Those Hidden Costs

The recent uproar about Barack Obama's pastor has pushed a very explosive issue into the presidential campaign. The issue of our country's history with regard to race is one that Senator Obama literally embodies in his physical being as well as various political stances he has taken.

I'm responding to the attacks that he has endured because of the statements made by his pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Obama has pointed out the failures our nation has made in trying to live up to the words in the Constitution of the United States which state that "all men are created equal."

Undoubtedly, black Americans have had the worst time of any ethnic group in trying to benefit from that concept. The vitriol in Rev. Wright's words is a direct result of what he sees when he reviews how that has played out throughout the history of this country. This is not to say that there has been no progress made in those situations, but sadly that progress has been too often slow and grudgingly acquired. Because of the nature of the problems, which in many cases were started in the 19th Century, Americans in this day and age have to pay for issues that they didn't cause and shouldn't have to fix. But nonetheless we are stuck with the tab.

An example of this situation can be seen in the mess that developed in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina struck. Racist policies that were in place in the 1920s and 30s caused a hugely disproportionate share of grief to fall on the shoulders of the black residents of New Orleans. The decision to build homes in an area that is 12 to 15 feet below sea level, immediately adjacent to a lake and also located on a shoreline that sees hurricanes every hurricane season could only be seen as wishful thinking. This disaster was bound to happen whenever a hurricane hit the coastline somewhere near New Orleans. A direct hit wasn't even needed to inflict damages.

The incompetence and unpreparedness of the authorities who where supposed to do something about the disaster was seen by blacks as racism pure and simple. But actually the folks at FEMA were trying to straighten out a situation created by racist policies put in place 80 or 90 years ago. Again and again these situations rear up and bite us all and create more bitterness and distrust between different sectors of Americans.

Reverend Wright suggested in one of his sermons that AIDS was intentionally allowed to infect people because it would probably do most of its damage in the black community. White Americans see this view point as racist paranoia. But black Americans remember the Tuskegee experiment when black men who had syphilis were left untreated intentionally so the progress of the disease could be studied by government doctors. This actually happened and its memory has caused a collective distrust of doctors in the black community for which white Americans can not see any rational basis. Again we are stuck with dealing with the evil deeds that were done before many of us were born.

Many of those situations were created by the response of the people of the Old Confederacy who used the law to attempt to permanently insure that blacks would never be able to achieve equal treatment in any of the Southern States. The failure of Reconstruction to secure the human and civil rights of black Americans is the real problem at the root of the lingering racial tension in America. Southern citizens wanted to make sure that no black person could rise up from the poverty and ignorance that had been imposed on them from the days of slavery. Violence was a key component in enforcing the Jim Crow laws. Between 1889 and 1918, 2,522 blacks were lynched in America and nothing was done about it. I can remember the picture of Emmett Till who was murdered in1955. There was a trial of those accused of the killing but an all-white jury acquitted the accused in very short order. The people of Mississippi were very defiant in stating how sure they were that the accused would be found 'innocent', which was what happened. Soon after the verdict came in the murderer sold an article to Look Magazine which gave the details of the kidnapping, torture and death of Emmitt Till. The white people of Mississippi had nothing to say at that point and the rest of America seemed to shrug off the results as a quaint episode of Southern life. Contrast that scenario with the response to the murder of Nicole Simpson. When you do that you will get a sense of why Black Americans are so paranoid about the actual reality of equal protection under the law. Just last week the Supreme Court threw out the conviction of a black man who lost his case in court because the prosecutor succeeded in his plan to eliminate all blacks from the jury. The OJ trial was mentioned during the time the case was in front of the jury.

White Americans could not consider the reality of police brutality against blacks. It took the Rodney King incident to start any real change in attitudes on that subject. If Rodney King had tried to accuse the cops who beat him of brutality he would have gotten nowhere. He was after all a large black man with a criminal record who was undoubtedly breaking the law. No white jurors would consider taking his word over the testimony of the cops. The only thing that changed the situation was an undeniable video tape that proved to anyone with any common sense that the beating was way beyond a routine traffic stop. It doesn't surprise black Americans that DNA testing has uncovered dozens of unjustly convicted black prisoners. The faulty eyewitness testimony that figured so prominently in the conviction of these men is another symptom of racial divide. White jurors are too often comfortable with doubtful testimony if the accused is black. Prosecutors can make their careers by keeping those dangerous black thugs off the streets. Justice falls by the wayside in far too many cases.

I am mentioning these events to give a more complete background to Rev. Wright's comments from his pulpit. From his perspective, America is not always able to deliver on some very important issues and the effect on him over time is to become enraged and at times to overreact. The wonderful thing about life in America is that we can address and remedy even the worst of problems when the collective will of our nation comes into play. The Civil Rights movement would never have achieved what it did if this were not true. That potential gives us the hope that Senator Obama so articulately identifies as the force that can bring us together to affect positive change. I for one hope that people will unite and work together to make sure that the unfortunate events of the past do not kill the positive potential of our future. Together we can make the dreams of the Founding Fathers a reality for all Americans.

