By Milton Lee Norris
July 13, 2009
July 13, 2009
While watching CBS Morning News on Channel 2, I was horrified when I heard two people of color, one adult and a child being interviewed. They said that they were asked to leave the place where they were, because they were not wanted there. It seems that this club was a little annoyed because of the color of their skin.
We all know that this is not a perfect country; there are still many Whites that are very prejudiced, as are Blacks, and Hispanics, but there is no reason for an incident like this. This club claims to have a diverse membership, but still these children weren't allowed to return. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/11/us/11pool.html
"The Valley Club says it has a diverse membership, but the campers were not permitted to return after their first visit, on June 29, and the club refunded the camp's $1,950 on July 3 without explanation." I don't buy what they said about having a diverse membership; did their membership include Black and Hispanic members? One can have a diverse membership of Whites from different parts of this country, or from the world for that matter. Being of diverse membership doesn't mean that one is not prejudice, and if this club wasn't racist, with racist policies, this would not have happened. If that wasn't the case, I believe that there would have been a much more viable explanation; there are better ways to inform someone that an error had been made, if that was indeed the case.
You see racism is like a pit bull raising its ugly head; you didn't destroy the disease, so it festered, and now it has become an even more putrid kind of hate. Unlike the Pit Bull, when bitten, racism affects us in a more internal way, it worsens, and like terrorism, it keeps taunting us for the rest of our lives; we must change the way we think.
Why do things like this continue to happen? For now let's just say that we nurtured the wrong things. To help prevent these kinds of attacks from impacting us, it would be wise for the African-American People of Color, Hispanics, and other minorities, who are parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, older relatives and adults, who aren't empowered, to become empowered. Empowered adults can then teach their children about the importance of being empowered.
Unlike one might expect, this incidence didn't occur in Alabama, Mississippi, Texas or Arkansas; this incidence occurred in Huntingdon Valley, Pa., a suburban Philadelphia club. The nature of the accusation against this club was that these bunch of kids, which numbered around 65, were asked to leave when they arrived to swim. They remarked, "Saying what are all these black kids doing here? And that she was afraid that we might try to do something to her child, one camper said of the parents' reaction." http://wcbstv.com/national/valley.swim.club.2.1081381.html Don't you think that has a racial overtone?
It is amazing that how some Whites become afraid. I point this out in my book, "Born In The Wrong Country," when saying "...And when it was just us that you were torturing and murdering, then you weren't afraid, you didn't even flinch as you continued to terrorize us, so you really shouldn't be afraid now either." This was in reference to what White America had done to the African-American People of Color during and after slavery. Why should a White parent be afraid of Black and Hispanic children, who have done them no harm? What does this say about the conscience of some of White Americans? Believe me, if it was said or thought by one, it was thought by many, and that's how hatred is spread, that is how discrimination is spread, and that is also how lies are spread; you have been nurturing all of these things. Begin to nurture friendship and watch what happens; begin to nurture love and watch how things can change.
If one reads the article in the above URL, it goes on to say the following. "It was a poor choice of words," when someone said they were told, "The camp claims the club told it that the presence of the black and Hispanic children would change the complexion of the pool." Dr. John Duesler, the swim club president said that, "It was never my intention to imply anything in terms of racial makeup."
You know sometimes I wonder, but then again I know. When I think of this year 2009, a disturbing year financially, yet a wonderful year of the 21st Century, something beckons me to look back, and then I know. I know because I see in looking back, a lot of things did not change; there is a long way for us to grow. Let me start by saying that we nurtured the wrong things; we nurtured hate, discrimination, bigotry, and we nurtured racism; we even taught these things to our children; in fact one might say that we did an excellent job in teaching these things. But when it came to making sense and teaching our children the need to respect our others brothers and sisters, we didn't do so well, in fact many of us failed miserably.
As a people, as parents and friends, we became a selfish lot, and many of us even swore that we were Christians. We continued to swear that we were Christians, yet we nurtured hate; we swore that we were Christians as we nurtured our own deceit, our own lies, our own arrogance, our egos and our shame, and as such Christians, we even did it with a smile.
Today we wonder why the children act the way they do, cursing, slapping other children, hurting other children, and sometimes even murdering other children and their parents too. Be still and be quiet for a moment, then listen to your voices as you dare ask such questions. So many of you were taught how to hate, so you taught your own children how to hate; you also taught them how to lie and cheat; in doing so, you were teaching them all about bigotry. You also taught them how to do harm to another human being. Yes, it was you that bought them games to play with; you bought them killing games; you even watched them play; some of you even played with them; your children imitate you quite well. What a disgrace you are; it seems like that is the only how to, that so many of you know how to teach.
If only you had taught and been taught how to be a friend to someone; if only you had been taught how to nurture friendship; if only you had been taught how to nurture truth instead of lies; if only you had been taught how to love and how to nurture love instead of hate, then perhaps there would not have been all of these hateful, despicable crimes of hatred; perhaps we would have grown to be much nicer.
It is a crime to hate; it is a crime to demean another human being; it is a crime to profusely call someone so many ugly names. Whether you realize it or not, these things make you look nasty and ugly. When you act and carry on like a wild buffoon, you begin to reek of a stench greater than that of a decomposing body. You also become as attractive as a maggot being born in garbage.
Are you beginning to get the picture of what hate, discrimination, bigotry, lying, cheating and racism can do? Haven't you learned enough about that in your history books, which taught you about the atrocities of slavery? There was also the Civil Rights Movement, where Black children were scarred and killed in bombings. Perhaps you weren't told enough about slavery, perhaps it wasn't taught in your schools, but it needs to be taught.
When something like this is allowed to occur, do you know what this does to the children? Do you know how it makes someone feel to hear others ask, what are they doing here, or why don't they leave? To discover at an impressionable age, that they aren't welcome somewhere can be a confusing and frightening experience. And now you are probably wondering why those children, counselors and parents feel hurt? This wasn't for free; they paid to be able to swim. When their money was refunded without explanation, in essence you told them that their money wasn't good enough. Remember Blacks and Hispanics have feeling too, and the younger they are, the more hurt they feel.
Be very careful of what you do to the little ones; they will not forget. Be careful of how you treat people; people don't forget. Be careful because so much is taught when you slander, hate, and terrorize people. Hate, racism and discrimination lead to other things, and those things aren't nice. It would be wise to learn how to nurture friendship; when you do that, then you could start to nurture love, for that is the essence of what we all need and want. We must learn to be color blind, so be good to yourself and others, and start nurturing something that is beautiful.
Author's Bio: http://www.wrongcountry.com One might say that writing has become my fondest passion; it is a love that always gives, and one that I feel comfortable sharing. I write because writing has become the voice in which I can speak to many people, share experiences, stories and truths. I have written a non-fiction book called "Born In The Wrong Country," which I recently published through lulu.com, and can be purchased through http://www.lulu.com/content/4920936. I have lived and worked in New York City for just almost 37 years. I write because it is a very powerful way of spreading ideas, news and touching the human spirit. Writing can make one laugh, cry, smile, or it can enrage others when it presents truths, as it begins to enlighten people. Writing is like a photograph from the author's mind put into words.
