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The Broadway Bomb: 200 skateboarders have a death wish on Saturday
Published on 10/10/08
Published at 6:42pm
Video
I believe that one of the biggest obstacles to eliminating racism is self-segregation. In fact, I'm so passionate about this issue that I codified it as one of the six core beliefs that guide my work with New Demographic: 'We go beyond the concerns of the specific community to which we belong and recognize that when one group is discriminated against, it is an affront to us all.'
I've seen too many examples of Asian-American activists who get outraged about offensive Asian caricatures in movies, but have nothing to say about equally offensive Latino caricatures. Or African-American activists who protest hate crimes against blacks, but are silent about hate crimes against Asian-Americans. Sure, it's natural to pay more attention to issues that affect your own community. But if we are serious about creating real change, we need to adopt a truly anti-racist perspective. That means protesting racism wherever it exists, not only when it oppresses us personally.
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of New Demographic, an anti-racism training company. She hosts "Addicted to Race," a podcast about America's obsession with race and edits a network of blogs, including Racialicious, a blog about the intersection of race and pop culture, Anti-Racist Parent, a blog for parents committed to raising children with an anti-racist outlook and Race in the Workplace, a blog that explores how race and racism influence our working lives.
Jonston
Tue, Aug 28, 07, at 7:21pm
I find it hilarious that you get Carmen to rebut that other idiot. Anyone can read her blog and find plenty of racism including the way she privileges "mixed" people such as herself over other ethnic groups. The hypocrisy is why I stopped reading her blog as well.
Meagen
Tue, Aug 28, 07, at 3:52pm
Awesome! I really believe your work is the only way to prevent genocide. Hatred is a worldwide phenomenon, not just "white v black v asian" as Assimilated would like to suggest. And as theologians (including MLK and Pope Benedict) throughout the years have said... hatred harms the SOUL. We have a lot more at stake here by debating segregation than where you choose to live or what music you listen to. It's debating people's ability to love. Segregation says that we decide it is not possible to share a common community, i.e. to love. And if you can't love than how can you experience God?
Jana
Sun, Aug 26, 07, at 7:25pm
I really hate that hyphenated -American name for people. How many of you African-Americans were born in Africa? How many of these Latino-Americans were born in America? Asian-Americans? Come on!!! I am an AMERICAN, I was born HERE in the US-of-A!!!! If you were born here, you are an American, if not, you are an African, an Asian, a Latino (though they are all Mexican's to me). At least the Asians and Africans learn to speak English and don't demand translators when they move to this country.
If a race wants to segregate for their own happiness and peace of mind, why would you do otherwise? Is it in YOUR best interest? Do you hang out in white clubs or asian clubs just to prove you aren't segragated?
Handel
Fri, Aug 24, 07, at 11:49am
I think often times, in my case personally, I am more likely to call out a situation which affects my culture directly because I understand and feel the root of what is offensive, especially in situations where the racism or prejudice is not overt (i.e. someone referring to Barack Obama as an 'well spoken'). In cases where something someone says is obviously meant to hurt another person, that is easier to stand up against as I often to do when someone makes an offensive joke or social commentary.
