Rats: Big Profits Flow from the Worst Injustice

"But as we look for splinters in the eyes of slave traders of the past, are we perhaps overlooking beams in our own eyes? Is it possible that today we are equally disconnected from an understanding of the suffering we bring to the whole of God's creation? Behind what euphemisms do we hide the modern equivalent of the slave trade, our oppression of the Earth?" -- Lisa L. Gould

BRIGADIER-GENERAL SAMUEL R. CURTIS, of Iowa, 

Yesterday I mentioned how Bruce Levenson, controlling owner of the Atlanta Hawks, was willing to discourage the majority (in this case, an African American majority) of his fans from showing up to games for the purpose of making the minority (in this case, a European American minority) of his fans more comfortable. While perhaps not a racist himself, he guessed that European American Hawks fans were not fully comfortable attending Hawks games as a minority. So he sought to make them the majority -- a much more comfortable thing for most people -- most people are most comfortable hanging out with people with similar ancestral heritage. So after making business changes that reduced the 70% majority of African Americans in attendance to 40%, he was still concerned that European American fans would not be comfortable. So he sought to further increase the percentage of European American fans attending Hawks games, thereby further reducing the percentage of African American fans attending Hawks games, by switching out African American cheerleaders for European American cheerleaders, guiding the kiss cam toward European American fans in the stands, and increasing the number of European American fans invited onto the court to shoot hoops during breaks in the game. Oh. And he discouraged rap and gospel music in the arena in favor of music that fifty-something European Americans would be familiar with. In my post yesterday, I mentioned that this is white privilege. And I mentioned that he was just looking out for his bottom line.

In the case of Levenson's Atlanta Hawks, we're not just talking about basketball games, who goes to the arena and who stays home. We're talking about who gets hired as a cheerleader and who does not, and who feels welcomed and valued by the Atlanta Hawks franchise and who does not. For the sake of profits.

But what if we were talking about who gets locked in solitary confinement and who does not? Who gets stabbed in prison, has his finger amputated, and then gets gangrene? And who does not. Who goes blind in prison after getting no treatment for glaucoma? And who does not. Who has rats crawling over him at night? And who does not. For the sake of profits.

Today, on A Woolman's Journey, that's what we're talking about. We're talking about who loses their freedom and their finger and their eye sight and their chance at a better life. Who gets to care for their children and who does not.

Getting a job because of racism is one thing: Most European Americans do it without even realizing it. You apply for a job. You interview. You do your best. If you do well enough you get the job. You have no way of knowing who didn't get the job and why they didn't get the job. You can easily assume that you were the best candidate. But you can easily assume wrongly.

Going along with racism for the sake of profits, as Levenson did, is another thing: Many European Americans do it without giving it too much thought. It might cause some discomfort, but what to do? The alternative is not attractive in terms of a future of financial security. Our culture says, take care of family first. Sometimes it means finding plausible reasons for denying the good stuff to African Americans. It's a gut feeling, maybe. You can easily assume that your instincts are just really good. But you can easily assume wrongly.

But just as there are always unscrupulous dictators and wall street financiers and mafiosos in the world, there are always slave traders. Well they used to be slave traders. Today, incarceration is their trade. They run for-profit prisons. They profit not by selling free people into slavery. They profit by incarcerating people. For as long as possible. For as much profit as possible. Some of those unlucky prisoners are European Americans! And most are not. Most are native Americans, African Americans and other non-European immigrants.

If you can stomach it, read about Dockery, et al., v Epps, et al., the Southern Poverty Law Center's lawsuit against an East Mississippi, for-profit, correctional facility:

http://www.splcenter.org/get%20informed/case%20docket/Dockery-v-epps

Thank you to Execution of a Slave Trader for the image of General Curtis. (I don't advocate for execution of anyone, though, for the record.)

On White Privilege: Oftentimes the Truth is Offensive

"But it was not just slave traders or planters who benefitted from the slave trade." -- John Woolman

I'm not much of a sports fan unless we're talking about my daughter's softball team. I'm also not very business minded. But reading this email written by Bruce Levenson, controlling owner of the Atlanta Hawks, it's clear what's going on. Bruce Levenson is just trying to make money, and the racist tendencies of too many European Americans is messing with his bottom line.