For more blogs by Kareem visit www.latimes.com/kareem

Comments

[bar1ed]

this debate, here on this board, is like a tennis match. backhand shots, lob's, yelling at the ref., instant replays, everyone hoping that we end the match tied ---- love all ---- lets just hope that at the end, we jump over the net and shake hands. -------------------------- would anyone like to try mud wrestling ?

[brerol]

folks here are constantly mis-spelling names here. Why should Kareem Abdul-Jabbar be any differnt?

[AlAkbar]

shukran! this post is in order because of the vast chasm in shared experience/perception between black and white. there is a real need to point out to so many whites STILL these days the notion that one's racial self-awareness (literally - being conscious of one's own race) is an issue the darker one's skin tone is.

allah 'alaiak

[AnotherMcIntosh]

Mr. Abdul-Jabbar,

The Reverend Wright could take action to undo some of the damage that has been done to Obama's campaign.

Here's another perspective.

Some of those who have sought to defend, excuse, or explain Wright's position have looked at him and they see a Black man.

Others have looked at Wright and see a man who is partly Black and partly White.

Some may call him "Black," but in reality he is a Black-White descendent. He is unquestionably a descendant of those who engaged in Black slavery.

Whether Wright's comments do not fully portray the man, his comments sound like hate-White speech.

His speech was not hate speech directed towards his White ancestors. It was partly directed towards the wealthy, but it wasn't directed towards all wealthy indivduals who are unquestionably the descendants of slave holders and slave traders.

Instead, it was directed towards Whites, including (1) those who are the descendants who fought against the South to free the slaves, (2) those who are the descendants of those who lived in the South but never owned or traded in slaves, (3) those who are the descendants of those who owned slaves but do not share the same attitudes as their slave-owning or slave-trading ancestors, and (4) those who came or whose ancestors to America after the Civil War.

Now, Wright can help Obama if he can truthfully say that he does not have hate in his heart for those who are White.

[lainey]

What an eloquent and profound piece of work. Case by case, you recount the reasons why so many members of the African American family feel they way they do. And to anyone who's mind is open, it is truth that cannot be denied or ignored. Our nation was founded the same way it is today...conflicted. There was much hope and promise for a great nation, yet at the same time, for many people in many parts of the country, that promise was unattainable. There were some Founding Father's who never owned slaves, yet many who did. There were people of this country who believed that enslavement was wrong, and many felt it just fine. Today some of us believe that that injustice does frame many members of the black community attitudes and rightfully so, while others believe they should get over it. Some think that it is ok to have a public conversation about it, while others believe we should move on. I believe that the conflicted part in all of us can be filled with an understanding that we all share some blame, but we can all be part of the solution. Americans are good people. We can lose our way, but we can find our way back. We can do it together. And we can do it right this time. Now is the chance to heal our divides and come together once and for all. Peace.

[Stanley]

How will you convince a non-racist person of a younger generation that it is their burden to pay for everything from the past- literally. We are handing them a world with huge debts, broken healthcare, massive portions of the population retiring, the highest prisoner per capita in the world. We all need tot stop looking from the prism of self. Yes, history gives reasons to do this but our future is about "Hitching our wagons together" as Senator Obama said. His popularity is not about his skin color, but more about his generational perspective of leadership. He is actually talking about the problems we face together more than the ones we need to leave behind. The self-reflexive view of only seeing issues based on skin color needs to change because it is a paradigm shift that will benefit all. Injustice is bad for everyone. Imprisoning people to a such a high rate, when they could be productive members of society is bad for everyone. Bad drug laws are bad for everyone.

[Stanley]

Pointing out injustice is fair. But Rev. Wright incorrectly said that the Tuskeegee men were given syphillis not denied treatment. The inference he made to inflame the crowd is that Aids was purposely a racist plot, but originally the majority of victims were homosexual. While there is reason to not be naive that racism still exists, there is also wisdom to stop trying to guilt a new generation to believing that they are racist when actual examination of young people shows that is not the case more than any other time in our history. Stirring up the masses to believe they are perpetual victims only serves the ego of the speaker, not the audience. It excuses not taking responsibility for our own conditions in life. It is a message of hopelessness. Our children are living in a new world with different views. Victimhood versus responsibility is the question.

[fnygy]

You fail to note that by not treating the men with syphilis, those same men probably infected their wives and/or girlfriends/boyfriends with the disease who, in turn, likely infected others. Purposefully not treating diseases that are contagious is tantamount to knowingly infecting people, is it not? Even if one does not see that connection, it's easy to understand why someone would believe that people capable of non-treatment for "scientific" purposes, are equally capable of knowingly infecting a "patient" for those same purposes. The issue becomes one of trust. If I were a black man, I would not trust my government.

