Managing Perceptions...

The photo and the criticism it is receiving reminds me of attending a DNC rally in DC some years ago, during the 90s when DC was still "chocolate", majority Black. A young group of aspiring "future" Democrats attended the rally to conduct a workshop. As their leader was speaking about "future" Democrats, her workers were mingling about the crowd disseminating the new organization's brochures. The cover was adorned with an overhead shot of a group of young people looking face up at the camera, ostensibly depicting the image of future Democrats...

Amongst this planned photo shoot depicting the face of "future" Democrats, was not one face of color! Recall that this group was speaking to a predominantly Black audience in DC, which was likely 70% Black at the time, about the future of the Democratic party, speaking to an audience of Black folks who tend to be blindly loyal to the Democratic party...

The group's leader, a young White woman, was horrified when I pointed out to her what a terrible blunder her organization had made. She apologized profusely, immediately stopped disseminating the brochures and tried to retrieve those already passed around. It was too late, the damage had been done. The message, although subliminal, perhaps unintentional, had already been transmitted...

A valuable lesson on why it is important to give MORE than lip service to one's commitment to diversity... Had there been people of color on her team, they would have immediately noticed and alerted leadership that they were not included in the organization's perception of "future" Democrats. The organization would likely have never published the photo and spared themselves public humiliation or even the perception of future exclusion of persons of color ... While the present photo depicts only a fraction of the Obama campaign staff in Chicago, perception is reality and there is still ample time to manage this image.

I'm Just Sayin'...

Here is link to Newsweek article: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/04/10/an-obama-campaign-photo-that-looks-like-a-young-republican-rally.html#comments

Newsweek: Americans Still Divided Over Race

Recently I read a book wherein a Black character, limited by the impediments of jim crow and the social timing of his existence (late 50's early 60's), pondered how he could live in a cage restricted by circumstance and denial of opportunity and his White counterpart, living in the same time, be oblivious to the "bars" restricting his friend... I found the answer in another book.


One cannot see the bars limiting the existence and growth of another because s/he is not affected by the bars, the plight(s), surrounding others. S/he is indifferent to “the bars”, even when the bars are restricting friends. Also many believe that post President Obama, America has cleared the hurdles of race, bleached the stains of the past and proven to be a "post racial" and harmonious society tolerant of race and diversity. No longer is racism angry, overtly hostile or terroristic. Surely it [racism] must be behind us... It takes only a second to walk in the shoes of another to know that this is not so...

I am reminded of vacationing in Hawaii circa 2001. I met a very nice young White American couple. They were school teachers who explained that during the previous year they had come on vacation, fell in love with the natural beauty and peacefulness of the island, returned home long enough to pack their belongings and quickly returned to settle in paradise until death made them part...

Unfortunately paradise was not so welcoming. They explained that the native Hawaiians and Samoans, mostly young, were not kind to them and did not want them there. They described how horribly they were treated, disrespected and how often the male especially feared for his safety, even in the classroom. They were hurt and sad to be leaving. I will never forget their sharing with me that every White American should live in HI to know “how it must feel to be Black in America”, back on the mainland... It was not the same experience as being a tourist in Hawaii. They were not in the majority and they were painfully aware that they were not welcome [as residents] in Honolulu... I have since corroborated their experience with other White Americans who have also ventured to live there. Their experience was not so unusual...

Race is the proverbial elephant in the American living room. He is recklessly stomping about, blinding us in his shadow and deafening us with his trumpeting blow. We fear him, deny his existence, refuse to see or hear him and we dare not discuss him. So is it any wonder that we are so far apart in our perceptions as depicted in this Newsweek article? http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/04/08/a-newsweek-poll-show-americans-still-divided-over-race.html#comments. One's perception is his reality...

As we pretend that the elephant is extinct or that he will somehow just go away, his might will surely trample us. I’m Just Sayin’…

Time to let the Dialogue, thus the healing, begin…

Strange Fruit in 2012...

I live in upstate NY where I am President of a local branch of the NAACP. On Monday I received a call from a member reporting that there was a Black doll baby hanging from a tree in a nearby town. Ironically, later that day, I had business near that town. I decided to do a drive by and Lo & Behold, in Endwell, NY in 2012 there actually stood a very tall and leafless tree bearing "Strange Fruit"!!! I could not believe it!!!


Here is the link for the eventual story... http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012204020364  The homeowner would have you believe that his 8 or 10 year child playfully and casually threw the doll up in this very high tree some 6 months ago, it got dirty or "molded" while up there, thus giving the appearance that it is a Black doll AND that it just happened to innocently suspend in a manner that resembles hanging from a noose... OK... You Decide...