This is the real bottom line, though: White privilege means that the preferences of European Americans are served before the preferences of African Americans even when African Americans are in the majority.  And that means more European American cheerleaders for the Atlanta Hawks. Read on, and you will understand.

Bruce Levenson believed that season ticket sales were in a slump because European Americans feel unsafe and uncomfortable when they are outnumbered by African Americans. About 70% of fans in attendance, he estimates, were African American until he instituted changes (including reducing the number of African American cheerleaders) to get that number down to about 40%:

My theory is that the black crowd scared away the whites and there are simply not enough affluent black fans to build a signficant season ticket base. Please dont get me wrong. There was nothing threatening going on in the arean back then. i never felt uncomfortable, but i think southern whites simply were not comfortable being in an arena or at a bar where they were in the minority. On fan sites i would read comments about how dangerous it is around philips yet in our 9 years, i don’t know of a mugging or even a pick pocket incident. This was just racist garbage. When I hear some people saying the arena is in the wrong place I think it is code for there are too many blacks at the games.

I have been open with our executive team about these concerns. I have told them I want some white cheerleaders and while i don’t care what the color of the artist is, i want the music to be music familiar to a 40 year old white guy if that’s our season tixs demo. i have also balked when every fan picked out of crowd to shoot shots in some time out contest is black. I have even bitched that the kiss cam is too black.

Gradually things have changed. My unscientific guess is that our crowd is 40 pct black now, still four to five times all other teams. And my further guess is that 40 pct still feels like 70 pet to some whites at our games. Our bars are still overwhelmingly black.

According to the 2010 census, African Americans were 54% of the population in that year, while European Americans were 33.3%. But Levenson seems to presume that his bottom line would improve if African American representation a Hawks games was more in line with DC's Washington Wizards:

Then i start looking around at other arenas. It is completely different. Even DC with its affluent black community never has more than 15 pct black audience.

DC, according to the 2010 census, was 50.7% African American and 38.5% European American. Levenson wondered why there are so many more African Americans at games in Atlanta, making European Americans uncomfortable by their very presence? A problem to be solved. By catering to the preferences of European Americans.

Again, Bruce Levenson was just trying to make money, and the racist tendencies of too many European Americans was making it hard. The solution? Shift the balance of offerings to better suit European Americans even though 70% of the fans at games are African American. Apparently, this is how an astute businessperson deals with racism: Encourage African Americans to take their money elsewhere by pointing the kiss cam (and every other cam) at European Americans during games and hiring more European American cheerleaders. Because European Americans prefer it. And even if Europeans make up only 30% of the attendees, their preferences are primary. It's about the bottom line.

But Levenson really blew it. In the interest of selling the fiction that this is post-racial America, business people are not supposed to clearly articulate their concerns about the negative effects of racism on their bottom line. Plausible deniability is the name of the game. Levenson broke  the plausible deniability rule, and as a consequence, he surrendered his franchise.

Oftentimes the truth is offensive.

When Justice is Just a Fancy Napkin: Watch it Unfold

The story of the rest of Woolman's life is but a repetition of his travels and labors in behalf of abolition. He travelled extensively, beheld the deplorable conditions attending slavery, and preached to Friends his only sermon, that "Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto them." -- See source description below.

First, let me review some of the important points related to racial injustice from previous posts:

We often see three key tendencies in people who have racial privilege when they are faced with racial injustice:

• Blame the culture/religion of the criminal if the criminal is of non-European origin.
• Blame the culture/religion of the victim if the victim is of non-European origin.
• Look for spokespeople to explain/defend the non-European culture/religion.

When a person of apparent African ancestry is the victim of injustice by an authority figure of apparent European ancestry, news coverage typically reports irrelevant details about the character of the victim, which leads many viewers/listeners to falsely believe that information about the character of the victim is relevant. 

A recent Stanford study showed that priming European American subjects with information about racial disparities in prisons may cause them to increase their support for the justice system as it is rather than decrease their support. My guess is that European Americans falsely attribute evidence of racial disparities in prisons to greater illegal activity by African Americans and other American minorities. But, the disparity begins with us...

As the 20/20 What Would You Do video demonstrates, European Americans are more likely (many, many times more likely) to report African American men to police than men of apparent European ancestry even if the African American men are committing no crime (resting in a car, for example). And that means...

African Americans are much more likely (many, many times more likely) to be stopped and questioned by police, even if they are committing no crime (for example, legally distributing voting rights information). And that means...

