RACIAL PARANOIA AND YOUR LOCAL MESSAGE BOARD

I am currently checking out the newest book from University of Pennsylvania, Associate Professor, Dr. John Jackson, Jr., entitled Racial Paranoia - The Unintended Consequences of Political Correctness. In the work, Dr. Jackson, Jr. breaks down a United States of America whose transcendent gains out of the Civil Rights Era has produced legislative and social gains, relegating bald-faced proponents of racial animus to the fringes of society, but allowing true racial feelings to lie buried beneath a surface of political correctness. Those smiling faces might just be a cover for a racial tempest that reveals itself in more intimate and supportive surroundings. And this is, says Dr. Jackson, the facilitator of racial paranoia; in the case of black American's, the paranoia of seeing racism behind every smile, gesture or perceived slight and for white American's, the paranoia of saying or doing anything that can be misconstrued as "racist" in spite of intentions that might be far removed from that reality.

The book got me thinking about my own bouts of racial paranoia and I had to laugh because yes, I have seen a look on a white face or thought I saw a gesture that I took as an indicator or a negative feeling towards me and by extension, African-Americans. Dr. Jackson is definitely onto an interesting theory of a new paradigm in race relations. I think though that there might be a new found place where racial paranoia has yet to make an appearance. The message board.

Along with the technological advances that created an internet that allowed the global community to become smaller and allow an up-to-the-second access to information for anyone looking has come the "message board," that growing community of facilitators, combatants and commiserators; sometimes to positive end, but often times blatantly racist or ill-informed about any given topic which is a link to xenophobic positions. Being a lifelong fan of the Buffalo Bills and music and videos I can be found on any number of message boards related to the NFL, rock or rap concerts and youtube videos. Racism is alive and well, good people and most people spare no decency trying to hide it. Racial epithets, narrow minded views on politics, economics and social standing are par for the course on most message boards. You don't believe it? Please feel free to peruse a message board related to whatever your topic of choice might be.

It made me wonder if I would prefer the paranoia that Dr. Jackson writes about on our local message boards. There is a saying about people who get drunk and do things they would not ordinarily do; it's called getting "liquid courage." Well, cyber-courage operates under the same tenet. Hiding behind a keyboard from anywhere in the world, untraceable by everyman standards, probably not government standards (there is that paranoia), has allowed the normalcy of hatred and ignorance to rear its mental infantility without consequence of physical confrontation or a clearly public censure. In spite of many racialized message board posts being called for what they are by dissenters strongly condemning said occurrences, this form of "public" censure is still hidden. Without a face or video evidence of these written attacks "public" does not work with the same efficiency.

For those paranoid folks black, white, brown, red and yellow who long for relief from the weariness of seeing bogeymen in every interaction they have friends on the message boards who will be more than happy to tell them exactly how other feel about "their people."