[AcitizenNJ]

mr. abdul jabbar,

your point on race is well taken, your catalog of events highlighting these events in our history has only once again to let see how the uproar over rev. wright's comments have sparked the debate once more. o, how the truth hurts, what a media rush it was to put a racial spin on these comments while ignoring the other possible issue that these comments weren't about race as defined 50 or even 100 yrs ago. these comments were about America today, from the view of a man who lived through these events and relates them to our current events. racism today isn't about black and white but, don't misunderstand that it's still there but also realize that the color range has increased as well. racism today is the worse of all because it's economic racism. new orleans is a true example of this and several years later it goes on with less and less attention by our media and government. i'll leave with this, when rev. wrights comments went national one thing was clear, all debate and news media stops reporting on issues involving matters of education, healthcare, jobs, etc... even iraq. now was rev. wright's comments so profound that everything else came to a halt. PLEASE

[pmag88]

I view the issue as more of an ideological struggle rather than one of race.

The rest of the industrialized, civilized world, -including our neighbors to the north and south- have already incorporated some elements of socialism based on the needs of their people. We also incorporate socialism we just refuse to use the term. In addition to socialism we fund a large and expensive welfare state favoring business owners -large and small- via tax subsidies. Even so-called small business owners, including family owned businesses with maybe one or two family employees, pay far less in tax than do the majority or working class/middle class Americans. This is unjust and unfair and it is destroying our nation.

The class system in America is where we are failing. It is the issue we need to unite around and regardless of race or religion you should be supporting the kinds of changes necessary to create a more equitable and just society.

Despite some of the pastors more controversial statements, I feel his views on social justice are in line with where we are going as a nation.

[snukesncankles]

Excellent post Sir!!!!!!!!
Would some of the folks on here Please Spell Kareem's Name right, A little respect !!!!!!!!!
And all the folks STILL spazing out on Rev. Wright.
As Tavis Smiley quoted Fredrick Douglas Last night, "A TRUE PATRIOT is someone who LOVES their Country, And rebukes her and does NOT forgive her SINS"!!!!!!!!!
Stop drinking the tasty Fox Flavored Kool-Aid!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
being a Baa baa close minded sheeple, is just plain nasty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Gem4Obama]

"A society at peace with itself wouldn't have reacted in the way it did to the partly true/partly crazy remarks of Obama's former pastor." Matt Taibbi ~ Rollingstone

Let me quote Matt's comments a little further. They are appropos for this post:

"...but whether or not any of Wright's "controversial" statements have any validity at all is beside the point. The point is that a country that had any balls at all -- that was secure enough in its patriotic self-image to stare vicious criticism right in the face and collectively decide for itself, in a state of sober reflection, what part of it was bullshit and what wasn't -- such a country wouldn't do what it did in the case of the Wright flap, which is to panic instantly, collectively leap off the ground in terror like a bunch of silly bitches, and chase the criticism away in a torch-bearing mob with its eyes averted without even bothering to talk about what was actually said.

Yet naturally this is what was done in this case; the very first response of the entire national media apparatus was to denounce Wright as a kind of living disease and shriekingly demand that Obama do the same."

http://alternet.org/election08/80577/

I found his article (at Alternet.org) to be spot on with regard to our country and our panic attacks of late.

[guajiro]

The Rolling Stone article from Matt Taibbi you posted should shock the crap out of the mainstream CNN, FOX, ABC, CBS, NBC, cable networks media. That this article was written to appeal to the marijuana prone audience that is the Rolling Stone's membership only highlights the addle-mindedness of the audience of the regular media. I always wondered why Obama never straight out said the obvious; the Wright experience is very real in MANY black american's lives and is something he, Obama, intends to resolve. Oh well, better late than never.

[WellbornBroad]

Mr. Abdul-Jabbar, great post, wonderful insight. Thank you.

[realpolitic]

Kareem made the hook shot look balletic. He accomplished the move equally well with either arm. It was rare to see any other player hit this graceful shot from eight to twelve feet, as Kareem did consistently. My favorite movie role for him was in Airplane, as the pilot who would not admit to the boy he was Kareem until he finally confessed how difficult it was running alongside Walton for 40 minutes. Thanks for your writing, Kareem, on many subjects. I would especially like to read your book on when you coached the young boys on the Indian reservation. Kareem is also a jazz aficionado and a Renaisance man.

[RedBirdy]

Please don't speak for Black America. You, Obama, all black people. All people in general... Speak for yourselves, and don't pretend or assume to know what is going on with Black America. or any other community.

[YankeeCanuck]

So, who can speak of trends in thought in any community? How can there be understanding if there is no discourse on a level above individual opinion?

[mongo53]

If everyone who watches Rev. Wright on you tube, sees the point of this article. just imagine the opportunity there'd be to hasten the kind of change that Sen. Obama speaks of.