Race – Clay Rivers

When America Plays the Race Card

Posted on June 5, 2020by Clay Rivers

We, as a nation, have ignored the sneaking suspicion in the pit of our stomach that something just isn’t quite right in the land of the free and the home of the brave. We’ve been so caught up in trying to satisfy that nagging and empty feeling inside with food, booze, sex, toys, power, and anything else we can commodify that we’ve allowed the billows of smoke wafting throughout our country to go unattended.

Sweethearts, we’re way beyond the do-you-smell-something-burning phase. The whole of the United States of America is engulfed in the flames of systemic racism and codified injustice. Figuratively. And literally.

Race

The Horror of “When They See Us”

Posted on June 2, 2019by Clay Rivers

“When They See Us,” Ava DuVernay’s Netflix limited series about the wrongly-accused Central Park Five is a horror show, not because the graphic depiction of violence five Black and Latino boys — Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise — suffer at the hands of the New York district attorneys and the NYPD, or because these then boys were robbed of their youth and innocence by a broken and corrupt criminal (in)justice system, or because of the anguish five families endured due to no reason of their own. No. The horror of “When They See Us” is that the very acts of abject racism perpetrated against McCray, Richardson, Salaam, Santana, and Wise in DuVernay’s masterpiece continue to occur with impunity in these United States some thirty years later.

Race

Shining a Light on Institutional Racism: My firsthand account

Posted on February 19, 2019by Clay Rivers

Photo by Sean Patrick Murphy on Unsplash

When most people think of racism, visions of terrorism delivered mano a mano come to mind. You know … slavery, white hoods, lynchings, and other acts of abject terrorism and the trauma they leave in their wake come to mind. Interpersonal racism’s more comely, yet equally damaging sibling:institutional racism is not only alive and well, but thriving in the most unlikely of places. The time has come to shine a light on a textbook example to provide a better understanding.

Race

How You’re Wasting Your Time Arguing with Angry People

Posted on September 5, 2018by Clay Rivers

Photo by taha ajmi on Unsplash

People who don’t listen aren’t interested in a conversation. What they want is to stand on their soapbox and give a lecture.

It seems with each passing day that it’s becoming more difficult for people with differing opinions to have reasonable discussions about those differences in opinion. Call me an optimist, but I do believe it’s still possible. The trick is to
have a strategy before you start the discussion. Otherwise, it’s way to easy for the conversation to dissolve into a real world version of “Clash of the Titans.”

Race

Are You Ready for Some Football?

Posted on September 4, 2018by Clay Rivers

Pre-Game

Yesterday, Nike kicked off a new ad campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick, in celebration of its thirtieth anniversary of its iconic Just Do It campaign — three days before the 2018 NFL Kickoff Game takes place in Philadelphia, with the Falcons visiting the Eagles.

Race

The Two Steps to Getting Someone on the Anti-Racism Express

Posted on April 19, 2018by Clay Rivers

Image by Russ Ward on Unsplash.com

All Aboard

A popular question going around lately is: how do I get my cis-het white male friend to acknowledge that racial inequities exist and that it’s wrong?

In order for anyone to begin to understand the unbridled interpersonal and institutional racism that People of Color face on a daily basis, they have to have already embraced two prerequisites —

Race

Blue Sky Theory: What If Instead of Not That

Posted on March 28, 2018by Clay Rivers

Photo by Thomas Kelley on Unsplash

Disney Imagineering is the company’s think-tank full of super-creative designers, storytellers, and engineers who dream up theme parks, resorts, and attractions. All projects go through a crucible of development phases before they’re deemed ready for the public. During the first phase, everyone is encouraged to think outside the box and develop ideas that know no bounds. This phase has been dubbed the Blue Sky phase.

Race

A Lynching in Central Florida

Posted on February 20, 2018by Clay Rivers

Photo by Stefie Zawa on Unsplash.com

It is with great sorrow that we, the family of our beloved Clay Rivers, announce his passing. His body was found by authorities late last night in a wooded area in Ocoee, hanging from a tree. Please respect our privacy during this time of deep mourning as we try to understand this unspeakable act.
—the Rivers family

The fear that members of my family would ever have to post the above message or something similar has been a palpable fear I’ve lived with since I was in my early twenties. While I seldom, if ever, had reason to be in Ocoee, I grew up hearing rumors about Ku Klux Klan activity in Lake County. This has been a pervasive fear among black families who have lived in central Florida long enough to know of Ocoee’s reputation as a sundown town. For years, a well-known sign even gave public notice that blacks should not be found in Ocoee after sunset.

Race

When Talking About Racism You’re Not Required to Change Anyone’s Mind

Posted on February 15, 2018by Clay Rivers

Photo by Sushobhan Badhai at Unsplash.com

Racism. The subject is steeped in centuries of emotion. The mere mention of it among people of different ethnicities has the ability to suck all the fun out of a room faster than a backdraft consumes air, and more often than not, the resulting vibe after such discussions is just as combustible. There are those who are exhausted from explaining it and those who are tired of hearing about it. In all honesty, I don’t enjoy writing about the subject. But … as a Person of Color, there’s one reason I continue to have those discussions — and if you consider yourself an ally of People of Color who stands against racist practices it’s the same reason why you should continue to as well: I have those discussions because they matter.

Race

You Can’t Have Your Privilege and Equal Rights, Too

Posted on September 3, 2017by Clay Rivers

Chinh le Duc, unsplash.com

My parents and grandparents used to wield an old maxim when I was a kid: you can’t have your cake and eat it, too. I vaguely understood its meaning as: you can’t everything you want. If I had a cake—a slice, a cupcake, or an entire cake—of course I’d eat it, and that would be the end of that. What needed to be discussed? Ah, the sweetness of youth.