• Latest
  • Trending
  • All
  • News
  • Lifestyle
McGrath: White Americans must shake off their entrenched views of race if the world is ever going to change thumbnail

McGrath: White Americans must shake off their entrenched views of race if the world is ever going to change

July 31, 2020
Republicans Fear Abortion Ruling Will 'Bail the Dems Out' in 2024, Midterms thumbnail

Republicans Fear Abortion Ruling Will ‘Bail the Dems Out’ in 2024, Midterms

June 26, 2022
Google memo on end of Roe v. Wade says employees may apply to relocate 'without justification' thumbnail

Google memo on end of Roe v. Wade says employees may apply to relocate ‘without justification’

June 26, 2022
Report: Stashed 2020 Boston Celtics draft prospect Yam Madar to skip Las Vegas Summer League thumbnail

Report: Stashed 2020 Boston Celtics draft prospect Yam Madar to skip Las Vegas Summer League

June 25, 2022
Why the US Army wants an ‘aerial tier network’ for better communications thumbnail

Why the US Army wants an ‘aerial tier network’ for better communications

June 25, 2022
Early Liver Disease Detection Linked to Subsequent Lifestyle Improvements thumbnail

Early Liver Disease Detection Linked to Subsequent Lifestyle Improvements

June 25, 2022
Jupiter scientists need your help hunting for storms in stunning photos thumbnail

Jupiter scientists need your help hunting for storms in stunning photos

June 25, 2022
Ex-Trump aides say six House Republicans sought pardons after Jan. 6 thumbnail

Ex-Trump aides say six House Republicans sought pardons after Jan. 6

June 24, 2022
Oil CEOs come to Washington as Biden looks to shift blame for gas prices thumbnail

Oil CEOs come to Washington as Biden looks to shift blame for gas prices

June 24, 2022
Why Biden can't bring gas prices down thumbnail

Why Biden can’t bring gas prices down

June 24, 2022
Proposed insulin price cap poses test for Dems thumbnail

Proposed insulin price cap poses test for Dems

June 24, 2022
Senators release bill targeting insulin prices thumbnail

Senators release bill targeting insulin prices

June 23, 2022
The US Economy Is Headed for a Hard Landing thumbnail

The US Economy Is Headed for a Hard Landing

June 23, 2022
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
  • Donate
Sunday, June 26, 2022
66 °f
Wellfleet
58 ° Tue
63 ° Wed
68 ° Thu
61 ° Fri
  • Login
  • Register
FREE Cape Cod News
DONATE
  • FREE Cape Cod News
  • News
    • News
    • Cape Cod News
    • Massachusetts
    • Breaking News
    • Cape Cod Weather
    • Storm Watch
    • Environment
  • Politics
    • democrats
    • republicans
  • Business
    • business
    • cryptocurrency
    • economy
    • money
    • Real Estate
    • Tech
  • World
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Photos
    • Orleans
    • Eastham
    • Wellfleet
    • Truro
    • Provincetown
    • Brewster
    • Chatham
  • Videos
No Result
View All Result
Free Cape Cod News
No Result
View All Result
  • FREE Cape Cod News
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • World
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Photos
  • Videos
Home World

McGrath: White Americans must shake off their entrenched views of race if the world is ever going to change

FREE Cape Cod News by FREE Cape Cod News
July 31, 2020
in World
Reading Time: 3 mins read
Donate
0
McGrath: White Americans must shake off their entrenched views of race if the world is ever going to change thumbnail
634
SHARES
1.4k
VIEWS
Share on TwitterShare on Facebook

I feel slightly traitorous, like a double agent relaying secrets, in writing about what some of my friends really think about the Black Lives Matter protests.

One, for example, recently emailed me a pornographic joke referencing the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, playing off Floyd’s cry of “I can’t breathe.”

The sender frequently shares internet jokes and cartoons, and both he and the group to which he mails them believe anything is fair game for humor. Disagreement with that belief constitutes a silly surrender to political correctness.

I responded that his cartoon implies Chauvin’s slow, torturous asphyxiation of George Floyd was not really that bad, and people do not really have to worry about it. He subsequently sent the same joke, but one in which a mixed race couple was featured instead.

A second friend expressed concern about violent protests taking place close to home. Yet he persisted in his disapproval of the peaceful protests of Colin Kaepernick and others for kneeling when the national anthem was played at football games.

I asked him if he read that the protests had changed the minds of others, including star quarterback Drew Brees and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who were finally persuaded that athletes were not disrespecting the flag or our troops but pleading, instead, for an end to police taking innocent lives. He replied that he simply did not see it that way.

A third person confided that he felt a need to do something when the protests were dominating the news. So he emailed or texted friends and relatives who were police officers to assure them he appreciated what they did on the job and strongly disagreed with the ugly things being written and said about law enforcement. The whole system should not be painted as dysfunctional because of a few bad apples, he said.

He did not mention George Floyd. Nothing about the 8-minute, cold-blooded brutality of Chauvin or about the family Floyd left behind.

All three men are kind, smart and dynamic personalities, long involved in religious and community charities. We’ve debated racial matters for years.

