Lawrence O’Donnell turns ‘Rewrite’ over to sportscaster Dale Hansen, who denounces racist signs at a recent Texas, high school basketball game – saying ‘kids have to be taught to hate.’ Hansen’s brief speech, seen above, may be one of the most moving yet concise statements on racism and the transmission of the disease.
When Flower Mound High School fans held up signs which – together, read ‘White Power’ it was the parents who rushed to their defense. The parents made excuses, many going so far as to claim the message was unintentional. What the student meant to spell or indicate with a sign reading “White” was not reported.
Hansen makes a painfully candid confession. He admits that he knows why those kids hate black players, because he was one.The sportscaster recalls his father, an ‘n-word’ dropping racist who had nothing but hatred for all black people. The exception was a black family for whom he held the highest regard. Coincidentally, they were the only black family in town…And the only black people the dad had known. The other ‘bad’ black people were a construct he had fashioned, and passed to his offspring out of ignorance.
The son – of course, is ignorant no more…But what of the other white children of racists? It may be too late for some of the parents, but those in authority need to take a meaningful stance, because if – as Hansen claims. “children need to be taught to hate.” The converse is also true. He has put them on notice, and the country will be watching. Just like the kids – always do. .