African Americans are much more likely (many, many times more likely) to be arrested. And that means...
African Americans are much more likely (many, many times more likely) to go to prison. And that means...

African Americans are much more likely (many, many times more likely) to have an arrest record that interferes with securing a job, housing, and even voting rights.

And that is how the fancy napkin of justice unfolds onto the privileged lap. 

Let's be real: African Americans are routinely denied liberty in the United States, which puts the purported key values of this country into question: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed;"

Now, with all of this in mind, please read the text of this email that I received today from Color of Change. 

********

“It’s not real.” 1
Those were three of the last words John Crawford III uttered before he was shot dead by police while shopping at a Beaver Creek, Ohio Walmart. Police were called to the store by another customer who described a “Black male about 6 feet tall” waving a gun. 2 Crawford was actually leaning on a toy pellet gun — barrel pointed down — which he had picked up from one of the store’s shelves.
Misinformation is flying around Ohio about what happened that day. Adding fuel to the fire, local news has begun the now all-too-familiar attacks on John Crawford’s character. 3 Few in the press seem interested in finding out why another young Black man was racially-profiled and killed by the police. Walmart has an opportunity to set the record straight but is ignoring the family’s request to release the tapes, allowing the police to define the narrative and aiding the officers in evading prosecution.
Walmart is standing between John Crawford’s family and the answers they deserve. Walmart should release the tapes not just because it would help guarantee justice for John Crawford but so that shoppers and workers can feel safe walking the aisles of its stores.
Demand Walmart release surveillance footage publicly to ensure justice for John Crawford III.

Ohio is an "open-carry" state, which means individuals can carry firearms in many public places (including stores) without a permit. Even if the replica pellet gun Crawford picked up from the store's shelves were real, he had committed no crime simply by carrying it. Yet in a culture that perceives young Black men as violent, he was viewed by the police — and at least one customer — as a threat.4
Attorney General Mike Dewine has selectively released audio and video to stack the deck in favor of the police and harm the chance of John Crawford’s family getting justice. 5 Thanks to pressure from local groups like the Ohio Students’ Association and others, the Attorney General did screen a selected portion of the footage for John Crawford’s father and the family’s attorney, Michael Wright. What they saw shows John Crawford talking on the phone, no other customers reacting to him and then the police arrive and shoot him “on sight.” 6 According to Wright, nothing in Ohio law prevents Walmart from releasing footage publicly but they continue to refuse.
Walmart thinks that by hiding these tapes they can avoid a conversation about their responsibility for the safety of customers and workers in their stores: they're wrong. Walmart owes John Crawford's family, Walmart workers and future shoppers an answer for why police stormed one of their stores and murdered one of their customers.
Demand Walmart release the tapes so there can be a full and public account of John Crawford’s killing.

Thanks and Peace,
--Rashad, Arisha, Matt, Aimée, Johnny, and the entire ColorOfChange.org team.
September 8th, 2014
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References
1. "Cops shoot and kill man holding toy gun in Wal-Mart," MSNBC, 8/13/14,
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3831?t=7&a
kid=3628.604202.Y3C4MT

2."Dueling demands in Walmart shooting case," WDTN, 8/26/14,
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3832?t=9&akid=3628.604202.Y3C4MT

3."UPDATE: DeWine Says Walmart Suspect Carrying MK-177 BB/Pellet Rifle," ABC22 8/11/14
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3833?t=11&akid=3628.604202.Y3C4MT

4. "John Crawford Case: It’s Open Carry for Whites and Open Season on Blacks," , 8/21/14
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3843?t=13&akid=3628.604202.Y3C4MT

5. "Wal-Mart shooting: Family of Ohio shopper killed by police criticizes DeWine, seeks federal probe," Associated Press, 8/26/14
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3834?t=15&akid=3628.604202.Y3C4MT

6."Video shows police shot Ohio man ‘on sight’ as he leaned on toy gun in Walmart, attorney says," Raw Story, 8/26/14,
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/3835?t=17&akid=3628.604202.Y3C4MT

********
Now, please hear my plea: "Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto them." Please take a step toward justice for all African Americans: Demand the surveillance footage from Walmart.

