by George White Jr.
"Hey, B!," Patrice exclaimed as she entered the doorway of their favorite eatery. The two hugged and Barret motioned at the book under Patrice's left arm. "What's that, kid?" "Oh, this," she said, revealing the book with her right hand, "is something called Little White Lies by Tim Wise."
Barret looked impressed. "I've heard good things about him. Have you read it?" "Naw, I just got it but I've read some of his essays. He discusses how racism is such a pervasive part of our culture that it seems normal and that we have to really dig in order to reveal it. So, what's in the paper today?"
"I was just reading about Terry Nichols, Timothy McVeigh's co-conspirator. It's funny you brought that book today because I've been thinking about how the media coverage of the Oklahoma City bombing reinforces white supremacy."
"Really, how so?" Patrice asked as her smile froze.
"The first thing that bothered me was that reporters kept referring to the bombing as the worst act of domestic terrorism. If we simply confine our perspective to the 20th century, I think the Tulsa race riot of 1921 was far worse."
"Wasn't that the one in which the white mob killed dozens of blacks, looted businesses, and burned down the entire Greenwood neighborhood?" Patrice asked.
"Yes," Barret jumped in, "but the death toll far exceeded what city officials claimed. Red Cross volunteers and eyewitnesses put the death toll at roughly 300. When you count the decimation of an entire community with thousands of homeless, as well as the facts that only black men were arrested and no whites were ever held accountable, then you know that the bombing of the Murrah building pales in comparison."
"I see where you're going," Patrice muttered. "It's one thing to mourn the loss of life and respect when someone attacks the federal government, a white institution, but no one cares to acknowledge the black victims of a concerted effort supported by the local press, law enforcement, and elected officials. Of course, all of this ignores what European settlers did to Native Americans in the first place."
"That's part of it," Barret hissed. "Did you notice right before McVeigh's execution how the media stressed that his was a 'one-man campaign?,'" he asked. "I seem to remember that McVeigh emerged from the depths of right-wing activism and paranoia and that many of his racist, anti-tax, anti-government views weren't all that dissimilar from most Republicans'." "I remember," Patrice offered through a shiver, "but how does that reinforce racism?"
"When people describe the bombing as part of a one-man crusade, they disconnect McVeigh's words and actions from the reactionary context from which it springs. In fact, to say that this was the act of some lone nut completely removes it from the general litany of violence that white people have used to shape a world of their choosing."
"All right," Patrice offered as she looked away. "So if we can believe that McVeigh's actions were a surprise, an aberration, then it makes it easier to pretend that white people as a group aren't incredibly violent."
"Right," Barret shouted. "It's just like with the drug war or school shootings: even though we know that the average American drug user is a middle-aged white male, society says it's OK to arrest hundreds of thousands of black and brown children in order to deter drug usage. In the same vein, even as the overwhelming majority of kids who have been shooting up their schools have been white suburban males, it's OK for everybody to keep pretending to be shocked and for the FBI to say that they can't come up with a profile of a school shooter."
"In the meantime," Patrice interrupted, "the problems aren't solved. So unmasking this issue reveals how racism hurts both whites and non-whites." After a long silence, Patrice looked at Barret. "I swear, sometimes I'm convinced that white folks would rather hold in the sun and burn themselves rather than allow us just a little warmth."
"Amen," Barret whispered as he rubbed the goose bumps crawling Patrice's arm. m
—This piece is dedicated to the memory of Andre Stenson, Juan Daniels, Charles Woodfin and...
August 23, 2001 * Vol. 11, No. 34
© 2001 Metro Pulse
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