Inaction Not Good Enough

‘What’s the difference between Simba and O.J. Simpson?”

I was shocked to hear my favorite morning DJs joking in such poor taste on the air. As I wondered what kind of prejudiced people they must be in real life, they carried on the “joke” by continuing to ask each other the same (in my opinion, racist) question. Finally, I could not stand it any longer and I called in to voice my disappointment and disapproval.

The DJs seemed to think they weren’t doing anything wrong because they “didn’t say the punch line.” I disagreed and told them so.

In 22 years as a military wife and 18 as a military civilian employee, I was trained to recognize and avoid discriminatory behavior. In the seven years since we settled in the Spokane area, I have been an uncomfortable witness to many acts of discrimination and am very aware of the disproportionately small number of minorities in positions of authority in area businesses. I repeatedly have shaken off my uneasy feelings due to the usually subtle nature of the slights.

But this incident jarred me from my smug world where I often had felt superior to others because I was informed enough to recognize inappropriate behavior as discrimination.

I am beginning to realize that just recognizing discrimination does not make me superior, that my uneasy feelings won’t go away by themselves. I feel I am just as bad as the offensive person if I don’t take action to right the wrong, enlighten the unenlightened or just take a stand.

I am concerned that this area’s apathy toward the more subtle forms of racial discrimination is enabling ugly, violent actions and behavior by a few that appall the majority.

What can we do? We can train ourselves to recognize discrimination in all its forms. The military stresses knowledge as the key to ending discrimination.

We can refuse to be a part of the problem - not laugh at inappropriate “jokes,” not support offensive businesses. We can speak out when we see someone being treated unfairly. When we speak with our pocketbooks, we should tell those businesses why we won’t be back, won’t buy their product, won’t listen to their radio station.

If we remain uninvolved and our attitude is that it’s “not my problem,” it may be only a matter of time before the joke of the morning on our favorite radio station is: “What’s the difference between a Spokanite and a member of the KKK?”

MEMO: “Your turn” is a feature of the Wednesday and Saturday Opinion pages. To submit a “Your turn” column for consideration, contact Rebecca Nappi at 459-5496 or Doug Floyd at 459-5466 or write “Your turn,” The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane 99210-1615.