this bjturk.commentary:
losing the race

On a recent episode of Fox's "The Apprentice," one of the contestants, who was African-American, took offense to another (Caucasian) contestant's directing at her the expression, "That's the pot calling the kettle black." The African-American contestant shot back something along the lines of "you're only saying that because I'm black," and went on to accuse the other contestant of being racist. The Caucasian contestant, as well as all of the others present, were taken aback by this accusation. If anything, this shows how far some people will stretch to find racism.

Let's begin at the beginning. The "pot calling the kettle black" expression is very old. It dates back to when everyone used cast-iron cookware. One of the characteristics of cast iron is that, over time and repeated use, it turns black. Therefore, if the pot called the kettle black, then the pot was accusing the kettle of being something that it itself was also. Thus the phrase (usually used as a rebuttal to another's accusation) "the pot calling the kettle black" means for one person to accuse another of being something that also characterizes the accuser, as if one person who was particularly obnoxious were to call someone else obnoxious. That's a case of the pot calling the kettle black, and it relates to one's character rather than anything else. It is certainly not racist.

It has become common for those who use the term "black" in any negative connotation to be accused of racism. However, this is rarely the case, and often makes no sense. Some years ago, on a Monday in October, the stock market in New York went into free-fall, losing hundreds of points in a single day, thereby losing billions of dollars for investors. That day is still called "Black Monday." It would be silly to say that the term has anything at all to do with race. The color black has often been associated with bad or evil things, such as poor gardeners referring to themselves as having a "black thumb" (as opposed to a green thumb), and evil people said to have black hearts. People wear black to funerals as it is consider to be the color of mourning. Black is not generally considered to be a "good" color. It has nothing to do with skin color.

If you are paying attention, you will notice that the majority of people that make an issue of skin color tend to be African-American. You never seem to hear much about such things coming from people of African descent who live in other countries. Granted, their ancestors suffered discrimination and persecution in some of the worst ways for several hundred years, in the United States and elsewhere (I recently learned that even Iraq had slaves brought in from Africa). Things are very different today, and everywhere in the world. People of color (for lack of a better term) have succeeded in virtually every aspect of society. From business, to politics, to religion, to athletics, you will find highly accomplished men and women of all races (except perhaps in distance running, where Kenyans and Ethiopians tends to excel, and I've always wondered why). Even so, the ones most likely to rail about racism are (ironically) well-to-do African-Americans, often religious leaders.

Which leads me to a contrast for your consideration. For millenia, rather than mere centuries, Jewish people have been persecuted all around the world. They have been enslaved since before the time of Jesus, and have suffered the cruelest of punishments for hundreds of generations. Millions of Jewish people were exterminated outright during World War II for no other reason than their religious beliefs. If anyone can rightly bemoan past enslavement and persecution, it is the Jewish people. In this regard, they have no peer. Even so, there is no National Association for the Advancement of Jewish People, nor a United Jewish College Fund, not anything of the sort. They just work, and they work hard. They have proved their merit and achieved success not by dwelling on their past, but by looking toward the future. They too have become successful in virtually every aspect of society, and they've done it without whining, and without demanding government handouts. If they've whined at all, it has been to God, and that's between Him and them. Any handouts they may have received most likely came from family, friends, or other Jewish people.

It is not my intent to declare the plight of Arican-Americans as being invalid, or even that it pales in significance. Instead, I merely point out what the two groups have done in the face of persecution. People of color wear their color on their sleeve, while Jewish people never make an issue of it. Racism exists because people make an issue of race, but isn't it a least a little ironic that those who make an issue of race more than anyone else are African-American? It seems that the racism they proclaim to be so prevalent has become necessary to continue the support of programs that benefit them. Were there no racism, then there would be no reason to continue such things as "affirmative action," for example, or for companies to receive tax credits for hiring people of color. Declarations of the continued existence of racism serve well all people of color in the United States, which is perhaps the most ironic thing of all. I say this because non-whites outnumber whites in the United States now, according to recent figures, so the money to pay for these programs that (now) benefit the majority are largely being financed by the (white) minority. Isn't that racism too?

March 22, 2004

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