-out view of race and racism in America. Expertly overcoming the defensiveness that often surrounds these issues, Wise provides a non-confrontational explanation of white privilege and the damage it does not only to people of color, but to white people as well. This is an invaluable classroom resource: an ideal introduction to the social construction of racial identities, and a critical new tool for exploring the often invoked - but seldom explained - concept of white privilege.

Find more information and video clips on Youtube posted by ChallengingMedia or at MediaEd.org.

Racism: Does your silence give consent?

Rick Sanchez reported on his CNN show that Cracker Barrel issued a statement saying that the restaurant chain has banned Troy Dale West, Jr., from dining in any of its facilities nationwide. Rick had a great question... how do they plan to enforce the ban? Hmm...

For those of you who might have missed the story -- and that would be easy to do since CNN seems to be the only news outlet willing to give the story any airtime-- West, who is white, is accused of attacking a black woman at a Cracker Barrel in Morrow, Georgia, while many white onlookers did just that. They looked. At least one white male witness is remembered by the victim to have been smiling while she was being viciously attacked as her 7 year-old daughter watched in fear and horror. The child was still visibly shaken and crying when police arrived on the scene.

Army reservist Tashawnea Hill spoke with Sanchez in the CNN studio on Wednesday, September 17, 2009 and recounted the ugly incident with her attorney present. According to Hill, she simply informed West that he had almost hit her daughter with the door and asked him to be more careful. West allegedly went into an immediate tirade in which he struck Hill several times with a closed fist, knocking her to the ground. After Hill fell to the ground, he kicked her repeatedly. West spewed racially charged remarks during the entire ordeal. Eventually, two women (one white and one black) spoke up on Hill's behalf. The FBI has decided to investigate the incident as a hate crime. The victim and witnesses said that West repeatedly called Hill a "nigger b!#ch" while brutally beating her.



If nothing else, this horrific attack should rip off the blinders of all of the naive citizens trying to deny the fact that racism is alive, well, kicking high and still wreaking havoc in America in 2009. Wake up, people! While this country has traveled a long distance on the path to racial equality and harmony, we are not even close to achieving it. There are many who have changed their views and ways but there are still those who work tirelessly to grow the numbers of those who stand in the shadow of hatred with them in order to continue to permeate our society with their bigotry and their vile racist views. Indeed, there are those who would see African Americans back in the chains of slavery or at the very least, riding at the back of the bus again and stripped of the measure of freedom that has been earned by the unprecedented efforts and sacrifices of warriors of the fight for freedom, justice and equality like Harriet Tubman, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the King famiy, the Kennedy family and so many others throughout history. There are those who would have that shameful, dark, and despicable portion of America's history repeated if they were able to bring it about. However, I believe that there are more of us who believe in freedom for all, in equality for all, and in justice for all. We must stand up against attacks of racism in any and all forms. We cannot sit silently or allow our voices to be quelled because the racist and bigots will win. They will not win because they are the majority. They will not win because they yell the loudest. They certainly will not win because they are correct in their misguided beliefs. They will win because we who know that they are the minority, who know that they cannot yell louder than all of our voices speaking against them in unity, and who know that they are absolutely wrong in their beliefs do nothing.

Let's do something, people. Vote for elected officials who do not embrace the notions of those who would see our country racially divided forever. If you are unable to donate to their campaigns, volunteer your time to assist them in getting elected. Speak up or at least dial 911 for help if warranted when you witness someone being attacked due to race, creed, color, sexual orientation or any other prejudice. Call or email the other television news stations to ask why they have not covered this important story. Do something. My mother always said, "Silence gives consent." We may as well voice agreement to such atrocities if we say or do nothing to curtail them.

Apologetic racist wants to go to heaven

Elwin Wilson tells his story of rampant, senseless, unforgiving racism way back in the 1960s south. Rock Hill, South Carolina to be exact. Wilson declares that he was never afraid of anyone or anything. The one thing that has been able to frighten him is the thought of spending the ever after in hell. In an effort to avoid that horrendous fate, he has been issuing public apologies to some of those he has harassed,threatened, and beaten. Many people have embraced Wilson and accepted his apology. Many people are calling him a "hero." I think not. And the comments left by racists who don't feel that Mr. Wilson's apology is necessary are appalling. Read the story. Have your children read the story and the comments. So many of our younger generation think that racism is a thing of the past. Those comments should certainly dispel that myth. My take on Wilson's story is contained in the poem, No Hero, below. I suppose that in the end, it doesn't matter why he decided to change but that he did. Too bad his change of heart has taken multiple decades to happen and has been a negative influence on countless impressionable minds that continue to harbor hate. Peace and blessings, Mr. Wilson.



No Hero

It defies understanding that you are being called a hero
You have simply collapsed under the weight of your sins from long ago
No one can really question the sincerity of your wish to change your ways
But you freely admit it’s only because of worry about how you’ll spend
your eternal days
Loved to spew the N-word, which actually describes an ignorant person ---
like you
One has only to read about your behavior back then to know it’s true
Unprovoked harassment, threats, and beatings of blacks. Is that all that
you’ve done?
Or should you be arrested and tried for the crimes you’ve admitted to and
murder one?
The ghost of a black man haunting you! Oh the volumes that speaks
Is his soul unable to rest because justice for his senseless death it seeks?
Will you take the truth to your grave? Will we ever really know?
Honestly, it’s the people who endured your vicious, hateful wrath who
should be called “hero”
It’s because of people like you that racism is alive and thriving to this very
day
Still, I wish you well and hope that to heaven you find your way


Sunida E. York © copyright 2009 All Rights Reserved

Racism is alive, well and kicking!

Man Finds Racial Slur Printed On Receipt
KMBC's Marcus Moore reports.




Thanks to C. Lewis for the email.