Source Description: 
John Woolman's Efforts in Behalf of Freedom 
G. David Houston 
126-138 p.
Lancaster, Pa.; Washington, D. C.
The Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, Inc.
1917
From The Journal of Negro History 2, no. 2 (April 1917), 126-138. 

Call number E185 .J86 v. 2 1917 (Davis Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

Can We be Blind to Skin Color?

Social liberalism on racial issues in mid-twentieth century America derived from a critique of liberal theology and a rejection of political liberals's optimism and blindness on race. -- From The Beautiful Soul of John Woolman, Apostle of Abolition, by Thomas P. Slaughter

Some people pride themselves on their colorblind intentions. The idea is that we are all the same under the skin, so if we ignore skin color, we'll treat everyone fairly. But is anyone really colorblind? Consider this:

Do people who believe themselves to be colorblind even know if they have African American friends or loved ones? Or Latino friends or loved ones? Or Asian American friends or loved ones? How does that work? If you are colorblind, how would you know?

I'm an adoptive parent. My ancestry is European. The ancestry of my youngest child is African. I've learned a lot about racism from my youngest. Before adopting, I thought liberals were not racist. But what I'm learning is this: Many liberals believe themselves to be colorblind. And Colorblind Ideology Is a Form of Racism.

I've spent a lot of time thinking about and discussing transracial parenting. If a European American couple adopt a child of African ancestry, and they believe themselves to be colorblind, how do they respond when their eight-year-old child asks, "Why do white parents pretend they don't see black children?" Do they acknowledge that their child is experiencing something that they may know nothing about? Or do they explain to their child (wrongly) that their child is misinterpreting what they experienced? Or do they acknowledge that some parents are uncomfortable with African Americans? Do they talk about it?

This Psychology Today article, Colorblind Ideology Is a Form of Racism, focuses on color blindness in psychological therapists. My belief, based on my parenting experience, is that most European American therapists are not qualified to treat African American children because they don't understand racism. Racism is a major stressor -- possibly the major stressor -- for many children of color living as a minority. If a therapist doesn't understand racism, they can't be very helpful. 

As the article points out, colorblindness ignores the very real fact that, everywhere in the world, people whose ancestors come from a continent other than Europe have different experiences from people whose ancestors do come from Europe. How can you come to know someone -- how can you have genuine compassion for them -- how can you really love them -- if you ignore this basic fact? If you believe yourself to be colorblind, what do you do with this fact?

As I said, my ancestry is European. I know almost nothing about racism from personal experience. The one exception: I was in college, and an African American woman yelled at my male, African American friend, "What are doing with that cracker?!" That was the first time I had ever heard the term "cracker" to refer to people of European ancestry. And I was thinking "saltines". "Saltines?" I looked at my arm. "Well, that's about right." But she wasn't talking about saltines. She had confused me, but she hadn't hurt me. I felt badly for my friend, Jami, who really didn't need that. He had enough going on in his life.

What I really know about racism comes from the experience of  loved ones -- friends and family -- and from being a part of the experience of loved ones. For example, my youngest child is more socially adept than my first born was in his school years, and more socially outgoing than my second was in hers. But my youngest's kindergarten dance card was unoccupied compared with my older two. With notable (I love you -- you know who you are!!) exceptions, most parents seemed uninterested in having their child play with my daughter outside of school. The most outrageous instance: My daughter played soccer in first grade. She had hit it off with this one child in particular. They seemed to have such a great time together! In my mind, I can still see the mid-game orange wedges stuffed in their mouths to make side-by-side orange smiles. The last game, I approached the mom: "Our girls seem to have a great time together! Shall we get them together some time for a play date?" The mom smiled sweetly, shook her head, and said "No." That was that. She, clearly, had not come to the advanced stage of  "colorblindness". We had to face this family for the next five years at elementary school events. What does a colorblind person even do with this type of information? How does a person who believes themselves to be colorblind account for the effects of racism on people of color? Ignore it?

From what I hear from friends and loved ones, colorblindness generally means one does not see people of color. When these colorblind parents do see African American children, it is often African hair that grabs their attention -- "I like your hair! Who does your hair? Is it your mom?" From what I hear, it seems that colorblind people do not greet African American parents at Back-to-School night or at the elementary school sock hops or on field trips. They do not greet African American parents at sports practices or games. If an African American child happens to be a star on the team, European American parents are likely to interact directly with the child, but not the parents. If the child is not a star on the team, the whole family is ignored. 

