Author: mopress

Former State Representative Glen Maxey of Austin will lead the effort
to defeat the Texas constitutional amendment prohibiting recognition of civil
marriage or civil unions between persons of the same gender which the
Legislature has placed on the November, 2005 statewide ballot.

"I’m eager to use my experience to bring a broad coalition of
fair-minded Texans together to say ‘No’ to this nonsense in November," said Maxey in a Tuesday press release from the Lesbian /
Gay Rights Lobby of Texas.

"With public education, health care access, and rational and fair tax
policy languishing, the Legislature spent their time and our tax
dollars enacting this divisive, unnecessary amendment. They now are
asking Texans to rubber stamp their efforts to deny many Texans the
basic civil rights to protect their relationships and their family’s
property and inheritance rights, hospital visitation, and the hundreds
of other rights and responsibilities brought by a civil marriage or
civil union."

Maxey, 53, is a native of Baytown, Texas and holds a Masters Degree in
Education and a B.S. in Social Rehabilitation and Social Services from
Sam Houston State University. He has a 35 year career in political
activism, campaign management, and public policy. He has participated
in hundreds of electoral campaigns ranging from municipal, county and
school elections to Presidential campaigns and issue referendums. He
was instrumental in the historic grass roots effort that helped elect
Governor Ann Richards in 1990 and was the Texas statewide coordinator
for Gov. Howard Dean’s campaign in 2004. He has been an integral part
of statewide campaigns for over three decades. His leadership in 2004
resulted in a historic voter turnout in Travis County local elections.

Lesbian Gay Rights Lobby of Texas Press Release

Please notice in the following rant how the writer takes the ‘white usage’ of racism and runs with it. There is no evidence in the email that the writer bothered to consider the ‘black usage’ for racism suggested by the article under fire. No doubt, experience with this sort of Cape Codder is what motivates Mr. Gonsalves to advise his black readers not to use the r-word in white company.

Dear Sir,

Read your article on Cape Cod “racism” problem.What a pathetic example of race baiting jibberish and unmitigated BS.

I happen to live in the area and if you knew what you were talking about you would know that Cape Cod is well represented by many black people of good character who are treated with dignity and respect. The town of Onset Mass has and has had a very large, possibly majority, black population, mostly Cape Verdeans, one of whom I would bet is Mr.Gonsalves. These people are hard working good citizens who have always enjoyed the acceptence of the rest of the population in the area. It has always been a given that with minor exceptions people are judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin or the movies that they prefer.

Until now I was not aware that there were “black”movies or”white” movies although I have seen “black and white” movies in the past. You have the distinction of trying to popularise a newly perceived or concocted schism between blacks and whites, for what purpose I can’t imagine, maybe just to stir up some conflict where it doesn’t exist. Would it be your purpose to force theater owners to show predominantly unpopular movies to empty theaters for the sake of political correctness or reparitions for slavery? I would like to know how you derived your assessment of the theater owners “intent”as other than making a living by selling tickets.

One of the most significant factors in keeping any dissention going between black and white is people like you and your absurd contentions continually harping on their differences real or as in this case imagined. This article is really a stretch in an attempt to do so and you do a disservice to your fellow blacks. This article has “pity poor me I’m black and everyone shares my self loathing” in every line,except where Mr Gonsalves is quoted.

Previous to the Civil rights Act of 1963 if you referred to a Cape Verdean as Black they would be very quick to correct you and insist that they were Cape Verdean and not black or negro (an acceptable term then). Now everybody is black and proud and taking their place at the front of the line for set asides and affirmative action preference. That is affirmative action at work.

Cape Verdeans (blacks) are now a protected class where before they were just like everyone else in town, a person. I guess they signed on to your philosophy of “Whitey” owes me. Where before they were just “folks”as you so quaintly label them now the citizens of Cape Cod are “black folks” and “white folks”and “Whitey won’t give them the movies they want. None of them would ever think or believe that they were getting the short end of the movie biz if you didn’t concoct this pathetic exercise in race baiting.You should be ashamed.

I have an idea that most proud Cape Cod blacks would agree with me and disavow your racist screed about such a pathetic issue as what movies are being shown. You see racism everywhere and if it stopped you would just be like everyone else.Heaven forbid that racism is eliminated and you lose your “special” victimhood status. Not much chance of that happening with an outlook like yours. You are part of the problem not the soloution.Smarten up.

With lowest of regards,

PS. No need to reply you don’t have anything to say that will redeem yourself from this slur on the good people of Cape Codfish.

Honestly, I think the reader above did not take much time to think about the article. Not only does he (she?) neglect the article’s attention to two quite different meanings of racism, but he also seems not to have read the phrase “existential courage” (something quite different from “pity me”).

On the other hand, here is a reader who found in the Cape Cod article a new way to think about the difficulties of our common lives.