Other white acquaintances have expressed the belief that young Black men would not be brutalized or killed by police if they simply stayed out of trouble the way they themselves do. When Black men are stopped by police on the drive home from work or from a party on a Saturday night or after shopping at the mall in the middle of the afternoon, they would be safe as long as they were polite and cooperative.

I had expected that some would have done some reading and learned, for example, of a Stanford University study that found Black drivers are 20% more likely to be stopped by police — a percentage that plummets dramatically at night, when it’s harder to identify a motorist’s race. Or a new Harvard University study that determined Black people are up to six times more likely to be killed by law enforcement.

Yet even educated white people too often revert to the easier, racist mindset they grew up with, the inertia of which seems impossible to redirect, let alone overturn.

None consider themselves racists and they have no compunctions about sharing their views.

I continue to hope that with the increased attention to the issue because of the prominent news coverage of the protests, more might step out of the cocoons of their entrenched attitudes to see and feel what excessive and unnecessary police violence looks like to someone on the receiving end.

Because even though racism seems more stubborn and incurable than a global virus, I have witnessed changes in some of my contemporaries in their 60s and 70s. Their lifelong biases have been challenged by the more compassionate behavior and beliefs of the younger generation, some of whom are their own children to whom they more willingly listen.

David McGrath is an emeritus English professor at the College of DuPage and the author of “South Siders,” a recently completed collections of columns on life in the Midwest.

Read More

FREE Digital Newspaper Subscription!
Sign up for your free digital subscription. The FREE Cape Cod News

Unsubscribe
FREE Cape Cod News

FREE Cape Cod News

Free Cape Cod News is what's happening in the Cape Cod, U.S and World & what people are talking about right now. Local newspaper. Stay in the know. Subscribe to get notified about our latest news.

Related Posts

Analysis: Europe's summer of discontent reveals travel sector labour crisis thumbnail
News

Analysis: Europe’s summer of discontent reveals travel sector labour crisis

by FREE Cape Cod News
June 20, 2022
Science News Briefs from around the World: March 2022 thumbnail
News

Science News Briefs from around the World: March 2022

by FREE Cape Cod News
March 7, 2022
The Russia - Ukraine: Mastercard and Visa - Latest News and Live Updates thumbnail
News

The Russia – Ukraine: Mastercard and Visa – Latest News and Live Updates

by FREE Cape Cod News
March 2, 2022
Cape Cod News
Breaking News

Putin Puts Nuclear Forces on high alert, escalating tensions

by FREE Cape Cod News
February 27, 2022
Load More
Please login to join discussion

Follow Us on Twitter

FREE Cape Cod News - Your source for local Cape Cod news, latest breaking U.S. and World news. Every day, all day. Subscribe for your favorite categories.

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Ex-Trump aides say six House Republicans sought pardons after Jan. 6 thumbnail

Ex-Trump aides say six House Republicans sought pardons after Jan. 6

June 24, 2022
Ranked: The Top Ten Best Beaches in The Cape Cod. FREE Cape Cod News.

Top 10 Cape Cod Beaches ( with PHOTOS )

August 21, 2020
Great White Shark Devouring Seal at Beach, First Sighting of Season thumbnail

Great White Shark Devouring Seal at Beach, First Sighting of Season

June 1, 2022
Republicans Fear Abortion Ruling Will 'Bail the Dems Out' in 2024, Midterms thumbnail

Republicans Fear Abortion Ruling Will ‘Bail the Dems Out’ in 2024, Midterms

June 26, 2022
Google memo on end of Roe v. Wade says employees may apply to relocate 'without justification' thumbnail

Google memo on end of Roe v. Wade says employees may apply to relocate ‘without justification’

June 26, 2022
Report: Stashed 2020 Boston Celtics draft prospect Yam Madar to skip Las Vegas Summer League thumbnail

Report: Stashed 2020 Boston Celtics draft prospect Yam Madar to skip Las Vegas Summer League

June 25, 2022
Support Local News, Make a Donation Support Local News, Make a Donation Support Local News, Make a Donation

FREE Cape Cod News On Twitter

Today’s News

  • Republicans Fear Abortion Ruling Will ‘Bail the Dems Out’ in 2024, Midterms June 26, 2022
  • Google memo on end of Roe v. Wade says employees may apply to relocate ‘without justification’ June 25, 2022
  • Report: Stashed 2020 Boston Celtics draft prospect Yam Madar to skip Las Vegas Summer League June 25, 2022
  • Why the US Army wants an ‘aerial tier network’ for better communications June 24, 2022
  • Early Liver Disease Detection Linked to Subsequent Lifestyle Improvements June 24, 2022
FREE Cape Cod News

Copyright © 2022 Free Cape Cod News

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
  • Donate

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • FREE Cape Cod News
  • News
    • News
    • Cape Cod News
    • Massachusetts
    • Breaking News
    • Cape Cod Weather
    • Storm Watch
    • Environment
  • Politics
    • democrats
    • republicans
  • Business
    • business
    • cryptocurrency
    • economy
    • money
    • Real Estate
    • Tech
  • World
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Photos
    • Orleans
    • Eastham
    • Wellfleet
    • Truro
    • Provincetown
    • Brewster
    • Chatham
  • Videos
  • Login
  • Sign Up

Copyright © 2022 Free Cape Cod News

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist