A new columnist surveys Knoxville's racial landscape
by Attica Scott
"I am sick and tired of being sick and tired."—Fannie Lou Hamer
Wow! What powerful words from a woman of wisdom. I would wager—oops, can't do that in Tennessee, but if I could—that most people of color are feeling Ms. Hamer when they read that quote. I say that because it is virtually impossible to be a person of color in this society and not view your life and your community from a race-based perspective. As people of color, we are constantly reminded that we are not the norm—the norm being white, of course.
I applaud Metro Pulse for providing me with the opportunity to write this column because it provides a way for the voices of an unheard community to be heard. I can be a voice for the people who don't feel like they are part of this place. I say this because not being a part of this place has hit home with many in the African-American community over the years.
For example, this becomes blatantly obvious when Channel 6 hosts a Town Meeting about "Downtown Decisions," as it did recently, and we don't see anyone in the audience who is a person of color. Of course, that can be explained away: Our invitations got lost in the mail.
What I want to know is: Why couldn't a sistah find out where this so-called Town Meeting was being held? The least that could have been done was for the sponsors to tell folks where the meeting was going to be located so that they could attend—an informed public is an active public, but I could be wrong.
My next question is: Who was this so-called Town Meeting for? I saw a lot of familiar white faces in the audience and not one person of color—even unfamiliar (which would be preferable in a true town meeting). If this was a meeting for only certain people in the city, then it should not be called a Town Meeting. Admittedly, I could be way off base with the town meeting concept. I'm a Southern girl from Louisville, Ky., so what do I know?
(Yes, moderator Hallerin Hill was on hand, but one African American cannot speak for us all. Not speaking for us all, but speaking for myself, I'm tired of seeing Hallerin as the go-to guy.)
On a similar note of public and prevalent racism: Don't get me started on why one of our local television news stations—I'm not calling any names (Channel 10)—had the audacity to ask folks, when interviewing them about the James Brown concert last month, if they had any problems with it being held in East Knoxville. What a stupid question! Yes, my momma told me—bless her dearly departed heart—that there were no stupid questions. As wise as she was, I'm beginning to wonder about that little tidbit.
As a color-conscious person, I know how racist a question like that is, particularly when that same ignorant question isn't asked when car shows are held in the same place and Rick Springfield performs at the same venue. Is it that people are supposed to be afraid of attending a concert by a black performer held in East Knoxville? I'm more afraid of driving home on Magnolia Avenue the weekends that car shows are held. Why? Because folks are walking up and down both sides of the street, some of them drinking and trying to hold conversations with the folks driving on the street who are not paying a bit of attention to the traffic around them (probably because their cars are so pretty that they just know that no one would dare hit them).
Don't get me wrong. This column will not be about bashing white people. Some of my best friends are white. It is about me being an advocate for social justice who pays attention to what's going on around her and hopes to use this forum to raise awareness in others of what's going on in our black communities.
For those of you who are wondering—and I know you are—this column will not be an attack on any person, place, or thing. It will address and raise issues and I will pose a lot of questions. I don't have all the answers, and to tell you the truth, I don't purport to have any answers. But I will share what I know as an activist of color and write from the perspective of an African American in this community.
If the spirit moves you, I welcome feedback from anyone reading this column. Feel free to email me at [email protected].
June 15, 2000 * Vol. 10, No. 24
© 2000 Metro Pulse
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