We are lucky to live under a federal Constitution that frames for us the nobleness- not of blood, or wealth- but human conscience.
Where are we now in this struggle? We have come a long way from our colonial cradle- it has been a fight, and we still have work to do.
It is hard to look at racism, but we have a responsibility to reflect and make a choice about who we are, who we want to be as a community here in Central PA, and what we will do next:
Scroll down in this study to see that PA is the only northern state that joins the South East in being The Most Prejudiced states in the US- that is based on "The National Annenberg Election Survey ask[ing] people to rank the intelligence, trustworthiness and work effort of different groups of people, on a scale from 0 to 100"
A plea from Penn Live's opinion editor to end the 'quiet racism' here in PA.
A Penn Live report on Racism in PA school sports: Unchecked, Unchallenged, Unabashed: Is Racism in High School Sports Being Tolerated?
A devastating case: PA Police Chief accused of cover up in fatal beating of a hispanic kid in Shenandoah.
HOW will non-white citizens respond to this abuse?
Recently in Sunbury: After a bar fight (no one asked what the fight was about) two men chased a black man down, and the black man stabbed them. Notice the discrepancies in stories- "black man chases down and stabs two white men" and "the white men had black man on the ground, and then he stabbed them." Let's ask ourselves- if a black man chased a white man down and had the white man on the ground and then, the white man shot the black man- what would the story be then? Self-defense? This young black man has been sentenced to jail on multiple counts.
Recently in Sunbury: After being called "Nigger" in Sunbury, a young black man chased down the taunter with a bb gun to scare him. The young black man has been sentenced to jail.
Community is a relationship, let's reflect on the white/non-white relationships we have in our communities, and the role we each play.
I want to thank everyone who has been brave enough to look, like the Sunset Rotary in Lewisburg, who recently gave me the opportunity to share the talk: "Who are we? Race and Identity in Rural PA" I know people here care, but perhaps we don't know what to do. As a first step, let us be open to a discussion about racism.
*this post recently erroneously stated that PA had climbed to #1 racist state on the Top Tens list, in fact it currently ranked #18.
