CNN correspondent on KKK’s rise
CVK
(Thanks to Angry Asian Man for this!) CNN correspondent Alina Cho blogs about her recent experiences working on a story about racial tensions in Ohio, during which she interviewed KKK member Jarred Hensley:
Personally, this has been a hard story for me to report. As an Asian-American journalist, I found it difficult at times to listen to his views objectively. At one point in the interview, he told me I should leave the country.
What’s really interesting though, are the comments that follow her blog post. I think this one makes a really good point:
I do think that the KKK or skin heads will continue to grow as long as young white males are made to feel alienated when it comes to getting into college and other institutions because of their race. I can tell you that as a young white male in the U.S. i do feel as though i have done something wrong or perhaps i “owe” someone something.
We’ve received quite a few emails over at Addicted to Race from white men who feel similarly disenfranchised. I think one of the problems in this country is that Americans don’t really know how to think about class. Race becomes a stand-in for talking about class. So as a result, when there’s a discussion of white racism or white privilege, whites will fire back by talking about how oppressed they are economically because blacks and Asians and Latinos and foreigners are supposedly taking all the good jobs. The whole race vs. class issue is definitely something I’d like to explore more on the podcast.
justin wrote:
In the new ATR it was mentioned that people don’t talk like the Mat Dillon character in Crash (?). I know lots of people who talk that way. They are dumb people. Where I’m coming from there’s no such thing as affirmative action and I still have to put up with that crap. I have also heard people addressing the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons as a freedom of speech issue as if people have been censored instead of offended.
White people like to trivialize race and the socio-economic thing is just another one of their strategies.
Posted 24 Feb 2006 at 11:10 am ¶
Lyonside wrote:
Hey - not all white people, Justin. That’s my family you just lumped in there w/ the KKK (’course, if they ever WERE lumped in together, my family would and could kick their racist a**es).
Posted 24 Feb 2006 at 1:04 pm ¶
justin wrote:
Lyonside, I am betraying my family as well ,they are poor whites and comparatively rich asians. I also know some skinheads through work and school and they are human too. They spout racism and ignorance and they are funny, intentionally or not.
I think casual racism is comparable and sometimes worse than the extremes. Race often isn’t enough to overcome subjectivity. I am not trying to excuse myself, but this is my memory of rage.
I was waiting at my favourite bus stop in warm sun lite. There were a couple of other people there so I let them board first. Sitting next to the door and opposite the driver was a beautiful glowing, young, asian mother with a happy three year old. The driver was ordinarily a crotchety old man but that day he was smiling. I put down my bus fare and he cooed “ too dollaa “. Like the Chinese lady who sells Fish and chips where I live!!! I wanted to punch that guy, but I sat down instead.
. . . My Dads a bus driver like that scummy old creep.
So if you want to complicate things, bring it on.
Posted 24 Feb 2006 at 10:30 pm ¶
Lyonside wrote:
Dude, I’m not trivializing your experiences, and I’ve got an arsenal of them too.
But acting like the bigots and assuming all white people act the same way is NOT the answer. Makes us no better than them.
PS: did you know that not all “skinheads” are racists? Sorry you know the ones that are.
Posted 25 Feb 2006 at 9:51 am ¶
justin wrote:
Sorry, I was trying to humorous or flippant. I thought it was there when I was writing.
Some skins aren’t racist because of historic links to Ska, Punks, and Rastafarianism or some people become skinheads because of complex social and cultural reasons and they just don’t have hate in their hearts? (I know this is a false opposition, but I hope you get my meaning, . . . . . emotion is meaning)
There are swastika wearing groups of skinheads in my locality who rarely commit hate crimes. They are just degenerate social groups of pimps and drug dealers.
There’s a gang down here called the Mongrel Mob, if they weren’t criminals I would consider them a mixed race association. They also love the Nazi imagery.
I am glad I know those people. ‘Some of my best friends are racists’ and I don’t think I am better than them. Practically the only way to get along is to function on the same level. I am lucky, no ones lost an eye.
Posted 25 Feb 2006 at 8:44 pm ¶
justin wrote:
I should be more pragmatic on these message boards
Posted 25 Feb 2006 at 8:54 pm ¶
justin wrote:
I know this is a dead post but in case any one reads this
http://www.fightdemback.org/
And
http://www.fightdemback.org/2006/03/21/campbell-on-christchurch/
Christchurch is my town.
If anyone goes to the trouble of watching the video, everyone in it is a racist. I’ve meet the girl who took the beating, she’s an exception.
Posted 22 Mar 2006 at 4:04 pm ¶