Sir:

An excellent, delicate elucidation of a problem that many might well not even see exists; I didn’t really grasp it myself until I read your article. I sensed that there was a dichotomy between the views of whites and people of color I know, but your essay clarified for me the precise nature of that difference.

How fatiguing it is to be always thinking of skin color. Your article brought that home to me as well. We need explanations such as yours, yet I can’t help wishing people would simply grow up and forget about it. But then I’m so mixed (1/4 Native American, 1/4 Creole, 1/4 Welsh, 1/16 African American, 1/16 French) I hardly even know where I fit on your continuum of “intent” versus “effect”, though I recognize the existence and influence of both.

At any rate, this is one of the most useful things I’ve read in a long time. You expanded my thinking and I value that above everything.

Most sincerely,

Note to pissed off Cape Codders: readers who find the article useful do not blame Cape Codders first.–gm

Here we find two emails that are a perfect match. First, from a reader who has “no interest in ‘black movies’ “:

You said: “one must choose between racism and
economics.”

As a business man, I’ll chose economics every time.

Sincerely,

A finacially secure white dude from Oklahoma who only
spends my hard earned money on white movies. It’s not that I’m racist, I just have no interest in “black movies”.

Second, from a reader who asks, is there such a thing as racism of indifference?

Hi Greg,

I enjoyed your article in todays Counterpunch & also
enjoyed the article “Reject the Language of White
Supremacy.” in Black Commentator. And I agree with you
that we should not buy into the easy convenient
separations.

As you well know, 25% of young African American men
are either incarcerated or under the supervision of
the judicial system at any time. Also, one in every
eight humans in jail on this planet is an African
American.

THE INTENT being, in the name of crime-prevention, as
we are told. No need to re-state here the impact THE
EFFECT on the Black community/family.

Where this leads the Black community over time is
scary to comtemplate as no society can remain healthy
or viable in this condition. In any society
experiencing such a sociological disaster, there would
be massive INTENT to correct the situation. Or the
society would degenerate otherwise.

But there is little or no such intent in this country.

Is this racism or is it not ?

Is this racism via “NON-INTENT” ?

One way to look at this is to study the class
dynamics. America has come a long way from when Blacks
were treated as a sub-human class. African-Americans
now enjoy a place (sometimes priviledged) in the
mainstream American class tree. But our nominal spot
is still at the bottom. We can rise above it but loss
of priviledge (or plain lack of it) drops us right
back to the bottom faster than any other ethicity
because the bottom remains our nominal in this
country. The White being the normative against which
we (like all other ethnics) are measured.

The reason I mention class is two-fold. First is to
explain why there is little or no intent to correct
the over-excessive incarceration of the Black-class
young male. And we as African-Americans are well
guilty of apathy/neglect (or even self-loathing) on
this one because we have also bought into the
“SELF-EVIDENCE” of the class structure. In other words
we have bought into the White Supremacy that makes
this an acceptable outcome of the comtemporary class
structure.

Also on class, the original ideas behind the great
epic saga of Western Civilization was not geared
towards creating a class system that included
non-Whites. The class re-oragnizations that occured in
Europe were primarily internal, native & indigenous.
We (African Americans, Africans, Native Americans,
Asians …) just got roped in along the way. And the
notion of White Supremacy & Manifest Destiny were
concocted along the way to provide justification.
Today the “SELF-EVIDENCE we see in the media & other
monuments (both mental & physical) serve to sustain
the status-quo.

Sometimes I wonder how well Whites understand or
perceive the nature of their class re-organizations.
It may be difficult as it challenges the notion of
SELF-EVIDENCE.

Fortunately, the rest of the world including the
Chinese, Africans & South Americans are gradually
seeing through. The SELF-EVIDENCE of the Western saga
is being scrutinized, and we are learning that we as
non-Whites have many choices.

Please keep up the good work.

Thanks.

Beyond the obvious answer provided by email number one — that there can be a racism of indifference — email number two suggests that it is the indifference itself which must be categorized as racist, regardless of the skin color of the believer. The usual term for such racism on the darker side of the color line is “internalization.”–gm

Greg,

Sean Gonsalves here. Someone sent me a link in which you critiqued my column. Thank you. Very well argued and articulated. And, I have to say, you’ve given me much to think about. I appreciate this kind of thoughtful, candid, criticism, which is so rare these days.

You know, as I was reading your piece, I found myself nodding my head more than once. Again, thank you for the food for thought and for reminding for the need to think about these things even deeper.

Be well. And write on!

sg

Posted with permission of author.

PS: In a follow up email, Mr. Gonsalves writes: “I suspect, we agree on far more things than we disagree.” To which I reply here — as a long-time reader of your work, Mr. Gonsalves, I heartily agree. Take care.