Last week Joe Mascia shattered the wall of silence that separates
this community when it comes to responding to racist and discriminatory actions
and speech. The Common Council candidate
and BMHA Commissioner was caught, on tape, calling African American political
leaders and others the “N” word. Reminiscent
of the old adage, “give ‘em an inch and they’ll take a mile”, he also
criticized the Mayor, Council President Darius Pridgen and others charging “Once
they’re in power, forget about it, forget it.
They want it all.” Widely
reported by all the news outlets, the response to Mascia’s vile language and
tone has been swift. The aggrieved parties
have called for his withdrawal from the Council race and his resignation as a
BMHA Commissioner. They’ve been joined by Democratic Party Chairman Jeremy
Zellner who called Mascia’s behavior, “…despicable. There’s no excuse.” Fillmore Council member David A. Franczyk
weighed in on his opponent’s remarks by describing Mascia as “unfit for public
office.” Conservative Party Chairman
Ralph C. Lorigo stated he was shocked and had “no tolerance for this kind of
issue.” FACEBOOK and other social media sites have blown up with comments condemning
Mascia. Analyses of his remarks in their
historical and contemporary contexts, including mine, are being written on
numerous platforms. A few have spoken in
support of the embattled candidate yet the overwhelming consensus is that he
must go! What does this say about race
relations in the third most segregated and poorest city in the country?
Last week Joe Mascia shattered the silence and sparked
community outrage over the racist language and behavior of a public official. Or did he?
Last week I wrote an article entitled “Breaking the Silence”. I cited the on-going racist talk and behavior
of a Buffalo school board member that has been tolerated, by many of the same
public officials who were slandered by Mascia’s comments. Other political, business, community, religious
and civic leaders have also been stoically closed-mouthed. Why is it that Mascia’s comments were so
quickly condemned while comments by this other public official have received scant
to no attention by those who spoke out so passionately and with such indignation?
I understand that the “N” word is toxic
and evokes the legacy of legally sanctioned, unjust and inhumane treatment of
Black people. Yet, in this enlightened
age when most people realize the power of this one word to convey racist
ideology in one fell swoop, “political correctness” generally prevents its
utterance. That doesn’t mean that
racism, along with sexism and classism has ceased to exist. The solution has been to develop coded
language, understood by certain groups, to convey racist messages.
In his book, “Dog Whistle
Politics: How Coded Racial Appeals Have Reinvented Racism and Wrecked the
Middle Class”, Ian Haney Lopez describes this coded language, as “dog
whistle” messaging. The dog whistle analogy is based on the high pitch of a
whistle that only a dog can hear. The use of certain terms, e.g. codes,
can convey racist, sexist or classist beliefs understood by its intended
audience. Lopez says that the coding is accomplished in a three way
process:
Remarks are made that “1) Punch racism into the
conversation through references to culture, behavior, and class; 2) parry
claims of race-baiting by insisting that absent a direct reference to biology
or the use of a racial epithet, there can be no racism; 3) kick up the racial attack
by calling any critics the real racists for mentioning race and
thereby “playing the race card.”
Lopez says that the “dog whistle: messaging produces
phrases that appear to have very little
to do with race but under the surface convey racist imagery.
Last week I offered a text book example of how “dog whistle”
politics works in the Buffalo School Board.
“Paladino claims that he is not a racist. As proof he is making the proverbial
counterclaim that it is, in fact, the minority board members who are “playing
the race card.” In a July 13th
letter to new State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia, Paladino supports this
allegation by also calling the minority members “racists”. “It’s truly a shame that such racist,
incompetent and irresponsible people are elected to such critical positions.” Paladino’s back up strategy is to threaten to
sue anyone who uses the word racist and Paladino in the same sentence. Thanks to his privilege, money and access to
legal representation (he has his own law firm), he ignores the contradiction in
calling the minority members racists but will sue them if they exercise their
free speech rights.”
I agree with all that has been said regarding Mr. Mascia and
his comments. They are intolerable. He should be called out as well as anyone
else who uses this type of language.
But, the “N” word is not the end-all be-all of racist thought, beliefs
and behavior. Should we be any more
tolerant of the use of words such as “incompetent”, “unintelligent”, “feeding
at the public trough”, “the black sisterhood”, “seeking self-empowerment” “clueless”
derisively applied to women of color? While
most are careful to control language that is transparently racist, coded
language such as that used to convey racist ideology is neither acceptable nor
tolerable. It accompanies beliefs that
people of color are not as good as; not as human as; not as worthy of respect
as; not as deserving of equity as and…….. it goes on and on. To allow this language to go unchecked is to
support thought and action that differs little from that used by Mr.
Mascia. Funny thing is that Mr. Mascia’s
racist language was taped without his knowledge while the Board of Education “dog
whistle” language is liberally shared in speeches, media sound bites and
written communication. On second
thought, it’s no laughing matter.
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