(NAME-MCE) What do I, Strom Thurmond & 50% of all Americans have in common?

[Bill Howe]

March 1, 2007 - Issue 219



What do I, Strom Thurmond & 50% of all Americans have in common?

By Jane Stillwater

BC Columnist



>From "The Black Commentator" a Weekly Internet Magazine



My neighbor is suing me in small claims court, claiming I'm discriminating
against her because she drives a Lincoln Navigator! Lots of people have been
discriminated against for lots of things but, trust me, this is a first!



So. What does this mean? This means that my crime is so unusual, so bizarre,
so weird that my neighbor and I have actually been invited to appear on the
Judge Judy show! Seriously. We are scheduled to be on the air around the end
of March.



Being discriminated against for owning a Lincoln Navigator got me
sidetracked into thinking about discrimination in general. I've been
discriminated against because I am a woman. I've been discriminated against
because of my children. I've been discriminated against because I am old --
how come all those hot guys never ask ME out? -- but I've rarely personally
experienced the burning soul-searing rejection that African-Americans still
suffer as a matter of course. Maybe they no longer experience the lynchings
and beatings so much any more, but still...



My son's school principal, a consummate profession woman, dedicated to her
work and who is making extraordinary changes in the lives of the children in
her charge, once told me, "Even now, even in today's modern America,
whenever I walk down the street in a white shopping area, I can see the
women I walk past visibly start clutching their purses -- as if I'm about to
steal them. When that happens to you on a regular basis, it's hard to keep
your sense of self-worth from being affected."



While I was sitting there thinking about racial bias and what it all means,
I got a call from my friend Toni who teaches African-American history and I
started telling her my thoughts on racial (and Lincoln Navigator)
discrimination.



"Jane", Toni replied, "Americans are not getting the big picture here. Half
of America has Black DNA. They just don't know it. Or won't admit it."



"Really? HALF?"



"Yes. During the days of the old Jim Crow segregation laws -- not to mention
the bad old days of slavery -- circumstances for African-Americans were so
cruel, so unjust and so out of hand that a very large number of 'Negroes'
who looked at all Caucasian simply moved somewhere else, passed over the
color line and mixed with the white population."



Wow! Half of America! Do you know what that means? It means that, to do it
right, you gotta discriminate against five out of every ten Americans!



Fascinated by Toni's new information, I did some scientific research, went
to Google, typed in "Passing for White" and up popped an article by someone
named Steve Sailer.



"Is mixed-race ancestry fairly typical for an American?" asked Sailer. "In
two ways, it is. First, more than 50 million whites, according to [molecular
anthropologist Mark D. Shriver's] analyses, have at least one black
ancestor." 50 million Americans? Wow. That's one out of four. No wonder my
sister's hair is so dark, thick and "naturally curly"! Maybe I am
African-American too. How does one find out?



Fascinated, I e-mailed my friend who is a genealogist and got her on the
job. It seems that my great-grandfather suddenly appeared in Oklahoma in
1900 -- from out of nowhere. There is NO census record of him anywhere in
the United States before that time. Maybe he too was one of those folks who
moved from one place to another or changed their name in order to try to
"Pass for White". Maybe my high cheekbones don't just come from my Cherokee
great-grandmother. Maybe my daughter Lorraine isn't the only one in my
family with African-American blood.



Would I be upset if I suddenly discovered that I might be part "Colored"?
Hell, no. If I found that out, I would be delighted!



Now if I could only find out that I am part Chinese too. Why? Because I want
to have as many diverse genes in my DNA gene pool as humanly possible. The
larger the gene pool, the more one has room to swim!



And also, isn't it high-freaking-time for all of us to start to "live in a
nation where we will not be judged by the color of our skin but by the
content of our character"?



PS: I'll let you know when me and my neighbor duke it out on national TV.
I'm really excited about this! I get a hotel room, paid meals, a free plane
ride to Los Angeles and 15 minutes of fame! Plus maybe someone will give me
a Lincoln Navigator too -- so that I won't have to be discriminated against
for not having one either -- although I'd much rather have an electric car
and hang out with Al Gore.



PPS: But what about Strom Thurmond? Apparently, according to an article that
my friend Larry just sent me, Strom is directly related to Al Sharpton. How
sad. Thurmond spent most of his life being a bigot -- toward his own kin.



BC Columnist Jane Stillwater is a freelance writer, civil rights and peace
activist living in Berkeley, California.















-- 
Bill Howe
http://www.billhowe.org

JoIn me this summer in China - Multicultural Educators to China Summer 2007
Trip - http://billhowe.org/China2007.htm

Past-President
National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME)
http://www.nameorg.org