“Racist” Is a Convenient Marketing Tool And, employed with great alacrity, even in Chestertown.
There is no meaner word spoken in our society’s current evolution than “racist.” To say or call-out an activity, an organization or a person as racist always elicits responses driven by feelings of remorse, anger, fear. All of these emotional responses are extremely effective marketing tools for bullies. The inferences from the public solicitation for signatures on a document entitled White Allies Pledge is degrading for any who know discrimination, have felt the violence that follows racial conflict, and forever carry a wariness of individuals whose agendas of equity is a front for their own self- promotion.
Thank you, John Queen (Bayside Hoyas President and BlackUnion of Kent County Chairman), for your Facebook testimony in April 2021. Your description is more eloquent than I can write.
It has been my experience that when a white self-appointed leader engages in a black cause calling out another white individual or groups of individuals as racists, it is usually for the benefit of their agenda of self-aggrandizement or monetary benefit.
I hope others find reassurance our collective communities have more solidarity than what they dare to hope. As long as we all work together for the steady support of education, respect, inclusive community and county involvement, we should not need “leaders” soliciting signatures and speaking on the behalf of others.
Included below is a nice article written by Peter G. Prontzos and published in the Scientific American on May 14, 2019. This is historical truth and some of the self-appointed leaders should revisit their eighth grade history lessons.
C.L. Kemp
Kent County Republican Central Committee
Cheryl S. Hoopes says
“Race is the child of racism, not the father, and has never been a matter of genealogy and physiognomy so much as one of hierarchy.” (Ta Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me).
Yes, the point of the Scientific American article is true. But we must be careful. This is shaky ground. Semantics can obfuscate the real bottom line.
Racism IS real. It is pervasive. We must look at it “in the eyes,” and not dance all around it, calling it something else, to try to divert attention elsewhere. It is not a “marketing tool,” but a plea. It is history. It is our heritage. I wish it were not, but it has been alive and well here, and elsewhere, for a very long time.
Your admonition to “work together” is laudable; that is exactly what is needed. However, denying and diverting discussion and attacking the character of those who are trying to make a difference is not the way to go about it. “An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest….’Master,’ said John, ‘we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.’ ‘Do not stop him,’ Jesus said, ‘for whoever is not against you is for you.'” (Luke 9: 46, 49-50.)
Only God can change hearts, but each of us has our part, too. Enough of trying to figure out who’s doing it better, and of calling one another names. Let’s be “quick to listen, slow to speak,” and ready to roll up our sleeves to get the job done. Together.
C. L. Kemp says
Thank you for your kind, genuine reply, Ms. Hoopes. I appreciate the context of your comments. Please understand I attack no one’s character. Question their motives? Yes. My lot is not to judge, but I comment on what I see. Unlike your genuine belief, there are those among us who would use the “plea” as a marketing tool.
Ta Nehisi Coates’s “visceral experience of racism” has been experienced by me – the sting of glass thrown in my face and witness to the massive conflagration of my family’s storage buildings from angry persons who judged my father’s decisions based on equality and racial justice.
Your advice “quick to listen, slow to speak,” was a constant admonition in my childhood. I have gotten so much better, but still a work in progress. I am always ready to work for the betterment of the community and the opening of minds. My comments are my humble effort to be a “conscious citizen of this terrible and beautiful world.” (Ta Nehisi Coates. Between the World and Me.)
Ron Jordan says
Thank you Mr.Kemp, for showing all that choose to read the article about the construct of race which is a scientific construct. A construct that has been with black folks since our ancestors were introduced to this nascent country in 1619. You are taken back by those whose agenda you feel is for bringing their station up or for monetary enrichment. As you say about these leaders should go back to their 8 grade history lessons, which by the way discounted black history during those years. If you are so appalled at white leaders that take on black causes, how is why that BLM and George Floyd’s murder brought protests all over the globe, many by white people who didn’t find any monetary reward or a benefit of self aggrandizement, who were beaten in the streets here in America and around the world by the police. Mr/Ms Ke, were you involved with the movement here in Chestertown for BLM and Chestertonians against racism, I doubt not. I am able to listen better and understand more fully from a black brother or sister, they can to say me unfiltered what I may need to hear. What I am hearing from you, whining about being told by someone from your community that we live in a racist society, well that was in my 8th grade history lesson in Berkeley California, oh, maybe in Berkeley we had a different 8 grade history lesson, not the one you read. Take the lesson and hear what those in your community have to tell you, don’t shoot the messenger, read the got damn message. Your political party for which you represents doesn’t have a leg to stand on these last 4 years, maybe if you all go back to the principles of the party, “small government” and capitalism you might have more people come to your side of the aisle. The Republicans, those that stand for the party of Lincoln and those that have been standing for a fascists liar are the ones that need to hear the truth from someone other than I, a black man living in Kent County. If you can’t hear from either party trying to tell you something, then your party and your stance on race and racism has definitely push the notion of Democracy out the door by standing for the insurrectionists on Jan.6th, which you did see, didn’t you.
James Dissette says
By way of correction, we inadvertently clipped the author’s name. It is C. L. Kemp.
C. L. Kemp says
Good Afternoon, Mr. Jordan! I see you still speak with “fire in your belly” and righteous anger in your soul from the early 1970s. It has been a long time since I walked this path, had this argument regarding “social construct,” not so scientific, other than the publication in which Prontzos’ article appeared.
