Prejudice – davidbruceblog #2

David Bruce: Prejudice

• In October 2010, the Al-Zubaydi family came to the United States from Uzbekistan and opened the Babylon Restaurant in downtown Lowell, Massachusetts. However, someone threw a 20-pound building stone through the restaurant’s front window, frightening the family, who wondered if they are victims of a hate crime because the father of the family is from Iraq. To show support for the family, 40 to 50 United States veterans showed up to eat at the restaurant on 10 January 2012. Vietnam veteran Patrick Scanlon, a local coordinator of Veterans for Peace and a man who works with refugees from Iraq, said that after the stone-throwing incident, “I went over and met with them … and they were scared. It had achieved its goal of intimidation and fear.” He added, “Something like that happens, it’s almost like a statement from the society, as far as they’re concerned. And, they don’t know if there’s other rock throwers out there … that are looking to harm them.” A man confessed to throwing the rock. Lowell police Superintendent Kenneth Lavallee said, “Unless this gentleman is lying to us — and I don’t believe that he is — he didn’t even know this restaurant was affiliated with people from Iraq.” Mr. Scanlon is doubtful. He said, “Now you’re caught, are you going to admit that, ‘Yeah, it’s a hate crime’? Why did he pick this one [building], that says ‘Middle Eastern Iraqi food’ on it?” Leyla Al-Zubaydi said about the veterans’ “eat-in”: “It was so awesome, you cannot even imagine. It was an honor for us to have them here and to see that support that they gave us.”

• In the summer of 1938, Germany was already displaying great prejudice toward Jews. A publishing company that was preparing a German translator of J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy novel The Hobbitwrote him to make sure that he had no Jewish ancestry. Mr. Tolkien was not an anti-Semite, so he wrote a flat reply to the publishing company in which he declined to reveal anything of his ancestry. However, he felt that he had an obligation not to do anything to hurt the profits of his publishing company, Allen & Unwin, and so he drafted another reply to the German publishing company: “[…] I regret that I am not clear as what you intend by arisch [Aryan]. I am not of Aryan extraction: that is Indo-Iranian; as far as I am aware none of my ancestors spoke Hindustani, Persian, Gypsy, or any related dialects. But if I am to understand that you are enquiring whether I am of Jewishorigin, I can only reply that I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people.” Mr. Tolkien then sent both replies to Allen & Unwin and let the publishing company choose which reply to send. The publishing company sent the flat refusal to give the German publishing company any information about Mr. Tolkien’s ancestry. A German translation of The Hobbitdid not appear in print until 1957.

• In 1972, Yale University invited many black musicians to its campus in order to raise money for an African-American music department. The invitees included Eubie Blake, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus, Max Roach, Noble Sissle, Willie (the Lion) Smith, and Mary Lou Williams. While Dizzy Gillespie was leading a sextet in a performance, someone called in a bomb threat. The other musicians moved outside to play, but Mr. Mingus declined to do that, saying, “Racism planted that bomb, but racism ain’t strong enough to kill this music. If I’m going to die, I’m ready. But I’m going out playing ‘Sophisticated Lady.’” Outside, Mr. Gillespie and other musicians played Duke Ellington’s “Sophisticated Lady,” but from inside the theater building, whose doors were open, Mr. Mingus played his bass.

• British humorist Israel Zangwill was very capable of wit. An anti-Semite once talked at excessive length during a dinner party about the desirability of the women of the island of Tahiti. Finally, Mr. Zangwill asked him whether he had noticed anything else of interest on the island. The anti-Semite looked down his nose at Mr. Zangwill and replied, “What struck me most of all is that there were no Hebrews and no pigs,” “Is that so?” Mr. Zangwill said, “If you and I go there together, we shall make our fortunes.” By the way, Scottish writer Andrew Lang once wrote him a letter asking him to take part in a benefit. Mr. Zangwill wrote back, “If. A. Lang will, I. Zangwill.”

