Tuesday, September 13, 2005\r\nCan blacks be racists, too? \r\n\r\nFrom a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll:\r\n... Six in 10 blacks said the federal government was slow in rescuing those stranded in New Orleans after Katrina because many of the people in the Louisiana city were black. But only about one in eight white respondents shared that view. ...\r\n... According to [another] poll broken down by race, blacks were more likely to blame Bush for problems in New Orleans, with 37 percent holding him most to blame for the fact that many residents were trapped inside the city after it flooded. ...\r\n... On the question of whether Bush cares about black people, 67 percent of whites said they believe the president does care, but only 21 percent of blacks agreed.\r\n\r\nDo you think the next head of FEMA will be black? I might be going out on a limb here, but ... bet on it.\r\n\r\nPersonally, it\'s hard to imagine an Oval Office conversation in which the President and his advisers agree to blow off New Orleans based on Census figures. It\'s hard to imagine that the Bush Administration would abandon the biggest city in a strong RED state that supported him with almost 57% of its votes last year. It\'s equally hard to imagine a group of people who agree more with the politics of semi-articulate hip-hop singer Kanye West than Rev. T.D. Jakes.\r\n\r\nThere\'s something racist about believing that everything is about race. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., dreamed of a time where his children would be judged \"not by the color of the skin, but the content of their character.\" A worthy, noble and achievable goal. In fact, we\'re a lot closer now than in 1965. Certainly more than in 1865, which was better than in 1765.\r\n\r\nBut some blacks, apparently in large numbers, still want it to be about the color of their skin. Was Michael Jackson\'s or O.J.\'s prosecution racially motivated? No (in the white community) ... yes (among many -- maybe most -- blacks.)\r\n\r\nOne example: At the moment, an unfortunate urban legend is gaining traction among blacks that an AP photo of black looters in New Orleans caption them as \"looters\" while an Agence France-Presse photo (from the French wire service) of white looters captions them as \"finders.\" TWO pictures where TWO photojournalists attempted to say ONLY what they saw and knew to be a fact ... and the situation is perverted for political gains, then given momentum by Kanye West. Do yourself a favor by going to myth-debunking Snopes.com to see the truth about those photos and stop listening to urban legends. Suffice it to say, the explanation will reassure you that The Media is not always grinding a personal axe for either the Right or the Left.\r\n\r\nI can\'t speak for nor argue about what\'s in most hearts, black or white. I can speak for my heart. I can look around and judge for myself what seems logical and honest. And I have seen the outpouring of help and sympathy for Katrina\'s refugees, evacuees and survivors here in Southeast Texas, not exactly the historic model for good race relations. But in the shelters and churches that have taken them in, the faces of the care-givers are overwhelmingly white in a community that\'s half-black.\r\n\r\nAmerica has a long way to go before we\'re truly and totally color-blind. Sadly, there are still some things that ARE racially motivated. But in the end, people of color must realize that to achieve color-blindness, they, too, must stop seeing all things as racially motivated.\r\n\r\nMaybe I\'m wrong. Apparently being wrong about race is \" a white thing.\" Let\'s strike a blow for true equality: Maybe blacks can be wrong about race, too.\r\n\r\nposting from\r\nhttp://underthenews.blogspot.com/