Writes Butler Shaffer:
The vicious and dehumanizing nature of egalitarianism, particularly when defined by racial or ethnic categories, was well demonstrated in the response of one California legislator to a remark made by former Los Angeles mayor – and now California State Education Secretary – Richard Riordan.In a videotaped discussion with children in Santa Barbara, Riordan asked a six-year-old girl her name. She told him it was “Isis” which, she went on, meant “Egyptian goddess.” Riordan, trying to be humorous, quipped: “It means stupid little girl.” Numerous individuals and groups immediately called for Riordan’s resignation for what was, admittedly, an utterly stupid comment.
More troublesome, to me, was the response of Democratic state Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally who, according to an Associated Press report, called for a protest by civil rights groups, apparently believing that the girl was black. One newspaper quoted Dymally as saying that the girl was “a little African-American girl. Would he (Riordan) have done that to a white girl?” Dymally’s office called Riordan’s remarks “outrageous and irresponsible.”
After it was revealed that the girl was white, with blond hair, Dymally’s office did an about-face. His office stated that “To err is human, to forgive is divine.” “Race is not a factor in this issue,” Dymally declared, concluding that “It is time for us to move on.”
Riordan’s comments were indefensible, regardless of the race of the child to which they were directed. For a six-year-old to be embarrassed and hurt by the videotaped insipid comments of a state government official was offensive enough. But far more disturbing was the comment of Mr. Dymally – which, to my knowledge, has received little if any public criticism – suggesting that such demeaning statements are to be condemned only if race is a factor.
Like the reaction of videotaped beatings of black motorists by white police officers, Mr. Dymally’s response is reflective of a far more dangerous symptom: the willingness to excuse the mistreatment or brutalities of the state in situations where “race is not a factor.” As long as men, women, and children are degraded and oppressed “equally,” and “without regard to race, religion, ethnicity, national origin, gender, or lifestyle,” the offenses can be ignored, and we should simply “move on.”
