Sex, Race, and ignorance.: Stupid things Far Rightists Say

“I am heterosexual, which according to gay folks, now makes me a homophobe.”

       Only if you think it does, Waldo. Most gay folks I know (and I have a significant number of close gay friends) never make that association. It’s much like “The Gay Agenda,” (a term invented by some conservative schmuck) in that no gay person I’ve ever talked to has had the faintest clue what the hell the gay agenda is. The primary reason, I think, is that persons like you, (apparently) ascribe your own biases regarding personal liberties and behavior to others. Without going into the imagined details too far, I’ve heard homophobic men speak of “recruiting” as a goal of the gay community. Since I am aware, without any fear of being less that totally correct, that being gay isn’t learned or acquired behavior, this makes as much sense as the Celtics “recruiting” me, a fat pleasingly plump 6-foot 1inch, 75year old, to play center. Can’t do it. Not gonna try. 

       If there really was a gay agenda it would be indistinguishable from the “straight agenda,” which doesn’t exist because straight persons don’t need one. Fair and equitable treatment under the law is as close to an agenda as 99% 0f the LGBT community has ever had.

       So, my right-wing friend, if you think being straight makes you a homophobe, then you almost assuredly are. I assure you that if only you are aware of such feelings, no LGBT person will ever assume them, based simply on your sexual orientation.

        And, finally, as a classroom teacher for twenty years and a member of an NEA and AFT affiliated union bargaining and contract team for twelve of those years, I was party to situations where a teacher was accused of inappropriate activities with students. In none of these cases was a gay teacher involved. Not one. Likewise, I served almost 50 working years with teachers and Naval personnel whose sexual orientation never was an issue, gay or straight. So, maybe the problem is you?

“I used to think I was just a regular guy, but I was born white, which now, whether I like it or not, makes me a racist and responsible for slavery.”

      Aww, c’mon, you do like it, admit it. You’ll feel better. If you actually believe that pigment confers anything but skin color, you are far worse off than simply racist. You have a mental defect and are biologically illiterate. Attitudes, good or bad, regarding race are learned.  No rational person has ever suggested to you or anyone else that simply by being born Caucasian, anyone is a racist. Have some Caucasians treated persons of color badly, historically? Yep. Are you one of them? Therein lies the actuality of whether or not you’re a racist.

         Unfortunately, for you, the way you pose the statement answers my question. No living person of color has ever said the living white persons are responsible for slavery. They might, however, cite the attitude of racial superiority currently held by some highly placed members of the current administration, as continued proof that racial attitudes which led to America’s slavery disaster still exist.   Your statement comes from some ugly portion of your psyche which finds self-victimization to be a justification for the bias you apparently do hold. You use the phrase “whether I like it or not.” One who judges individuals as they are rather than as they look wouldn’t make such a statement, or even more to the point, wouldn’t feel the need to.

       The larger picture is that what you say is a stereotype with which you label the entirety of humanity who might not share your biases.  You justify being the angry white guy by transferring your unwarranted assumptions to others who you then feel justified in derogating.  If I have an instinctive dislike or irrational fear of cats, no person of sound mind would label all cats “evil” or “dangerous” even though that’s how I, phobic as I would have to be, regard them. Most rational folks would understand that the problem isn’t cats, it’s me. The distorted mental perspective is mine. That’s a pretty fair analogy regarding your attitude toward race. The mental issue is yours, and that of those like you. And to be factual, which of course, you haven’t been, there are those of color who also see the world through a similarly distorted lens of preconception and bias. Like you, their biases are products of acculturation, not birth. Both you and they are the anomalies. Both make life more trying for people of good will.