Cynics Unlimited

Life has simply not been kind to Hank Williams Jr this week. First and foremost, his daughters were badly injured in a car wreck, with the elder Hilary Williams repeatedly in and out of surgery. Fretting over the near deaths of two children would be enough to occupy 100% of any parent’s time. Alas, Williams had to break away from his internal drama to hold a news conference. Why? To address allegations that he is a racist. A caller to a local radio station alleged that Williams did not want any African American nurses caring for his daughters. The caller’s identity is not known, though the allegation seemed to be supported by the fact that a black nurse caring for the daughters had been moved to another assigned. However this evidence is circumstantial at best and Williams came out swinging in a television news conference to clear his name of the charges (most of his evidence was equally inconclusive but impassioned). For good measure, a black nurse said to have been caring for the Williams daughters also appeared in the conference to back up his story.

Meanwhile in the GTA, a seemingly unrelated controversy was unfolding. Toronto city council stripped the Caribbean Cultural Committee (CCC) of their yearly funding for Caribana, citing that the CCC –ritually plagued by financial difficulties- did not file proper financial statements for 2005. Councillor Joe Mihevc, appointed liason for Caribana, added that the CCC was disorganized and that funding for the yearly event would be awarded to the Toronto Mas Band Association. The TMBA ran the carnival once in 2002, after the CCC declared bankruptcy, and shocked many by turning a profit. The CCC’s response to losing the $400,000 grant was as sharp as it was instantaneous:

“In our opinion Councillor Mihevc is a racist who’s convinced black youth will sit back and continue to be exploited, jumping up and dancing generating millions of dollars for the city”
-Nkem Anizor, Black Youth Taking Action (March 2006)

These two seemingly unrelated stories have one common thread – they both demonstrate how, sadly, the word “racist” is being overused to the point of irrelevance. Having seen the long-running effects of African slavery, the Holocaust, South African Apartheid and “Manifest Destiny”, the West in general has come to accept that organized and persistent racism can cause serious social and political upheaval well past its lifespan. Common sense would suggest that those victimized by racism –whether through denial of public services or a severe beating at the hands of an angry mob- would be most concerned about preserving the meaning and weight of labeling someone a racist.

Instead, accusations of racism have become a political weapon, not unlike Senator Joseph McCarthy’s rampant accusations of communist ties used to silence or politically debilitate his opponents. Furthermore, the accusation is thrown out without any serious attempt to check facts or evidence to support the claim. Evidence is not needed when the accusation sticks to its target for life (whether or not it is proven true).

Granted, the accusations against Williams still could be true (his rebellious son Hank Williams III has been said to take a very public liking to arch-racist David Allan Coe) but some actual evidence of the event in question would have been helpful. So would a motive for this anonymous expose. Is this the work of a Good Samaritan or a jilted individual with an axe to grind?

The CCC’s accusation is nearly transparent in its retributive agenda. Not only was this response crafted before most of the public caught wind of the story, but it simply makes no sense. If Mihevc has racist aims, why would he move the funding from a group with a financially dubious history to a group with a squeaky clean record? Given Toronto’s $700 million fiscal imbalance, surely running a profitable show would ensure that more black youth can jump up in future years? Furthermore, why are black youth only being “exploited” when CCC doesn’t receive funding? Festival participants continue to pay the same entry fees whether under CCC rule or not.

To be sure, the race card is played by far more than just anonymous enemies and incompetent ethnic zealots. The political right has masterfully manipulated the concepts of racial bias to push forward ethnically divisive agendas that would have had them labeled extremists 20 years ago. Arch-leftist turned Arch-rightist David Horowitz makes a career out of this type of race baiting by focusing on specific incidents of black-on-white crime and presenting the indifferent responses of the traditional civil rights movement (themselves riddled with race baiters) as some sort of organized anti-white crusade. No one knows whether Horowitz has successfully stopped this crusade or the slavery reparations movement, or how much any of this costs … but he is sure open to donations.

Since the September 11th terrorist attacks, many prolific right-wing bloggers and columnists have crossed that fine line between cultural resistance and bigotry while criticizing all that is Middle Eastern. Ann Coulter’s recent reference to “ragheads” during a Republican convention may forever live in infamy. When confronted, the response typically invokes patriotic or pro-Western undertones. Similar racial animosities appeared after the death of shooting death of Jane Creba and even after the questionable defeat of Clay Aiken on American Idol. When confronted, the ironic response was to accuse the accusers of racism, sometimes stated as “political correctness” or “reverse discrimination” (how can you reverse a discriminatory process, except to erase history?)

The biggest problem with all of these political games is that real racism still exists and is being overlooked simply because some people scream “racism” louder than others. As the public becomes increasingly fed-up with accusations of bigotry hurled as retribution for political dissidence or simply to smear an opponent, the real issues of racial discrimination will remain on the back-burner.

The concept of racism sucks when you go in a new york hotel and go to the receptionist to book hotel room. The receptionist of the hotel just stares at you if you are non English. The same happens when we go to a san diego hotel. Though staff at orlando hotel in Florida is seem to be used to for receiving non English visitors. And there you’ll find river walk hotels, where you can reserve a room in boat hotels if you are passionate about sea.