Bigotry and racism are also your problems

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January 16Are you racist without realizing it?

You might be surprised, Eric Deggans said Monday morning at WVU’s Mountainlair.

Even if you aren’t or think you aren’t, you may still have certain tendencies, depending on your past upbringing and your current circumstances, the National Public Radio commentator said.

Deggans is NPR’s chief television and media critic.

Before that, he was a journalist and wrote the book “Race-Baiter: How the Media Wields Dangerous Words to Divide a Nation”, which hit bookstores in 2012.

Deggans delivered a keynote address at the Martin Luther King Jr. Unity Breakfast, which is traditionally hosted by WVU’s Center for Black Culture and Research on holidays honoring the slain civil rights leader.

Monday’s event was the first in-person gathering since the pandemic.

History lessons and asides on racing were part of his speech, also interspersed with videos and other visuals, projected on a large screen behind him, as he spoke and paced the stage of the Gold Ballroom.

“I’m just letting you guys know,” he said. “I’m going to ask a lot of questions.”

The first: “When you think of all the accomplishments of the classic civil rights movement, what is the most important?”

Responses from the public quickly flared up.

The end of segregation in schools.

The right to vote (finally).

Fair housing.

All were good, Deggans said, but he took the long way.

“For me, the biggest achievement has been making overt racism socially unacceptable,” he said.

Which, he said, meant Martin Luther King.

Being able to speak candidly about institutional racism, systemic racism and all the points and sub-points in between meant finally walking toward common ground, which is all the Atlanta preacher wanted anyway, Deggans said.

Highlight it For every brilliant voice in the choir, however, there’s a backslider on the back pew.

The story continues

That’s where the video came in, from network news shows and other sources.

In one, a panel reacts to a column featuring a mainstream black Santa, which he, the panel, rejected because, of course, the moderator pointed out, Santa is white. And so is Jesus, she added.

The column’s author wasn’t even invited, Deggans said.

In another, blackface is the topic of discussion. Again, the same host wonders if it’s “that bad”, if the makeup is only applied for Halloween, in the form of a costume representing a famous person of color.

Well, Deggans said, both of the above are bad because both are examples of bigotry denial syndrome, which comes from both ignorance and the arrogance of not recognizing another perspective. .

There is also the post-Civil War, Jim Crow beginnings of the practice, which was designed to caricature and usurp an oppressed population trying to make hard-earned gains in society.

An excerpt from Spike Lee’s feature film ‘Do the Right Thing’ contained a lesson in situational racism: A bigoted white character, known for his use of the N-word, is still a fan of Magic Johnson, Eddie Murphy and Prince” Because they are different,” he said. “They’re not really black.”

“Once a black person stands out in a certain way,” Deggans said, “situational racism ‘elevates’ them out of it all. We only use prejudice and stereotypes against certain members of the group. “

Strategic racism, he said, comes directly from within the Beltway. It is the act, he said, of using stereotypes of marginalized groups for material and political ends, in particular.

“Some people talk about undocumented immigrants in a way that increases racial panic,” he said.

Which again is a by-product of Jim Crow, he said.

“What was happening,” the commentator said, “is that they were criminalizing ‘being black’.”

“If you’re in town after 6 p.m. and you’re black, guess what?”

Arrest for vagrancy or vagrancy meant you were thrown into a dungeon, which in turn meant you were vulnerable to “condemnation lease”, which means your labor could be bought by a coal mine, a plantation or a farm.

“And that lasted until 1927,” he said.

Then there’s White Privilege, and all of its subjective standards of appearance, intellect, and other benchmarks.

A search for “attractive women” on the internet tells that story, Deggans said, showing a screenshot of the results to prove it.

Of all the images displayed, two were of women of color. The rest was white.

“Even Google,” he said.

Equal Opportunity (after all that)

Deggans reminded the public to listen to what Dr. King is still saying, 55 years after that assassin was shot in Memphis.

Civil rights, said the radio commentator, echoing the ousted leader, are everyone’s rights.

The same goes for societal suffering, he said.

“I’ve always had this idea that marginalized people are like canaries in the coal mine for American society,” he said.

“What affects us first, ultimately affects everyone.”

Also on the program: Michael Ellington, retired WVU administrator, received the center’s 2023 MLK Achievement Award for community service; Alpha Kappa Alpha awarded 16 inaugural scholarships named in honor of Justine A. Lee Burnett, a WVU professor who died on Thanksgiving.

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