Racism is a physical experience. The soul is part of the body. The mind is part of the body. When folks do physical violence to black people, to black bodies in this country, the soul as we construe it is damaged too, the mind is damaged too.
Ta-Nehisi Coates, as quoted by Jenny Kutner, 2015
This is a lesson for each of us, but also for the church of our time: If we let ourselves be led by the Holy Spirit, if we are able to mortify our selfishness to make room for the Lord’s love and for his will, we will find peace, we will be builders of peace and will spread peace around us.
Pope Francis, address, June 3, 2012
Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas and MTV recently created a documentary, #whitepeople. It illustrated how whites define themselves as “the default race, the norm, the good thing.” 2010 census revealed that whites live in a bubble, where more than 77% are white, and with friends that are 91% white. The documentary continues, “whites are raised by white people, who are oblivious to race and issues that affect other people, “while another informs us about “where we live is all white people, they are all nice people, but at the end of the day… they are close-minded.”
Much of what we saw on television prior to 2014 were shows about white folks. While some of us, subscribe to GMA and ABS-CBN to see and hear teleseryes in Tagalog, our native tongue. In our native tongue, we get a sense of home, feeling safe in seeing familiar places that we frequented in the provinces, comforting us that we are home, even if in an adopted place, called America.
Notice though that if whites stay in a bubble, we too, stay in our bubble of ethnicities-specific activities: our neighborhood Catholic Church, local Catholic School and even our favorite weekend foods: lechon, menudo, pancit, lumpia. Even birthday celebrations and special family moments of bonding are limited to our family members and friends.
How then do we increase our knowledge and awareness of one another and each other’s issues? How can whites become more aware of issues affecting us, people of color? How do we, folks of color, become more aware of issues affecting whites in our midst and the folks of color around us?
Should we be concerned that Ku Klux Klan groups are popping up more?
Should we be concerned that our mainstream television news channels are no longer filtering hate messages, and instead, amplifying them to the point of popularizing these messages?
Should we be concerned that our own cable television shows contribute to that ignorance and without any discussions on race and racism as modern issues of the day?
How do we mortify our selfishness as a modern, developed, first world, that gave birth and nurtured a young 21yo Dylann Roof to be so filled with hate, and one who captured the world’s attention when he took the lives of 9 members of the Emmanuel African Methodist Church in Charleston, South Carolina, during a bible study at 9pm? 8 died at the church, while another died on the way to the Medical University of South Carolina. Did you know that Dylann was welcomed by the bible study group, whom he joined for an hour, before he took out his gun to kill folks?
Did you know that Dylann Roof revered the confederate flag, a flag that was flown by the states who opposed freeing the slaves, and fought for the imposition of slavery against African – Americans? Did you know that to this day, young white folks choose to fly this flag in their vehicles, even while camping in Northern California? When I saw this flag, it gave me eerie feeling of chills, as I saw hatred embodied, and the flag symbolized the hatred and the racial subjugation of African Americans as America’s Second-Class Citizens. Granted it is just a flag, and to some, they argue it is part of their heritage, but, to claim slavery as your heritage, is to claim something wrong as part of what was done in one’s history.
Should we now ask television network owners to be mindful of the content of their television shows? Should we watch our words around each other so we are not conveying hatred? Should we become “correction police” for what we hear are distastefully racist around us?
Huffington post’s Erin Whitney writes that 2014 became one of the most diverse in television history, “old shows sparkled too. Netflix’s “orange is the new black” continued to lead a progressive movement on television and even found time to celebrate women of different body types. And a conversation about the growing diversification of the television industry wouldn’t be complete without praise of shonda rhimes, queen of thursday night. Rhimes is not only a powerhouse figure on her own, being one of the few women, and women of color, behind the camera, but she’s also brought us two hit shows led by black actresses. With “Scandal,” Kerry Washington became the second African-American female to lead a network drama since Diahann Carroll starred in 1968’s Julia and “How to get away with Murder” not only stars Viola Davis, but also features a racially diverse cast of young actors.”
Should we celebrate that it took 47 years for Kerry Washington, an African-American, cast as the female lead in a mainstream television show? Should we also celebrate that Jennifer Lopez, a Latina, as one of the American Idol’s judges, though its 15th upcoming season is its last? What about Dancing with the Stars where we saw our very own Cheryl Burke, a Filipina-American professional, as one of the lead dance choreographers and instructors in 18 seasons, and who bagged the championship in two seasons? Should we feel like celebrating everytime we see a Filipino/a talent participate in the Voice or even American Idol, wherein Jessica Sanchez came in second?
Or what about our Filipina dermatologist, Dr. Tess Mauricio, who regularly appears in mainstream talk shows to discuss about how to be “skin-well”? Should we celebrate that we have Giselle Tongi-Walters as a Kababayan Today’s host of the only television show for and of Filipinos in America that is now going to be watched nationally, including Hawaii? Should we celebrate that we have many more plays and musicals now being showcased at mainstages throughout the U.S? That our very own internationally-acclaimed Lea Salonga (Miss Saigon, Mulan) will be starring in a Broadway play, called Allegiance, inspired by the true story of its star, George Takei (Star Trek, Heroes) this fall? Would that be enough?
Being comfortable with being uncomfortable
The first time I covered Air Force One with the big-time male photographers and male newscasters of major television channels, mostly whites, and few Latinos, I was so uncomfortable. It took a burly White man to help me out and he literally walked me through and what to expect.
When I was first invited to attend a Seder at a Jewish family home, I felt uncomfortable. It took my friend to walk me through as to what to expect: hours of discomfort, long hours of prayers, simulating the suffering of their ancestors, before dinner is served. It started at 6pm and dinner was served at close to 10pm.
But, when I covered another event, predominantly African-Americans, near the airport, I did not feel the need to be walked through nor the need to know what to expect. I felt at home, simply because the organizers warmly welcomed me and ushered me to a seat.
Isn’t that what home is about, to warmly welcome someone into? Should we not do the same in making others comfortably at home in our midst, so we can educate ourselves about others, outside of our daily bubbles?
Notice how you feel when you are in Hawaii, you are welcomed at the airport with a lei and introduced to the hang loose sign of the natives? In Hawaii, it is Aloha for all!
Jose Antonio Vargas is right, we can all be uncomfortable at the same time, in this journey to remove racism from our hearts and minds.
By asking the questions of what makes us uncomfortable, by starving our selfishness, we can perhaps shed light on dark issues of racism embedded in the recesses of our hearts and tinges of biases that we carry in the back of our minds.