Naomi Schaefer Riley’s recent rant while blogging for The Chronicle proves marrying a spouse of a different race doesn’t mean you still can’t be racist.
By: Amanda Anderson-Niles
The most praised thing about interracial relationships and marriages is how two people can come together despite their racial and cultural differences. When two people can learn to love each other and see past physical differences, it’s apparent that the relationship is built on a foundation that embodies loyalty, and a desire to go against society and learn to love someone based off who they are, more so than the color of their skin. There’s a sense of comfort and familiarity that many have when they marry an individual of the same race, so when others don’t do the same, the relationship, no matter how genuine it may be, is seen as different. When the reality is we should learn to love each other past the minimal things, like skin color. I applaud that we as a country seem to be moving forward and loving those we choose to love.
However, sometimes loving someone despite their skin color can confuse an individual into thinking that the struggles of one race are no longer relevant, since they could so easily learn to get past race themselves.
This is the case for Naomi Schaefer Riley, a young white woman who made the mistake of blogging while ignorant.
In a recent post for The Chronicle, Riley ranted about the academic writings of several different Northwestern University students who chose subjects pertaining to the plight of African Americans. Riley, who immediately began the post off as the typical culturally ignorant right-wing puppet, instantly made readers of The Chronicle forget that they weren’t on the usual hate filled Fox News website that continues to report inaccurate information regarding blacks on a daily basis.
Here is another white person who values no other history, but their own. In so many words, Riley feels that black culture, history, struggles and short comings have no place at the University level. This is the same sentiment which continues to prohibit the extended teachings of the Civil Rights Movement.
As she picked the several dissertations apart, she never got past the lengthy titles or summaries of any of them before drawing an observation. Yes, this woman formed opinions of readings she didn’t read. Instead, she decided to rant about how African Americans refuse to accept that the country has moved to post racism, as evident since there currently sits a black president. She writes:
Then there is Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, author of “Race for Profit: Black Housing and the Urban Crisis of the 1970s.” Ms. Taylor believes there was apparently some kind of conspiracy in the federal government’s promotion of single family homes in black neighborhoods after the unrest of the 1960s. Single family homes! The audacity! But Ms. Taylor sees that her issue is still relevant today. (Not much of a surprise since the entirety of black studies today seems to rest on the premise that nothing much has changed in this country in the past half century when it comes to race. Shhhh. Don’t tell them about the black president!)
She even goes as far as to question why blacks see other blacks that do not support affirmative action as Uncle Toms:
…The assault on civil rights? Because they don’t favor affirmative action they are assaulting civil rights? Because they believe there are some fundamental problems in black culture that cannot be blamed on white people they are assaulting civil rights?
I guess Ms. Riley forgot that the Post Racial America she loves so dearly is the same one that houses a Florida police department that did nothing as a black 17 year old black boy was shot dead for wearing a hoodie.
Perhaps she also forgot about the continued racist outbursts Obama has had from the right-wing since becoming the 44th president.
The most startling thing about all of this is that this is a woman who is married to a black man. If this is how she thinks of the black population, perhaps it’s safe to say that not everyone who dates outside their race has mastered seeing past skin color.
She ended her racist rant with the following:
Seriously, folks, there are legitimate debates about the problems that plague the black community from high incarceration rates to low graduation rates to high out-of-wedlock birth rates. But it’s clear that they’re not happening in black-studies departments. If these young scholars are the future of the discipline, I think they can just as well leave their calendars at 1963 and let some legitimate scholars find solutions to the problems of blacks in America. Solutions that don’t begin and end with blame the white man.
It’s ironic that she would end with such a statement, as she proves exactly how problematic she “the white man” can be.
What are your thoughts? (Naomi was let go from The Chronicle shortly after the controversy.)
Now you already know the kind of “black man” she married. I’ll leave it at that.
It took all of 15 seconds for Fox News to bring that cotton cheese, sponge bob shaped looking b-tch in for an interview. My God just look at her teeth!
So this is who some black men choose at the end? Someone who doesn’t even respect your people?! Her whole article was totally inappropriate. If you’re not black, don’t speak on our issues please.
@ Anon
Exactly! Some of these conservative fools are so arrogant they think they can tell us what’s wrong with us! They take hatred to a whole new level and try to conceal it with politics.
Why is anybody surprised though? Marrying a black person doesn’t mean someone loves the whole black race. It’s just like Kim Kartrashian dating the whole line of coontastic rappers and football players, and still turns around and talks about how black women are just jealous of her. Many women love black men, but despise black women. This happens all the time.
LOL “coontastic rappers and football players” #dead
While I don’t agree with anything she said I’m not surprised that her opinion hasn’t changed just because her husband is Black. My husband is White and I’m constantly saying negative things about how some Whites are and things I don’t agree with and understand about them You are who you are and who you fall in love with doesn’t change that. Yes we’ve seen past color and chose to just love but at the same time being in an interracial relationship puts a bigger emphasis on color. It’s sad that she thinks what she does, but that just shows that her and her husband don’t have real conversations about their differences or he feels the same way she does, and that’s a whole different topic….
She is most likely married to one of those Black Republicans. They did a study not too long ago saying Black Men are considered the most attractive of all men. So apparently, there’s a lot of white women out there who have no problem marrying a black man and still despising black people as a whole. Happens every day!
Saw her interview and she tried to sound so intellectual, though she didn’t even read the essays she complained about. She acted like she was victim, while ironically telling blacks we are not. SMH.
So after actually reading her article in its entirety, I noticed that every student she attacked was a black woman! There it is! Another white woman takes a black man only to spit in the black woman’s face!
Obama 2012, because people like this must be stopped.
Jentteal really made me think about some things with her comment. I think this while situation right here is exactly what makes interracial relationships so hard. You want to get past race, but it’s hard to when you can’t completely understand what the other person went through. I dated a white man several years, but the race issue proved to be a problem in many ways for us. People praise interracial marriages all the time, but a lot of them don’t last because of these issues.
That’s very true it is hard. Lucky for me my husband doesn’t care for most White’s behavior either. 🙂
That’s awesome! I wish you guys continued happiness! 😉
I know this is a serious conversation, but Ha just had me in tears. Smh!
But she’s one of those Becky’s that straight up hates black women so much that marrying a black man only makes sense to her. Her agenda is clear. Queen was right, all the students she threw under the bus were black women.
You know she should go fix that bucktooth smile of hers…but I don’t fault her, I fault the black men who craps on black women in public & private to they homies or going-ass interracial flings, generalizing us all to being nothing but a waste or unfixable…well you know what white women: you can have those despicable black men deal with their misogynistic tendencies. REAL BLACK MEN DON’T BELITTLE US & DOWNGRADE WHETHER THEY CHOOSE TO DATE US OR NOT.