Today I met a woman from Kenya and we had a little chat. She said that most people treated her well, but there are a number of people, whom she said were African American, who have been rude to her and said she should go home. They were biased against immigrants in spite of the fact that she's here legally and has a green card. She speaks good English, too. Why should people treat her poorly? She lives in Charles Co., but could that be happening in Prince George's, too?

Last week I spent a few days in a local hospital. It was a wonder of multiculturalism. The doctors, nurses, and staff who were from many places: Jamaica, Cameroon, India, and others. There were male nurses and female doctors. The biggest man who was African American with scars on his face and perceived to be violent by some patients seemed like a sweet gentleman to me. He also was not from Prince George's - he's from the eastern shore and came here because he had been treated well at this hospital before. If we can end stereotypes in institutions, we can end them in our communities, our county, our state, our nation, and the world.

I've got CNN on now and the speech is late, apparently due to a security problem, and people are already criticizing him for that. People are waiting to get in and he's being courteous to the live public in Philadelphia. If you're impatient or working and can't watch it, the preprepared text of the speech is here.

Other comments are that "America is not ready for the conversation on race." It's a shame, but it is obvious even among people who are ready and willing to talk about it such as at anti_racism and debunkingwhite. They also say "he can't appear defensive" even though he has been attacked with comments like he got to where he is because of his race when it should have been in spite of it.

In reaction to the attacks to his minister, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, he says: ( Read more... )

How racism is still impacting and being talked about in Prince George's County, Maryland can be read about in the news about racial issues in the county here and the news and views of county bloggers and discussion groups here.

A friend of mine asked me to post this. I wasn't home when she sent it and just found it amongst hundreds of old messages. I still think it's worth posting:

Where Were all the White Folks at the Jena Rally?
Veronica F. Adams - 9/22/07

I'm White, European American, Caucasian - whatever you want to call my
socially-constructed "racial identity." Because, I am committed to help
end the absurd oppression and scapegoating of my fellow Americans who
don't look like me, I was obliged to answer the call put out by several of
the major U.S. civil rights organizations to come to Jena, Louisiana if at
all possible and stand in solidarity with people of color against the
racial injustices perpetrated by the White community and institutions
there. It took me two planes to get from the DC area to New Orleans, and
then a five-hour bus ride to in the middle of the night to Jena, and
although it cost me money that I don't have a lot of right now, I came,
because I could.
( Read more... )