TOXIC SUBTLETIES AS BAD AS CRUDE WORD

During the Civil Rights struggle, it was often suggested the racism found in the north was as toxic as the bigotry that existed down south, but the south was easier to vilify be- cause its oppression was overt while the biases here in the north were more insidious.

It’s hard to disagree. All these years later, racism remains one of the most explosive of all issues, guaranteed to light up the switchboard of any talk show.

Why would that be? Well, for starters, there are those who hear only what they want to hear.

When President Trump made a crude reference to foreign populations, that was fodder for those who’d have you believe he’s a closet redneck.

And yet it played well to those who remember a time when immigration began with passage through Ellis Island, and led to learning our language; no one had to “dial 1 for English” back then. Is that a hateful thought? That’s what some inferred from Trump’s intemperate comment, while others heard a frustration quite like their own.

That’s because good communications aren’t about what you tell people; they’re about what they hear, and too often people, particularly ideologues, hear only what they want to hear.

What did Jesse Jackson really mean by denigrating New York as Hymie-town?

What did former President Barack Obama really mean when he called his grandmother “a typical white person” who got nervous while passing a black man on the street?

Imagine if Trump tried to make a point with an example like that.

When Oprah Winfrey dazzled viewers with that breathtaking speech at the Golden Globes last week, some rushed to declare she was presidential material. Really? Based on what?

We should hand her the keys to the White House because she’s a smooth talker? Think about that.

Satch Sanders, the great Celtic, once went to the home of a literary agent expecting to explore a book, only to discover the agent’s wife had invited the neighbors over to meet her celebrity guest. During a pause in the conversation, she told Satch, “You speak awfully well.”

Later in his car he told his passenger, “No one should ever be surprised by what a black man or woman is capable of; if they are, what are they really saying?”

Oprah’s eloquence didn’t mean she ought to be our commander in chief.

Why? Because she overcame their low expectations.

So, what does that really say, not about Oprah, but about them?

Granted, it’s subtle, but it’s a part of the problem.