by Walter Little

Created on: December 17, 2007   Last Updated: March 26, 2008

Racism: still alive in 2007?

Last week I was looking through USA Today last week and come across an interesting and thought provoking Op/Ed piece written by Dewayne Wickham talking about a diversity video used the City of Denver, Colorado to train municipal employees and it brought up an interesting question at least to me about whether racism is still alive in 2007. I let the article sit on my desk for about a week while I mulled over it and tried to figure the best way to approach it and hopefully not stir up a hornet's nest.

What is racism?

In preparation for writing my article, I went to Wikipedia seeking a working definition of racism and this is what I found: according to U.N. International Conventions racism is "any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, color, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social cultural or any other field of public life." Keep this definition (as one offered by former President Bill Clinton) in mind as you read the facts regarding the Denver training video.

Denver's training video

Using the U.N. International Conventions definition, lets look at the Denver issue and see if it is truly racism or, in a country that seems to file litigation at the drop of a hat, is it simply another lawsuit? According to Mr. Wickham at the center of the Denver controversy is a eight (8) minute training video used by the City of Denver for diversity training purposes that attempts to explain what is and is not acceptable work place humor. To achieve this goal, the video follows the antics of a single-employee (a white male) whose workplace jokes are crude and insensitive. See any racism yet? Okay, in addition to the U.N. International Convention's definition, lets add another given by then President Bill Clinton during a meeting with a group of black columnists at the White House: "it is racist to affirmatively discriminate against someone on the basis of race, to deny them some opportunity for which they are otherwise qualified or should be considered, simply because of their race. Secondly it's racist to act or to refrain to act in ways that will cause harm to people either physical or emotional, simply because of their race. And thirdly, there is a sort of subtle form of racism. . .to have presumptions about what kind of people you're dealing with, what they think, what they feel, and what they are likely to do based solely on the color of their skin, and the absence of any evidence to the contrary."

No racist intent

The U.N. International Convention's definition aside, it is clear that the training video titled "Laughing Matters" is not racist. . .no even applying the definition of subtle racism offered by President Clinton. I agree with Mr. Wickham's observation that the City of Denver should have stood there ground regarding the video for two (2) reasons: 1) the total absence of any evidence of intent to discriminate; and 2) the absence of any suggestion (blatant or subtle) that it's intent was to stigmatize a particular race or gender. As he (Mr. Wickham) pointed out the employee portrayed in the video could have been anyone. . .male or female and white or black.

I'm I saying that racism no longer exists? No. . .unfortunately it's still alive and well in 2007. It is my hope and prayer that as we rapidly head toward 2008 that incidents like the one in Denver will become fewer and fewer and we, as a people, can embrace the words of both the U.N. International Convention and President Clinton and exterminate racism from our vocabulary.

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