• Architect Frank Gehry was Jewish, and when he was serving in the US Army from 1954 to 1956, he occasionally ran into anti-Semitism. One Army sergeant called him by the slur “Kikey.” Mr. Gehry complained to his company’s commanding officer, who brushed off his complaint. Later, he complained to some officers he knew at the service club, and one officer told him, “Don’t worry about it. Give me his name.” Mr. Gehry did, and within three days the anti-Semitic sergeant learned that he had been transferred—to Alaska. When the sergeant told Mr. Gehry the news, Mr. Gehry replied, “I’m sure you’ll find lots of kikes up there.”

• Dick Clark loved music, and he loved the people who make music. During the Civil Rights Era, he used to take caravans of music stars through the South. Some of the stars were black, and some of the stars were white. Some venues told Mr. Clark that the white stars could perform there, but that the black stars could not perform there. Whenever that happened, Mr. Clark would cancel the entire concert, and then he and the stars would move on to the next venue.

• John Lewis, an African-American who was active during the Civil Rights Movement, suffered from prejudice while growing up in Pike County, Alabama. He was the son of sharecroppers, and when he went to the library to get a library card, the librarian told him that the library was for white people only. The story has a happy ending. He marched and helped get civil rights for his people, and he was elected to Congress. As an adult author, he went back to that same library for a book signing—and he got a library card.

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David Bruce: Prejudice Stories

Even early in his career, while still in minor-league baseball, African-American Hank Aaron won a lot of games with his bat. However, as all players do, he occasionally messed up, and whether he messed up or not, he often got abuse from racist fans—and sometimes from racist teammates. One game, he booted a ball, a mishap that lost a game for his team. The pitcher for his team said after the game, “You know, you can’t trust a n*gger. When pull comes to tug, they’re going to go in the tank every time.” Jim Andrews, a white player on the team and Hank’s friend, grabbed a bat and hit a locker, then he said, “We got enough aggravation outside. We don’t need it here. I’m just going to say this once and only once: If I ever hear that word in here again, this bat’s going to go across somebody’s skull. I don’t care much what happens to me. It doesn’t happen in here again.” And it never happened again.

Georgia O’Keefe ran into prejudice by creating serious art at a time when many Americans did not think that women could create serious art. At the Art Institute of Chicago, seeing live models shocked her, and at the Art Students League in New York, a male student told her that she ought to be his live model. After all, he said, he was going to be a serious artist and she would end up teaching art to females. Another student painted over her art because she had not painted trees in the Impressionist style. Actually, Ms. O’Keefe did not care how the Impressionists painted trees—she was too busy creating her own style—a style that would make her a world-famous artist.

African-American jazz musician Branford Marsalis has faced racism. As a student in Boston, he and two white friends went into an all-white and very tough neighborhood in South Boston. Some white teenagers with baseball bats saw Branford and didn’t like his color, so they attacked him and his friends. Branford got away and ran for help to a gas station. A really big white man with a chain came to the rescue. He told Branford, “They’re [messing] with you ’cause you’re black, aren’t they? I hate that.” Then the man and his son rescued Branford’s friends. Branford, noting the white man’s help, says, “I can’t really indict the whole neighborhood.”

Barbara Jordan was the first African-American woman in the Texas Senate, where she became famous for her oratory. According to author and syndicated columnist Molly Ivins, people used to bring their racist friends to the Texas Senate when Ms. Jordan was scheduled to talk. The racist friend would be shocked and ask, “Who is that n*gger?” And then the racist friend would be even more shocked as oratory worthy of Abraham Lincoln poured from Ms. Jordan’s lips. For example, she once orated, “My faith in the Con-sti-tu-tion is whole; it is com-plete; it is to-tal.”

When Muhammad Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, won a gold medal at the Olympic Games in Rome in 1960, he wore it all the time, even sleeping with it. (He started sleeping on his back so that the medal wouldn’t cut his chest.) However, even with Olympic gold, he still faced prejudice. In Louisville, Kentucky, he and an African-American friend went to a restaurant. There, they were refused service because of their race, even though Mr. Clay showed the owner of the restaurant his gold medal.

