PRESS ADVOCATES TRIBALISM

In its lead editorial yesterday, the Grand Rapids Press couldn't quite bring itself to rebuke Mayor Goerge Heartwell for making race and gender the two most important considerations in selecting a replacement for Third Ward City Commissioner Robert Dean.  (See yesterday's article for our rebuke.)  Indeed, the Press instructs us that "Mr. Heartwell's emphasis on sex and race isn't unreasonable."

Why?  Because, according to the Press, "Overall, Grand Rapids is one-third black and Latino and more than half female.  In general, city leadership should reflect that mix.  People of different backgrounds naturally bring different perspectives to policy debates, from how police officers do their jobs to where to cut services."

This is very confused thinking.  Pigmentation and chromosones are not experience.  There are accidents of birth that tell us nothing about the life a person has led.  To argue otherwise is to say that race and gender are destiny and that individuality is trumped by group identity.  It is prejudice, pure and simple; judgment is predicated not upon what a person has done, but what a person is.  It is tribalism, and the Press's call for the best chiefs among the tribes doesn't eliminate the stink of the prejudice it advocates.

Take a specific example the Press cites to justify its call for prejudice:  "How police officers do their jobs."  According to the Press's muddled racialist mindset, skin color bears upon the beliefs a person should have on this topic.  However, I was once detained by police officers for questioning after they pulled me out of a crowd that they were profiling for terrorist suspects.  In fact, more than once I have been the target of false suspicion by the police.  But, because of my skin color, my experiences with police officers are a nullity by the Press's lights.

Mayor Heartwell says color is what counts.  The Press says color counts but character counts too.  The truth is that once color counts at all, character must count for less and less.  Moreover, color is nothing but an immutable fact of person's life.  He did nothing to cause it and can do nothing to change it.  So it tells us nothing about him.  Therefore, how can it ever matter when it comes to making an objective judgment about a person?  It can't.  All that can matter is what a person says and what he does.  In short, his character.

To take stock of anything else diminishes him.

Comments

[Steve]

Thank you for exposing the racist policies of Mayor Heartwell and others in our community. Judging people by inessentials will always lead to injustice. Racism is immoral and should be exposed wherever it is encountered.

[The Executive Director]

Amen, Steve.

[Guess What]

Bill have you ever felt uncomfortable when you turn on the television and see nothing but white people on commercials or television shows that have nothing but white people in them? What about when you go into white business establishments and there are nothing but white people who work there from the president of the company to the janitor? It's sad to think that if the City Commissioners were all white or the government as a whole it probably wouldn't bother you however unfortunately there are whites and minorities, which in and of itself is kind of stupid because if you put all of the minorities together there are more minorities than there are white people. Here's a question for you, what if the entire City Commission Board were black, which if people who run for office and get out and vote it could happen but how would you feel? Minorities and whites are conditioned to accept all white situations as the norm but the real question is, at the end of the day, how many white people are up for the position? Do the white people that are presently sitting on the board have the character that you feel qualifies them for the position? If it were all white people running for the position would character be an issue?
Go to St. Maarten, the Dutch side. Black people are the managers of the luxury resorts and the banks and the airport. I went on missions trip with white people whose expressed goal was to convert the "savages" as the white people called them. My sister and I remained quiet and just observed. Our white mission people were very humbled by the experience and came back to the states not speaking to one another because of the embarrassment they suffered. They found out that the so called savages knew more about Christ than they did and we all learned something from the lesson.
If you as a white person are feeling left out of the equation toss your hat into the ring. I am sorry that the police have hassled you however if you stand next to a black man in a grocery store and someone is accused of stealing who do you think they are going to look at first? Would you feel comfortable of the Mayor, the Chief of Police the Prosecuting Attorney and they Sheriff were all white? Maybe you do feel comfortable because they are. Now how would you feel if they were all black? Would their character be in question? To the black people in Grand Rapids having all those positions filled by black people is a pipe dream a fantasy however Bill it's your reality and you have the luxury of benefiting from your skin color. If we as black people aspire for those same positions will you call are character into question because of our skin color or will could you accept it at "face" value and give us a chance. We should have nothing to prove. We are just as educated and just as qualified. Food for thought.

[The Executive Director]

Hi, Annette.

Thank you for your extensive comments on this important subject, especially sharing your experiences in St. Maarten.

Let me respond by answering your key question: >>Here's a question for you, what if the entire City Commission Board were black, which if people who run for office and get out and vote it could happen but how would you feel?<<

Honestly? It wouldn't matter to me in the least. I care only what our City Commissioners say and do. Since L.A.W. began, I have found myself more in accord with Commissioners Dean and White than most of the others.

At some point, Annette, we must value people for who they are and not what they are. By that I mean we must do what is hard and take the time to judge a person on his character rather than make glib judgments on the superficial things, like sex and race.

I'm not saying that this is always easy or that people are not going to make mistake or that some of us will still be bigots. But is it too much to ask of our public officials to the set the example and lead the way instead of pandering to voting blocs?

And if they won't do it, well, then we must make a noise about what is right. That is the way of progress.

Regards,
Bill

[Guess What]

Well said. I have gained a whole new respect for you Mr. Tingley. Please keep this website going.

[The Executive Director]

Thank you, Annette. Your kind words made my day.

Best regards,
Bill