Recently, to honor a long-time musician buddy who died several years ago, I paid to have a new ramp built at his church in his honor. I still take his sweet wife out to lunch once a week and help with the mail, taxes, car maintenance, etc.

To my surprise, several church members who live nearby came by when the contractor was writing up the estimate and asked what we (caucasions) were doing at the church. After I told one guy what I was there for, he said he meant nothing negative, but white people don't come near the church or the neighborhood, and there had been some recent vandalism (church lights broken, a lock damaged, etc.). George had mentioned me in church, but the people did not know that I was white. The pastor wanted me to come to a Wednesday meeting, which turned out to be a really nice little reception....for ME! He said that in the history of the church, no white person had ever been there or been recognized.

Today, I got a call from the newspaper asking not about my 50 year friendship with George, but what would motivate me to make a significant donation to that particular church. I had previously donated a keyboard stand, cover, amplifier and two wireless microphones and set the equipment up.

I told them that I wanted the donation to be anonymous, and they actually asked me why I didn't want people to know that I made a donation to a traditionally black church.

Just because you don't hear about racial issues as often as in past years (especially the 60's and 70's), believe me, the issues involved are still there. And, people of all races need to dedicate themselves to working together to make life better for ALL of us.


Russ

Racism is still prevalent and it'll always be as long as it's being taught. Gosh! One only has to go to Youtube to be bombarded with the drivel.

And this really gets to me:

Media Bias: Only White Kids Get Abducted

Thousands of kids go missing each day -- so why do we never seem to hear about the African-American children?

What do JonBenet Ramsey, Madeleine McCann, Elizabeth Smart and Polly Klaas all have in common? They are all girls who have been abducted -- or in the most tragic cases, killed -- and they are all attractive white girls. Strikingly, the other similarity is all of their stories got massive play in the media during darkest days of their disappearance.

The media has always seemed to only be interested in covering stories of white children who go missing -- and pretty ones at that. Currently, Caylee Anthony fits that profile: doe-eyed with a winning smile. Despite ourselves when we first heard her story many of us thought, "Oh it's so sad, she's such a pretty little girl."

But pretty and white are not the only children in peril, and are not the only ones who should have our attention. Nearly 800,000 children under the age of 18 are reported missing each year in the United States, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Of those reported missing, 33% are African-American. So where's the 24/7 coverage of their stories?

Websites like Missing And Exploited Children and The Child Connection have much more racially integrated roster of missing children reflecting the true statistics. Unfortunately, websites do not have the immense reach of CNN and Fox news.

"Of the hundreds of thousand children that go missing each year, probably four or five get significant national media attention," Ernie Allen, President of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children tells momlogic. "It's just another missing kid to the them unless the cases are dramatic and sensational."

And there's another startling factor: "In many, many cities going back 50, 75 years or more, journalists would refer to 'good murders' and 'bad murders,'" explains, Roy Peter Clark, Vice president of the Poynter Institute for Media Studies in St. Petersburg, Florida.
---------------------------------------------"Good murders" -- murders that make good press -- are usually white girls from middle class families. "The example of a bad murder would be the murder of an African-American person from a poor neighborhood," says Clark.
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One website is doing its part to at least try to fix the disparity. Black and Missing But Not Forgotten is dedicated to spreading awareness of missing African-American children. One post on the site "Caylee Anthony is Not the Only Missing Florida Toddler, " tells the story of little Zenyetta Ra, who is also missing from the Tampa area, about 84 miles from the last known sighting of Caylee. "Zenyetta Ra is also missing", says the site, "However, you won't see Nancy Grace talking about her. Not even the local news."

--------------------------------------------
The website further exemplifies the bias by this statistic. A Google search on Caylee will garner about 600,000 results. "Can't say the same for Zenyetta," laments the website.
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I bet most people don't even know about this or will deny the facts:
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/inventors/black.shtml
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Russ, you just keep doing things your way. It's one of the many reasons why I like and admire you so much.

