Racism Isn’t About Race

Racism Isn’t About Race

by Ted Miller

(originally published February 2018 in Tumbleweird)

“The travel ban isn’t racist because Muslim isn’t a race.”

“Saying all Mexicans are rapists isn’t racist because Mexican isn’t a race.”

“Referring to some countries as shitholes isn’t racist because a country isn’t a race.”

“That can’t be racist because <insert name of marginalized group here> isn’t a race.”

I’ve heard this logical fallacy repeated by people trying to defend a clearly racist statement or action. But this argument is nothing more than a red herring, a deflection from the very real issue of racism.

Debating the meaning of “race” to avoid acknowledging the evil of racism is, itself, racist.

Race is an arbitrary distinction that has no scientific basis. According to dictionary.com, race is “a socially constructed category of identification based on physical characteristics, ancestry, historical affiliation, or shared culture.” Arguing about whether a discriminatory action or statement is based on some narrow definition of race is irrelevant to whether it is racism.

I don’t mean to imply that race isn’t important. Race is a significant part of individual identity, like gender, culture, ancestry, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, eye color, body type, or any number of other factors that make us uniquely who we are. When race, or another facet of identity used as a proxy for race, is used to marginalize a group—dividing us instead of recognizing our common humanity—that divisiveness is racism.

In the United States we have no aristocracy, no birthright that gives any one citizen more rights than another. Our worth as a human being isn’t based on who our parents are, where our ancestors came from, or the color of our skin. The American ideal of human equality is captured in the opening words of the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…” In two and a half centuries, our society and our laws have come a long way toward that ideal, but we still have such a long way to go.

There are those among us who work to undermine these self-evident truths. In their view of the world, people are defined by their race and deserve to be treated differently. To them, racial diversity is somehow a threat to America’s greatness. In their divisive rhetoric, people are, to paraphrase Dr. King, judged by the color of their skin and not by their character. In their mind, it is justifiable to marginalize entire groups of people based solely on an arbitrary definition of race or some other characteristic that ignores our common humanity and inherent self-worth.

Racism feeds on the idea that some of us are less human than others. Whether that type of bigotry is based on skin color, cultural identity, religion, or national origin, it is ignorant and hateful. And whether it is racism, misogyny, homophobia, xenophobia, or any other term that places one group above another, treating someone differently because of who they are is wrong and un-American.

History teaches us that racism can lead a society to do abhorrent things that are unacceptable; the subjugation of millions of Africans through slavery, the murder of millions of Jews in the holocaust, the internment of our own citizens based only on their Japanese ancestry. Few would argue that we should allow such history to repeat itself.

But racism exists in our society in ways that those of us with privilege are unaware of or purposefully refuse to acknowledge. Systemic racism still exists in housing, healthcare, employment, education, and criminal justice. We need to acknowledge this and work to overcome it. We must face the fact that black and Hispanic men are 2.8 and 1.7 times more likely to be killed by police than whites¹. We must push for changes in laws that disenfranchise minorities through gerrymandering and voter suppression efforts. And we should continue to call out racism whenever and wherever it raises its ugly head.

If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality. – Bishop Desmond Tutu

Maybe your definition of race is narrower than mine, but that doesn’t change the fact that racism exists. Maybe we need a new word to describe racism, but no matter what you call it or how you define it, treating someone as less than human ignores our common humanity and diminishes us all.

Anytime we allow someone to be treated differently based on their identity, rather than on their individual worth as a human being, we are complicit in racism.

¹ Source: “Racial/Ethnic Disparities in the use of Lethal Force by US Police, 2010-2014,” American Journal of Public Health, as reported by CNN, December 20, 2016).

