Perspective is Important

[TOKenBoiler]

Several years ago I was at a professional conference in Washington, DC. One of the breakout sessions concerned data privacy and the different standards in the EU and US. One of the panelists was a Jewish woman from the EU. She recounted a personal story about being hospitalized in the US. She had to fill out standard paperwork to be admitted for treatment. She became alarmed when she got to the part of the form that asked for her religion. Now, I've never thought twice about that question. I'd bet most Americans haven't. But to a European Jew providing name, address, and other self-identifying information plus religious affiliation and knowing that data was going to be stored in computer file indefinitely was cause for concern. Her ancestors had been on lists, rounded up and many exterminated just for being Jewish. No reason for her to think the information in the hospital computer file couldn't be used in the future to create another list of "undesirables" for rounding up. Her story forcefully brought home why EU citizens have a "right to be forgotten" and was an "a-ha!" moment for many Americans in the audience.

I certainly didn't think, and don't believe anyone else thought, "Isn't it time Jews got over the Holocaust? For goodness sake, move on already." That type of reaction, however, is a pretty typical reaction when African-Americans argue that their unique histories in the US account for their distrust of authority and influence their responses to incidents like Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile and Alva Braziel-- especially when the authority figure involved has a white face. "C'mon, get over it. There hasn't been slavery in over 100 years."

No, there hasn't been. But, there WAS a long, brutal history of slavery, followed by a long, brutal history under Jim Crow laws, including countless murders of African-Americans at the hands of white people, some law enforcement officers, with impunity because the local criminal justice systems only protected whites. And, it's against this historical backdrop that African-Americans view the death of any of their own at the hands of law enforcement. I, for one, can't tell them to "Get over it." I don't believe that's fair.

Does that mean I'm excusing what happened in Dallas? Of course not. Murdering the innocent does not pay for mudering the innocent. I just think that we won't make any real progress on race if we dismiss the painful history of African-Americans in the US. It seems that if whites can be upset about "affirmative action," African-Americans ought to be able to be upset about law enforcement killing their own. I'm not being glib--just suggesting that given the same history as African-Americans, whites would feel much the same watching video of their own being killed by law enforcement officers, and probably wouldn't appreciate being told "It was justifiable. Get over it," any more than African-Americans do. Just something to think about.

 

[qazplm]

Several years ago I was at a professional conference in Washington, DC. One of the breakout sessions concerned data privacy and the different standards in the EU and US. One of the panelists was a Jewish woman from the EU. She recounted a personal story about being hospitalized in the US. She had to fill out standard paperwork to be admitted for treatment. She became alarmed when she got to the part of the form that asked for her religion. Now, I've never thought twice about that question. I'd bet most Americans haven't. But to a European Jew providing name, address, and other self-identifying information plus religious affiliation and knowing that data was going to be stored in computer file indefinitely was cause for concern. Her ancestors had been on lists, rounded up and many exterminated just for being Jewish. No reason for her to think the information in the hospital computer file couldn't be used in the future to create another list of "undesirables" for rounding up. Her story forcefully brought home why EU citizens have a "right to be forgotten" and was an "a-ha!" moment for many Americans in the audience.

I certainly didn't think, and don't believe anyone else thought, "Isn't it time Jews got over the Holocaust? For goodness sake, move on already." That type of reaction, however, is a pretty typical reaction when African-Americans argue that their unique histories in the US account for their distrust of authority and influence their responses to incidents like Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile and Alva Braziel-- especially when the authority figure involved has a white face. "C'mon, get over it. There hasn't been slavery in over 100 years."

No, there hasn't been. But, there WAS a long, brutal history of slavery, followed by a long, brutal history under Jim Crow laws, including countless murders of African-Americans at the hands of white people, some law enforcement officers, with impunity because the local criminal justice systems only protected whites. And, it's against this historical backdrop that African-Americans view the death of any of their own at the hands of law enforcement. I, for one, can't tell them to "Get over it." I don't believe that's fair.

Does that mean I'm excusing what happened in Dallas? Of course not. Murdering the innocent does not pay for mudering the innocent. I just think that we won't make any real progress on race if we dismiss the painful history of African-Americans in the US. It seems that if whites can be upset about "affirmative action," African-Americans ought to be able to be upset about law enforcement killing their own. I'm not being glib--just suggesting that given the same history as African-Americans, whites would feel much the same watching video of their own being killed by law enforcement officers, and probably wouldn't appreciate being told "It was justifiable. Get over it," any more than African-Americans do. Just something to think about.

To me the difference is easy.

The Holocaust was done by someone else. Americans/We don't have much if any responsibility for it, and in fact, we helped stop it. So we have no problems allowing "remembrance."

Slavery/Separate but Equal/Racism are all things we Americans are responsible for/have done/are doing. There's a guilt/responsibility there. And no one likes feeling guilty or responsible for long, particularly since we all think "I'm not the problem, other folks might be a racist, but I'm not."

You also have to mix in that poor whites, while not struggling with racism, certainly feel the impact of economic issues, and turning to blaming other, competing groups is often the result of that (you see that also in the issues that AAs and Latinos have with each other).

