A reality check

Pardon me, but this column

is not funny. (Intentionally so, as I do realize some, maybe lots, of

my columns wind up not being funny.) After spending my life hearing everybody

else's opinions on racism and such, now it's my turn.

Racism as depicted in every

form and feature in the super media (TV, print magazines, large city newspapers)

is incorrect. Race relations are not "bad" in this country.

When it comes to race relations, we need to do better. When it comes to

race relations, we must and can improve. Yet, by comparison, our current

racial climate in the United States wins hands down over every other situation,

whether by time or geography. I will explain that a little later.

First, the depiction of racism

in our country is most times inaccurate, all times exaggerated and many

times, just plain fabricated; all for effect, all for money. We have to

remember 21st century super news is not about information, it's about

commerce; selling advertising space, getting good ratings, doing anything

to have people tune in or read. Thus, only the extreme, the hyperbolic

situations, will ever be publicized.

You only hear about rottweilers

if they maul a child, and you only hear about interracial interactions

if there is a persecutor and a victim. That is simply the nature of reporting

today, sadly so. But, that's not the norm. That's not the majority.

With that said, and before

I am accused of being either naive, ignorant, or both, here is my point.

Compared to any other time in our nation's history, racism is at an all-time

low. And compared to any other place in the world, racism within our borders

is the least severe. We can be better and we will, but it's not as bad

as we're being "told."

Most people, when arguing (and

inciting) concerning racism, point to our nation's history as proof of

prejudice. When in fact, racism from our past should really be used to

show how much we have improved. We have come a long way. We are not good

yet, we can do more. But we used to be very, very bad and we have gotten

better. Using our past history as a gauge of today's racism is like trying

to make a man wear his sixth grade school clothes and when they don't

fit, telling him he is fat.

People have grown a lot over

the past decades. Look how people used to treat Muhammad Ali; look what

Mike Tyson gets away with now. Mixed race couples used to enter a room

to the sound of silence and gasps. Now they are only noticed by extreme

ignorants (the same people who make the news).

Also, when we look around the

world, our conflicts between the races is slight by comparison. In so

many other places the violence is horrific. The bitterness is displayed

through knives and guns and bombs. Yet, in our country if a lawsuit is

filed against Coca Cola, they blast the headlines like Lincoln has just

declared war between the states. The super news, like nature, abhors a

vacuum. In Israel they stand next to bloodstained sheets, wrapping their

fallen children, while we engage in yearlong debates on the "N"

word.

I am sorry, I just don't see

it. Everywhere I go, whatever race I see, smiles are met with smiles,

courtesy is met with courtesy. I see hundreds, thousands, interact every

day and I am proud of the way people are better than they were 20 years

ago, 40 years ago. You don't see Tom Brokaw talking about that.

I know I will be called a racist

for even broaching this subject, that I am in denial, that I am just pretending

racism doesn't exist to soothe my bad conscience. Well, I am sorry, I

don't have a bad conscience. I am not going to feel guilty about a sad

time in a sad part of our history that I never was involved in creating,

nor perpetuating.

It's time to live in the now.

And now times are pretty good. We will always need to improve in the treatment

of our fellow citizens. We do need to continually improve. But quit telling

me it is so bad just to make a buck.

[Contact Billy Murphy via

e-mail: [email protected].]