Are you a racist? I am.

Rachel Ray Obama Keffiahs & YOU

If you've caught the news today a recent ad for Dunkin Donuts starring Rachael Ray was pulled because she was wearing a keffiah (scarf sort of headdress traditionally warn by bedouins across the Middle East to protect them from the heat of the sun). It appears that she looked too "muslim" in this ad, which just might scare off all those donut eaters. [video]

I find myself wondering if those donut eaters, that need to be protected - or soothed - in order to ensure growing profit margins at dunkin donuts, are the same white working class folks that won't vote for Obama because he's black. An article in this week's Newsweek "A Memo to Senator Obama" raises the question of racism, telling Obama that he's going to have to talk about it in order to help move a large majority of the American population to the post-racial perspective that dominates his worldview, but which apparently is still in the closet for our national culture. I find myself wondering, why is it that we spend so much time deflecting hard issues, crucial to who and how we are, by talking about peripherial ones? Why will so many say that they will vote for a black man, but when it comes time to do so in the secrecy of the walled voting booth they won't. We spend so much time saying that we live in a color blind society (of course that's usually those in power or from the dominant sub-culture that insist upon it) yet it so obviously is not. I myself live in a predominantly African-American neighborhood. I often find myself as the only Anglo (White) male in a meeting or group. I speak 3 languages. My family is multi-racial. I choose to live in Oakland because it's racially very rich, mixed and diverse (of course it still is plagued by racism). And yet I am racist. I judge and am judged by my ethnicity, gender, and orientation. I have stereotypes deeply embedded in me and my psyche. I am not a victim of them. I accepted them. I don't always challenge them. I want to be honest. I want to be true. I want to be free. I want to boast of living in a democracy where anyone from anywhere can actually run, win and rule with and by the power of the people.

Race is always present. Culture. Class. Gender. Orientation. Education. Language. It's always there. We can't deny it. We shouldn't deny it. But we can't live in fear of it. We can't base judgments solely upon them. We can't be imprisoned by false images and stereotypes. We can't say we live in a racially blind society because we don't. But we can rise up and speak the truth. It's crap that Dunkin Donuts is pulling this ad because Rachael Ray is wearing a scarf that is commonly (and fashionably) worn around the world. It's not an Al Qeda uniform, but rather the daily wear for bedouin (and others) folks living in and with the heat of the sun. We're so worried about making money, keeping everyone happy, being pleasant, keeping the peace, that we don't dare to go there, to name and dialogue about the things underneath the iceberg which actually do divide and destroy us. We all are racist. The only way to deal with that it to admit it AA-style and then move forward from that point together.