PERRY: Be realistic It’s not a matter of whining or joking, racism destroys in all its forms

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Cover of “Our American Dreams” written by members of the Class of 2023 at Aurora’s William Smith High School

Chivalry is dead.

I’m not talking about the fairy-tale cliche of a metal-clad guy lifting women above puddles. I’m talking about the code of decency most of us grew up with, rebuking wrongdoing and selfishness, including the form of I had mine.

This mercenary mindset doesn’t get any uglier than when sported by white people who are indifferent to racism, or even worse, indulgent with it.

The past few weeks have removed the facade too busy to notice on the seemingly endless issue of racism here in Aurora and, truly, across the country.

The most disturbing part of racism here in Colorado isn’t that it remains so ingrained, it’s that so many white people even deny its existence or are just okay with it.

Be honest, those of us who are white have in the past and probably recently encountered a white person saying something outrageously racist and insulting without regret, reluctance or reprimand.

I’m not talking about the tacky racist comments that white people often make, regularly asking people of color where they’re from, but never asking white people the same question. It’s not about white people remembering a trivial event, like queuing for license plates and this black guy in front of me said he was in that line for the third time today. These kinds of remarks often stand out because the online guy’s race would never have been mentioned if he was white.

No, I’m talking about white people who shamelessly offer hateful cliches as flippant as weather observations about ridiculous things like Asian women’s driving skills, black eating habits, the economy of Jews, or that all Latinos are Immigrants: Where are you? of?

Even worse? There are endless numbers of white people who see these tropes as inconsequential comedy, not fatal racism.

They do not believe that repeating these lies, or sneering at them, just among white people of course, is not only hurtful, but, as the Anti-Defamation League and others repeatedly point out, perpetuates and escalates a atmosphere of hatred, intolerance and discrimination.

It might not seem like a big deal if you’re white. It’s deadly serious if you’re not.

This all became painfully apparent in recent weeks after old self-produced video ads on Legends of Aurora director Steve Sundberg’s restaurant Facebook page were made public in a Sentinel story. Sundberg is also a member of the city council.

Several of the videos are said to be misguided and failed attempts to humorously advertise the restaurants’ ethnic dishes by parodying and mocking Mexicans, Arabs, blacks, Muslims, South Asians and others.

Outrage over clearly racist videos has been strong and consistent across regions and nations, communities of people of color.

White people? Not really.

Comments on social media and Sentinel readers have defended Sundberg, essentially saying it’s just a joke and that the targeted minorities are too thin brown-skinned. They point out how kind Sundberg is and how he regularly urges Legends to donate food to the poor and money to local sports teams.

Others point out that his wife is a black and African immigrant.

Being cantankerous and surly is not a prerequisite for being ignorantly or deliberately racist.

A reader sent a message to the Sentinel to insist that Sundberg was in no way racist by throwing enchiladas in pidgin Spanish, sporting a falsa blanket draped over his head like a poncho.

Racism is only present if any of these principles are present: 1) A race SUPERIOR to another race., 2) Racial LABELING, all __________ are ___________, 3) Inflicting emotional or physical harm on another based on one’s race, 4) Denial of Constitutional Rights based on race i.e. not to live in this neighborhood, attend this school, eat at this restaurant, Sentinel reader Robert Andrews said in a letter to the editor. Unless one of these principles is followed, you might be dealing with someone who is either a jerk or exhibits poor judgment, but not racism; there is a difference.

No doubt the video of Sundberg sitting on what appears to be a prayer rug, sporting some sort of turban and blackened beard, chirping in Arabic when he sees bacon, meets most of Andrews’ own criteria, which only makes sense to people trying to defend the indefensible.

Racism judges, deprives and belittles people based on their race and heritage. It is a learned behavior, as many studies and experts on child development insist. Yet more research clearly shows that racism in the United States is pervasive and harmful to people of color, resulting in all kinds of inequality among white people.

It’s not debatable. This is a fact long understood and too often overlooked. Despite what the Trump White House once tried to pull at Americans, there are no alternative facts. They would be lies and mistakes.

Despite this, there is no shortage of Aurora residents who insist that Sundberg’s videos might have been tasteless, but they were harmless.

Likewise, several days after the Sundberg video debacle made the rounds of the Sentinel and local media, the Sentinel released Growing Voices.

The project was essentially a reprint of amazing essays written by ninth graders at Aurora’s William Smith High School two years ago. The theme of each essay was, The American Dream.

Most of the essays were written by children who were themselves immigrants or children of recent immigrants. But not at all.

Another problem that my family and I face is social discrimination, not just in professional places, but sometimes when we spend family time in public places, writes Sariah Rose Amir. My grandfather says he was discriminated against all his life. He told me that people in stores were yelling at him to go back where he came from, even though he was from here. He is a fifth generation Coloradan.

Most of the essays were about perseverance and advice from parents who said that hard work and trust in America were rewarded with the best possible version of the American Dream. Reading these children’s essays on their struggles and dreams made me wring my hand over my own relatively paltry tribulations and underestimate my luck at being born white in Colorado.

It’s not the same reaction the whole thing got from some Sentinel readers and a host of social media trolls.

Congratulations, race-baiters, regular anonymous Sentinel Hypocrisy Monitor commenter said in a recent comment on the Growing Voices essay package. Through a system of public education, you have convinced a vast population of children that they are oppressed victims of a land of opportunity. Unfortunately, they will move forward with their victimization mentality as a lasting excuse for any self-imposed failure in life. Society will pay the price.

Ignoring local racism is dangerous enough, but trying to make millions of people of color and white people believe that racism doesn’t exist and that everyone needs to stop blaming some white people and racism for minority issues is absolutely the worst.

That’s what Colorado Anti-Defamation League officials are talking about when they say it’s part of an escalation of hate. It increases and eventually justifies the hatred of others. Uninterrupted, it ends in violence, and in the 1930s and 1940s it led to the Holocaust.

History, unlike too many people, does not lie. Our job right now, as adults, is to keep our nation from repeating it.

Follow @EditorDavePerry on Mastadon, Twitter and Facebook or contact him at 303-750-7555 or [email protected]

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