Racism or truth?

I fully expect to catch a lotta hell for that question. And several more I have.

I've always firmly believed that I'm not a racist. In fact, the only time that my dad (who made Archie Bunker look like Mother Theresa) ever hit me was when we got into a heated argument about his racism.

Honest ta gawd...I like to think I judge people by their actions, not the color of their skin or their ethnicity or their religious affiliation. You don't do anything to hurt me and I won't do anything to hurt you. You don't try to force your morals or beliefs on me and I'll do the same. You be nice to me and I'll be nice back, whatever the hell color you are.

There are bad people of every color. Of every ethnicity. Of every religion. There are also GOOD people...more good than bad, or at least I like to think so.

But this is something that I seriously wanna know. If you speak a truth...something that can be backed up by facts...by statistics...if it's there in black and white (no pun intended), how can it be called 'racist'? Or are they two separate issues, each having nothing whatsoever to do with the other?

I caught the first episode of

Black. White.

the other night on FX.

It really was fascinating. But I found myself wondering about a particular scene in which the black guy, posing as a white guy (the makeup was pretty darned amazing, really), took a job as a bartender at bar in a predominantly white neighborhood. He figured it was a good place to get to hear what whites really had to say about blacks.

So, he's talkin to one of his customers and he's asking about the neighborhood...askin him if it was safe and a good place to raise kids...the kind of things someone would ask if they were thinking of moving to the area. The white guy replied that yea, it was safe...still a good neighborhood...as opposed to some of the surrounding areas that had experienced upswings in the black population. He went on to say that those areas had started to experience lots of problems...a big increase in crime...drugs, murders, gang-related activity, etc.

The white guy didn't say anything that was overtly racist. He just told it like it was. He didn't use derogatory terms. He didn't really offer much of his own input...his own views. Just said that more blacks had moved into those areas and those areas were beginning to have more problems. Period.

Talking to him later, while the two families were at home (which they're sharing, btw) the black guy was appalled by the customer's "overt" racism.

Now, I must add that the black family, while living in a diverse neighborhood, looked to be pretty darned affluent. Lovely homes...nicely kept lawns...fairly new cars. It looked to be as nice a neighborhood as I've ever seen. Hell, probably a lot better than some that I've lived in.

I found myself wondering...would THIS family live in one of the neighborhoods that the white customer was telling about? Or even in one of the...less lovely...neighborhoods in Peoria? We DO have some neighborhoods that are pretty bad.

I'd just about bet that the answer would be a resounding "NO". And for the same reasons that the white guy talked about.

So, does that make the black guy some kinda racist-in-reverse? If not, why? Was the white guy just being a raging racist or was he telling the truth? If you're NOT a racist, but you speak a truth that just happens to involve some sort of black/white issue, does that make you a racist? Are we supposed to lie about some issue or another out of fear of being called racist? Where's the line?

Am I just deluding myself into thinkin that I'm NOT a racist, when in reality, I'm every bit as bad as my dad...just less...vocal...about it?

My head hurts.

Update

A 'sometimes commenter' here at Lolly, Scott O'Brien, has some

insight

on my puzzlement about this subject on his new blog,

O'Brien's Briar Patch

. Though Scott and I don't always see eye to eye on issues, he always has intelligent, well thought-out comments. I'm really glad to see he's started his own blog.