Our Dungeon Shook

I've been in an earthquake in California, so I knew exactly what was happening when the 5.8 earthquake rocked the East Coast on Tuesday. As I watched the plants in my office sway, I decided that it was a divine sign for me to leave work for the day. And like many other folks, I spent the rest of the day glued to various news report of the quake. We know that the Californians are laughing at us, but for a few seconds the entire East Coast grappled with a potentially life-changing event.

The news coverage that brought tears to my eyes came out of Washington, DC and New York City. Many of the people interviewed were actually relieved to find out that the tremor was an earthquake; with the date so close to the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, an earthquake was a welcome surprise compared to the alternatives. But that did not prevent the emotion I felt watching skyscrapers in New York being evacuated, once again, and the looks of confusion, joy, and shock on people's faces as they checked in with family and friends.

So I was deeply disappointed when I picked up Wednesday's edition of the New York Times, expecting to see some of this emotional complexity, and instead was greeted with a tired racial stereotype: an African American man, handcuffed, being led out of court. Of all the images that could have been chosen for the print edition of this paper, an image frozen in time and meant to capture the reactions of New Yorkers to the earthquake, this is the image chosen? The online version of the New York Times contains a gallery of images - debris in the street; emptied buildings; even babies being evacuated from federal day care centers. But the paper version of the paper in the New York City area manages to play on a continuing racial myth: the fear of a black male criminal.

Why does this matter? What harm comes from these racial stereotypes? And this week has seen a plethora of racist images, including the Nivea advertisement for a black man to "re-civilize" himself and Italian Vogue's clueless and vague apology for their "slave earrings" advertisements. It would be easy to dismiss any or all of these images as well-intentioned, but regrettable mistakes. But I need to call these racist acts out for what they really are: a continuing assault on the humanity and dignity of people of African descent.

It matters...when the only images you see of black men are of their participation in some aspect of the penal system. If makes it that much easier, especially if you are a Pennsylvania judge, to send African American children to prison and accept cash from the private industrial prison complex for every child that you sentence. After all, the images on television and in print, seem to confirm the inherent criminality of black folks.

It matters...when companies want to use the history of slavery for their economic gain, with utter disrespect and disregard for the real men and women who were in bondage. Wanting to capitalize on being "politically incorrect," and post-racial, these companies are simply politically and historically ignorant.

It matters....when the president of your country is African American and he (and his family) are subject to vicious racist attacks, against which he cannot even defend himself, for fear of being labeled an "angry black man." So assaults against the hair, bodies, and clothing of two school-aged black girls become satire for an entire nation...and school yard taunts for less famous little black girls struggling to love their hair and their bodies.

In a letter to his nephew written in the 1960's, James Baldwin outlines our country's depressing racial history, but manages to offer a bit of hope: a promise that even in the sea of racist despair, there is hope. And yet this week, the dungeon of the entire Eastern seaboard shook, but our racist chains, once again, failed to fall off.

© Yolanda Pierce