Trickle Up or Trickle Down

Trickle Up or Trickle Down

by Ted Miller

(originally published January 2018 in Tumbleweird)

I recently read a quote from Will Rogers:

This election was lost four and six years ago, not this year. They didn’t start thinking of the old common fellow till just as they started out on the election tour. The money was all appropriated for the top in the hopes that it would trickle down to the needy. Mr. Hoover was an engineer. He knew that water trickled down. Put it uphill and let it go and it will reach the driest little spot. But he didn’t know that money trickled up. Give it to the people at the bottom and the people at the top will have it before night anyhow. But it will at least have passed through the poor fellow’s hands. They saved the big banks but the little ones went up the flue. –
Will Rogers, And Here’s How It All Happened (1932), as published in the Tulsa Daily World, 5 December 1932.

That commentary could have been written today.

The tax bill passed by Congress and signed into law in December claims to solve a problem that doesn’t exist. By almost any measure, the economy has continued to improve since the Great Recession of 2007. The unemployment rate has been reduced from a peak of 10% in 2009 to 4.1%, lower than it was just before the recession[1]. Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which measures overall economic activity, is growing at a healthy rate of 3%[2]. Corporate profits are soaring at over $1.8 trillion for the third quarter of 2017, the highest on record[3]. And the stock market indices are at record highs.

So why do we need to cut taxes? If the goal is to give relief to the middle class, as the Republicans who passed the law claim, this tax bill makes only a token, temporary effort at doing so. The middle-class tax cuts are modest at best and expire after 10 years while the corporate tax cuts are generous and permanent. The bulk of the tax cuts go to corporations and wealthy individuals. If that is supposed to help the middle class, it contradicts history: Providing more money to the rich never trickles down to the lower classes.

When President Hoover tried it, as Will Rogers wrote, the money trickled up, not down. Government policies that allowed market greed and corporate irresponsibility to run unchecked led directly to the Great Depression of the 1930s.

The tax bill of 2017 is more of the same. Cut taxes on the rich, deregulate business, and everyone will prosper. But, not only is this tax cut unnecessary to improve the economy, it comes with a $1.4 trillion price tag. Yes, the party of fiscal responsibility passed a bill that increases the national debt by one-and-a-half trillion dollars over 10 years.

There are so many pressing issues that could be paid for with that missing revenue. Infrastructure improvement was high on the list of campaign promises, but there are no programs to repair and improve the country’s infrastructure and now even less money to pay for it. Adequately funding of health-care continues to be an issue, but Congress won’t even continue funding the Children’s Health Insurance Program for 9 million children. Veterans programs continue to be underfunded and there are many other essential programs that are being cut or defunded by the current administration.

The worst part of the tax cuts is who will end up paying for them. Social Security, Medicare, and other safety net programs are in jeopardy and members of Congress have already signaled that cuts to these programs will be the next target. As the budget deficit grows, average Americans and those in need of a social safety net will end up suffering the most. This kind of action is not the promise of a government that works for all its citizens. This is not how we take care of our fellow citizens and “promote the general welfare.”

In the stock market crash of 1929, those hurt the most weren’t the big bankers and the wealthy, but the average, hard working American who suffered from the economic collapse. Following the Great Depression, we enacted programs for the poor, established social security to take care of our elderly, and imposed tighter regulations on banks and corporations. Labor laws have improved the workplace, supported the rights of workers, and helped make America a place where a living wage is possible.

But for the last several decades, Republicans have worked to erode or eliminate many of these programs. Banking regulations passed less than a decade ago in response to the recession are being rolled back. Environmental regulations are being weakened, labor laws are being undercut, and equality is being jeopardized. The economy is growing, and corporate profits are at record levels, but wages for the poor and middle class aren’t improving. The rich keep getting richer, but they aren't letting that extra wealth trickle down to the rest of the population.

This tax cut is not about helping the middle class. It’s about concentrating wealth for members of Congress, their wealthy supporters, and corporate America.

Will Rogers got it right. Trickle-down economics is a farce. Capitalism is only sustainable with a well-regulated economy that balances the drive for profit at any cost. Until we have a Congress that truly represents the interests of all Americans, our economy will continue to trickle up.

