KKK at Presidential Debate

This really shouldn't come as a shock to me, however, I am shocked. When the news reported the KKK was planning on attending the Presidential debate my face became long and sorrowful and my heart turned to Michelle Obama. I can only imagine as a wife and mother what she is feeling at this point. Somewhere in my idealistic spirit I would like to believe this ongoing display of ignorance, hatred and anonymity would come to a close. Watching movies like Mississippi Burning seem like a chapter of history that needs to be remembered so it is never again repeated. But not a story that continues to exist in our modern day in a more "appropriate form" meaning not blatantly murdering, coconspiring with the police and active cross and church burning.

No where in my rational or irrational brain do I find a place to wrap around hatred for skin color. No where. Yet it still lurks in the silence places of America. The Klan members chose to remain anonymous in their interviews, stated they would not be wearing their "clothing regalia" and people would just have to "guess" who they were. Additionally, they chose NOT to use the designated protest zone as a location to display their silly cross-burning antics. A cause that cannot be backed by a visible face and a name seems weak. Hiding behind statements that are said but not owned and sheets that show only calloused eyes by no means seems like a strong force in society. However, I'm sure those African-Americans or blacks (however you choose to define yourself) living in the south or other parts of the country where the Klan exists don't really care the size of the group. It's just knowing their is a hate group that exists where they despise you for no substantial reason. Knowing you can't' speak logic to someone or someones so illogical.

That takes me back to 2001, 21 years old, where I went to Atlanta, Georgia to meet my business partner at the time. He was black and I was white and rather than pretend we were the "same" we had great discussions about the differences that were present in both of our lives and how they effected us. I think it was through these conversations we connected at deep levels revealing more similarities and differences and opened doors beyond what we thought. He told me that as a black man or black community in Georgia, you tend to not go outside the "parameter" that loosely surrounds the full radius of Atlanta. He told me how a high school out the "parameter" was celebrating their first integrated prom in 2001 after a long fight the kids put up because the parents were still supporting segregation. My little naive Utah mind jumped wildly through the roof thinking, "What? This stuff doesn't still exist! People have evolved, moved on, let go!"

It is sad to me that it does and is present at the most incredibly diverse election. Even during the primary's we had a Mormon, a Woman, a Black Man--it was great! Not that anyone of these candidates it to be defined by their outward trait, but I'd feel amiss to not at least acknowledge for the first time we moved beyond the white, male candidates!

There was a fantastic article that explains more in depth about the history of where the presidential debate took place, Ole Miss or more formally, University of Mississippi. A historic place where desegregation began, and where James Meredith was escorted by US Marshalls to class as the first black man to attend the university. With a 16% black population as of today, the debate location was more than mere availability and geographic location.

It boils down to 2008 and we're still hearing about hate groups spending significant time and energy to perpetuate what...more hate. I hope to see the day where my children are not writing about the KKK or the significance of a diverse primary pool but that the norm is reestablished and we have moved on.--@DP

To read more from Time magazine, CLICK HERE

"He Lives As Though He Has No Relatives"

Listening to a local afternoon show on KRCL I caught the tale end of a show regarding Bioneers. I tuned in right as a man was asking a Native American elderly woman the worst insult you could say to a Native American. Her reply, after giving some thought was, being told you live as though you have no relatives. This one line has stuck with me for the past 5 days. Living as though you have no relatives. Certainly you could take this and go concrete and literal implying you shun your biological or social "family." But, as I've allowed it to move around my mind, soul and heart, I believe the term "relative" and its implications are much broader, fluid and greater encompassing. I went to a website that shared some Native American spiritual beliefs that beautifully articulated what I was feeling:

The intention of Native American Spirituality is to strengthen ourselves, our relationships with our families, communities, nations and the Earth itself. The beliefs are for everyone "native" and "non-native" alike. We are all Earth's children with varying nationalities and ancestry. This is an invitation to be good stewards in this life, to respect such teachings along with honoring and respecting other "family" members and other's beliefs, all cooperating to work together for a united vision of peace. Peace is also seeing others with the eyes of the heart - spanning race, color and religion. The Spirit considers all things sacred, we are all One, all connected. So what we teach our children will be carried into generations to come.

