Shelbyville Daily Union - John Carswell's Blog

Call it What it is - Racism

Recently I read, as many of you did, the remarks of Barak Obama’s former minister, Jeremiah Wright. I am sorry to say, that some of the remarks Rev. Wright made from the pulpit are not fit to be printed in a community newspaper. In fact, his remarks were not fit for the pulpit.
Call me old fashioned, but I feel that a minister of any denomination or race, should not take God’s name in vain while preaching. Doesn’t that run counterclockwise to the reason for him being up there in the first place?
Wright has regrouped and now claims that journalists have launched an attack on the Black church en masse. That is a pretty poor smokescreen intended to cloud the original issue—Wright is a racist masquerading under the ruse of ethnic pride.
Also, Northwestern University has reportedly revoked Wright’s honorary degree.
As you may already know, Wright is the outgoing pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ—an all-black congregation which excludes members of other races..
Their website, written by Wright states, “We are a congregation which is Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian... Our roots in the Black religious experience and tradition are deep, lasting and permanent. We are an African people, and remain "true to our native land," the mother continent, the cradle of civilization. God has superintended our pilgrimage through the days of slavery, the days of segregation, and the long night of racism.”
Maybe I am reading this wrong, but Wright’s statement decrying racism actually seems to support it.
Let’s try Wright’s statement with some other words substituted and see how it reads.
“We are a congregation which is unashamedly White and Unapologetically Christian...Our roots in the White, Anglo-European experience and tradition are deep, lasting and permanent...” You get the idea.
By re-colorizing the statement it is now racist rhetoric. There needs to be a level playing field.
I am sure there are white churches out there that feel this way. I have heard of them, but I have never, nor would I ever attend one with such a philosophy. It is just flat wrong. Any Christian who reads the Bible should know it is wrong. In fact, you don’t even have to be a Christian to know it is wrong.
It would have taken me less than five minutes to walk out on a pastor of the same mindset as Wright, not 20 years as it did Barack Obama.
However, Obama had the poise and verve to overcome his association with Wright and come away virtually untarnished.
Even though Wright feels this is a land of oppression, I feel
America was, and still is, the land of opportunity for those who want to take advantage of that fact.
For example, an Oriental family moves to America with nothing but the shirts on their backs. Within five years, they own a family business and their children are Valedictorians or Salutatorians. Why? Because they come from a land where little opportunity exists. They come here and they can see it everywhere. We should all be able to have that insight.
But too often we don’t think that the dream is attainable for us so instead we attack the ‘system’ which has conspired to keep us disadvantaged.
Other examples: In WWII we waged vicious war with the hated “Krauts” and “Japs” who committed atrocities against humanity. We waged a long and uneasy cold war with the dreaded “Russkies.” They were the most hated of all peoples in our eyes at that time.
Today, Japan is a sister nation to the US and without them, our commerce would falter; the cold war is over, the USSR is no more, and the wall is down. We are on reasonably good terms with Russia and have lent much support to them in their attempt at Democracy. They come here for vacation all the time. The Germans are also a valuable trading partner and their workmanship is highly valued. Despite the war in Iraq and worldwide anti-American sentiment, Arabs own a large proportion of American businesses, land, and have churches here.
I think it is clear, America admires intelligence and ability despite opinions that were held in the past. That is why Barack Obama has such a good chance at being President. He is the living proof of what Wright says can’t happen in America.
An opinion that recently appeared in the Christian Science Monitor said, “Obama has correctly condemned Wright's over-the-top remarks and a in Fox News report Obama said the minister errs in "only cataloguing the bad of America ."
According to the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, "racial discrimination" shall mean any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life.”
Racism should be obvious and it should apply to everyone. We are all a color, a race, and a group of some origin. Since we all apply, therefore the definition should be for everyone.
Simply call it what it is and let it apply across the board.

