Lamenting Abortion and Racism
A regular commenter, the Intellectual Insurgent has an inspired piece in her blog about our country's battles with racism and the role of government and religion.
I read it and had to take a step back from the inflammatory part and break down the realities. First I'll give you some of my history:
I am from what used to be a small town outside of Nashville. I vividly remember riding around town in the 1970's either with my grandfather in his F-100 chewing Super Bubble bubble-gum and pretending to spit out the window like he did as he chewed his King B twist (that's hand rolled-leaf knotted chewing tobacco if you are a Yankee-and they still hand make that here in Tennessee by the way). The same memories also tie into my grandmother's ultra-clean and new green 76 mercury with the vinyl dash that I enjoyed putting my mouth on because it was squishy and she wouldn't let me chew gum.
We would drive to town and there would be Black people driving in front of us who would do something (fail to show a signal, have broken brake lights or whatever) and my grandparent would say under their breath "Da*n Heathen Ni**rs."
Being the precocious 3-4 year old I was I went home to mom and asked her what those words meant. When she got over her shock and anger at grandparents she explained that Heathen means they don't believe in God, the first word was a bad curse word, as was the last curse word. I asked her why they called black people the N- word. She said it was because my Grandparents did not know better.
The funny part was the next time I was in the car and those words came out. I asked "Granny, how do you know they don't go to Church?"
It was the way it had always been in Tennessee. Their families learned it. Their government was by the people and for the people who thought it was right. Their pastors if not racist themselves did not push the issue in many respects because their jobs depended on racist Elders.
They really did not know better.
We all now know that just because things were that way doesn't make them right. Take for example our current view of Abortion. Abortion is easy and legal now and many of you out there would fight to your personal death to defend it. A generation from now might not see it the same way.
Did that comment provoke a reaction? Abortion is not racism? Ha, the reaction was emotional wasn't it?
My Grandparents were taught not to trust black people by those they trusted: their parents. It was a culture for them. The culture was perverted from actual Christian truths but none the less practiced by people who called themselves Christian. They thought as strongly that their feelings of racism were as justified as our society's view of abortion.
The same is happening now with Abortion. Many self-proclaimed Christians believe Abortion is ok because they want to. Nevermind that it pre-supposes one person's rights are greater than another's.
Isn't that what racism is at it root? That one man is less than another? One woman? One child? Does proclaiming one life less worthy of rights by the law make it so?
I read it and had to take a step back from the inflammatory part and break down the realities. First I'll give you some of my history:
I am from what used to be a small town outside of Nashville. I vividly remember riding around town in the 1970's either with my grandfather in his F-100 chewing Super Bubble bubble-gum and pretending to spit out the window like he did as he chewed his King B twist (that's hand rolled-leaf knotted chewing tobacco if you are a Yankee-and they still hand make that here in Tennessee by the way). The same memories also tie into my grandmother's ultra-clean and new green 76 mercury with the vinyl dash that I enjoyed putting my mouth on because it was squishy and she wouldn't let me chew gum.
We would drive to town and there would be Black people driving in front of us who would do something (fail to show a signal, have broken brake lights or whatever) and my grandparent would say under their breath "Da*n Heathen Ni**rs."
Being the precocious 3-4 year old I was I went home to mom and asked her what those words meant. When she got over her shock and anger at grandparents she explained that Heathen means they don't believe in God, the first word was a bad curse word, as was the last curse word. I asked her why they called black people the N- word. She said it was because my Grandparents did not know better.
The funny part was the next time I was in the car and those words came out. I asked "Granny, how do you know they don't go to Church?"
It was the way it had always been in Tennessee. Their families learned it. Their government was by the people and for the people who thought it was right. Their pastors if not racist themselves did not push the issue in many respects because their jobs depended on racist Elders.
They really did not know better.
We all now know that just because things were that way doesn't make them right. Take for example our current view of Abortion. Abortion is easy and legal now and many of you out there would fight to your personal death to defend it. A generation from now might not see it the same way.
Did that comment provoke a reaction? Abortion is not racism? Ha, the reaction was emotional wasn't it?
My Grandparents were taught not to trust black people by those they trusted: their parents. It was a culture for them. The culture was perverted from actual Christian truths but none the less practiced by people who called themselves Christian. They thought as strongly that their feelings of racism were as justified as our society's view of abortion.
The same is happening now with Abortion. Many self-proclaimed Christians believe Abortion is ok because they want to. Nevermind that it pre-supposes one person's rights are greater than another's.
Isn't that what racism is at it root? That one man is less than another? One woman? One child? Does proclaiming one life less worthy of rights by the law make it so?
posted by Possum at 09:14
<< Home