Monday, April 21, 2008

www.whiteville.com

By JEFFERSON WEAVER
Staff Writer

I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, a member of the political correctness movement. I believe a spade is a spade, though some knee-jerk reactionaries are offended by the word “spade,” even when it refers to a digging utensil. I have no bones about sometimes stepping on people’s toes, but I know the difference between frank statements and meanness.

What Bob Dumas said on April 1 wasn’t frank, and it was more than just mean – it was dumb.

Dumas has a radio show on a station in Raleigh; in the past he’s said some rude and tasteless things, like needlessly insulting an American Idol winner, and suggesting motorists play “bicycle polo” (just days after a bicyclist was run down in the Triangle area).

Disclaimer: I am not defending American Idol. My faithful readers know how I feel about that program. Still, it was quite an accomplishment for Fantasia Barrino to win the competition, and I know she worked hard to do so. Lazy, the young woman ain’t.

Second disclaimer: I have no plans to join the ranks of the hundreds of bicyclists who clog the roads around my house several times a year. I don’t understand competition bicyclists; they aggravate my dogs, and I do wish they’d go to church with us on Sunday if they’re going to borrow our church parking lot on Sunday morning. But I would never suggest chasing them down with an automobile.

Anyway, Dumas was teasing one of his interns on April 1 when he discovered she was marrying a Lumbee Indian. What followed wasn’t the worst series of racial jokes I’ve ever heard, but it was enough that I had to shake my head and turn off the recording.

I had a conversation about the Dumas debacle last week with Brenda Moore from the Waccamaw Siouan tribe. Like most folks I’ve met with the tribe, Miss Brenda is polite, thoughtful, and “just plain nice people,” as Coharie tribe Chief Dob Brewington put it years ago.

The chief was a friend of my father’s, and they worked together on several different projects through the years. They made mutual jokes about Indians and white folks, and neither hurt the other’s feelings. Just as I joke about “black people” with an African-American friend of mine, and he jokes in return about “white Southerners,” people can tell when something is meant as banter, and when something is meant to be hurtful.

But the things that Dumas said were uncalled for – and that’s coming from a freedom of speech advocate who tends to get louder than most. You have every right to say what you want, how you want to say it, in my opinion – but you better be ready for a punch in the nose (or at least, in my case, a wall decorated with letters ranging from profanity-laced diatribes to near death threats). A more polite version of that same saying might be say what you want, but be prepared for the consequences.

I don’t think Dumas or his employers were ready for the reaction, but I was glad to see Indian people across the state raising Cain about his thoughtless remarks.

I despise Dumas’ behavior, but I have the utmost admiration for the way the Waccamaw people have handled the situation. They sent a delegation to Raleigh to join the protest, but I have yet to hear a member of the Waccamaw people respond in kind to Dumas’ remarks. Nor, to my knowledge, have they joined in the more hysterical harangue against Dumas and the network which employs him.

In my opinion, some of the things said by a few of the state’s tribal leaders prove that politicians come in all races, colors, and creeds, and no matter the color, a politician who knows he can stir up a crowd with demands for financial reparations knows how to gather votes come Election Day.

But Miss Brenda and her neighbors, family and friends have not joined that call. They made their feelings known, and seem more interested in solving the problem and stopping intolerant language than converting a racial slur into a paycheck.

I admire them for this attitude, since it shows a true willingness to identify and eliminate a problem.

I learned a lot from my conversation with Miss Brenda; at some point in my life I may have heard the term “swirl” or “milkshake” when it referred to a person, but I don’t remember when. It was just the other day I learned those terms are as hurtful as the word “nigger” when used toward a person of African descent.

Miss Brenda sounded embarrassed when she explained those two terms to me. She talked about how the Waccamaw people are proud to be a part of the community at large, regardless of whose skin is what color – and what’s more, I could tell she meant what she said.

“It’s not just about calling people names,” she said. “It’s about attitudes and the way we feel to toward each other. ...We’re all people, we all have value, and there’s no reason for anyone to run anybody else down.”

Her words were hauntingly similar to a lecture delivered to a bunch of out of control teenagers – of whom I was one – who for some strange reason used a more common racial epithet. We didn’t mean anything by it – two of our running buddies were black – but the simple fact that we used the term meant a tongue-lashing and that we had to apologize.

Kids will be kids, and if we as adults don’t give them a better example, then things will get even worse.

It seems to me that Dumas has had enough chances to prove he’s an idiot. Maybe his employers will can him, maybe not – shock jocks tend to get big ratings, so his racial rant may have even gotten him a promotion. In fact, I saw over the weekend where radio stations try to keep controversial announcers, even when they’re obvious bigots, because people tune in to hear what they hate, and that makes money.

Dumas said he didn’t mean anything personally with his remarks, that they were just playful banter.
However, I think if Dumas spent a little more time with some of those folks Chief Dob called “Just plain nice people,” he might realize that there’s a world of difference between friendly banter and just plain rude behavior.