Newspaper Page Text
8A
MAY 25, 2000
ALONG THE COLOR LINE
By Dr. Manning Marable
Structural racism:
No harm, no foul?
n the highly competitive Na
tional Basketball Association,
players and coaches frequently
use the expression, “No harm,
no foul.” The phrase usually refers
tomoments during aggressive play
when athletes may physically hit
each other without deliberately
intending to harm anyone. When
two large players push each other
fighting for a rebound, the referee
often will not charge a foul against
sither athlete: “No harm, no foul.”
Unfortunately, this is also the
way in which millions of white
Americans think about racism.
Sure, their argument goes, blacks
'nd Latinos certainly had an ex
remely rough time back during
slavery and Jim Crow segregation.
3ut everything’s different today.
2eople from divergent racial back
rrounds now can compete fairly
or jobs, education, housing, and
sther resources. And if African
\mericans consistently fall short
f their goals, it’s nobody’s fault
but their own. They need to stop
complaining about how the “game”
is played, and start workingharder
to get ahead: “No, harm, no foul.”
Black folks might correctly re
spond that the racialized competi
tion for employment and economic
development, and access to decent
schools, quality health care and
sublictransportation was unfairly
rganized from the very beginning.
Jsing this sports metaphor, Afri
:an Americans had absolutely no
sayin establishing“therules of the
game.” Until recently, there were
no black or Hispanic “referees”
judging athletic competition. In
fact, for centuries we were kept off
the “playing field.”
Most white Americans don't like
;0 think of themselves as racists.
Um sure that, for example, Senate
Majority Leader Trent Lott of Mis
sissippi, who belongs to a white
supremacist organization, would
be offended if he were called a
“racist” in public. Even Rudolph
Giuliani, New York City’s combat
ive mayor, who has deliberately
vrovoked incidents of police bru
ality against black and Latino com
nunities, would vehemently deny
the accusation of racism. One
should, therefore, identify differ
ent levels or stages of white rac
ism.
Thereisfirst“individual racism,”
the prejudicial attitudes and be
haviors of individuals based on the
deathat nonwhites are culturally
r genetically inferior. There is
ext organizational orinstitutional
acism: the practices and policies
f large institutions that perpetu
te black inequality and white
privilege. Examples include: pri
vate clubs that refuse to allow
blacks to join; a restaurant chain
such as Denny’s that repeatedly
‘msulted and discriminated against
lack customers; areal estate com
any that deliberately steered Af
ican Americans and Latinos away
rom buying in white middle class
reas, preserving residential seg
'gation; an automobiledealership
Augusta
Focus
Since 1981
A Walker Group
‘ Publication ;
1143 Laney Walker Blvd.
that chargesblack consumershun
dreds or even thousands of dollars
more than whites who buy the ex
act same car. The Black Freedom
Movement of the 1950 s and 1960 s
forced the government to passlaws,
such as the 1964 Civil Rights Act
outlawing racial segregation in
publicaccommodations, that made
it more difficult tojustify blatantly
discriminatory practices by orga
nized groups or businesses.
But the most profound manifes
tation of white racism is what can
be termed “structural racism.”
Structural racism can be under
stood as the deepinstitutional pat
terns of a racialized society, the
basic arrangements of power and
privilege that aggressively and re
lentlessly oppress and harm the
life chances and opportunities of
blacks and many other people of
color. The result of structural rac
ism is grossly unequal outcomes
between racial groups, with “white
ness” defined at the social top and
“blackness” usually confined at the
bottom of the social hierarchy.
These unequal racial outcomes of
ten appear to be “no one’s fault,” or
“no harm, no foul.”
Here’s one example of structural
racism. Why do African American,
who comprise 13 percent of the
U.S. population, total only 7 per
cent of all recipients of Social Secu
rity? The simplest responseisthat
African Americans, as a group, die
years earlier than whites due to
higher rates of hypertension, dia
betes, etc. Some whites might con
clude therefore that blacks simply
should take better care of them
selves - better diet, drugs, maybe
some calisthenics every now and
then: “No harm, no foul.”
Let’slook at these unequal health
outcomes from the vantagepoint of
structural racism. A recent survey
of 347 pharmacies in New York
City, conducted by the Mount Sinai
School of Medicine, stated that in
black and brown neighborhoods
only 25 percent of pharmacies car
ried enough morphine or mor
phine-likedrugstotreat sever pain,
while in white neighborhoods 72
percent did. Because blacks have
higher rates of cancer than whites,
there should be actually a greater
need for medicines treating severe
pain. Some pharmacists suggested
that “demand was lower in poor
neighborhoods because they had
higher proportions of uninsured
people who could not afford to fill
prescriptions.”
