Are There Racists Living in Skokie?

Welcome to The Skokie Squire.

Here, you will find candid discourse on a variety of topics. Yes, I think it's better to talk about an issue rather than pretend it doesn't exist. My goals are simple: Ask questions; get people thinking; stimulate progress. Repeat. Please aim for the same if you find yourself here.

All that being said, I'd like to get to the topic at hand for this blog post. Sometimes, it seems that the only people a blogger can critically write about are monsters like dictators and themselves.

If so, I may be in trouble before this blog is over ...

Nevertheless, Skokie is an ethnic melting pot. That's part of the reason this village is so great. But does this pot include racists? Not the ones picketing in Skokie wearing white robes years ago, but the 2012 ones. Shhh, I know we aren't supposed to talk about such things. "Come on" you will say, "Jews get haircuts from Palestinians in Skokie all the time. And I see plenty of white faces at that Jamaican restaurant. What happened in Sarajevo, stays in Sarajevo," you might say.

So why did a comment made by a Skokie resident at an open meeting make me cringe? The resident expressed feeling unsafe at a Skokie park when a group of black youths were hanging out. I, along with the rest of the filled auditorium, stayed silent.  Did that mean we all agreed with the person's comments? I yell at people all the time for littering, so why can't I call someone out for making an inappropriate comment?

Yes, it's a slippery slope from fear to racism. But he crossed the line, right? We aren't allowed to express this view - this fear of black - because then we are in race territory. And that can only get us in trouble. And the point is really about safety, not race. But the commentator, however, made it about race, and that's not OK. Safety is based on experience and society. The uninitiated may fear the unknown. And society feeds that fear.

All too often you will see the media report about a scary crime committed by black men. Remember the mob attacks taking place in the Gold Coast from a few years ago? People were coming out of the woodwork to express their fear.

Where does the line between being labeled a racist begin and telling the truth about our feelings end?

If you were unsure what the Skokie Squire was about, now you know. I'll be looking to talk about hard lined issues and hear what the community has to say.