When I recently posted that my son made it to 10 years of age without having heard the word “nigger,” somebody suggested that by raising him in Sohum that I was keeping him in a “bubble.” Well, according to some out-of-town football players and coaches, the word has been thrown around at some games (and now a complaint has been filed with the California Interscholastic Federation).
The comments section attached to the Time Standard article has been pretty heated. But this morning I found this comment.
you can say that because you have not had to deal with racism. for the record, for some of us it is very important. p.s. i’ m humboldt born and raised so i know the reality of how disrespectful people can be in ferndale, fortuna, eureka, mckinleyville, arcata and especially southern humboldt.
Apparently not everybody experiences a bubble in Sohum. Again, I’m grateful for my childrens’ experiences. But I would like to know what this woman is talking about.
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December 18, 2011 at 6:25 am
Fred Mangels
I’d suggest it’s the usual thing we see nowadays where if anybody doesn’t refer to non- whites in the politically correct way of the day, they’re accused of racism. She might have heard someone refer to someone as a “negro” or “jap”. That’s all it takes among some groups- the Left, in particular- to point to racism.
December 18, 2011 at 9:26 am
Anonymous
she did not say rascism fred, she said disrespectful. and she is right. listen to thank jah on any friday and you will hear plenty of disrespect, especially from the hosts of the show. sohum is filled with intolerant and disrespectful people.
December 18, 2011 at 10:04 am
anonymous
I was with a friend who was picking up their mail at our local post office the other day. While standing by one of the lobby tables, an older guy standing next to me blurted out really loudly “Oh, wow, Finally that NIGGER president of ours did something good”. I couldn’t believe it. I looked over his way and he had just opened his monthly soc. security check and it was for a little more than what he had been getting.
I commented that that was an ignorant thing to say. He got all angry at me and said “that’s right I said nigger, I call white people white trash too if they deserve it.”
December 18, 2011 at 11:55 am
Eric Kirk
Perhaps you’re right Fred, but there is also a tendency from people in groups not being attacked to tell people who are being attacked how they ought to feel about it. It may not be a big deal to you, but to someone who has to put up with it regularly, their may be a saturation point where they don’t want to hear either the attack or your minimization of their experience. It may not have been words even. She may have noticed that she was being treated differently from those with a different skin color. We’re only speculating, but you shouldn’t assume that she is just being hypersensitive or “politically correct,” whatever that means.
Incidentally, the term “Jap” has rarely been used to describe someone you like. It was certainly intended as negative by the media during the war propaganda effort, right up until the last minute when the SF Chronicle headline read “Japs surrender.”
And we might ask the white person who argues that it’s no big deal why so many white people are so defensive when the accusations come up. If it’s no big deal, it’s no big deal. Right?
December 18, 2011 at 12:07 pm
Fred Mangels
Since I’m sitting here bored, I guess I’ll expand on my remarks above:
I moved up here in ’73. One of the first things I noticed was that people seemed more accepting up here, at least in regards punk hippies like me. Down in Southern CA it didn’t seem uncommon for certain people to give you the cold shoulder for having long hair and a beard back then. Not up here.
Granted, I don’t get out much, but in all those years I can probably count on one hand the number of overt racist types I’ve run into. Only two come to mind right now although I’m sure I’m forgetting others.
One was a retired CalTrans guy who lived in Eureka. I’m not sure how much his feelings affected a person of color in real life. IOW, it wouldn’t surprise me if blacks he might run into day to day were treated just as he would anyone else, but I don’t know.
I do remember him saying the same thing on two different occasions as we stood out in front of his house. He was referring to his messy neighbors’ house (not that his house was all that squared away). After ranting about their house he closes by saying, “Ain’t nothing but a bunch of damned niggers gonna want to buy that house now. Said that twice.
I’d consider that evidence of racist feelings.
The other was a guy who worked at Humboldt Bay Power Plant in the shop. He lived in Fortuna, as I recall. There was a couple black guys working at the plant at the time. This guy really seemed to have a hard- on for the one working in the shop and it was fairly obvious he didn’t like blacks in general, despite being pretty dark skinned himself.
I remember once we were talking about VietNam door gunners, most of which were supposedly black, and he said, “Stupid niggers. Too dumb to head to Canada. He was also quite vocal when that one black guy got promoted to a mid- level management position: “He only got the job cause he’s a nigger“.
That second guy was a bit much for me. The first guy I almost found amusing.
But that’s it. I’ve never even heard of racist activity from 99.9% of other people I’ve met, with the exception of the bleeding heart, lefty types that accuse someone of racism for using “negro” or “jap” when describing someone.
All that said, it wouldn’t surprise me if people in smaller towns might be cliquish to a greater extent because of their limited exposure to other people. As a result, maybe they’d be more likely to insult outsiders for whatever reason? I don’t know, but seems to me that could happen.
December 18, 2011 at 12:30 pm
Joel Mielke
Gee, it’s amazing that a white guy like Fred isn’t exposed to more racism.
December 18, 2011 at 12:34 pm
Fred Mangels
And isn’t it interesting that a white guy like Joel suggests he has been exposed to a bunch of racism?
More likely, he just falls for all the victimization claims some are so infatuated with nowadays.
December 18, 2011 at 12:42 pm
Mitch
Dear Miss Manners,
I’m opening a new water bottling facility — it’s going to bottle water from a public well near the Klamath headwaters.
There are a couple of people who regularly shit in the well. It’s nothing like a majority, but some people are incredibly oversensitive and are saying they’re not going to buy my water if I tolerate even a few turds in that well.
