My Fellow Humans....It's Time To Get a Clue

Hello all,

This morning Bob and I woke up, got dressed, and sat at the table with our magical electronic toys to read the news.

And what did we see first thing?

A television news program--one I have watched many times as a Bay Area resident--actually created a graphic claiming that these were the names of the four pilots of the Asiana Airlines flight that crashed last week at San Francisco International Airport.  

Even worse, there was a clip of the anchorwoman reading off these names.

For a while the blame was passed back and forth between KTVU and the NTSB:  "Well, the NTSB representative told us these were the names!"  and "Well, we never verified to KTVU that these were actually the names."  and other childish nonsense.   

(And I'm not even sure using the word "childish" is appropriate here.  It seems rather insulting to children.)

But what really worried me was that it made it onto the air.  Someone created that graphic. Someone typed up the script for what the anchorwoman was going to say.  The anchorwoman clipped on her microphone and scanned her script.  Proofreaders or editors at one point made sure that all the grammar and spelling were spot on...

AND NO ONE CAUGHT ON THAT THESE NAMES WERE OBVIOUSLY INTENDED AS RACIST JOKES???!!!

Really?  REALLY?  Because this kind of racist, tasteless, unfunny and sad excuse for humor is not a new thing.  Not new at all.  This kind of "humor" dates back to before our nation even existed as a nation.  Humor at the expense of Native Americans, enslaved Africans and African-Americans.  At the expense of Chinese railroad workers and Japanese and Japanese-Americans.  Humor at the expense of anyone seen  unequivocally as "the enemy" or as  "the other"--new, unknown, unknowable, and therefore frightening.

And  yes, of course, Americans are by far not the only people  on earth to do  this.  Using humor as a thin veil for hatred  probably goes back, in one form or another, to the very roots of our species.  

But now? 

Now we should know better.

The KTVU reporter who called the NTSB and first heard those names should have known they were fake.  

The editor, or proofreader, or graphics person, or cameraman, someone, anyone at KTVU should have recognized those names as fake and racist  and stopped the presses.

But either no one recognized this for what it was, no one cared, or no one wanted to risk being wrong and looking foolish.

This, my friends, is how hatred and ignorance continues to take root and grow.  

Because people don't know.

Because people don't care.

Because people would rather stay quiet than risk being seen as wrong.

And for those of you who read this and think I'm making the proverbial "mountain out of a molehill" I say this.

I do know better.

I do care.

And I'd rather risk being wrong and looking  foolish than stay quiet and spread hate.

Until next time.