Race in America

A hot topic these after the Shirley Sherrod fiasco of the last few days.

This morning I listened to the Today Show before leaving for work... I didn't mean to, my husband just was listening to the NBC local news station and it clicked on while I was getting ready. I went to work fired up to say the least.

Last night I was watching O'Reilly's talking points. I try to catch them to see what he has to say and watch occasionally when I have time (love Dennis Miller so try to catch his interviews). Bill apologized for wrongly commenting on the story, saying he thought if the President would fire this woman he didn't really feel it necessary to delve into her comments further. Someone pointed out that they also sued AZ without reading the immigration reform bill so maybe he'd better continue checking his sources. In any case, I heard Bill's apology and saw the quotes from the News Exec at FNC saying to 'take their time and get the facts straight' before reporting.

So this BIMBO gets on the Today Show clearly with one goal in mind- smearing Fox. She's claiming they got the story all wrong, accusing them of being anti-this, anti-that, and saying they haven't apologized. What are her sources for this???? I watched the news broadcasts the night before and specifically saw all the things she was claiming FNC did not do. I have blocked NBC for good from my TV. I like Biggest Loser too... but not going to support that kind of blasphemy. Keith Olberman makes me want to vomit, so MSNBC got the boot a long time ago. I wish it was possible to call Comcast and tell them to keep that filth off my screen. I haven't watched any of Sherrod's interviews, but sounds like she's on the same bash-Fox bandwagon, though it seems they were the first to point out that her comments were not racist.

So onto race. I am a white female, so I do not have the luxury of experience with discrimination due to my skin (except when I used to attend rap concerts in my heyday and get heckled a bit for not smoking weed and not getting my nails done being one of the few white girls there). I do have a background of being friends with folks from all "non-white" races thanks to my collegiate years, and in my past had dated men of differing colors and backgrounds. My worst experience was when one of the guys I was dating handed me a picture and said "this is my son" - needless to say that was our last date as I was 17 and not ready for that sort of thing yet. I was a late bloomer.

I have dealt with female discrimination, however and it is not fun. Anyone who deals with it at any level- it is just not acceptable. At my current job one of the guys uses the 4-letter c word, and tells girls to "stop being skirts" regularly. When someone had the gusto to report him, he wound up with a promotion. She left the company soon after. I am a manager, and I can't do my own hiring interviews, I have to take one of the male managers with me. None of the male managers is required to take a "buddy" with them. We listen to a radio station that promotes promiscuity, strip clubs, and regularly interviews porn stars. When I try to change the channel Mr. Woman-hater throws a fit. It's not a female friendly environment at all, and I greatly dislike people assuming I am less of a person because I am a woman. So I would never, ever treat another human being as less of a person just because of a characteristic that they cannot change (well... I guess I could become a man if I went to a really good plastic surgeon... but I'm not interested in years of surgery and the cost involved. And I guess a black lady could get the Michael Jackson treatment and become white... but again, who the heck wants to do that after seeing how distorted poor MJ looked? RIP).

In any case, very very few people in my generation have any racist tendencies whatsoever from what I can tell. There are always some fringe people (ie the New Black Panther who wants all the 'cracker babies' to die), and it seems a bit more prevalent from people who grow up in rural areas and southern areas, but the majority I do not think even see color anymore. The only time I've seen it with President Obama was during his inauguration when I was sitting thinking "this is really cool that a majority of Americans voted for someone with black heritage." Since then, I see a crazy out of touch socialist liberal. If he was purple, I'd think the same.

Political correctness and racial correctness are out of whack in this country. Title IX to make women's sports equal to men's was a great initial idea. But honestly, women sports are BORING! Please quit taking away fun and exciting male sports to add female sports. Same with affirmative action, it just doesn't seem necessary to me. If people want to see women's rugby, they'll demand it and it can be added when demand is sufficient. Don't take away men's soccer to add women's rugby to 'balance' things out.

Ahh racism in all forms makes me angry all over.