To live as though you have no relatives disconnects you from yourself, your family, your beliefs, your community, nature and the earth. It is a survival of this fittest and no one will look out for you but yourself, you cannot depend on anybody but yourself, you are not responsible for anyone but yourself.

I think we as American's have lived as though we have no relatives, and as an entitled people. We have assumed the earth will continue on regardless of how much trash we dump, how many chemicals we dump into our waters and how many gases we spew into the air. That our country will always be the powerhouse regardless of how we treat our neighboring countries, how we handle our finances or how our values as a whole shift. That someone else will help out the person who needs to jump start their car, or someone else will feed that hungry family or visit the elderly person who has no family. What a wonderful place this world could become, what potential is out there, if we all lived as though we were related to everything and everyone. If we moved from selfish to selfless. If we didn't shun responsibility and took up our own accountability. The idealist in me says, start with yourself and impact 5 people who each impact 5 people and change could begin. And when that happens...what a beautiful world :) --@DP

White Privilege

There are those moment where you are reminded. You are reminded that the way you experience life is not the way majority of people experience life. You are reminded that you are in circumstances unique to you--given advantages simply by your placement, your color and you did nothing to earn that.

White privilege was introduced to me Fall 2005 at the University of Utah in my Diversity Class. Admittedly, I listened to the idea of White Privilege but left it at that...an idea. However, in a matter of days filled with in depth discussions White Privilege moved from an idea into a reality and became my reality. One of the first articles I received was by a female author named Peggy McIntosh titled: White Privilege; Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack. This concept, these facts, were very painful for me when I realized the pain it caused for those around me who were not white. White Privilege can be summarized as: The unearned, unjustified advantages not automatically afforded to people of color in this country and generally taken for granted by those of us who are classified as “white.” It is the reality that contrasts with the sincere fiction of the American myth of meritocracy, which says that everything we have must have been earned.

I still remember my professor asking the mostly white classroom,"When was the last time, here in Utah, you were described as 'the white girl?' As a person who is white, you have a name. You are referenced as Kristin, not as 'Do you know the black girl in our class?" ONE: That hadn't ever happened to me and TWO: I haven't ever even HAD to think about IF that had happened to me before this class BECAUSE ...I'm white.

Heidi Schlumpf said, "White privilege is also about what we white people don’t get: the multiple May-I-help-you’s when we enter high-end shops, always being asked for ID when we use our credit cards, the hassle of being pulled over by police officers for “driving while black.” It can be as simple as knowing that history books, greeting cards, even Band-Aids will include our skin color, or as complex as not having to worry that no matter what we do -- positive or negative -- it will not be a reflection of our entire race. No one ever says, “Isn’t it great how that white person won the Pulitzer Prize this year” or “Look at that white mass murderer.”

To counter the repulsive idea of being even remotely a racist most of us choose to share the perspective of being "color blind" or "I view us ALL the same." Though it may sound nice in theory it states you don't see their color, their culture their community. If you are in a classroom with Mexicans, Black Americans and say,"I just see kids", you are denying them their very identity.

Jamie T. Phelps of Xavier University in New Orleans stated,"The sad truth about white privilege is that it not only harms people of color, but also damages the lives, psyches and souls of white people. We need a mutual conversion from the unbalanced reality of white superiority and black inferiority, I don’t think black people and brown people are the only victims of racism. White folks are also victims of racism, but they’re in denial about it,” she said. White privilege is the other side of the coin of racism. And you’re not going to solve the problem by addressing white privilege in isolation from racism.”

In our smalls world we may construct these stories we believe to be true about racism and white privilege. We may believe or tell ourselves, "Racism is a thing of the past. Our country, in all it's advancement and progressiveness, is beyond discriminating against a person of color." The fact is it exists today as much as it ever has. There is definite improvement, but when you learn in 2001 that outside the "Parameter" in Atlanta a high school was celebrating their first integrated prom? And not because it was beyond time to have an integrated prom, but because the kids fought the administration and their parents to be granted permission to have an integrated prom...We have a long way to still go.

You can choose to read this post and never think about this concept another day in your life, but remember, to not HAVE to think about it? That's a privilege. --@DP

To learn more about White Privilege you can view the following links:
White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack
Owning Unearned White Privilege
Diversity Vs. White Privilege
Defining White Privilege
The Angry Black Woman
White Like Me: Reflections on Race From a Privileged Son
Whiteness in the News