The problem with that interpre
tation is that these survey results
mirror the same patternsofracism
found throughout the health care
establishment.
As reported recently in the New
York Times, African American “are
less likely than whites to be re
ferred for kidney transplants or
surgery for early stage cancer.”
Doctors arelesslikely “to prescribe
pain killers for blacks and Latinos
with broken bones or postopera-
See RACISM, page 9A
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SANDY CAMPBELL / STAFF
Chief Wahoo must go!
tissoimportant that aswelive
into this new millennium that
we do not take our old baggage
with us. There are some good
and wonderful foundation stones
which are important to carry for
ward and there are some other
parts of our human society and
condition and history that, for the"
sake of our children and our fu-'
ture, are betterleft behind. Racism
is certainly one that we have an
opportunity toend right now. What
better way to begin a new millen
nium than with anew understand
ing and respect for all of God’s
children, what better way than to
end racism.
Here in Cleveland, where I live,
one way to begin that new millen
nium with a clean slate would be
for the new owner of the Cleveland
Indians to get rid of that racist
Chief Wahoo logo and to change
thename ofthe Cleveland baseball
team. Each year for the past six or
seven years I have joined our na
tive American brothers and sisters
and othersfromthe Cleveland area
in protesting the use of the racist
symbol of Chief Wahoo.
Each year we stand outside the
The battle for the ballot
n politics, as in business, you
have to create a product and try
to corner the market. Right now
the political marketplace is very
tightly controlled by — and for —the
two major parties. But as the num
ber of political independents grows,
the nuts and bolts of the anti-inde
pendent bias are moving toward the
spotlight and historymay show that,
whatever Microsoft’s anti-trust vio
lations were, they pale in compari
son to the monopoly run by the two
major parties.
Rightnow, Democrats and Repub
licans are resistant to ballot access
reform because that would mean
increasing competition in the elec
toral marketplace — something the
two parties are looking to prevent. I
know because I've been there.
In 1988 I became the first woman
and African American to appear on
the ballot in all 50 states. I collected
over a million signatures to accom
plish this, while my Democratic and
Republican opponents needed only
about 50,000. And, not only are the
laws biased in favor of the major
party candidates, but the posture
towards independents is that we're
not real — not legitimate.
That posture, or culture is perva
sive. It expressesitselfin the media,
through the Federal Election Com
mission, among elected officials and
at the County Boards and Commis
sions of Elections which supervise
stadium, and hear people yell at us
to “go back home.” The irony of
telling a native American to go
back home is never understood by
them it seems.
Nor do most Americans seem to
understand the religious signifi
cance ofthe drum and eagle feather
“to'native Americans, who believe
‘that the eagle carries messages to
the Creator and the drum is used
in their religious ceremonies. To
use them in a baseball or a football
game is sacrilegious in the same
way that we who are Christians
would feel about using the cross to
cheer on a ball team.
Chief Wahoo is a racist stereo
type and logo. The bug-eyed, buck
toothed, grinning red figure hon
ors no one. It destroys the self
esteem of native American chil
dren and it mis-educates other chil
dren. It teaches them that indig
enous people are sports team mas
cots, not human beings created in
the image of God.
The definition of racism most
often used is prejudice plus power.
All of us have learned prejudices
about other groups of people, but
when we have the power tolive out
elections. All told, there exists a
powerful bias towards incumbents
and the two parties to which they
belong.
How did I beat the odds? There
were three main factors which made
my 50 state ballot access drive suc
cessful. One, I had some very, very
committed people working on my
campaign, many of whom were part
of a collective of dedicated activists.
They were my “secret weapon” on
the ballot access front.
Second, I qualified for federal pri
mary matchingfundsin 1988-Iwas
the second independent ever todo so
- and the first to qualify for a sub
stantial amount of money. In 19881
qualified for nearly a million dollars
in primary matching funds. And a
significant portion of that was spent
in getting on the ballot.
Finally, sincemycampaignin 1988
was all about exposing the lack of
democracy in American elections,
the fight to get on the ballot was
intrinsic to the message of the cam
paign. I wasn’t merely gettingon the
ballot in all 50 states in ordertoget a
message out. Getting on the ballot
was the message!
