Everybody's a victim

"The venom, looking at the blogs and e-mail responses to the newspaper articles, I'm told--I'm really not online; I have an Underwood typewriter--but I see letters. And it's really sad. It would match e-mail for e-mail the worst Jim Crow remarks in the South against African-American voters." --Ralph Nader... in an interview with Joel Stein.


Ralph Nader is clearly a dumb ass.

Not for his third party bid for the White House--he's a grown man and a grown man can run for president any time he wants to. And I actually agree with him that the current two-party system really limits voters' choices and only benefits massive corporations that can contribute to both sides to hedge their bets.

No, the reason Ralph Nader is a dumb ass is because he compared his treatment after announcing his presidential bid to the treatment of African American voters attempting to register to vote during the Civil Rights era. I know he tried to qualify his statement by only dealing with the verbal comments made towards black people at that time, but the comparison is still there.

And that's a dumb ass move.

Seriously, Nader is old enough to know remember exactly how things were for black folks trying to register in the South. (Hell, he might be old enough to remember how tough it was for Jesus to convert Jews.) Nader knows that along with being called some of the most vile and degrading names in the world to THEIR FACES(there was no internet back then, no matter what Al Gore says), black people also faced unjust imprisonment, concerted violence from private citizens and public officials and even death.

SNCC workers often spent months in Deep South prisons on trumped up charges over their registration efforts, while those black residents who attempted to register were evicted from their land and harassed mercilessly. And if Nader doesn't know about this, then he's done a piss poor job of keeping track of this country's history.

No, I think Nader is well aware of the fact that his treatment really doesn't compare to the treatment of black people. But, I think Nader, like many, many people in this country, believes that when you're mistreated the best way to get people to empathize with your cause is to compare yourself to black people.

Let me explain.

Despite the many inadequacies in American education, the vast majority of white folks do understand that black people caught some serious hell for most of this country's history. The problem is that those people's understanding of that suffering is only on the most surface level.

That's why you see so many of them comparing the treatment of blacks to the suffering of other immigrants, or comparing slavery in America to slavery in other Africa. They have a basic understanding that bad shit happened to black people, but they lack details. And often this doesn't just apply to white folks, it applies to just about every ethnic group, even black folks.

Consequently, when folks want to prove they are egregiously mistreated, their go to move is to compare their treatment to the treatment of black people during slavery or the Civil Rights Era. Not only is this insulting and crass, it's also very predictable.

Homosexuals readily compare their fight for equal rights to the battles black people fought during the Civil Rights Era. While homosexuals have legitimate complaints about mistreatment, there is no effing way it compares to what black people have dealt with in this country. There have been no clashes with police dogs and fire hoses, no visits from angry mobs on the blackest nights and no long incarcerations by racist and capricious courts simply for being gay.

The same thing can be said for the fight for gender equality and the smaller Civil Rights movements of Latinos and Asians. I'm not trying to minimize or ignore the horrible experiences of any of these groups or comment on the legitimacy of their movements. Equal rights should be enjoyed by all people. But, when you consider the sheer magnitude and breadth of suffering black folks have dealt with, the only people who have had a comparable(or possibly worse) experience in America are Native Americans.

Unfortunately, the lure that keeps sucking folks in is that when they invoke the suffering of black folks, it clearly adds gravitas to their cause. Straight up, the simplest way to draw attention to any cause is to bring up the specter of "Negro suffering" because it is a cultural touchstone. Everyone, no matter their personal feeling on black people, understands the reference.

But, the problem with the constant co-opting of the black experience is that it greatly reduces people's appreciation for just how unique and heinous the treatment of black people was in the country. When people begin to believe that their own experience is somehow on par with what black people have gone through, they are less likely to appreciate the far reaching and massive effects this country's racism has on the black community.

That's why you regularly hear people wonder how long black people are going to complain about "something that happened 150 years ago." And why people think telling black people to assimilate and improve their lot like every other immigrant group is an intelligent comment. The fact is, far too many Americans believe that black people have tried to establish a monopoly on suffering, and those people are convinced that the complaints of black folks are really an excuse for malingering.

The shit's insidious.

So, the next time you hear somebody compare their mistreatment to that of black people realize that their comments aren't just making it easy for others to identify with their cause, but they also are preventing this country from rallying around any movement to provide full redress to the black community.

Please react accordingly.