I've heard more today about the USDA situation. Shirley Sherrod, former USDA official, gave a talk in March at an NAACP conference and explained that she had initial misgivings about helping a "white" farmer save his farm back in the '80s.
It's now been shown that the early press reports that included Ms. Sherrod's talk had edited things quite a bit. The POINT of her speech, and many speeches since that time, was to demonstrate to people how she OVERCAME the racist ideas and looked beyond color.
First, let me say that I think Ms. Sherrod is one brave person. Until more brave people talk about how WRONG they were to think in racial terms, and how being racist can poison one's life, no matter what color we are, things won't change. I applaud her. She's a role model for all of us, in my opinion.
I wish more people in powerful positions could realize when their views are tainted by bigoted and wrong ideas. Heck, we're conditioned to believe, every day, that someone's race is important. How often do we hear terms such as "white" or "black" or "African-American" or "Mexican-American"? What do they MEAN?
When I see a form that asks what race I am, I wonder "How the hell do I know?" Most of the time I'm thinking, too, "What the hell difference does it make?" How does ANYONE know what race they are, and why would it ever be important?
I've been sharing office space at Borders this summer with Census workers. Nice bunch of folks. Just plain folks. But have you seen the Census forms? The long forms are all about race, or where "your people" came from.
WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES THAT MAKE? Aren't we all Americans? (All of us who are here legally, I guess.)
All I can figure is that it makes some difference to politicians. Maybe they need a way to divide people, and race is a convenient thing for them.
It's now been shown that the early press reports that included Ms. Sherrod's talk had edited things quite a bit. The POINT of her speech, and many speeches since that time, was to demonstrate to people how she OVERCAME the racist ideas and looked beyond color.
First, let me say that I think Ms. Sherrod is one brave person. Until more brave people talk about how WRONG they were to think in racial terms, and how being racist can poison one's life, no matter what color we are, things won't change. I applaud her. She's a role model for all of us, in my opinion.
I wish more people in powerful positions could realize when their views are tainted by bigoted and wrong ideas. Heck, we're conditioned to believe, every day, that someone's race is important. How often do we hear terms such as "white" or "black" or "African-American" or "Mexican-American"? What do they MEAN?
When I see a form that asks what race I am, I wonder "How the hell do I know?" Most of the time I'm thinking, too, "What the hell difference does it make?" How does ANYONE know what race they are, and why would it ever be important?
I've been sharing office space at Borders this summer with Census workers. Nice bunch of folks. Just plain folks. But have you seen the Census forms? The long forms are all about race, or where "your people" came from.
WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES THAT MAKE? Aren't we all Americans? (All of us who are here legally, I guess.)
All I can figure is that it makes some difference to politicians. Maybe they need a way to divide people, and race is a convenient thing for them.
When I was growing up, we didn't care about that stuff because we were all too busy being POOR. Back a couple of generations, we were POOR first and hungry next, and then maybe at number 48 on the list I could afford to notice that my skin color was somehow lighter than other folks. I'm sure other people in other places had to deal with it on a daily basis, but most of us didn't have time to. Heck, we didn't even know we were poor, because we were happy, and there were plenty of people (of all different groups) who were worse off than us.
Granted, I will never know what it's like to walk in a black man's shoes. I can NEVER know what trials and tribulations that the generations before mine had to endure. I'll never know what it is to be denied a promotion because I'm a woman, and someone is ignorant and biased. I'll never be able to know those things.
But one thing I do know: if you choose who you work with or hire or buy from on the basis of something as superficial as skin color or last name or gender, you won't last long in business!
Granted, I will never know what it's like to walk in a black man's shoes. I can NEVER know what trials and tribulations that the generations before mine had to endure. I'll never know what it is to be denied a promotion because I'm a woman, and someone is ignorant and biased. I'll never be able to know those things.
But one thing I do know: if you choose who you work with or hire or buy from on the basis of something as superficial as skin color or last name or gender, you won't last long in business!
Relevance: UHCL is now listed as an "Hispanic Serving Institution." I applaud our efforts to cater to an underserved group in our community. I also hope that while we're focusing on being an "HSI" that it will help us improve service and responsiveness to ALL students regardless of race or ethnicity. Cudos to the faculty and administration at UHCL on achieving this designation -- I think it points out that everyone deserves the same consideration and courtesy, and everyone deserves the same opportunity to learn (with no short cuts).