You might want to check your 1619 reference as the first Africans settled this country in St. Augustine, FL in the 1500s. Now, there’s the crime that is left from our history books. However, in Somerset County, Maryland, in our bastion of great secondary learning, we were taught about the settlement of Fort Mose after the original Indian moniker as it was a free black settlement. And these heroes worked with the Spanish to establish other settlements. I understand your penchant for the 1619 reference as its current convenience as a project to reframe our U.S. history, but for goodness sakes, if you want to re-frame something, do it correctly. Settling St. Augustine had to be a whole lot harder than Jamestown!
You are correct. I was not involved with BLM in Chestertown. I believe using a movement such as this tends to divide communities, not unite them. All Lives Matter. It is collective unity that should be sought and not a political acronym representing a “movement comprising many views and a broad array of demands centering on criminal justice reform.” Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Lives_Matter
Too divisive.
Mr. Jordan, I do not whine. And the testimony from John Queen is not whining either. He speaks his truth and I appreciate the risk he took making that video statement. He is a hero and a leader.
The last 10 lines of your comment above sound a bit rattled and unglued. I’ll give you a pass on this as you may have been rushed to finish your ideas and your fingers moved faster than your brain. I understand this, but your intent by using the term “got damn message” is offensive to me and anyone who tries to express their truth. Better stay away from using that in the future.
Answering your statement above: The Republican party still stands on the principles of small government, free enterprise, and education. The Republican party is diverse and working hard to translate the constituents’ needs and wants for proper representation.
The January 6th event was much more than what was advertised (not reported) in the media. It was not reported Trump was over 45 minutes late in beginning his speech and the melee at the Capitol had already started. There was no reporting about the mass of individuals dressed in black sweatshirts who ran against the peaceful crowd (children, grandparents), pushing and antagonizing with verbal and written obscenities on the walk to the Capitol. No one reported about the tear-gas that fell on older citizens who literally did not understand what they had walked into at one of the entrances of the Capitol building-original reports said 4 heart attacks. . .
And by the way, you should read Ms. Hoopes’s kind constructive words above and not resort to calling people names or jumping to judgment. It’s not polite nor professional. I forgive you.
A Sister,
C.L.Kemp
Deirdre LaMotte says
Your reply is insulting. Equally insulting is your laughable retelling of January 6. No more smoke and mirrors, GOP,
the nation is on to your un democratic tactics. And, if your not a looney and believe lies, one is not invited to the GOP circus.
Robbi Behr says
Well looky here. Another white guy taking a Black leader’s message and coopting it for political purposes. Why sign as the KCRCC if you are not doing exactly what you claim to be objecting to?
If you were operating in good faith, I would say you made some good points here. There ARE white people who use anti-racism as a way to score political points and pursue their own agenda. And it absolutely CAN been seen as an empty (or threatening) gesture to get people to sign a White Allies Pledge, whatever that is. And that when a white person is yelling racism to other white people for their own benefit, it is disingenuous and self-serving. And when the people in power (whites) are arguing with the other people in power (also whites) without hearing the voices of the people not in power (in this case, Blacks) then we are doing it wrong.
But guess what? Those weren’t your points. Those points were made by John Queen, a leader in the Black community. And in calling out those problems, he was NOT saying that racism isn’t such a big deal. You took his words and you are trying to pretend that his objections to SOME people who are white allies means that racism isn’t real. You even (like a good white person) cite a SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE that says racism isn’t real.
What you do not do is listen to the Black people who are part of this conversation, who have been telling us for hundreds of years that racism IS, in fact, a problem. And even if it is a social construct, it’s one that we’ve all been a part of since at least the beginnings of this country.
If you were a friend to the Black community, we would know it. You are not. You are not opposing “racist” because you think we should be handling racism in Chestertown with more thought or care or concern or listening. You are opposing it because you don’t like white people being called racists.
Instead of writing a half-baked letter to the editor in which you steal a Black man’s words and do exactly the thing that you object to, maybe use your position as part of the Kent County Republican Central Committee to actually figure out what your party can do to accommodate Black voices. Taking down your blatantly racist Facebook group featuring racist Obama memes was a start. Keep going on that track and contact me in 100 years when your enrollment of Black members gets above 0.
C.L. Kemp says
Dear Ms. Behr, I feel your anger and jaundiced reactions to my article are unfounded.
I did not steal anything from Mr. Queen’s video. His clip was sent to me because I had made similar remarks in a meeting. And, there it was: Someone who answered my questions, echoed my thoughts.
And, to correct you, I have been listening to black, brown, tan, and white voices all my life. They have been and still are my teachers, mentors, relatives, friends and neighbors and have made me who I am today. I am a teacher, counselor, and erstwhile biochemist.
As a ‘newbie’ to the Republican Central Committee, I am not aware of any nasty Facebook posts. I did inquire when I read your statement and was told that it was another group, not the Central Committee. I was also informed that the Social Action Committee agreed there was nothing racist about the FB page at the time. Again, this is what was reported to me today. See? I listen and it does not matter to me the color of your skin or eyes.
Also, just because an article appears in a journal with the name Scientific, doesn’t mean it is based on scientific data. If you read the article the point being that “even the Greeks did not recognize race.”
I find it ironic that you call me out as white and male. I am neither.
You know what they say about “assume?”
Have a nice evening,
C.L. Kemp
Robbi Behr says
I’ll gladly admit to being an ass who makes assumptions if you admit that your stance on racism is to make white people feel better about it, not to help black people feel understood. Your sanctimonious dismissal of Mr. Jordan as sounding “rattled and unglued” and “offensive” to you, while prioritizing articles and history books over his lived experience with oppression has shown your hand. I stand corrected: you are not a white man, you just sound like one.