Not White Enough

A friend and fellow Raging Granny dropped by to visit me at my home recently. It was only the second time she had been to my house and she wasn't 100% sure that she had the correct address. She pulled over, poked her head out the window and asked two teenage girls if Nel lived here, pointing to my house. One of the girls approached her and in a whisper enquired, "She White?"

My friend, smiling, replied, "Duh!"

You see, I live in the most well known historic black neighborhood in Albuquerque. My friend is Afro-American, nay EBONY! And the girls were also.

I repeat this story because one of the articles I was reading this morning talks about Obama and John McCain in these terms:

It would be splendid if the man could simply just be in the same way as presumptive Republican nominee John McCain. (No one's asking if he's too white or not white enough.) But we have not arrived at that mountaintop yet and so, in the meantime, Obama must serve as symbol and trope. He must represent his multiethnic constituency and he must represent.

(Washington Post: "Plunging into Blackness",by Robin Givhan Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, July 20, 2008) If you don't know the word "trope," look it up...everyone deserves a new word once in awhile!

My very own daughter, while working in Subway in Baltimore, encountered racism in it's most flagrant form. People were confused by the color of her skin: and in Baltimore that's asking for abuse. Some people didn't want her to prepare their sandwiches because she was too white, other's because she was too dark.

Actually, she's half Egyptian, and could be a citizen of most of the world's countries if you were simply to judge by appearances. Now, working at Subway in Albuquerque on the Air Force Base, she has a crew of fellows she calls her "men", who ask for her by name when they order their sandwiches. One of the reasons she likes living here is because people in Albuquerque are less racist than in the "provinces" of Baltimore.

Yup, racism is very much alive in our twisted world -- along with multiple other forms of prejudice. What a great opportunity to fight these undercurrents in the dark belly of the beast this presidential campaign offers!

I have been writing about registering folks to vote, and ACORN in this blog. Yesterday, we received a body blow from the media (another of my favorite whipping boys)."Criminals Signing up Voters" is the title KRQE (Channel 13 here in Albuquerque) assigned to this portion of their news on August 5. (To see the video of this news segment, just click the title.) Our registrars were immediately chastised as we attempted to register voters the following day, and our numbers were down dramatically. This is a pity, since ACORN has registered 60,000 voters here in New Mexico, which is, as I tell people daily, a swing state, where each vote really counts.

One of the issues we encounter every day here in New Mexico is the factionalism that divides poor folks in this country so frequently. Hispanics who don't want blacks to get a "leg up." Now, granted, if I had lived and worked in this country for many years and noted that while blacks who were brought here as slaves were citizens and I wasn't in the club, I would be pissed off myself. Nonetheless poor blacks and Hispanics have more common ground than not, and Acorn is actively encouraging both groups here in New Mexico to participate in the political process.

I may lose my job unless this smear can be effectively countered -- and that's virtually impossible given that people do not have much voice in the media. What follows is my response to this piece of journalism.

Open letter to KRQE, Chief Schultz and anyone else who is concerned about voter registration:


I am outraged by your story about Acorn.

I am a 60 year old disabled individual who has a background clearance from Albuquerque Public Schools, and I resent your implication that I am a baby raper! I also think that you make Acorn sound like a scam organization when this is not the case. Acorn performs many valuable community services, including the most extensive voter registration drive we've seen anywhere this year. 60,000 voters registered in New Mexico is no mean feat. Some two years ago Acorn helped me to prevent a foreclosure on a property I owned in Baltimore. It appears your reporter doesn't know the whole story about this organization.

Chief Schultz also should perhaps investigate the situation more thoroughly before smearing the efforts of this organization. All those FELONS employed by Acorn are referred by their parole officers who are supposed to inform Acorn if applicants present a threat of violence in the community, such as rape or child molestation. Identity theft is a risk in some limited instances, and I suppose it would be in any situation where poor people are actually being allowed to work in the election process, which is why I proudly show my certificate from the Board of Elections when anyone has questions about the security of the information we process. But the risk is exceptionally small...Acorn does not retain employees who don't turn in voter registration cards, and those that are turned in identify the registrar.

If anyone needs to perform additional security checks, it should fall on the Board of Elections, which certifies registrars. They have this capacity, and perform this function as a normal part of eliminating felons from the voter rolls. Acorn is, like many other non-profits, financially strapped, as are most of their employees. A $35 per head security check would likely put a damper on their registration activities.

Acorn sorts out the bad apples rapidly, and they give many an opportunity to participate in the political process who otherwise would not. Poor people don't have the time to volunteer their services to organizations like the League of Women Voters, but some of us, with clean hearts and very positive intentions, are eager to work for systematic change in our world.

One of the most alarming things about our society is that prisons are a growth industry. Unless felons are given a chance to work when they are released, the prison population will simply continue to expand.

Maybe it's just this. Your piece is trying to stop the political action and self-empowerment of poor people, like much of our media, who can't seem to cover many things that people do to try to reach out to the larger population about the problems our society faces with the ever widening gap between the rich (advertisers) and the poor???

I for one, will be watching you! And continuing to work for change.

GrannyNel