[AsburyPark] Racism

[lekretzu]

The question to be asked is "What is racism?"  If you define racism as overt incidences of discrimination by white people against black people such as hate crimes, name calling, etc... which might be found pre-1964 in the South, then yes, one would say there is no racism in Asbury Park or in Monmouth County.  There are no lynchings and no "white only" entrances to restaurants.   But if you define racism on a broader scale, then one might see it more frequently. Examples of individual and institutional racism are black or other people of color: - having a more difficult time securing bank loans, - having a more difficult time securing employment - receiving a poorer quality public education than white or multicultural schools - being followed or shadowed in a store as if they intend to steal something - being pulled over by police as if they have stolen the car they are in or are doing something wrong - watching white people instinctively clutch their wallet / purse when seeing a black person walking down the street.   These types of incidences add to the accumulated experiences of racism that are alive in the minds and memories of black people.  I am white, but I know this from continuous, extended conversations with black people about racism.   For the record, during the run up to the AP Council election, I had three separate conversations with people from Asbury Park - two with straight white men and one with a gay white man - where they ultimately said that poor black people in the Southwest quadrant of Asbury Park should just move to Neptune so that we in Asbury don't have to deal with their problems anymore.   I have had two separate conversations in the past 3 months with white people outside of Asbury Park who - without hesitating or showing signs of "maybe I shouldn't say this out loud" - said that "Asbury Park won't come back until they get all of the blacks out."    And just last year, my husband Jim watched Bradley Beach police follow two black boys from Asbury Park who were simply riding their bikes.  The two bicycle cops called for back up, and a police car came screaching down the street and hit one of the boys, knocking him off of his bike and breaking the pedal.  Jim called the police out on their excessive force, and after Jim wrote down their license plate numbers, they arrested him as well.    There is so much more to talk about, particularly how race and class are tied together.  Suffice it to say that racism in 2005 is more than simply the "N word" and segregated beaches.  I would argue strongly that it exists in Asbury Park, but certainly no more (and actually a little less) than it exists in other places in the US where I have visited and lived.  I hope that Educating for Justice, once we are finished our feature-length film on sweatshops, can become more involved in Asbury on these issues.   Leslie Kretzu YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS  Visit your group "AsburyPark" on the web.    To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:  [EMAIL PROTECTED]    Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.