The Bernard Charles Show

May the new year bring more terrific and uplifting souls as it does every year, was my initial reaction to the new year, but it soon was subsided with the process of making resolutions that will help guide and steer one’s new year direction. Why not be a little more thoughtful and think outside of the box. So, I chose one resolution that is..I am going to say it, racist.

You have to know that I like the attention that the idea of racism holds. The actual negative possession of such bigotry is not up my alley, but I am deeply curious about why and how the issue operates. It effects many people differently. My hometown, we do not talk about racism. If it creeps into a conversation then, we all agree that racism is bad. And the conversation is quiet and seems to cool the air. As far as my father’s side of the family, an outsider would definitely think they are racist, because they are open about calling anyone not white, by their stereotypical name. It is quite sad, because I don’t view a person by their skin, but by them being themselves, their birth-name in fact!

Absolutely! I look at people inside and out by their names and I then associate name with person and vice versa.  But this idea of racism is really compelling and coming from a boarding school with an equal population of both white and black, with just a smaller amount of Hispanics and Latinos, I am quite comfortable talking about the subject.

I feel as though I adapted a view that many do not even discover especially on my paternal side of the family. They sure enough are aware of the ‘ole time favorites like Martin Luther King Jr., Oprah Winfrey, and even Mario Lopez. However, the regular day people they do not see. The people who are just like them, working just as much, but society has locked in their vision to see in a way of prejudice, instead of the element of being human. Do you feel the same way?

This is why racism intrigues me so much. Certainly, I am curious for the new year. I would like to be aware of these boundaries that society as a whole created over time that lock in our expression and individualism as a person with other people just because of skin color. From there one  can branch out in other categories like; socio-economic structure, employment whereabouts, and even where one shops for clothing and food. It all relates to one another.

So, this 2011 new year resolution is racist because it is about racism itself.

To learn more about how racism affects people in their daily lives.

My first step into understanding this clandestine battle is reading Class Matters written by correspondents of  The New York Times. Here I will be able to understand the current class situations that face the United States and hopefully get a deeper insight as to how racism certainly has an affect in the matter. Here is a special section of The New York Times tribute to CLASS MATTERS.

How you can get involved

I certainly cannot face this 2011 journey alone and I am looking for your help! If you have any reading materials to suggest please comment below or contact me. Also, I am looking for experts to write for this show-blog about the subject. In addition to getting involved, I am interested in your thoughts and please ask questions! You can check out my FORMSPRING page to ask your audience questions. If you have any other creative ideas then do send them this way and you will certainly be praised and credited for such awesome thinking!