![\"James](\"http:\/\/www.multiracial.com\/images\/columnists\/landrith-cspan.jpg\")
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The backlash started shortly after the collapse of the towers. Americans of Arab heritage, or should I say people "perceived" to be of Arab or "Middle Eastern" heritage (by bigots, idiots and candidates for laser eye surgery) have been singled out as targets of convenience. I say "perceived" heritage simply because those individuals and groups murdering, harassing and abusing people are doing so based on their "perception" of the "race" of their victim. This "perception", based on an already biologically inaccurate method of measurement isn't always in keeping with commonly held "racial" stereotypes. In other words, many of those harassed and victimized weren't of so-called Arab heritage to begin with, assuming you believe in these arbitrary and inaccurate "racial" classifications in the first place.<\/p>\n
For example, American Sikhs<\/a> have been targeted, even murdered since September 11. "Racially" ambigious American-born "multiracials" have reportedly been questioned by federal agents and in some cases, detained and interrogated for hours based solely on appearance. In another case, mentioned in the Chicago Tribune, another "racially" ambigious individual was even forced off a plane based on the perceptions of individuals who clearly have no business walking and chewing bubblegum, let alone acting in a position of authority over the life of another human being. The individual forced off the plane was a "multiracial" gentleman of nearly every mix EXCEPT Middle Eastern ancestry. A passenger thought he "looked Arab". So did some of the flight attendants. These brain surgeons were wrong. So much for that eyeballing method so popular at the Census Bureau and among one-drop enthusiasts.<\/p>\n When is it going to stop? Why is it happening? It SHOULD stop now, but unfortunately it won't. Americans have been fed a steady diet of "race", "race", and more "race" for far too long. Organizations that used to fight "race"-based thinking now promote it and attempt to marginalize all dissenters. They have even made one of the larger national "multiracial" groups their willing accomplice in this sordid affair. Politically speaking, the party<\/a> long (and falsely) associated with "racial" tolerance turned its collective head when "multiracials" were being targeted by the abusive and powerful traditional civil rights groups during the late 1990's. Those traditional civil rights groups who were (in liberal circles) always expected to stick up for the little guy are now engaged in nasty "racialist" designs intent on keeping America divided and hostage to their agendas of separation.<\/p>\n So, why is this backlash and harassment being levied against those "perceived" to be of Arab heritage? Anger over September 11 is not the root cause, but a symptom instead. Quite simply because those organizations who traditionally fought "race"-based thinking now fear it's abandonment and move on all fronts to continue the "racialist" indoctrination process. They fear "interracial<\/a>" marriage and downplay the role it has had in the transformation of the American population. They fear "transracial<\/a>" adoption. They fear people who think in terms of individuals, instead of arbitrarily-created groups based on 18th century "racialist" nonsense. They fear Charles Byrd<\/a>. They fear Ward Connerly<\/a>. They fear me. And they fear you, if you are among the rising tide of individuals who've begun the process of shedding the group-think mentality.<\/p>\n They've preached that shedding "race"-based thinking in the adoption process is "genocide." They've asserted publicly that shedding the "one-drop" rule will hurt their power base and cannot be allowed. They've fought hard to keep "race" as the dividing line for all Americans. They correctly fight "racial" profiling in law enforcement, yet wail endlessly when "racial" profiling is correctly decried in education<\/a>. They've helped immensely to perpetuate this mindset and now a share of the blood is on their hands.<\/p>\n They are hypocrites of the highest order, and worse yet, they know it. The question is, however, what are we going to do about?<\/p>\n Let us try the following:<\/strong><\/p>\n Publicly criticize "race"-based portrayals of people in media coverage. This goes for ALL people. Demand that people be treated as individuals, not unofficial demographic group representatives.<\/p>\n Demand to know why traditional civil rights organizations and liberal academics speak out against the mindsets of individuals engaging in harassment of those they perceive to be "black" or Hispanic or Asian or whatever, yet remain completely silent when the NAACP, among others, engage in political and legislative campaigns to force "multiracial" Americans into a position of subservience to the wishes of the NAACP and their "racialist" minions.<\/p>\n Demand that they justify why they consider "race" to be all-important in education and employment, yet completely inappropriate in law enforcement and legal proceedings.<\/p>\n Demand that the traditional civil rights groups justify their hostility towards "multiracial" self-identification, since "race" is the underlying theme in all they do. After all, self-identification as "multiracial" would surely make their data more accurate. Demand to know why this data is all-important, yet not important enough to get "right."<\/p>\n Demand to know why dividing people by "race" was completely inappropriate for government consideration in elementary school education in Brown v. Board<\/a>, yet traditional civil rights organizations feel it is the most important consideration in higher education.<\/p>\n "Truth is simple. It's lies that're convoluted." Demand consistency. Demand fairness. Demand an end to "race"-based thinking in general. "Race" is either inappropriate, inaccurate and divisive, or it's appropriate for general policy formation. There is no middle ground to spare on this issue. The enthusiasts of "compromise", "working together" and "getting along" populate the middle ground along with the promoters of backroom deals with the lying NAACP, among others.<\/p>\n Demand the truth, but expect lies, innuendos and back-pedalling.<\/p>\n Then, demand it again. And again.<\/p>\n James Landrith<\/a> is the notorious editor and publisher of The Multiracial Activist and The Abolitionist Examiner, two cyber-rags dedicated to freedom from oppressive racial categorization. Landrith can be reached by email at: editor@multiracial.com<\/a> or at his personal website\/blog<\/a>.<\/em> Copyright © 2002 The Multiracial Activist. All rights reserved.<\/font><\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ambiguity and Bubblegum Idiots by James A. Landrith, Jr. August\/September 2002<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5816,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[21,7],"tags":[102,109],"class_list":["post-171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tma-editorials-by-james-a-landrith-jr","category-tae-articles-and-commentary","tag-james-landrith","tag-the-abolitionist-examiner"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/multiracial.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2001\/08\/Articles-and-Commentary.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p89tuq-2L","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/multiracial.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/multiracial.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/multiracial.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/multiracial.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/multiracial.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/multiracial.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2183,"href":"https:\/\/multiracial.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171\/revisions\/2183"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/multiracial.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/multiracial.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/multiracial.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/multiracial.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Fran Van Cleave (from the short story "Brain Drain")<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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