SHAME ON CNN: A
commentary by Susan Graham.
CNN aired a show hosted by Soledad O’Brien Sunday called
“Who is Black in America?” I have been disgusted with the public misunderstanding
of multiracial people on so called news shows in the past, but this one wins
the prize for the absolute worst.
First, let’s not forget that Soledad O’Brien is an
entertainer and not an authority on the news. Her game is simple: ratings. She
does not believe that people get to choose
their own identities. But neither she nor anyone else should ever question someone’s
racial self-identification.
O’Brien’s mother is black and her father is white; her mother
told her not to let anyone tell her she’s not black. So she self identifies as
only black, denying half of her identity. She has that right and that
opportunity. I feel that everyone should clearly have the right and opportunity
to choose to be multiracial, too. But
she has clearly brought her identity into her job this time.
This CNN special tells the story of several multiracial
people who identify only as black, and are coerced into identifying as black to
be on the national news. Some “experts” are thrown in who simply are getting free
publicity for their books or are holding on to their academic jobs by writing
and talking about the advantages of self-identifying as black if you happen to
be unfortunate enough to have been born to parents of different races.
There is a sub-story line to the show about how performing
slam poetry can make a multiracial person black, what they “really” should be.
They are mentored by a “spoken word poet” who helps them realize if they are
multiracial, as he is, they can identify as black, as he does. They proudly
succeed with one woman who says being able to be black is “a weight off my
shoulders—a milestone.”
This show is, in my opinion, the most misguided show in the
CNN “race” series to date. It’s a propaganda piece for every multiracial person
to identify only as black; they should not even have a choice. Ms. O’Brien even
tries to completely nullify multiracial advocacy by stating that you may only choose
one race on the US Census. That statement has been absolutely untrue since the
2000 US Census.
I was almost physically ill when a teacher was showcased for
teaching young children about the brown paper bag test used at the height of
racism in this nation to distinguish whether a person was light enough to enjoy
all those advantages of white people, whatever they might be. For example a
teacher—usually white—could hold a brown paper bag up to a student’s skin and
separate the class into those lighter and those darker than the bag—a kind of
segregation in itself. Those with lighter skin received something better than
those with darker skin. The teacher said, “The more shocking the lesson, the
better.” Is this really the way to teach anti-racism to a seven year old? No.
It’s a way to make white people the enemy, which is really what this show concluded
in its own media kind of way.
The show fully embraces the one-drop rule—if you have one
drop of “black blood,” you are monoracially black—and as evidence, one young
woman is urged by Ms. O’Brien to stop identifying as biracial and become black.
How in the world is this a balanced documentary?! It should not be titled “Who
is Black in America,” but rather “You, too, should be Black in America!”
Only one white father on this very biased show says that his
daughters should have the option of being biracial.
There are plenty of people who will publicly—on the Internet
anyway—applaud Ms. O’Brien for whatever reason and it will give them a chance
to spout more hate against the multiracial movement, Project RACE, and me. I’m
used to it after 23 years of fighting for the rights of multiracial people who
wish to embrace their entire heritage. What is more recent is the new hatred
against white people who are being blamed for what happened so many years ago
and who fostered the civil rights movement.
A certain radio talk show host is a prime example. This was
her recent statement during one of her shows: “Historically white people have
had the resources to help and opinions of people of color were NEVER taken into
account…yes ideas were stolen but opinions were not counted.” NEVER is a pretty
powerful word, especially when capitalized. It’s also a racist comment. I believe
that “people of color” can be just as racist as anyone else. One of her devoted
fans answered, “White people should go teach white people [about racism] cuz
they don’t seem to be listening to me.” Why would anyone of any color(s) listen
to this guy?
I wonder how people would feel if Project RACE stated it is
imperative that only multiracial
people teach about racism, or that the black population has sole responsibility
to erase racism. Every one of every
race, ethnicity, culture, nationality, and religion has a responsibility to
fight racism—not just whites.
It reminds me of when I was a teenager and met and
befriended a foreign exchange student from Germany. Being Jewish, my parents
were openly hostile toward him. Huh? He did
not do horrible things that Germans did to Jews and that occurred before he was
even born. He was not responsible for
wrongs any more than I, as a white woman, was responsible in any way for
slavery or racism.
There seems to be some kind of backlash going on to hold all
white people accountable for racism and to believe that they should be held
responsible for what ALL white people have done forever. I believe that ALL
people choose their own identity and we should all be concerned about passing
down racist ideas to our future generations.
In fact, I have been taking the heat lately from some
anti-multiracial bloggers. They single me out as a white woman who has actually
gotten things done in communities, states, federally, and in the educational
and healthcare systems for multiracial people and then attack me just for being
white. One of their main issues is that since race is a “social and not
biological construct,” we should stop trying to get more medical research done
to find out if multiracial people really do have certain health risks that
other groups do not; in essence, we are put down for trying to help save lives.
It has finally occurred to me that if race really is not a
biological construct in the eyes of those anti-multiracial racists, I should be
willing to meet them halfway. I was born in Detroit—yes, Detroit, the city, not
the suburbs—to a white man and white woman, was raised by a black woman, was married
to a black man for 24 years and had two multiracial children, so I am more
socially multiracial than white. I “get it” enough to finally declare my
identity as multiracial: biologically white and socially black. That should
make them happy. As for CNN and Soledad O’Brien, they can bask in the fact that
they probably did turn some viewers against multiracial people and white people
in a one hour program designed to elevate ratings.
Susan Graham is the
executive director and co-founder of Project RACE (Reclassify All Children
Equally). The views in this commentary are her own and not those of ALL of the
membership of the organization.
