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April 14, 2007South Pacific Wholesale Company's PoliticsFor several years I've been buying beads from South Pacific Wholesale Company, and I've been on their mailing list during that time. I've recommended them as a source of beads to quite a few other people. Today I got an email that made me decide not only to drop them as a supplier but to critique them publicly for supporting Don Imus in the text of a promotional mailing that just went out. Here's the relevant part of the mail: Tough last few days. We lost Kurt Vonnegut and Don Imus in the same week. Who’s next, Rush? Jason Whitlock of the Kansas City Star (he’s black) has a great column about the Imus firing this week. It’s at www.kansascity.com/182/story/66339.html . It is titled "Imus isn't the real bad guy."Vonnegut would have shuddered to be named in death next to Imus, and Imus is definitely one of the "real" bad guys (it's just that there are so many bad guys...) Using Whitlock's editorial (which doesn't, by the way, excuse Imus) as a justification for exonerating Imus (because Whitlock's black, y'all) doesn't mask the racism of whites who support Imus and feel that somehow he's victimized by "political correctness." I hope that you'll visit http://www.beading.com and tell Willis (the "bead master") that supporting racism isn't only bad for business, but that it's morally reprehensible. UPDATE: I received this reply from Willis on 16 April: I was being sarcastic. But I support free speech and Imus or Sharpton or any of them have the right to say what they say. I tuned out Imus long ago and find Limbaugh a psychotic drug addict. When I think of racism in America I think about how our public school system has failed black and Latino children. I think about Dr. King and how he fought to bring people together rather than finding differences and confrontations. When I think of Malcolm X I think of the end of his life when he realized that people of all colors could want peace. I don't care what one old white guy says. Supporting his right to say it isn't supporting what he says. When the New York times time after time runs front page stories about a few Jews killed in Israel but buries stories of tens of thousands of black people killed in wars in Africa like in the Congo I know it is time to throw up my hands and say anything I say or do is useless to fight racism, sexism, you name it. When the national media devotes night after night of coverage to what one morning shock jock says and doesn't bring cameras into inner city schools I am disgusted. The governor of NJ was going to his photo op in his mansion. Where is he when the little kids in Newark need text books. There's your racism. The sarcasm was not obvious (even a little) in his original mailing, and I don't agree that this is a free speech issue at all. After all, no one can tell CBS what to air on their shows. But the reply does sound thoughtful and sincere. This is another reminder to be careful what one says about racial issues, because sloppy speaking can have unintendedly hurtful consequences. Posted by kalital at 9:58 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack |
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