Let’s all remember that, contrary to Stephen Colbert’s assurances, racism is not dead. It is still a serious problem, in its subversive & subconscious form, but also in its more virulent and open form, which is apparently alive and kicking even in the nicer areas of Manhattan. Below, a picture of a dirty window pane at Baruch College, with the words “WHITE POWER” sketched into the dust.
I’m not sure if you’ll be able to see it. It was early morning, so the background is reflected pretty clearly in the window, somewhat minimizing the writing. You might have to trust me, but look closely. “White” is written in large letters, with “power” in the bottom right corner. If you’re in Manhattan, this is on the north side of 24th Street between Lexington and Park. Go see it, and bring Windex.
I hope this is a joke. But it sure as hell isn’t funny.
I think Didionsmommy and I were discussing racism verses prejudice over here. I firmly believe that racism, true racism is very small in the U.S.
Prejudice is everywhere though, and it’s mostly based on culture.
Posted by Progressive Conservative | June 25, 2008, 12:49 pmI agree with PC. The “racism” m0st people speak of today is just prejudice (though I prefer to use the even-more-nitpicky word “tribalism”). It lacks the dark core of hatred and violence inherent to true racism.
Posted by Radioactive afikomen | June 25, 2008, 12:54 pmI think the prejudice versus racism distinction is fine. But “white power” scrawled on a window is racism, pure and simple, and the worst kind at that!
Posted by Ames | June 25, 2008, 2:19 pmRacism, while present in modern society, is not as mainstream as it has been in years past. It still exists, let me make that clear, but it’s nowhere near as pervasive as times past.
I’m just waiting to see what happens once Obama is officially named as the Democratic nominee for President. This will most likely open old wounds around the country and we’ll see how many of the talking heads around the country are just bigots and how many are truly racist.
Either way, I agree with Ames in that this is pure racism and I think it should not be tolerated.
Posted by Junkjungle | June 25, 2008, 3:14 pmI also think it may have been more of a joke than anything else. Or else some skinheads were strolling by. I woudn’t quite call them a representative sample of anything other than what kind of morons live in NY.
Posted by Progressive Conservative | June 25, 2008, 4:06 pmHey! Was that an insult :-) ?
yeah, it might’ve been a joke, but a damn tasteless one. Except that it was written on like four or five of the panels belonging to the college… responses were scrawled next to some: “Pride!”, etc.
Posted by Ames | June 25, 2008, 4:22 pmdid you scratch it out after taking a picture of it? it would only take one (big) swipe to get rid of it. if it’s a joke, it is highly unimaginative; that alone warrants erasure.
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and on the racism semantic discussion … i agree, racism, like that based on pseudoscience might not be alive and well, but i’m not entirely willing to simply call “it” prejudice … sororities “prejudge” at the beginning of pledge week … i will, though, settle for “bigotry” instead of “racism” … bigotry connotes what i believe p.c. means by “prejudice.”
Posted by didionsmommy | June 25, 2008, 5:04 pmNot an insult. Although i will say the driving there makes me wonder!
Posted by Progressive Conservative | June 25, 2008, 11:37 pmTo quote Philip J. Fry, “no-one drives in New York. There’s too much traffic.”
Posted by Ames | June 25, 2008, 11:45 pmNot to derail your comments thread here, but the thing I don’t get about NY (I noticed this in Boston too) is the amount of honking that goes on.
Around here, if the light turns green and the guy in front of you is spaced out we give them a good 10 seconds. Even then you just tap the horn and feel bad about it for the next 5 minutes. Up Northit seems like if you don’t have your pedal to the metal .5 seconds after the light changes, the guy behind you lays on the horn. Craziness….
If somebody honked that much around here there would possible be some form of mob justice.
Posted by Progressive Conservative | June 26, 2008, 8:11 amP.S. – girlfriend and I did try to wash away the dust messages with water, but it didn’t work. They’re now scratched out though.
Posted by Ames | June 26, 2008, 9:27 amwell done, ames! though, i am sure the city grime (made cement by humidity) made it hard (literally) to get off.
oh, and honking in the city is like spitting in baseball … cultural norm that has no utilitarian value any more … i.e., compare the number of actual tobacco chewers in mlb to the number of spitters.
blame the cabs for the crazy speeding-up-to-stop. it helps increase their fares. any stopped time gets priced at the “standing rate” while moving gets priced at the lower something-cents-per-quarter-mile.
los angeles (city, county, and basically from santa-barbara-through-tijuana) is pedal-to-the-metal, too … so is phoenix. seattle is a disaster to drive through. san francisco is actually quite pleasant, comparatively. shall i keep going?
Posted by didionsmommy | June 26, 2008, 11:07 amI think that this sort of thing let’s people point and label it “racism”. And while it is racist, it is a declining form that allows people to ignore the more prevalent forms of racism in modern society.
It’s like saying, that if people aren’t saying overtly racists things that it doesn’t exist, or because there’s less white supremacists and KKK members that racism isn’t a problem. I think now it is just more systematic and subtle.
Posted by oneiroi | June 26, 2008, 12:05 pmUgh, don’t get me started on cabs….. (I just got back from NY, NY and may I say, cab drivers, or at least the majority of those I met, are complete asses.
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On topic, if not racism, which it arguably is, it is beyond doubt immature.
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Also just to clarify the above point by didionsmommy: Cab Rates: 40 cents per 1/5 mile, or 40 cents per 120 seconds stopped or in heavy traffic.
Posted by Pintos5150 | June 26, 2008, 1:03 pm