Saturday, March 7, 2009

Post Rascist, Not Post Racial

The Tavis Smiley Show from PRI heard on KUOW Friday showcased excerpts from the
State of the Black Union. The theme this year was "Making America as good as its promise". This was the tenth anniversary and was held the last weekend in February in Los Angeles,hosted by Tavis Smiley, and featured President Obama addressing the event on 28th February. Speaker Michael Eric Dyson commented that the term "post racial" is very un-useful, as it assumes beyond race/no race/no differences. This observation speaks to the discomfort that Americans, in particular, have in discussing race, the assumption being that if you discuss race you are racist. It is always refreshing to discuss racial issues in South Africa with people of different races: the distinction there being described as between racism and racialism. Accept, honour, and enjoy difference. Do not tolerate discrimination and offense to human dignity.