Say It Ain’t So….

Despite continual protests that it is unfair or untrue that the media and US society has a virulent racist undercurrent, repeated experience tells us that the charge rings true. Consider the recent and ongoing tragedy in Haiti. Tens of thousands of people are already confirmed dead. Hundreds of thousands of people are displaced and without adequate food, water and shelter. It is, by any human standard, a tragedy warranting an international outpouring of assistance.

What is the response of the US mainstream media? Alleged Christian and televangelist Pat Robertson makes a public statement that the Haitian people deserved this calamity because of some “pact with the Devil” made to free the Haitian people from oppression by the French colonizers. Rush Limbaugh, that sage of the GOP limelight, announced that US citizens need not worry about giving aid to the sufferers in Haiti because the US government has already provided some foreign aid to Haiti. And today MSNBC features a “top story” attacking an aid foundation led by Haitian born recording artist Wyclef Jean. Let’s take a closer look, shall we?

Aside from the abject and deplorable ignorance of Robertson regarding some alleged superstition, making an announcement that the people of Haiti deserved such a disastrous fate at a time when calls have gone out for immediate international relief aid is, at best, monstrous. It is insensitive and falls outside the realm of acceptable human behavior. If that is the mindset and the value system of Robertson and his true believers, it is a wonder that the Bible does not shrivel up on his desk or in his pocket. What WOULD Jesus do in response to such human suffering? Would he have turned his back and declared that they victims deserved to suffer? I think not.

Rush Limbaugh may have been on another of his drug induced stupors when he announced that aid was not really needed, in the face of clear and irrefutable evidence of deaths, injuries, hunger and suffering. Rush has never been one to extol the virtues of treating your fellow humans with respect or dignity, but this rant lacks even the appearance of logic or common sense. When actions defy logic, rationality and simple standards of human decency, chances are that we are dealing with bigotry. How else can you reconcile his positions advocating the “rights” of white folks in the Southwest against an “invasion” by brown skinned Mexicans without mentioning white illegal immigrants from Canada and Eastern Europe, this latest pronouncement against Black skinned Haitians and the basic principles of coherent logic. I suggest that it cannot be done by any stretch of sophistry.

The MSNBC story lacks all sense of proportion or relevance. It fails to consider that the entire revenue of the Haitian Foundation set up by Wyclef Jean last year was $1.9 million while a single couple in the US just won a Power ball lottery of $128 million. The need in Haiti will certainly exceed hundreds of millions as schools, hospitals and other basic systems need to be rebuilt. But the lead story is to attack a Haitian for making an attempt to help the people of his birthplace, and indirectly accuse him of tax fraud or the lack of organizational resources to provide effective aid. Step aside and let the white-run big boys agencies provide the aid. A Black man is unfit to help his own people. Those are the messages of the MSNBC story, both in content and decision to lead with the story. No mention is made of the many Haitian American communities, as in Boston, who are banding together to raise and deliver aid and reconnect with relatives in Haiti. No, that story element would have provided balance and focused upon the FACT that aid is needed no matter where it comes from. It would have shown how working class and professional Haitian born US citizens [yes, I did say professionals] are shouldering an effort to help in this human catastrophe. But all that MSNBC can do is denigrate such aid efforts.

Now, what of this "unfounded" charge of racism in the US media?