Stirring the Pot

Racial inequality is still alive and well, speaking out is only the first step

Jada Lee

Mast Copy Editor

For me this editorial has been a long time coming, and it wasn’t until the March 24 episode of “The View” that I felt it time to approach this issue of being black. And yes, it is an issue. Not necessarily for me, but I know it is for others.

On the taping of “The View,” Elizabeth Hasselbeck criticized Barack Obama for his comments about his late grandma. Obama said that, like many women in her era, if his grandma were to be walking down the street and come across a group of black youth, she would clench her purse a little tighter and be on her guard.

It was this comment that outraged Hasselbeck. She told viewers that what Obama said was outrageous and has nothing to do with the current times, because our nation has come such a long way.

Known for her conservative views, I wasn’t surprised by Hasselbeck’s reaction, but one of her comments set me aback. When asked by Whoopi Goldberg, another host of the show, why she disagreed, she said the situation does not hold true to the current time. She said that if she were walking down the street, and came across that same group of people, it wouldn’t faze her.

Are you serious? As a wealthy white woman, co-host of a popular morning show and wife of an NFL player. When exactly would she ever encounter that group of people while she was alone on a street? That’s a nice thought but exactly how many “those” people do you find on the street-corners of Hollywood? I don’t think we’ve made that much progress. But with less than 60 years since the first desegregated public school, just how far have we come?

I thought back to my childhood. Growing up, I never gave much thought into being black. Though I grew up in a predominately white neighborhood and was one of five black kids in my elementary school, the color of my skin was not something I was always consciously aware of. That is, until a little girl came up to me and said, “Jada, you’re black.”

I was always aware of my race, but for the first time someone was making it clear to me that they were aware of it, too. Never before had I defined myself by the color of my skin or the texture of my hair. Yet, at that moment I realized the rest of the world did.

Race is something we have learned to brush under the rug. Too taboo a subject to give our honest opinions about. As a nation we are so worried about being politically correct, that we fail to even make sense. We just call ourselves a melting pot and it’s all good.

A melting pot sounds good, yet everyday I am reminded just how far we still have to go. I work for a company that employs more than 285 employees at my location, but only 14 of them are black.. And better, I to go to a university where being black is almost as common as having three arms.

For me Hasselbeck downplayed an everyday struggle for many minorities and especially blacks in this country. No, we can’t change history, but the future is still up for grabs.

So I ask everyone to just take a second and stop to think before you voice your opinion on a subject in which you have limited experience. Though is might sound good and make sense in your head, you have to think about how it will be received by your audience.

Being black isn’t my issue, it’s my reality. With that said, be accountable for your words and actions; chose them carefully. For once you have put them into the universe, you can’t take them back. Some might see the U.S. as a melting pot, but if you ask me, it’s about time to turn up the heat. We have to stop just talking about it and take action with our words.