***Scroll down for clarification update. I jumped back into the frying pan!***
Race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race. Are you as tired of talking, hearing, and reading about it as I am?
This post is about race. Sorry. 
Mainstream media are obsessed with it. Once our future biracial president moves into the White House, they’ll be even more obsessed. It’s going to get sickeningly worse.
And liberals. Don’t get me started on them. Skin color diversity just for the sake of skin color diversity is what many care about it, not diverse thoughts, ideas, perspectives, or even the person covered by the skin. No grand theories about why this is so. I just have firsthand knowledge to testify that it’s true.
Race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race , race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race. No matter how hard I try, I can’t avoid the topic. Even when I want to avoid it, I find myself mentioning it. For instance, I’m not a huge fan of country music, but I started listening to Rissi Palmer’s brand of country because: 1) I like the sound; and 2) I like that she’s a black woman in a genre not typically associated with black performers.
Bringing up someone’s race certainly isn’t evil, but part of my mission in life is to get people to see past it. While I don’t go out of my way to avoid mentioning someone’s race (though I should), I try as much as humanly possible to see past it myself. Sometimes a person’s race is relevant; most of the time, it is not.
It’s all very complicated.
Which brings me back to…race. I’m in agreement with those who question the existence of Black Entertainment Television (BET), black beauty pageants, black awards shows, etc., because I don’t think Americans should separate themselves this way. But as this is America, there is freedom of association. Blacks are free to associate only with blacks and form private black-only organizations. And as this is America, I am free to express my dissent!
When I first heard that former congressman J.C. Watts was forming a black news network, I was a bit disappointed. I’m not sure how conservative Watts is, but he is a Republican. My standards for Republicans tend to be higher. Why does a man who knows how divisive race is and has gone against the grain to become a Republican politician want to start a black news network? Watts said:
“Our community features millions of people with all kinds of backgrounds. There’s a much broader segment of the population than what we see in mainstream news.”
I think his heart is in the right place. Watts wants to show the diversity of thought among blacks in America, something we typically don’t see in mainstream media or on reprehensible BET. Is forming a black-themed network the way to do it?
I agree with my friend and columnist Mychal Massie, who’s even chastised me about focusing too much on “black.” What is black news? Mychal asks. He writes:
“There are things that happen to black people in black communities that don’t really have an impact on the rest of America, but that doesn’t mean they should be provincial to black America. News happening in America is American news, and it should be everyone’s concern.
“When Hurricane Katrina destroyed the overwhelmingly-black Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans, it was reported as an American story and not just for blacks. Likewise, the recent tornadoes in predominantly-white Iowa are not just a concern for white America.
“There is quite simply no purely black news just like there is not a purely black sun, moon and stars. There are certainly aspects of stories that may be of more interest to people of a certain race, but it does not justify setting up separate but equal news networks by race in order to discuss it.
“Division among the races is a favorite topic of the major media. How are we going to overcome divisions if blacks are supposed to have their own channel for news and the current news channels are to be regarded as only expressing the views of the white majority?”
As I alluded, Watts is trying to do something good, but I think the price is too high. We need less focus on race in this country, not more, even if the black-focused news is positive. Integrate it with everything else. Why break out “black news”?
Race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race , race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race, race. Will we ever overcome it?
Addendum: I don’t know about “overcoming” race, but I think less about it when I’m around other Christians, as I’m sure God intended. See The Body.
By the way, don’t call me “African American” or use it in the comment section, because I loathe the term. As I wrote in a previous bio: “It is offensive to me. There is no such color, race, or nationality. I am an American of African descent.”
Think about it. It is senseless to refer to a black person as an “African American” unless he/she is an American citizen who was born in Africa.
Update: Here we go. When you blog about a “controversial” topic, there’s bound to be misunderstandings, so don’t misunderstand me. I appreciate diversity of skin color. I don’t have a problem being black or being around blacks. My issue is the constant harping on race and the attention it gets at the expense of everything else. A commenter, who happens to be my sister, wrote:
Race can not be avoided. It is a beautiful thing God has created. It is this fallen world that has made it a problem. If we all come from God’s perspective, it’s a beautiful thing. I love to be at events where there are like-minded people in all kinds of different colors, shapes and sizes. Look for the good and beauty in what God has created. Don’t throw it away because mankind has corrupted it.
Agreed! It is totally unrealistic to expect people not to see differences. That is not what this post is about. When we let those differences define us, however, that’s where I see a problem. A black news network? Come on, people. Black news? But hey, this is just one woman’s opinion. Take it with a proverbial grain of salt.
Keep this is mind: When supporting/advocating a “black” this or a “black” that, you have no moral leg to stand on or coherent argument in your arsenal to oppose a “white” this or “white” that. Double standards are nasty things. Stay away from them.