May 05, 2008 10:46 am

Conspiracy in the Cupboard

I have really never been one to buy into conspiracy theories, but for sure, there are some high level conspiracies out there and people to ferret them out.
The conspiracy I am talking about is one that strikes closer to home on a daily basis.
My dad and I used to operate a small family grocery store and I did the inventory and buying each week. It was then that I became aware of the plot against the American consumer.
Conspiracy theory #1 Men are lesser beings. This is actually no theory but a reality. Advertisers know we don’t need much on a personal level—just feed us and love us and we are pretty good with that. But next time you go to the pharmacy department, look at how many products pertain to men. About eight. That is probably about six too many. Most of us can get by with a bar of soap and a Speed Stick and we are good to go.
Case in point: I have dry, cracked hands when the weather gets cold. I want something to put on them to make them feel better. I wanted something like Corn Huskers Lotion. Maybe I was looking in the wrong place, but I couldn’t find it anywhere. Did they discontinue it for Daily Moisturizing Therappe in lavender scent? I don’t want that. I don’t want to smell like a French bordello. I don’t want Cruel or anything from Scandinavia. I don’t need a proven European formula! What’s wrong with American lotion? There must have been 30 different kinds of lotion with names that left me wondering what part of the body it was supposed to go on. At my age, I don’t want to be near anything labeled “Intensive Care.”
There are miles of women’s products and the men’s section is about four feet long and has about three kinds of soap, now called body wash, which is regular soap with water and other cheaper ingredients added. I like Dial bar soap, but that is not a hot item. They don’t want you to buy that. It lasts too long. It is in the bottom bin with dust on it.
I found a recipe on the Internet that said you can make one gallon of liquid soap using distilled water and one (1) four-ounce bar of soap. That is conspiracy #2.
Advertisers are constantly figuring out ways to sell us less for more and make us like it. I just saw where they are changing the size of a jug of laundry soap ‘so it is easier for us to carry.’ It will be more highly concentrated (they say) and you will be getting the same product in a smaller bottle. I am SURE they have our best interests at heart.
Here’s another one, foaming hand soap and dish detergent. It costs much more than a bottle of the regular kind of liquid soap, which has already been whipped with 90 percent water. That is not good enough for them. Now they need to add air. We have a bottle of Dawn Direct Foam dishwashing liquid in the pump which boasts ‘250 pumps’. It costs about $2.50, 10 cents a pump. It comes in a 13.5 ounce bottle. That is 18.5 cents per ounce. It lasts about two weeks at my house. You can buy a regular 16 oz. bottle of dishwashing soap for about $1.00—about 6 cents an ounce.
Here’s the good part. You can reuse the empty foaming bottle. Put in one tablespoon of regular liquid and fill it up the rest of the way with water. Voila! It’s the same thing. If the calculations hold true, you are getting 8000 pumps for a dollar!
Conspiracy theory #3: The paper tower perforation scheme. They figured out that if they didn’t cut the perforations quite so deep, the chances of us not pulling off more than one sheet at a time would be nearly impossible. Try to snatch off one paper towel with one hand. They figure you have at least one hand wet or you wouldn’t need a paper towel in the first place. Do it as fast as you can. Chances are good that you will unspool half the roll, leaving a trail of paper towels all the way to the floor.
More mischief afoot: Gourmet coffee is regular coffee in a prettier can. Toilet paper doesn’t need to be ‘facial quality.’ How can a box of crackers by one company cost $2.50 and another costs $1.00? What can you do to a saltine to make it 2 1⁄2 times better? How many times can Tide be ‘new and improved’ before it becomes Cheer? Are choosy mothers the only ones who can choose Jif? Who needs a 13-gallon trash bag that costs 50 cents each just so you can stuff more garbage in it? Just use two cheap ones for crying out loud. It still costs half as much.
As we sleep tonight there are people on Madison Avenue who are wide-awake, pacing the floor over how to sell us something we don’t want or need and make us like it. They have already figured out how to sell us air and water and one ounce of soap for 2.5 times the cost. They have solicited government agencies to make obsolete perfectly good television sets so we have to buy another one. Your computer becomes technologically obsolete every six months and if your car doesn’t have GPS you will be lost forever in your own home town.
So next time you are at the store, just look around at the trends and how the marketing agencies capitalize on them and pitch them to us.
But even the best of us can’t stand against the inevitable. Last night I bought Hannah Montana yogurt and Sponge Bob cereal. My kids were happy and that is worth a lot.

February 15, 2008 05:11 pm

Call it What it is - Racism

Conspiracy in the Cupboard

Popular business directory searches