Everything in Its Own Time

Racism is a funny thing, well not really but it’s funny how it works. If a Black Panther stands at a polling place in Philadelphia and intimidates voters its called “providing security”. However, if a Klan member stands outside a polling place it is racism. African-Americans have Black History Month; white people have nothing because it would be racist if we did. Its okay for a colored person to have pride in their color and a white person must remain quiet because if we are proud well…….yes that’s right, we are racist. So the question is how does a white person or in this case media outlets prove they are not racist?

Well, that’s simple. Thanks to organizations such as the Pittsburgh Black Media Foundation that host events such as the 28th annual Robert L. Vann Journalism Competition. I think it is safe to say that I won’t be winning any awards from them or getting an invitation to the 29th annual awards ceremony. Maybe some of you never heard of the Pittsburgh Black Media Foundation. I know I never have until recently. In 1983 they formed the Robert L. Vann Media Awards to honor excellence in journalism coverage of the African-American community. What a wonderful idea, people can now claim they and their work are not racist by winning one of these awards. Now back to the question at hand, the winner of this years’ I’m Not a Racist Award goes to (enter drum roll here please). A Pittsburgh Area newspaper, The Tribune-Review! (Applause here). At the 28th annual awards ceremony The Tribune-Review was the big winner with 7 staffers winning first place awards. Let’s take a moment to recognize the winners and their award winning work.

In the category of Investigative/enterprise:
First place to Jill King Greenwood for “Epidemic,” an examination of the causes and effects of black-on-black homicides.

Is this a real surprise? The article talks a lot of the black on black violence that occurs in the inner city. If we were to write about the black on white violence we would be called racist for bringing it up. The story goes on to talk about how drugs are what caused the decline in the inner city neighborhood, mainly blaming crack cocaine. We also get a comparison to the number of black men killed by the Klan over the years. The story goes on to tell of a young black man trying to avoid the street gangs that roam the streets like packs of wolves looking for a victim. I can’t leave out the part that says how “going to jail is like getting a college degree” and “It’s considered a badge of honor to shoot someone or go to jail”. Finally, I have to mention the hero, Pittsburgh Police Chief Nate Harper, a black man that spent most of his career on the streets as a narcotics investigator. I have to ask, when you read the story does it really tell us any information that we don’t already know?

In the category of Spot news story: First place goes to Jeremy Boren and Adam Brandolph for “Mother alleges son brutalized by police.”

When dealing with awards to honor excellence in journalism coverage of the African-American community we have to have a case of police brutality and this is that story. An 18-year-old black male was beaten by 3 police officers after not complying with their orders. Well that is no surprise there but this story has a twist. The teen in question here had performed for the First Lady Michelle Obama during one of her visits to Pittsburgh. The incident took place in the Homewood section of the city at 11:00 PM in a poorly lit area. For those of you that may not be familiar with the City of Pittsburgh let me explain it to you in simple easy to understand terms. I am legally permitted to carry a concealed weapon and I do very often. You would not catch me walking the streets of Homewood anytime of day and I try to avoid driving through that area as well. In the end though all charges were dropped against the teen and all 3 officers were reinstated to their regular assignments after the U.S. Department of Justice declined to prosecute them. So a story of no wrong doing and no guilty parties won an award.

In the category of News feature: First place goes to Margaret Harding for “Living with homicide”

After some research I was unable to locate this article so in all fairness I will not comment on it.

In the category of Feature story: First place goes to Chris Togneri for “Glimmers of hope”.

This is honestly a good story of one man’s idea with the help of God trying to make change. The Imani Christian Academy takes troubled kids that no other school wants and tries to make something out of them. This is great, one man working to make a change and truly is. However, I noticed in the video with the article all of the students shown are African-American. Well, I guess that is to be expected when you’re dealing with troubled inner city youth. But I have to ask, what if this was an all white school? Oh yes, the federal government would step in and scream that we can’t have an all white school, they must be intermixed to make it politically correct. Now maybe I am wrong and the Imani Christian Academy has a few white students and they just were not shown in this article so that the writer could win an award so he and his employer could not be called racist. I do wish the best of luck to the leaders of the Imani Christian Academy.

In the category of Sports feature: First place goes to Scott Brown for “Second chance”

Again, I was unable to locate this particular story. When searching for it I located numerous stories by Mr. Brown in regards to second chances. So once again in all fairness, I will not pick this article apart.

In the category of Column: First place goes to Nafari Vanaski for “Should anyone use the ‘n-word’?”

Um yeah…..okay after reading this article I am kind of at a loss for words. Really? Writer Nafari Vanaski got an award for telling us something that every white person in America already knows? FACT: If a white person says the “n-word” in any context we are racist. It’s okay for African-American people to use it as the third word of every sentence but if a white person says it one time he must be a member of the Klan right? In fact, I am pretty sure that if I even spell the “n-word” out in this article I will get yelled at by the people above me so I won’t use it (this is very difficult for me to do being I normally speak my mind not caring who I upset along the way). But I promise I won’t do it even though I am tempted. On that note, being the proud white male that I am I have to ask. Why is it okay for African-Americans to use terms such as “Cracker”, “Honkey”, “Whitey”, “White bread”, “Wonder bread”, “Wood”, and “woodie”? I as a proud white American male am offended by these words. Oh that’s right; I forgot we don’t matter because we are “white devils”. There are many more names white people are called but I didn’t want to waste your time by listing them all. I mean really, I will guess that 99% of you that are reading this are “crackers” and know the other names we are called. But then again stating the obvious has once again won another award for the Tribune-Review and that makes them less racist. Does writing about this whole thing make me more racist?

