this probably won't be pretty

I'm having trouble articulating why, but this commentary from NPR royally pissed me off.

I have no trouble owning my racism. Maybe I got mad because this guy doesn't seem to be aware of his.

I don't believe there is any denying that racism is still and always will be an issue in our culture. And that I am guilty too. I don't believe admitting these things serves an excuse for not addressing racism. Maybe I'm mad because this man so easily succumbs to his own denial (at least he admits that).

Or maybe I'm mad because he spends as much energy generalizing about "white people" as some "white people" spend generalizing about "black people." He says of whites,

"There are just too many of them. And we need them too much."

Please accept my apology for being white. Note that I'm not asking for any apology from you.

Or maybe it was just the way he said what he said. But I'm pissed because I spent this spring and summer working in concert with white and black churches in our town to preach and demonstrate community only to find that people like Bill Bennett and Kanye West and this guy still feel they need to fill the air with thoughtless, racist remarks. I'm pissed!

But I don't know. Maybe I'll feel better about it in the morning.