The TV ad: "Think racism no longer exists? Think again. If you're Native American, Asian American, Latin American or African American, you know that racism hasn't gone away."
Narrator: "So, if you're a white American living in Montana, what does racism mean to you?"
When the YWCA Racial Task Force created the ad, now airing on stations such as Clear Channel radio and KECI and KPAX television, they figured they'd created a benign ad. Yet response to it has not been good-natured.
"White people are calling, and it's primarily white men," said Cindy Weese, YWCA executive director. "A common theme with all the callers - they've been offended by the commercial." Some have called the ads racist, while others insist racism does not exist in Montana.
And that's OK with the ad's makers.
"It's not necessarily what we wanted to happen, but we did want to stimulate dialogue," said Amie Thurber, director of the National Coalition Building Institute, an international, nonprofit, prejudice-reduction organization.
For African American Joyce Mphande-Finn's family, racism is real. Her 23-year-old daughter has been shouted at from car windows as she and her friends walked in downtown Missoula. The word left hanging in the air: "Niggers."
"There's a lot of denial," said Mphande-Finn. "Even if they're not racists, they've become defensive about it."
The radio and TV ads are part of a national campaign launched by the YWCA three years ago to tackle the issue of racism, which has been part of the organization's mission statement dating to 1858. In Montana, a task force was created a year ago. The ads it created to air in Billings, Helena, Missoula and Great Falls are expected to span three years.
In Weese's words, racism has everything to do with "white privilege. We have the privilege of not looking at racism if we don't want to ... unless it's happening to you, you don't know it's going on."
Said Tracy Lakatua, a national YWCA board member: "In this country, there is no institution or societal construct that benefits people of color at the expense of white people."
For people of color, that means "you can hate white people all you want, but that won't hold white people back," said Thurber.
The task force plans to run a second series of ads beginning in May and June. This year's ads have a primary focus. The makers want people to at least consider that racism exists, said Weese. Next year's ads will emphasize building allies between whites and people of color.
"I believe the radio ads are a start," Sherry Tatsey, a Blackfeet, who is a member of the task force. "There is racism in the schools based on the stories I've heard from students and the Indian community. I know it exists in housing, too."
Reach reporter Jodi Rave at 523-5299 or jodi.rave@Missoulian.com
|
 |
 |
Add your comment now! Write your comment in the form below.
(Email address is for verification only. If you'd like to email a story, look for the link above)
Don Iarussi wrote on May 6, 2009 5:51 PM: