America: Love it And Change It

Certain members of my extended family forward me e-mails that I find really ignorant and offensive. I make liberal use of my delete button. For some reason though, I read this e-mail--the subject line was "I am a Bad American." You may have seen it, or even deleted it, yourself. There's was a lot in it to make me want to gag, but this section particularly annoyed me.

I've never owned a slave, or was a slave, I haven't burned any witches or been persecuted by the Turks and neither have you!

So, shut up already.

I believe if you don't like the way things are here, go back to where you came from and change your own country!

This is AMERICA ...We like it the way it is!

On the heels of reading the ignorant e-mail I watched the story on Good Morning America about NFL player Ryan Moats and the police officer that prevented him from seeing his mother-in-law before she died. Any one that doesn't think the way it went down had something to do with race is delusional.

If the same scenario had played out, but it was my husband behind the wheel, you'd never hear a word because the police officer would have showed some decency and made sure he got to the hospital room in time. That's what being White gets you. It's called White privilege and Black president or no, it exists.

I don't pretend that writing this is going to change anything--I'm fairly sure most people that read me are as educated as I am about the inequities that persist in our society. Still, I needed to say it.

This is AMERICA . . . There's room for improvement.

Comments

[allmycke]

Bless you for posting this.
This is no consolation - but rest assured that there is room for improvement in other countries, as well!

[Busy Bee Suz]

I have not seen any of these types of emails myself.
This story in Dallas is just heartbreaking. We have a long way to go still.

[kcinnova]

I hadn't seen that e-mail (but I would have deleted that garbage), nor had I read/heard about Ryan Moat's terrible treatment by that policeman (awful and insensitive don't even begin to describe it). Even before reading those 2 links, I believed there's room for improvement.
The good news? "YES WE CAN."

[Janet]

Well said. I just don't understand how conservatives can't see this. They can't all be racist!

[Alesia]

I get these emails from a family member, also, despite my repeated requests that I be taken off the group email list. I don't even open them. There's such a lack of compassion. Amazing.

[Mitzi]

Here Here! We should want to improve America because we love it! Doesn't the pride goeth before the fall....or something like that.

[Janet]

oh and you know what else gets me? How these emails always contain a paragraph something along the lines of "Speak english if you live in America". Do the folks who agree with this not remember their ancestors who came to America from Italy or Poland or wherever who spoke only the language of their country? How soon we forget...

[CC]

And isn't that what the country was BASED on?? Change. Change from oppression. Change from government. Change from social status?

[Blognut]

(cheers and clapping) You go, girl!

I hate these emails and have repeatedly asked not to get them, but it never stops the people who send them.

[Little Miss Sunshine State]

Thank God my husband's family and work associates don't include me in their ranting forwarded-1200-times emails.

Do any of them remember that the freaking PILGRIMS were immigrants?
My family is all French and Canadian. My Dad's side ended up in the US because they were banished from Nova Scotia. My Mom's family came to escape poverty in the early 1900's. Many of my relatives never spoke English, even in the 1980's

That story about Ryan Moats broke my heart and made me angry.

[Ms. Changes Pants While Driving]

ugh. i hate those emails. and i don't send out emails like that about my point of view. i asked repeatedly that the sender keep me off her list. she didn't. so i "replied all" to a joke email about how black people were able to make it to the inauguration but weren't able to make it out of new orleans.

she has not included me on any emails since.

[Manic Mommy]

On most social issues, my sister and I simply agree to disagree. I don't send her my propaganda and she doesn't send me hers.

I think one thing we could definitely agree on is ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT.

[Baby Favorite]

That story is just sickening. Our country needs a lot of change, especially in regards to racism. I don't understand why everyone can't be more accepting and empathetic towards others. WHAT is so hard about that???

[Gladys]

I'm sorry I'm not one of those that thinks every thing that is wrong in this country has to do with racism. I think the race card is played all too often. I honestly don't know if what happened in Dallas had anything to do with race anymore than me being the one of the few caucasion girls in a minority school led to me being beat up on a regular basis. Maybe it was the fact that I was indignant to people and in general an ass.