Let me tell you what I really think: Colorblind Ideology Is a Form of Racism. 

What to do if you have adopted the colorblind strategy toward people of color? I will address that in a future blog -- hopefully very soon.

Imagine This: Your Son is an African American Teen Actor Hanging with ABC's 20/20. Yes! You're Proud.

Through the Force of long Custom, it appears needful to speak in Relation to Colour. Suppose a white Child, born of Parents of the meanest Sort, who died and left him an Infant, fall into the Hands of a Person, who endeavours to keep him a Slave, some men would account him an unjust Man in doing so, who yet appear easy while many Black People of honest Lives, and good Abilities, are enslaved, in a Manner more shocking than the case here supposed. This is owing chiefly to the Idea of Slavery being connected with the Black Colour, and Liberty with the White: And where false Ideas are twisted into our Minds, it is with Difficulty we get fairly disentangled. -- John Woolman

Your imaginary son. Wow! Look at him! I'd be proud too.
Actually, this is teen actor Tyler James Williams.
Photo courtesy of johnnybmoore.wordpress.com

A clip from the 20/20 episode showing the
European American actors vandalizing a car in a park with impunity.

Day 8 of my own #Woolman14DayJusticeChallenge:

Imagine this: You are the proud parent of an African American son who fills your heart with pride. He and his friends are actors, and some of his crew were hired by 20/20 for an episode of "What Would You Do?" Everybody is happy and excited -- thrilled, really -- at the prospect of national exposure on a major network. The process of filming these episodes is long, so your son and some of his friends decide to rest in the car. As they rest, a young European American man peers in at your son and his friends and decides they all look like they are about to rob somebody. He calls 911 to report the young men to police.

Now, proud parent of an African American teen actor, please watch this:

ABC 20/20: What Would You Do? Vandals -- Racism In America

You might also be interested in this:

ABC 20/20: What Would You Do? Bike Theft -- Racism in America

As you reflect on the content of these videos, please take another look at the recent Stanford study that hints, at least to me, that many European Americans may falsely believe that African Americans men are disproportionately imprisoned because they commit a disproportionate amount of the crime. These videos show the reality: African American men are disproportionately imprisoned because they are disproportionately arrested. And that is because false ideas about who deserves liberty are twisted into the minds of many Americans, and it is difficult to get "fairly disentangled".

Fascinating Stanford Study: When Numbers Backfire

"It hath been computed that near One Hundred Thousand Negroes have, of late Years, been taken annually from that Coast, by Ships employed in the English trade." -- John Woolman

Amazing. I thought I'd put some numbers out this morning. Taking a cue from the video, "Moving The Race Conversation Forward", I wanted to talk about systems. How does one talk about systems? With numbers, right? But what did I find in my search for numbers? This August, 2014 article by Shara Tonn, "Stanford research suggests support for incarceration mirrors whites' perception of black prison populations", about a fascinating Stanford study by Rebecca Hetey and Jennifer Eberhardt: "Racial Disparities in Incarceration Increase Acceptance of Punitive Policies" (I think you'll have to purchase it if you want to read it.)

It appears that if I want to improve our justice system, I should show photos of European American inmates. That's why I chose to show a photo of a European American inmate, above. But the photo I included above is staged. More about that later.

From Tonn's article: "Many legal advocates and social activists seem to assume that bombarding the public with images, statistics and other evidence of racial disparities will motivate people to join the cause and fight inequality," Hetey said. "But we found that, ironically, exposure to extreme racial disparities may make the public less, and not more, responsive to attempts to lessen the severity of policies that help maintain those disparities."

Hetey and Eberhardt found that, in presenting European Americans with statistics about racial disparities in prison populations, when presented with a higher rate of African American incarceration, the subjects were more satisfied with the system. From Tonn's article:

"Their first experiment unfolded at a train station near San Francisco. A white female researcher asked 62 white voters to watch a video containing mug shots of male inmates. Some of the participants saw a video in which 25 percent of the mug shots were of black men, while others saw a video in which the percentage of black men among the mug shots rose to 45 percent.

The participants then had an opportunity to sign a real petition aimed at easing the severity of California's three-strikes law. "It seemed like a great opportunity – a real-life political issue – to test this question of whether blacker prison populations lead people to accept these more punitive policies," Eberhardt said.

