The latest racist rant to go viral happened right here in New York city—Manhattan—a place that, on the outside at least, doesn’t look like it would have many racists. It’s a global city which welcomes nearly 54 million visitors every year. Manhattan is so diverse that in certain areas of the city it’s unlikely you’ll understand most of the languages being spoken. In the city 51 percent of the population are English only speakers, and percent are Spanish speakers. Likewise, popularly spoken in New York are: Chinese, French, and Russian.
In a blaze of beautiful irony, one man’s racist threats have done to him exactly what he threatened to do to others. In a phone call to the police as the media bombarded him with questions he claimed:
“They’re yelling, they’re claiming things that aren’t true. They’re grabbing my personal items. … Defaming me. I can’t even move, because they’re blocking me.”
One has to wonder; HOW DOES HE NOT SEE IT? It’s the neon writing on the wall, so obvious a third-grader could point it out: “They’re yelling…”“They’re claiming things that aren’t true…” They’re “defaming me.” Yet the very thing that has garnered him all this attention is a video of him doing just that: Yelling, claiming things that aren’t true, and defaming others.
But what of his shared belief that this is “My Country”? It’s the rallying cry of the bigot: “This is My Country…” and/or “I want my country back…” In truth is, this isn’t their country. It never was. But this is the mentality of the racist. Somehow any space they occupy is THEIRS, and they’re profoundly inconvenienced by anyone who shares their space.
Yet America is a shared space. Our forefathers went to great lengths to assure that.
The only arguments we have against racism are logical and rational—only racism avoids logic. If it didn’t, we wouldn’t be having this conversation in the first place. But the great teachers like Jesus and Aesop used a technique of fables and parables. Maybe by using the same method we can have the same effect. (While the complexities of race are multifaceted, sometimes it helps to generalize just a bit and to simplify.) In this case, we’ll put our fable in the context of our earliest childhood memories.
So let’s kick it old school—playground politics if you will.
Once upon a time there was an elementary school packed with students, most of whom looked and acted alike. They shared the same skin color, the same socio-economics, and the same basic ideals. They played the same games, spoke the same language, and attended the same classes. Oh yes, there was the rare oddball, but they were adept at hiding and staying invisible.
During recess, the Homogenies roamed the playground freely, laughing and playing together, oblivious to their ostracized classmates. With their pick of the swing set, slide, or monkey bars, they roamed the playground freely. When it came to games, they owned all the balls: the kickball, softball, football, and basketball, and played those games anywhere they wanted.
Yet as the school year progressed, something extraordinary began to happen. The Non-Homogenies got tired of sitting in the back and—horror of horrors—got bolder on the playground.
Tired of being excluded, they did something so despicable, so craven, that at first, it shocked everyone—faculty and students alike. The Non-Homogenies worked their way onto the playground with the intent to play with their homogeneous cohorts. They sat on the swings, and refused to give up their seat on the teeter-totter. They asked to be picked for the sports teams—all the while refusing to homogenize themselves.
There were as many reactions as there were students. Some thought nothing of it and welcomed the Non-Homogenies into their games. Others found it a bit startling, but after some time, they too joined in the games. But there was a third group of children who didn’t like seeing their homogeneous group tampered with in any way.
At first, they could still control the playground. All they had to do was take the balls, or call dibs on the equipment, or monopolize the blacktop. They invoked tradition and ranted about the Non-Homogenies taking over “My playground!” They maid claims that “My balls support their games.”“I’m tired of sacrificing my balls so they can just play.” They violently threatened other students and vilified anybody who didn’t agree with them. They became bullies and pushed Non-Homogenies off the equipment; picked fights in the middle of games; and made up playground rules that allowed that behavior.
That’s when the big kids stepped in: a group of reasonable students who stood up to the bullies and demanded they play fair, meaning the Homogenies found themselves no longer in control. And that’s when they started to complain bitterly that THEY were being bullied. They found themselves victims. Either they get along with everyone else or they might lose their playground. Because of that, they found being on the playground insufferable. Therefore, they began to lash out at everybody who looked even slightly different than they did for daring to be in “My playground!”
For some great standup on just how stupid nationalism is check out this video by Doug Stanhope on Nationalism