The highly qualified eye specialist Dr. Max Mandelstamm was considered for a professorship at the University of Kiev, but he was rejected solely because he was a Jew. Therefore, he sent the university this letter by messenger: “I respectfully recommend the bearer of this letter to the Chair of Ophthalmology at the university. He is not an eye specialist, but he answers to your requirements. He is a Christian, and he has for years been my dependable furnace-tender.”

In 1942, music researcher Alan Lomax became very aware of prejudice in the South. Mr. Lomax, in a conversation with another white man who happened to be the Sheriff of Tunica County, referred to African-American blues musician Man House as “Mister.” The sheriff was not amused. A little later, Mr. Lomax, who was now suspected of being an “outside agitator,” was informed that it would be a very good idea for him to leave Tunica County. He did.

When poet Nikki Giovanni was young, much segregation existed in the United States. She eagerly awaited the coming of the Disney movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarves to Knoxville, Tennessee, but she was disappointed when it arrived first at the whites-only movie theater. She and other children with her skin color had to wait for it to come to the blacks-only theater before they could see it.

As an African-American, Ralph Bunche suffered from prejudice while living in Washington D.C. For example, when the family pet died, the Bunche family went to a pet cemetery, but they were told that the pets of African-Americans had to be buried separately from the pets of white Americans. In 1950, Mr. Bunche became the first African-American to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

After the United States Supreme Court ruled that segregation of the Montgomery, Alabama, buses was illegal, not everyone was happy with the decision. A group of Ku Klux Klansmen rode through a black neighborhood, but instead of cowering inside their houses, the blacks came out on their porches and waved to the Klansmen. The Klansmen quickly left the black neighborhood.

African-American author James Baldwin was a victim of prejudice as he was growing up in New York City. When he was 13, he crossed the street to get to a public library on 42nd Street. A white police officer saw him and told him, “Why don’t you n*ggers stay uptown where you belong?”

Pittsburgh Pirate (and Baseball Hall of Famer) Roberto Clemente sometimes felt that he was being discriminated against in southern cities. When that happened, he would tell the clerk his identity, watch as the prejudice turned into awe and compliments, then leave.

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David Bruce: Prejudice Anecdotes

Civil_Rights_March_on_Washington,_D.C._Former_National_Baseball_League_player,_Jackie_Robinson_with_his_son.,_08_28_1963

Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. Former National Baseball League player, Jackie Robinson with his son., 08 28 1963

Source of Public Domain Photograph: By U.S. Information Agency. Press and Publications Service. (ca. 1953 – ca. 1978), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10525088

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When Branch Rickey, the general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, set about choosing a black baseball player to integrate the major leagues, he knew that he needed a tough player who could perform well under pressure — both as a player and as a man. He talked to Jackie Robinson and explained that he would have to ignore racists for three years, but after that time, he could act as he pleased. Before the three years had passed, however, a fight with a racist would set integration back because Mr. Robinson would be blamed for the fight. To test Mr. Robinson, Mr. Rickey called him racist names for three straight hours. Mr. Robinson asked, “Mr. Rickey, are you looking for a Negro who is afraid to fight back?” Mr. Rickey replied, “I’m looking for a ballplayer with guts enough not to fight back.” Mr. Robinson integrated major league baseball, and he avoided fights for the necessary three years.

When track star Jesse Owens attended Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, in the 1930s, of the school’s 14,000 students, only about 100 were African-American. Because he was black, he was not allowed to live on-campus; instead, he and the other African-American students lived in an off-campus boarding house. According to Mr. Owens’ teammate, Charles Beetham, many restaurants and theaters in Columbus would not serve blacks. While traveling to compete, Mr. Owens had to eat in his room, as the hotel would not serve him in its coffee shop or restaurant. In addition, he could not compete in the South because blacks were not allowed to compete against whites there.