The results were clear. Over half of the participants who'd seen the mug shots with fewer black men signed the petition, whereas only 27 percent of people who viewed the mug shots containing a higher percentage of black inmates agreed to sign. This was the case regardless of how harsh participants thought the law was."

The photo I included above is staged to look like Bernie Madoff, architect of a brutal ponzi scheme that took a sledgehammer to the golden years for many Americans. It isn't real. I wanted real. Searching Google Images, I couldn't find actual photos of prisoners who were clearly of European Ancestry -- except these, from a 2011 article titled "The Super-Luxe Super Max", about the likely destination for Norway's mass murderer, Anders Behring Breivik:

So you won't be getting numbers from me. Working for justice surely does present some complicated problems. How do I talk about systems without numbers? I'm pulling my thinking cap down over my ears for extra thinking power. Think. Think.

Looking Through the Neighbor's Window

"Love was the first motion, and thence a concern arose to spend some time with the Indians, that I might feel and understand their life and the spirit they live in, if haply I might receive some instruction from them, or they might be in any degree helped forward by my following the leadings of truth among them; and as it pleased the Lord to make way for my going at a time when the troubles of war were increasing, and when, by reason of much wet weather, travelling was more difficult than usual at that season, I looked upon is as a more favourable opportunity to season my mind, and to bring me into a nearer sympathy with them." -- John Woolman

"Broken Window" by Brad Smith

We know our families are not perfect. We do our best. Sometimes we try in earnest to solve some of the problems that weigh on our joy. Sometimes we just keep pushing through without looking at our problems. But looking at the problems our neighbors face, the solutions come into focus. And sometimes, if we pay attention, the window glass reflects back on our own world. And if the window glass does reflect back on our world, and if we do pay attention, it seasons our minds.

Maybe that's why, when people who have the same problems come together for support, they make more progress in solving their own problems. Perspective comes more easily when we connect with others. Negative self judgements become less harsh.

Day 6 of my personal #Woolmans14DayJusticeChallenge looks through our neighbor's window, as Joseph Harker, an African British editor for the Guardian, challenges his British readers to learn about how racism takes root. In the article, Harker is not looking directly at racism against people of African ancestry in Britain. The cases he cites do not involve people of African ancestry. He's looking through a neighbor's window.  Read "This is how racism takes root". The article is from July 2012.

Harker focuses on the process of racism taking root, and in doing so, he hits on three key tendencies of people who drew privilege in their birth lottery:

• Blame the Culture/Religion of the Criminal -- Harker notes the different reactions from native British to the arrests of  British men who preyed on vulnerable girls. People were much more interested in discussing the crimes of British men with other than British ancestry. When the predators were of non-British ancestry, many attempted to find the seeds of the crimes in culture and religion that are not traditionally British. When the predators were of British ancestry, that method of examination was a non-starter. And so the story of the arrests of the native British men went silent.
• Blame the Culture/Religion of the Victim -- Harker also talks about the importance of the ancestry of the victims. If the victims are of native British ancestry, they are simply victims.  If the victims are of other ancestry, then the problem may be found in the culture or religion of the victim.
• Look for spokespeople to explain/defend the other culture/religion -- Ask people who share ancestry with either the criminal or the victim to either face the fact of the flaws in their culture/religion or defend their culture/religion.

On the third point, Harker writes: "Imagine if, after Anders Breivik's carnage in Norway last year, which he claimed to be in defence of the Christian world, British people were repeatedly asked whether they supported him? Lumped together in the same white religious group as the killer and constantly told they must renounce him, or explain why we should believe that their type of Christianity – even if they were non-believers – is different from his. "It's nothing to do with me", most people would say. But somehow that answer was never good enough when given by Muslims over al-Qaida. And this hectoring was self-defeating because it caused only greater alienation and resentment towards the west and, in particular, its foreign policies."

Harker's piece is about racism in Britain. But it all applies to racism in the US. In the case of Michael Brown, an eighteen-year-old African American, unarmed man, who was shot and killed, his hands in the air, surrendering to the European American police officer who was shooting at him, many European Americans laid blame squarely on Michael Brown. Many European Americans sympathized with the "poor cop" who killed Michael Brown. People who believed the killing to be a senseless, racially motivated execution by a cop who was frustrated by his own lot in life needed to defend African American culture in the US. This is what people in other countries see when they look through our window.