Respectfully,

Taike

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Bo pen nyang.

Hi Russ,
I find that very sad that in this day and age, that you cannot do something generous on behalf of a person you know and admire, without the race issue being brought to the fore.
Does it matter what race or colour either party is... you do what you feel is within you to do, not what others may think of why or what you are doing. Re Taike's reply to your situation; I attended a funeral today of my elder brother's wife, (he died 23 years ago). They lost their second child at the age of 12, which was mentioned at length today, and I am tearful at this moment reflecting on the time that I knew their son, and the anguish that they have suffered since that day, and still people want to judge others because of their colour, or yours, when you want exercise your respect for someone you cared for.
We still have along way to go don't we.
Ray


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Ray The Saint

We have a LONG and very BUMPY road still ahead of us with racism. It's getting better.., but MUCH slower than most would think. The truth is that racism is just as strong as it was many years ago. However.., more people have become "closet case racists" due to the times.

It is still being taught in homes. Parent's today continue to not allow their children to play with minorities at school. They spread their hatred behind protected walls at home, and children take this ignorance to school with them.

My daughter's elem school is so racially (undiverse) it's shocking. You can probably count the number of African American children in that school on one hand. I've seen parents (after school) literally yank their children away while speaking to a minority child. I've heard parents say "didn't I tell you we don't talk to those people" after yanking their kids away too.

When my daughter was in Kinder. the school at the end of the year has a big "Field Day" for the entire school. It's a day of activities for ALL the children to play together. Parents are always invited to attend. It's at these types of events that you'll really see the ignorance in some people. I've seen parents pull their children out of events just because a minority child was participating.

My daughter has yet to experience racism. She's only 7 (almost 8). Eventually she's going to see the horrible racism within my wife's family. She'll eventually learn that when her mommy and daddy got married.., daddy wasnt' allowed in grandma's and grandpa's house because he was black. There was so much that happened over the years with her family too. Eventually my little girl will learn all this and it's going to confuse the hell out of her too.

Sqk

Taike, I teach media relations and communications at the graduate level at the University, and I'm impressed (not surprised) at your attitude about and the knowledge you have of a sad but very real world-wide issue.

And thanks to all for expressing your feelings about a very sad reality for all of us.


I appreciate your sensitivity to this world-wide tragedy. And, I'm proud to know you and to have the chance to share our mutual opinions on the issue of racism.


Russ




[This message has been edited by captain Russ (edited 10-13-2009).]

As an Afro-American, I think that the entire situation is a terrible thing.

As a human being, I think that the entire situation is a terrible thing.

As a Christian, I think that the entire situation is just more proof that there are principalities of this world in play.

Just keep doing the right thing as you see it, take the road less traveled, stay on the narrow path and not the one more traveled, as Russ has done, for each heart and mind must be changed one at a time.

FWIW, Russ, I can relate much the same kind of experiences from black churches where I'm not immediately recognized or known -- and it is very plain that I'm a member of the same race.

Taike, our media is, well, for lack of a better word, "monolithic" in approach.

I no longer pay the media any attention at all, having been lied to in so many ways over the years. I wish that more Americans could do likewise -- and turn OFF their TVs. Speaking of principalities, that is...


--Mac

I hear ya, Mac. The media's monolithic wherever you go, be it TV, newspapers or magazines.

According to the TV news 3 people died, according the papers it's 4 or 5, and the mags insist that it'd been 6. Guess the only way to find out is to attend the funerals. Oh, I haven't watched the tube for several years now. Can't say I miss it.

For as long as the finger is pointed at other nations and people like to quote the law, nothing will really change. Laws don't change a thing. It's people that should change. And even obeying the law doesn't take away how people "really" feel. Undercurrents are always there and it only takes a little spark to ignite one's true feelings toward other races.

I can't recall the title of the movie I saw a while ago, but there was this dialog going on between an African-American and a white guy. The white guy asked: "What race are you?" and the reply was: "The human race." Shouldn't that be the only answer?

