RACISM (Without Racists)

[col. writ. 3/4/12 © '12 Mumia Abu-Jamal

A United States federal judge, one of the most respected and powerful actors in the Nation's entire judicial system, sends a joke to a close circle of friends.

So far, so good.

But the joke is a racist insult against both the sitting U. S. President and his mother. The word gets out, and the judge promptly apologizes, and insists he isn't a racist.

Of course he isn't.

A judge, someone sworn to protect the legal, civil and constitutional rights of all American citizens, privately shares racist jokes about the President of the United States: but he's not a ra- cist.

Indeed, if the media is any measure, the only people portrayed as racists these days are Black people: like Min. Louis Farrakhan or the late Dr. Khalid Abdul Muhammad.

A few years ago, I saw a man, standing in a Ku Klux Klan robe, announce on a nationally televised talk show that he wasn't a racist.

When no one is racist, then racism becomes invisible.

It becomes the province of 'hyper-sensitive' Blacks, who are called racist when they point out -racism.

And, meanwhile, beyond symbol, lies a reality as bitter and as repressive as ever before--for millions.

Question: What do you call a judge who makes racist statements?

Answer: 'Your Honor.'