If anyone was ever under the illusion that the election of Barack Obama had somehow signaled that the nation had become post-racial, the recent spate of racist incidents should convince us otherwise.
Last week, a noose was left on the grounds of the Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. Earlier last month, someone walked around the American University campus and hung three bananas from strings fashioned in the shape of nooses, to three campus trees.
And just days before his college graduation, Richard Collins III, a Bowie State University student was stabbed to death by a 22-year-old White man who had ties to the Alt-Reich Nation.
If that wasn’t enough, basketball star LeBron James made news when it was reported that his home was vandalized with a racial slur. And comedian Bill Maher — considered a darling to liberals and progressives — sparked national outrage when he referred to himself as a “house nigger” during an exchange with a Nebraska lawmaker on his HBO television show.
“He doesn’t get a pass because we’re friends,” said civil rights activist, Reverend Al Sharpton. “What Bill Maher did was normalize a word that is anything but normal.”
These incidents serve as a daily reminder that we have much more work to do in addressing racism head-on. At a time when unarmed Black men continue to be gunned down in our cities by police officers, there is reason to be alarmed and vigilant.
And yet, there is also reason to be hopeful, particularly when one sees college students, staff, administrators and faculty members come together to seek solutions to the age-old race problems.