Just as it is wrong to practice racism it is also wrong to generalize and blame every bad situation on racism.

So I respectfully disagree with what you say. Yes I abhore racism of any kind. Yes I believe it is wrong to discrimnate. Yes I believe that we have made our mistakes in the past. Let's move on. Let's not keep crying racism for every problem out there. Sometimes it has nothing to do with race and everything to do with bad behavior.

[green girl]

(Groan.) I have those relatives too. It pains me. And it's so evil, too.

[Suzy]

The Ryan Moats story is so OBVIOUSLY racist and the chief of police said that Moats never mentioned he was an NFL player. The police officer was 25 and he should be fired. I am SICK about that story. Thank God the daughter of the dying woman had the brains to ignore him. As would I have if it had been my dying mother.

[Mary Alice]

Every person and every country can always stand for improvement....I haven't met a perfect one of anything yet.

[gary]

Funny thing is, every immigrant group that comes here improves the US, even if they don't look like some people or if they have some practices that are a little different. You go to a dying little town in the countryside and see stagnation--America is ALWAYS in change and flux and we are at our best when we welcome positive change.
So basically, f### the rednecks....
(oops, did I say that?)

[Amy]

I too delete these emails all the time! Thanks for your thoughts! I too get tired of all the 'crap'!

[imom]

Thanks for posting this. I hadn't heard about the Moats case, it's really sad. I know racial profiling takes place frequently all over the country.

I have black friends who live in a high income neighborhood, he's a doctor, she's a teacher. They have three sons. Multiple times her sons followed home by the police, where the officer would knock on the door to make sure the boy lived there. "Just keeping the neighborhood safe." Never mind they have lived there for years. It's very sad.

[Susan]

I used to get a lot of political/social commentary e-mails from my folks - I would fact check them and send the corrected info back. After a while they stopped! Whether they started fact checking themselves or got tired of my corrections, I'm not sure. We try very hard to respectfully disagree on some issues!

Also to Gladys- racism works both ways. Many minority people are very prejudiced about other minorities and caucasians. Attitudes also exist about wealth, education, background, religion, sexual orientation, profession and gender.

[Christina]

Jenn,

I could not agree more. The Moats case was just so pathetic. I agree - there was racism there.

Susan - Factcheck.org and Snopes saved my life with folks like this and I don't get the emails any more ;-)

Now, to Glady's point - is racism (or ANY ism really) used as an excuse MORE than it actually happens? Yes. Does *reverse* racism exist? Of course! However, acknowledging that does not mean that racism can be ignored!! You cannot put your head in the sand about it.

[JCK]

Always, always room for improvement. And because we live in America, we actually can change things.

[Melanie @ MelADramatic Mommy]

I was going to write about this. I was (and am) very angry about this and didn't think I could write an intelligent, thought provoking post rather than an expletive filled one. However, reading Glady's comment may just make me change my mind.

[kellyg]

When I worked for TNT, one of the episodes of "In the Heat of the Night" was titled "DWB". Several of my colleagues had not heard of this term "Driving While Black" and couldn't quite believe it when I explained it to them.

My husband went to a private school in Detroit that had a lot of kids whose fathers were NFL and NBA players along with doctors and lawyers and executives at financial institutions. He has told me several stories of friend's getting pulled over DWB. If nothing else, it does make one suspicious of the very people who we need to trust to keep us safe.

[Leslie]

Oh I get these from my family as well! It annoys me so much!!! I got so many when the election was going on about how Barack Obama is a Muslim that I wanted to scream. I actually had to have a sit down talk with my parents about it. Thankfully they stopped. (It took ALL of my maturity not to call them after he won the election and say "neener neener neeeennnerrrrr!") I too liberally "delete"...

[She]

I use my delete button liberally too!

I almost never even open them anymore. The ignorance SCARES the SHIT out of me actually.

[talina]

Ignorance in general annoys me and I hate those "this is the way I think and you should think that way to" email forwards.