As someone of the non-Caucasian persuasion, I'm very aware that racism is still alive: from the outright Confederate flags to the lowkey micro-gressions that happen every day. However, as a person of color, you can't stumble through life assuming every white person harbors ill will against you. Occasionally a few will slip up on Facebook or Twitter, but people are clever enough to wear metaphorical hoods these days.
I originally that about this while watching Aziz Ansari's new Netflix original Master of None over the weekend. It's a little rough around the edges, but overall it's a great show with outstanding content with topics ranging from dating to a woman's everyday struggles. In the episode* "Indians on TV," Aziz' character Dev doesn't want to portray Indian stereotypes for acting roles. Soon he gets a shot for a buddy sitcom, but the network execs exchange emails expressing how they don't think the show can succeed with two Indian actors and want to see which one can "curry their favor." The email chain is mistakenly sent to Dev, who then confronts the exec who wrote the "curry" line only to be treated out to a wonderful night out in the hopes that Dev will keep quiet. His conscious eventually catches up to him and he leaks the email that results in the exec's termination from the studio.
So I found much humor this past Monday when Tim Wolfe, [former] president of the University of Missouri, resigned after student protests spurred by his indifference toward racial tensions and threats. However just two days later, the campus faced death threats against its black students. I also read today that students at Howard University in DC are facing the same threats. It would seem that the resignation did the opposite of healing, but instead inspired radical racists to expose themselves.
So, what can we do? Well, for one, everyone on any college or work campus facing such threats, stay safe. But we have to keep this racial discourse going. We cannot stop talking about racism and other issues facing our society. Silence just allows the hatred to lie in waiting, quietly poisoning our society. As dangerous as it may become, we have to remain vocal in hopes that we'll educate the masses and expose racist behavior until its eradicated. Keep the protest going, my dear friends and associates. May we all truly be equal some day.
Word.
*Anytime someone starts a sentence with "In the episode," you should be fully aware of the spoilers ahead. However, I do apologize if you've feel I've ruined the episode for you. Watch it for the jokes anyway.
**This post was originally intended for Wednesday, but after hearing the story develop, I needed time to process the information. Thank you for bearing with me.
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