I just read an interesting article on the website of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel of January 10, 2007, titled: "Court-ordered volunteer learns how it feels to be a minority"
It's about a 67-year-old former Volunteer Fire Department chief, Terrence Stapleton, who was convicted of disorderly conduct. He was convicted of a hate crime, for using his German shepherd to chase Mark Bratton, who is black, from a fishing spot. Stapleton and fellow firefighter Mark Weber, used racial slurs as well as Weber who threatened Bratton with a gun. Weber will be sentenced later this month.
As part of his probation, Stapleton, has to do 100 hours of community service, half with Black organizations. With that sentencing, Stapleton was sent to a Kwanzaa celebration to learn about it and the black culture. According to the article, Stapleton was more comfortable standing in the back and left early. But before he left, he did join hands and participated in the concluding shouting in Swahili of "Harambee!" meaning "working together as one."
Wow! Stapleton did more than I would have done myself at a Kwanzaa ceremony. I have gone to one before and with all the talk of one improving the black community, and understanding what Kwanzaa was truly about, I didn't participate in anything! I stayed in the back myself and was not comfortable with the over-emphasis of one's blackness. My last Kwanzaa ceremony I participated in which was led by Karenga himself, I was not only uncomfortable for myself, but for the non-blacks that were in the audience as well.
Here is a man who clearly is a racist in his attitude and actions. Using his dog to chase this black man away while his friend points a gun at him? Just to claim a fishing spot? How insulting was it to have his dog chase this man away, reminiscent of the old racist days in the south where these same German shepherd dogs were used by the police to break up civil rights demonstrations chasing and biting black demonstrators.
But also insulting is the thought that the majority of black people celebrate their heritage by using this black racist holiday of Kwanzaa. What was this racist white man supposed to learn here, that it's okay for blacks to be inclusive of their ethnicity? If this celebration was anything like the one I attended in San Diego, black racism would have reeked in this man's face.
Here are some of the things I got out of a one-day celebration held by Karenga himself. These are some of the things that were said in this very public Kwanzaa celebration by Karenga and guest speakers:
"white man is the oppressor"
"black people are the only chosen ones appointed to bring good into the world"
"the ancestors would bless us through eternity"
Hopefully, this Kwanzaa ceremony that Stapleton participated in wasn't as black radical as the one I witnessed on December 31, 2005 here in San Diego. But I totally object to a white racist learning about blacks through a Kwanzaa participation. That would have been equivalent to punishment for me if I had been forced to participate in Kwanzaa as well.
I am a fan of the TV show "Wife Swap" and I remember one show where a black wife swapped places with a white wife who's husband used the "N" word openly. That disturbed the black wife so much so that part of her list of things that the white family had to do was take a tour of an Underground Railroad Museum. I'm not sure where this was and I had never known about it before this TV show, but I was impressed how that tour affected this white racist. That changed his attitude as well as his children and before the show was over, he promised the black wife that he would never use the "N" word again.
Now that's what I call effective use of "ethnic education" for a white racist. At least it worked and it dealt with factual historical information. Not pseudo-celebrations such as Kwanzaa. The fact that Kwanzaa is associated with "getting to know black people" I find very insulting and evident of the need for the world to be educated on what Kwanzaa is truly about.
