Three Outrageous Examples of Racism No One is Noticing

Lately there have been a lot of examples of outrage over things that are big (the way young black men are profiled) and others maybe less deserving of real outrage (dressing up as a person of another race for Halloween). Here is my list of things that I feel should be getting a little MORE outrage:

1) Television roles: With only a few of notable exceptions (Ironside, Scandal, NCIS LA), television is woefully behind in its depiction of African-Americans in leading roles. Oh sure, they are the sidekick detective (Castle; Person of Interest, Elementary, White Collar) or even more reliably are "kicked upstairs" to be the occasionally appearing chief (Law and Order; NCIS, Chicago Fire, Castle (again), The Mentalist and too many others to list). In some shows (Blue Bloods,The Good Wife)it hardly seems as if anyone is not Caucasian... well I guess Galinda is the representative for all people of color on The Good Wife. As for sitcoms, well, let's just say that church may not be the most segregated time of the week. Isn't it long past time that we stopped having tokens in our media viewing and had real diversity?

2) People of color in fantasy: Okay, I can hear you laughing, but seriously how does a child feel they are part of Christmas in America when every elf, Santa and angel is Caucasian? Even the Whos in Whoville are little white people, for heaven's sake! Quick- - name a black superhero. Hm.. me neither. We think these things don't matter, but I say they contribute to racism in an unconscious way - by creating "outsiders" and "insiders" in our culture. We Caucasians don't really even think about it.

3) You probably already know that our criminal "justice" system is abnormally weighted against African-Americans and especially against male African-Americans, but do you realize that every single one of those "criminals" once they have served their time, is released without almost any possibility of earning a living? The offenses of the racist justice system just keep on giving for the rest of their lives. Many of those who are formerly incarcerated cannot get employment, a drivers license, rent an apartment,and they cannot vote. Many face fines and back child support they cannot pay. They cannot get loans for education. Many states prohibit them from getting public assistance - healthcare included. Since almost 40% of the incarcerated population are non-Hispanic African-Americans, these collateral consequences contribute hugely to the creation and maintenance of a permanent underclass and a nice population of repeat offenders. What other choices have we provided?