For a while, architect Julia Morgan worked for John Galen Howard, but she was determined to leave his employ and open her own office, especially after she learned that Mr. Howard was telling people that she was a wonderful architect and he had to pay her nearly nothing — because she was a woman. After she quit, he became her enemy, and for 25 years he kept her from getting commissions to design buildings at the University of California, of whose building project he was the supervising architect. In her 47-year career, Ms. Morgan found work anyway, and her name is on over 700 buildings.

In 1931, 17-year-old Jackie Mitchell became the first woman to sign with a men’s professional team when she joined the minor-league Chattanooga Lookouts. In early April of 1931, she pitched in an exhibition game against the New York Yankees and struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, both of whom are now in the Baseball Hall of Fame. After the game, the baseball commissioner cancelled her contract because he didn’t think women ought to be allowed to play professional baseball.

When Muriel W., a lesbian, was in high school, her first close friend was a girl named Millie. Once, Millie was missing for a couple of days, and Muriel discovered that she was absent from school because of a Jewish holiday. Muriel had not realized that Millie was Jewish before, and that got her thinking about all the things that ignorant people say about people of other races, religions, or creeds. She felt that Millie was just like her, with many ideas in common, so she lost her prejudice fast.

Many people fear AIDS. Carmine Buete was a 10-year-old boy suffering from AIDS who lived with his grandmother near New Year City. After some of the friends of his grandmother discovered that he had AIDS, they refused to talk to her anymore. Because of that experience, Carmine and his grandmother soon learned not to tell many people that he had AIDS. Before he died, one of Carmine’s favorite toys was an E.T. doll that made him feel better when he was ill.

Blues singer William “Big Bill” Lee Conley Broonzy was born during the days of Jim Crow, and all of his family suffered from prejudice. His grandmother was a mulatto, and when she married a black man, her family wanted nothing to do with her. When Big Bill was a boy, he used to walk her to church, but he couldn’t go inside because his skin wasn’t light enough. Instead, he waited outside for church to end, and then he walked his grandmother home.

Golfer Tiger Woods is one-quarter black, one-quarter Thai, one-quarter Chinese, one-eighth Native American, and one-eighth Caucasian. Because he is a member of several minorities, he received a death threat when he played in his first professional tournament. When he won the 1997 Master’s Tournament, no other player had — or needed — security guards, but Tiger was under the protection of six security guards.

People with mentally retardation are sometimes victims of prejudice. Louise Fish, who lives in Minnesota, became mentally retarded as a result of having meningitis as a baby. At school, other students sometimes hit her or pulled her hair, but she wouldn’t cry until she got home. Some people, including her brother Matt, stood up for her. When people made fun of Leslie, Matt would explain why she was different.

In 1993, Marion Phillips participated in a panel discussion that included women who were among the first women to become lawyers. Marion Phillips said that after she graduated and got a job as a lawyer, she tried to make herself less attractive so she would fit in better. It didn’t work — the men she worked with all called her “Girlie” or “Sweetheart.”

A homophobe once said to lesbian comedian Judy Carter, “All homosexuals are going to hell.” She replied, “If there aren’t going to be gays in heaven, I’d like to know where you are going to get your hair done. Heaven is going to be one bad hair day after the next!”

When Martin Luther King, Jr, was a child, he was in a car when his father was pulled over by a police officer, who said, “All right, boy….” Before the police officer could say anything else, King, Sr., said, “I’m no boy.” He then pointed to his son and said, “This is a boy. I am a man.”

Albert Asriyan was an Armenian songwriter whose songs were heard often on television in the Soviet Union. However, because of prejudice against the Armenians, Mr. Asriyan’s name sometimes did not appear on the credits of the television programs featuring his music.

A rabbi asked a black teenager if he was Jewish. The teenager replied, “Haven’t I got enough trouble just being black?”

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NOTE: Anecdotes are not always funny. They can simply be short, interesting stories.

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