So in this case "remembering" by definition involves blame, and folks resent being blamed, legit or not. That's why "playing the race card" is now applied to any and all mention of race. If it's not major enough then it's playing the race card...if it is major enough then it's "that's not the norm, it's just one bad cop/person."

For some, there is never a legit time to "play the race card."

 

[TOKenBoiler]

And no one likes feeling guilty or responsible for long, particularly since we all think "I'm not the problem, other folks might be a racist, but I'm not."

Very true. It's one of the reasons the confessional gets underused nowadays. No one likes to think of themselves as a sinner. Sin is the other guy's problem--which both St. Paul (Romans 3:23) and St. John (1 John 1:8) refute.

 

[qazplm]

Very true. It's one of the reasons the confessional gets underused nowadays. No one likes to think of themselves as a sinner. Sin is the other guy's problem--which both St. Paul (Romans 3:23) and St. John (1 John 1:8) refute.

Obviously I come at it from a secular angle, but I think this is one area where religious thought and secular thought more or less overlap.

 

[CWS]

Lists - this is one of the reasons why I'm not registered with any political party. I don't want my business selectively harassed/audited/etc by someone of the other party. I don't think this is a tinfoil hat concern considering this likely happened with tea party 501c-3s and possibly with the GM bailout where certain dealerships where preferred. This certainly does not compare to the Holocaust or slavery, but still a concern.

 

[BoilerJS]

Lists - this is one of the reasons why I'm not registered with any political party. I don't want my business selectively harassed/audited/etc by someone of the other party. I don't think this is a tinfoil hat concern considering this likely happened with tea party 501c-3s and possibly with the GM bailout where certain dealerships where preferred. This certainly does not compare to the Holocaust or slavery, but still a concern.

We have elected an African American to the highest office in the land. Do we still need affirmative action?
Seems like it has done it's job and run it's course.

 

[TOKenBoiler]

We have elected an African American to the highest office in the land. Do we still need affirmative action?
Seems like it has done it's job and run it's course.

That's an interesting take. "You got a black President. Quit yer bitchin'."

 

[qazplm]

We have elected an African American to the highest office in the land. Do we still need affirmative action?
Seems like it has done it's job and run it's course.

 

[qazplm]

http://gawker.com/heres-audio-of-what-sounds-like-an-nypd-captain-pressur-1783544682

 

[SDBoiler1]

Several years ago I was at a professional conference in Washington, DC. One of the breakout sessions concerned data privacy and the different standards in the EU and US. One of the panelists was a Jewish woman from the EU. She recounted a personal story about being hospitalized in the US. She had to fill out standard paperwork to be admitted for treatment. She became alarmed when she got to the part of the form that asked for her religion. Now, I've never thought twice about that question. I'd bet most Americans haven't. But to a European Jew providing name, address, and other self-identifying information plus religious affiliation and knowing that data was going to be stored in computer file indefinitely was cause for concern. Her ancestors had been on lists, rounded up and many exterminated just for being Jewish. No reason for her to think the information in the hospital computer file couldn't be used in the future to create another list of "undesirables" for rounding up. Her story forcefully brought home why EU citizens have a "right to be forgotten" and was an "a-ha!" moment for many Americans in the audience.

I certainly didn't think, and don't believe anyone else thought, "Isn't it time Jews got over the Holocaust? For goodness sake, move on already." That type of reaction, however, is a pretty typical reaction when African-Americans argue that their unique histories in the US account for their distrust of authority and influence their responses to incidents like Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile and Alva Braziel-- especially when the authority figure involved has a white face. "C'mon, get over it. There hasn't been slavery in over 100 years."

No, there hasn't been. But, there WAS a long, brutal history of slavery, followed by a long, brutal history under Jim Crow laws, including countless murders of African-Americans at the hands of white people, some law enforcement officers, with impunity because the local criminal justice systems only protected whites. And, it's against this historical backdrop that African-Americans view the death of any of their own at the hands of law enforcement. I, for one, can't tell them to "Get over it." I don't believe that's fair.

Does that mean I'm excusing what happened in Dallas? Of course not. Murdering the innocent does not pay for mudering the innocent. I just think that we won't make any real progress on race if we dismiss the painful history of African-Americans in the US. It seems that if whites can be upset about "affirmative action," African-Americans ought to be able to be upset about law enforcement killing their own. I'm not being glib--just suggesting that given the same history as African-Americans, whites would feel much the same watching video of their own being killed by law enforcement officers, and probably wouldn't appreciate being told "It was justifiable. Get over it," any more than African-Americans do. Just something to think about.

I understand why this woman was alarmed, but the reason why the hospital asked that question was so that if she needed some clergy to support her or her family, the hospital would what cleric representative to contact.

 

[TOKenBoiler]

I understand why this woman was alarmed, but the reason why the hospital asked that question was so that if she needed some clergy to support her or her family, the hospital would what cleric representative to contact.

Sure. I'm certain every US citizen who gets asked that question understands the purpose behind it. But, apparently, that question doesn't get asked as a matter of course in the EU.