In the category of News photo: First place goes to Andrew Russell for “Family braces for horrifying news”

If I come across as a cold hearted person here, I don’t mean too. I’m sure the people in this award winning photograph just found out some of the worst news they will ever receive. However, if it was white people in the photograph would the pictures still have won an award? Do the people grieving in these photographs know that one of the worst moments of their lives was caught on film and won an award? You want to see grieving blacks? Turn on the 6:00 news. You want to see grieving white people? Turn on the 6:00 news. I’m sorry but these photographs didn’t say anything to me. The first thing I noticed was the Steeler jersey. I don’t know maybe I am wrong, do white folks grieve? I’m sorry but, if my family is grieving and I see some clown taking our picture, all he is going to get is a close up of my fist into his camera. Many times I have been tempted.

And finally, in the category of Business news: Second place goes to Chris Ramirez for “Curiosity spurs a Roots cause”

Once again I am unable to locate this story, so being the nice guy that I am, I will leave it alone.

Now as a proud and loud white American male, would happen if I created the David E. Duke White Journalism Competition? To start things off I am pretty sure I would have a long line of people calling me many of the racial white discriminatory names that I listed above. While that does not bother me, I am bothered by the fact that I can not be a proud white. What bothers me even more is that media both written and broadcasted have to prove that they are not racist. Why is it necessary for media to prove they are not racist? In fact, I feel it makes them more racist, yes that’s right. They are bending over backwards to show the black communities and African-American Organizations that they are not racist against blacks but end up leaving the white people in the back of the bus. Yes I am aware that it’s no longer the 1940’s and that in the 1960’s there was a civil rights movement giving African-Americans their rights but what about my rights? What about the right of every American to vote? When President Obama ran for his current office the Black Panthers intimidated many white voters in Philadelphia. The outcome of this was nothing. Americans once were tough and strong people but much of that America no longer exists. Today, too many Americans are more concerned about what other people think and do. If something goes wrong we blame the system. We must be politically correct. Well, if that’s the way you want it then let’s be correct. I am sorry to tell the African-American people that you are not the minority. In fact, the real group of minority people in America today is the American Indians. Yes, that’s right. In fact, I am sorry to tell the African-American people this but if any group of people have a right to be pissed of at white people it’s the American Indians. They led a simple easy life until we took over their land forced them into reservations, introduced them to disease and almost forced them into extinction. It is because of the white man that the American Indians became very angry people wanting to fight off the white man.

While the white man or the politically correct term European Americans may be the majority in America, we are made to feel as the minority. We have to watch the communities we go into, watch the words we use, we can’t celebrate being proud of our white heritage and we have to bend over backwards to prove that we are not racist. Thanks to groups such as the Pittsburgh Black Media Foundation they have made the task of proving you are not racist easier. As a proud white male I will continue to show my pride. While my family fought for the South in the War for Southern Independence and they were not slave owners I will continue to show my pride in my ancestors standing up and fighting for their land, the land they worked hard to get and keep. I believe in writing the truth. I believe in telling stories and history the way they are meant to be told. I will not write a story that I don’t believe in and I won’t write it to be politically correct. I will tell you it as it is no matter who I upset. Much of the media in America today have lost track of this. They are so worried about what other people will think that the truth gets lost. I am what I am and if that makes me a racist because I am proud of my heritage than so be it, call me what you want. I will promise you this, no matter what color your skin I will tell you when you are wrong and when you are right. With what the media is doing today, I say it is wrong. If a young black man is beaten by three police officers don’t twist it into a hate crime. The facts are the facts. He didn’t obey the orders he was given by the officers and he resisted them. I don’t care what color your skin is, if you resist them they have the right to use force. When those same three officers are cleared of all charges then the same media that accused them of brutality should print that they were cleared. When I searched the story of “Mother alleges son brutalized by police” I found it all over the internet in a matter of seconds. However, when I tried to find out what happen with the three officers involved, well that took a little longer to find. This kind of stuff doesn’t just happen with newspapers such as the Tribune-Review, its all of the news media. Fox News calls themselves “Fair and Balanced”. Well, while I do watch a lot of Fox News I am sorry to tell you that you are not always fair and balanced. I am sorry to inform the media that none of you are fair and balanced. Every news media outlet out there sways to one side or the other. I will give Fox credit; they are fairer and more balanced than many of the news media companies out there. Someone once said, “The truth hurts”. They are very right and maybe that is why the media wants to try to make everyone happy so they don’t hurt people’s feelings. Maybe this is what has led many Americans to become weaker as people. Maybe the media feels that by being politically correct nobody will get hurt. Well, let me tell you this, hurting people’s feelings is what toughens them up.

In closing I would like to congratulate the winners of the 2011 I Am Not a Racist Awards. I hope that every night you go to bed telling yourself that you are not a racist and I hope that you don’t dislocate your shoulder patting yourselves on the back for proving it. I want the winners to remember one thing, while you are writing to prove what you are or are not and working on winning your fancy awards there are people like me working in the shadows to spread the truth. The people like me that are not afraid to tell people the way it is no matter what color of skin they may have. If you are right we will tell you and if you are wrong we will call you on it and if we hurt your feelings, well maybe that’s because the truth hurts and you need to toughen up a little bit.