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[1] Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics – bls.gov

[2] Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities - cpbb.org

[3] Source:  U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis - bea.gov

Hate in the Name of Love is Still Hate

Hate in the Name of Love is Still Hate

by Ted Miller

(originally published December 2017 in Tumbleweird)

I used to think hate was just the opposite of love. I didn’t think about the subtle ways hate can disguise itself in the form of self-righteous discrimination. I hadn’t really considered the damage that could be caused when someone is told they are unworthy of love simply for being who they are.

Some forms of hateful discrimination are obvious, like gay bashing, lynching, and the many examples of systematic genocide. But hate isn’t always so blatant and obvious.

When marriage equality was on the ballot, I remember a conversation with a colleague who referred to anti-gay sentiment as hate. I thought that was a particularly strong word to use for something that seemed to be just a difference of opinion. Certainly, my religious friends who professed to love everyone but believed homosexuality to be sinful didn’t hate people who were gay, did they?

But the more I reflected on it, the more I realized how insidious that thought was. You can’t “love the sinner, but hate the sin” when the so-called sin you are referring to is something that cannot be changed. When we tell someone that they are to be despised because of their identity, that no matter what they do, they are unworthy of love because of something they cannot change, we are being hateful in the most hurtful way.

LGBTQIA+[i] youth are particularly vulnerable to this type of hate. They are subject to higher levels of bullying from peers and are often rejected by their family members. It is no wonder that LGB youth are five times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers[ii]. And, tragically, too many of them succeed in taking their own lives.

As a society, we’ve come a long way in recognizing that sexual orientation and gender expression are part of the beautiful diversity in our humanity. No one should be treated differently just because of who they are. Marriage equality is now the law of the land and non-discrimination laws in many states now include sexual orientation as a protected class and.

But there are many who are working tirelessly to undo this progress. I don’t understand why someone who professes to love in the name of their religion can at the same time cause so much pain with their hatred of our LGBT sisters and brothers. Professing to ‘love and respect everyone’ through your faith while at the same time through your actions and words you work to marginalize or limit the liberty and equal treatment of our fellow citizens is hate, not love.  You can’t love the sinner but hate the sin.  Because if the so-called sin is part of one’s human identity, you cannot separate the two.

Recently our local high schools have been targeted with protesters distributing graphic, hateful pamphlets that claim our LGBT youth are destined for hell (and inexplicably linking being gay with abortion). Students have said they feel threatened while school administrators say there is little they can do if the protesters remain outside school property.

In response, a grass-roots group of parents and advocates for LGBT youth quickly organized and mobilized what they call a Love Army. They regularly gather at the same schools holding signs of love and affirmation, giving out hugs, and countering the messages of hate. Many of these same people have contacted school administrators, attended school board and city council meetings, and reached out to youth organizations to minimize or eliminate these messages of hate that hurt our most vulnerable youth. They are putting their love into action.

A similar approach can be taken anytime we see individuals or groups targeted with hate. We must speak up if we are going to overcome the hate. Make your voice heard when anti-LGBT legislation is being considered. Don’t support laws and policies that provide a license to discriminate. Equal protection means equal protection for all our citizens. We can protect religious freedom without allowing religion to be used to infringe on the freedoms of others.

Being gay isn’t a phase or a choice. It is an immutable human characteristic just like eye color and right or left-handedness. Those who claim otherwise are speaking from a position of privilege and ignorance.

Hate can be used as a weapon, inflicting deep pain with lasting scars. Hate refers to the most extreme negative human emotion. And it is antithetical to everything good in our humanity.

Hate isn’t just the opposite of love.  As Elie Wiesel put it, “The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference.” Don’t be indifferent to the suffering we inflict by idly standing by when our most vulnerable are told they are not worthy of love.

Love conquers hate.

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[i] LGBTQIA+ is an all-inclusive term to describe the broad spectrum of gender, sex, sexuality, sexual orientation, gender expression, and other related characteristics.

[ii] CDC. (2016). Sexual Identity, Sex of Sexual Contacts, and Health-Risk Behaviors Among Students in Grades 9-12: Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.