• ELIXHER
• On January 21, 2014

By L’lerrét Jazelle Ailith

We all know that Alaska native, Sarah Palin, who unsuccessfully tried to win the heart of America and run for vice president. She has a history of doing nothing but stirring up controversy with her ill-informed statements and unintelligible ideas surrounding government. Yesterday on Facebook, in “commemoration” of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Palin quoted a piece of MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech and followed it with criticism of President Obama.

“Mr. President, in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. and all who commit to ending any racial divide, no more playing the race card,” she wrote.

She included King’s quote — “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character” — in her post.

It’s possible that Palin was referring to a recent Obama profile in The New Yorker where Obama told the publication, “There’s no doubt that there’s some folks who just really dislike me because they don’t like the idea of a black president.”

Regardless of the reference, Palin’s statement is yet another example of white tears being used to eliminate the injustices we face. The very problematic aspect of her post is that having been forcibly shipped to America, this construct of “race” and the whole divide was undoubtedly instituted by our white counterparts. In effect, the marginalization of all persons of color and operation of our institutions against the social advancement of our communities ensues to this day.

When black people are disproportionately profiled and sent to prisons, we have an issue. When our health care system systematically reports racial disparity, we have an issue. When cities experience “white flight” and terms such as “urbanization” and “ghettoization” are used to describe these newly minority-centered cities and the educational system struggles to truly advance our young children due to limited funding and lack of care for their wellbeing, we have a problem.

We never asked to be categorized, ostracized, and subjugated but historically, that has happened and has been our reality. Our parents raised us with the understanding of how we are “placed” in society and they don’t do that just because. For our survival and strategic navigation in a racial society, we need to be aware of the disparities that thrive in our culture.

How dare one use the term “playing the race card” and equate that to our reality of adversity and institutionalized shackling? That metaphor is a demeaning understanding of our experience and reduces it to that of a card game. It implies that our awareness of injustice and disparity is “unfair.” What’s “unfair” is the fact that we have white folks, who created this racial stratification, feeling uncomfortable because the black man don’ got an education and will no longer say “yes, massa.”

As a friend and mentor of mine, Preston Mitchum, stated, “The only ‘race card’ is the belief that racism does not exist.” I cannot agree more. The fallacy that we currently live in a post-racial society and the oppressed propagate their own marginalization is disgraceful.

L’lerrét Jazelle Ailith is a 20-year-old queer woman of trans* experience. She attends Xavier University of Louisiana and is majoring in Biology with a minor in Women’s Studies. Hailing from Baltimore, Maryland, L’lerrét has grown to appreciate the importance of fostering community and now dedicates herself to movements that eliminate barriers for marginalized people.