Having to go to court more than a
dozen times and having to comply
with the most outrageous and
byzantine laws - gave me the oppor
tunity to show the American people
justhow biased the system is. It was
also an opportunity to show that
Editorial
those prejudices, then it is racism.
Chief Wahoo is a racist symbol
because those in power—in this
case, the sports industry and the
mainstream media—refusetohear
the voice of the oppressed. In the
words of a young Euro-American
Pennsylvania high school student
who is fighting to change the logo
ofhishigh school team, when people
use negative stereotypes without
knowinghow native Americans feel
itisignorance. But when they con
tinue to use them knowing the
feelings of indigenous people, it is
no longer ignorance, it is racism.
In the nearly ten years since
we've been a part of the movement
again Chief Wahoo there has been
progress in helping people to see
how thisbuck-toothed, hook-nosed
grinning red face logo is an offen
sive stereotype. I've begun to see
people wear caps and shirts that
just say Cleveland, without the
name or the logo. I've begun to
hear people being interviewed in
the press who say that if it offends
native Americans then we need to
change it. I've begun to see reli
giousleaders and community lead
ers speak out against Chief Wa-
whenindependentsdocometogether,
theseobstaclescanbeovercome. One
by one. State by state.
Ballot accessregulationsvarydra
matically from state to state. In
Louisiana you pay a SSOO filing fee.
In Tennessee, you need only 25 sig
natures. But in North Carolina, you
needed 44,535 signatures. In Cali
fornia you need 128,340 signatures.
Andtakea‘“bear”statelike Florida
for example. You needed 56,318
signatures to get on the ballot in
1988. Each signature had to be col
lected onanindividual postcard. The
signatures then had to be filed at
theirrespectivecountyboardsofelec
tion — which charged 10 cents a sig
nature to verify their validity! Still,
we managed to meet that require
ment, and to publicize how onerous
the requirements were. Other inde
pendents picked up on that fight —
including the Libertarian Party —
which succeeded in getting a state
wide referendum in 1998 to change
Florida’sconstitution. It passed 65%
to 35%. Now national parties that
are organized in the state can place
their presidential candidates on the
ballot without having to gather a
single signature—justlikethe Demo
crats and Republicans do.
My campaign alsowonfederal law
suits in Florida and North Carolina;
invalidating fees which those states
charged independent candidates to
check the validity of petition signa
hoo. :
Around thecountry, othermove
ments to get rid of racist native
American sports logos and names
is also making progress. In Wash
ington, D.C. the patent office re
fused to grant a renewal of the
Washington Redskins trademark, !
citing it as effensive. Many-eollegé !
and high school teams across the
nation have changed the names -
and logos of their teams. Even the |
University of Tllinoisis being forced _
to look at its use of chief Illini as it
seeks its re-accreditation. The *
movement forward is slow, butitis '
moving forward. Justice can be '
delayed, butitcanneverbedenied.
Native American people are a
proud people, as well they should °
be. They have given many gifts to
all of us. Indeed, some might say
they gave the greatest gift of all— '
their land, albeit unwillingly. We *“
have taken much from them and "
now it is time to give them some- *
thing back — their dignity. !
Native Americans are people, not °
mascotstooursportsindustry. Let’s |
begin the new millennium with a *
new mentality. Chief Wahoo must
go.
tures — 10 cents in Florida and five
cents in North Carolina. i
On the legislative front, I set up a -
lobbyingoperationin 1985 called the '
Rainbow Lobby (no relation to Jesse !
Jackson and his Democratic Party !
operation) to build an agenda for
political reform. CongressmandJohn
ConyersofMichigan,aleadingmem
ber of the Black Caucus, agreed to’
introduce a bill that would make 1
ballot access requirements uniform <
and fair in all elections for federal ¢
office. I campaigned for passage of !
the bill and continued to do so when ©
Congressman Tim Penny of Minne- #
sota and most recently, Ron Paul, =
himself a formerindependent Presi- |
dential candidate, took over sponsor- 3/
ship of the bill. o
Winning on ballot access issues —
and political reform issues overall -
are a long haul. But they’re impor
tant because they go right to the
heart, to the core issue in American
politics today—control of the political
processbythe partiesand the special
interestswhich dictatetheiragenda.
Lenora B. Fulani twice ran for
President of the U.S. as an indepen
dent, making history in 1988 when
she became the first woman and Af
rican American toget on the ballot in
all 50 states. Dr. Fulani is a leading
activist in the Reform Party. Shecan
be reached by phone at 800-288-3201
or at fulanicolumn@cuip.org