Regards

Taike

ps. Russ, I hope to send you a couple more pics real soon. Mapanoy's getting his passport done. And I'm back in Taiwan. Can't wait for them to join me. Most likely the end of December or early January. It's the usual red tape. Visa applications are done via the Taiwan Office in Hanoi (Vietnam). Gosh, I miss them!!!


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Bo pen nyang.

Mac, what surprised me at my friend George's church was not the question about what we were doing there...that's just good stewardship. There were unfamiliar people lurking around and recent vandalism. What surprised mt was the fact that no caucasian had ever been a member or contributed in a significant way. Then, the media had no business poking around my choice as that church as a place to make a donation.

But, you've got to remember that this is Kentucky; not a particularly liberal place.

I just wish things were different. And, sadly, there probably won't be any earthshaking changes in my lifetime.

That's why, with EVERY interaction, we need to appreciate the diversity, culture and friendship of others who may be different in some way from us.

That's part of what life's about.

Let's all be kind to and appreciate each other.

Russ



[This message has been edited by captain Russ (edited 10-14-2009).]

I'd be almost certain that they just didn't know who had helped them in the past. Or how or where help may have come from. Ignorance knows no color line and it seems easy for folks to view the racial situation in this country as being rather monolithic when the Truth is a much more intricate thing.



The media is a problem in and of itself and has been for quite some time.

I do not issues any statements to media anymore at all if and when they bother to show up. Have had too many situations where what I have said was either edited to be taken completely out of context or was just plain used in an evil fashion to even bother with media anymore. "No Comment" is all they get from me these days.



I don't buy into that tired old meme.

Matter of fact, having lived in both the North and the South of this nation, I can testify to the kind of racial prejudice that exists all too often in -- the NORTH.

The Northern Liberal first declares their lack of prejudice and then uses that as a license to be far more prejudicial than any Southerner I've ever met. (And, yes, I've met some prejudicial Southerners in my day. But they are more upfront and honest about their prejudice, which at leasts opens a door for communication on the subject. And they are fewer and farther between than the current meme tries to sell. The sons and daughters of the "old south" from the 40s and 50s have done an outstanding job of getting past the things that their parents said and did. They lived through the Civil Rights era of the times and have changed.

Look at Atlanta. It may have "changed" too far in the other direction!



Earthshaking changes take place all the time all around us, my friend. Don't expect them to be touted by the media and other sources that are "of the world" though. Those forces do indeed have an agenda.

I lived through the Civil Rights era. Today, if you google or otherwise research Dr. Martin Luther King, you will find more writing about him and Ghandi than you will about him and Jesus! That in and of itself is an absurdity and a lie. Dr. King was first and foremost a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and was very open about that. His very last speech, given the night before he was killed, he told everyone at that church that he had, "Been to the mountaintop!" -- referring to the same mountaintop upon which Jesus met with the prophets before his crucifision. But no, the world says MLK was practicing the tactics of Ghandi. In reality, MLK only *referenced* the work of Ghandi in his many writings on the subject of freedom and equality.

The change that occurred during the 60s regarding civil rights for black americans did not come about due to any passage of any law by any politicians. They only jumped onto the bandwagon with that in an underhanded attempt to garner the credit for what had already taken place -- the hearts and minds of the american people had been changed because they had been exposed to the plight of the black americans via the REAL civil rights movement.

The first person to register blacks to vote in the south during that era was a white presbyterian minister. A Republican, BTW. He set up a table and quietly proceeded to register a few very brave souls. He was very brave himself, as was his family, you can imagine the kind of threats that must have ensued. He was moved by the preachings and teachings of his fellow pastor in Christ, Martin Luther King, Jr. And he acted.

The REAL people in this world are the ones who have changed things and shall continue to change things. They do not seek publicity. They do not need it. Like yourself, Russ.

You don't need a bumber sticker to tell people that you perform "random acts of kindness" -- because if you had that sticker, it would become the license to sit back and do nothing at all.


--Mac