Contempt, the Cause of Racism. The third story in this special section goes to the bottom line of this nation's indifference toward black life with a report on Contempt, the Cause of Racism.
Everyday racism is no joke.
It's a harsh reality faced by those who are victims of this contempt for human life. As a white American who is an organist at a predominantly African-American church in New Jersey, I am ashamed of the racism that persists both in the New York metropolitan area and throughout our country. It showed itself recently through the anonymous threats including lynching left in the lockers of three black employees at Newark's water plant in West Milford. It showed in a huge swastika which suddenly appeared, cut into a cornfield in Washington Township, New Jersey. It showed itself a year and a half ago in Union, NJ, in the death threats received by the actor Desi Arnaz Giles.