Miss Manners, should I tell off the people who are shitting in the well, or should I just live and let live? They say they’ve been shitting down that well since before I moved here. They say some of their friends never shit in the well, so I should be able to be their friend. They say I’m intolerant.
I think a refusal to buy my water is nothing but collective punishment. It gets me angry.
December 18, 2011 at 12:47 pm
Joel Mielke
How have I suggested that I’ve “been exposed to a bunch of racism,” Fred?
Not that I expect an intelligent, or even intelligible, answer.
December 18, 2011 at 12:58 pm
Fred Mangels
By suggesting it’s no surprise me- the other white guy- hasn’t.
If anything, I would think white folks would be much more aware of racism around them as they’d hear it from other people- never mind the racism prevalent in non- whites. If there was a lot more racism present in Humboldt, I’m sure I’d be able to come up with dozens of examples, rather than the two I was able to remember.
December 18, 2011 at 1:20 pm
Joel Mielke
“… I would think…”
And I would that you would think also, but alas.
December 18, 2011 at 2:39 pm
Fred Mangels
Yep. Nobody thinks but Mielke. What would we do without him?
December 18, 2011 at 2:54 pm
suzy blah blah
-not to minimize the effect that the insult “nigger” has, but would it be any less racist if Freds acquaintance had used politically correct language and said, “Ain’t nothing but a bunch of african americans gonna want to buy that house now.” or, “got the job cuz he was a black. Or “blacks too stupid to move to Canada” etc.
December 18, 2011 at 3:18 pm
tra
Fred,
If you know full well that the vast majority of African-Americans don’t want to be called “negroes” and you go ahead and call them that anyway, it seems to me that’s a pretty clear case of being deliberately disrespectful of someone, based on their race.
Virtually everyone in this country knows by now, and has known for many years, that the vast majority of African-Americans don’t want to be referred to as “negroes” anymore. So, why would you use that word to describe African-Americans, except to insult them?
When you make a practice of being deliberately disrespectful to members of a particular racial group (or groups), then yes, I think it’s quite fair to refer to that behavior as a type of “racism,” and if it’s a frequent/longstanding behavior, it would be fair to refer to the person behaving that way as a “racist.”
December 18, 2011 at 3:31 pm
tra
Good point, Suzy.
December 18, 2011 at 4:25 pm
Joel Mielke
I didn’t say that “nobody thinks,” Fred, I said that you don’t think.
December 18, 2011 at 5:07 pm
Fred Mangels
But you’re obviously the big thinker, huh, Joel?
December 18, 2011 at 5:07 pm
Anonymous
I think he thinks but he thinks he knows what he doesn’t. I am white. I have always gotten out a lot. Ever since I moved here, about the same time as Fred and have always been amazed by the way people around here speak of minorities. It’s as though they were a normal and accepted terms. Hippies, Blacks, Asians and Jews have been fodder for disparaging comments as long as I have lived in this county. I am saddened to hear about the most recent goings on with regards to the Ferndale football fans. I certainly am not surprised. Anyone who is surprised by this is less than honest or has their head deeply buried in the sand.
December 18, 2011 at 8:08 pm
Joel Mielke
Not saying I’m “the big thinker,” Fred. I’m just saying that you do not think.
December 18, 2011 at 8:34 pm
moviedad
“listen to thank jah on any friday and you will hear plenty of disrespect, especially from the hosts of the show.”
Are you talking about occasional interruptions in the middle of debates? Hardly “disrespectful.” Those guy’s go out of their way to be respectful to callers. Some of those callers would have Gandhi kicking their ass.
December 18, 2011 at 9:27 pm
brian
Fred does think Joel, he just doesn’t “think” like you. Because Fred doesn’t “think” like you, you feel it necessary to belittle him. Too discount his statements. You don’t like it when somebody doesn’t “think” like yourself. It’s comparative to when somebody doesn’t like a person because of their skin color are their religion.
December 18, 2011 at 11:42 pm
Joel Mielke
If Brian is satisfied that what Fred has posted above (e.g., “By suggesting it’s no surprise me- the other white guy- hasn’t) constitutes “thinking,” then I can be of no further use on this thread.
Merry Xmas.
December 19, 2011 at 5:19 am
moviedad
Is it possible for a white male to experience racially motivated discrimination in today’s society? Yes, but only in very isolated, singular events.
Local native people who are suffering because of the crimes of my grandfathers have every right to hate me; but that’s almost never the case.
Lots of white-people resent people of color, any color. I think it’s because they remind us of our ancestor’s ‘crimes-against-humanity’ and destroy the carefully constructed mythology built around: “pioneers” and “explorers.”
December 19, 2011 at 8:59 am
Anonymous
you know..i was thinking about natural disasters and how earthquakes,tornadoes,fires ect,never care about what ethnicity,sexual orientation,they just fuck up everything,,then..how all come together to help one another…was just thinking//
December 19, 2011 at 11:47 am
Anonymous
“Local native people who are suffering because of the crimes of my grandfathers have every right to hate me; but that’s almost never the case.
Lots of white-people resent people of color, any color. I think it’s because they remind us of our ancestor’s ‘crimes-against-humanity’ and destroy the carefully constructed mythology built around: “pioneers” and “explorers.””
It has nothing to do wtih history, but that racists believe the people they direct their hate toward to be racist themselves…”blacks hate whites”…”indians believe they’re the chosen ones”…”mexicans want to take over”…etc. Racists feel unjustly prosecuted for teh past, they have and had nothing to do with slavery, and feel they shouldn’t be be held under the thumb of somebody else’s history. This is what I unanimously hear from “racists”…and as a white guy who likes to blend it, I’ve heard a lot of it. When push comes to shove, though, 9/10 of these folks will drop what they’re doing and help a “brother” in real need.