Some Food for Thought
Here's another part of the new book I'm reading "Why are all the Black Kids sitting together in the Cafeteria?" Its a man talking about coming from a very white privledged life:
"I realized that it was possible to simply go through life completely oblivious to the whole situation, or even if one realizes it, one can totally repress it. It is easy to fade into the woodwork, run with the rest of society, and never have to deal with these problems. So many people I know from home are like this. They have simply accepted what society has taught them with little if any, question. My father is a prime example of this..it has caused much friction in our relationship, and he often tells me as a father he has failed to raise me correctly. Most of my high school friends will never deal with these issues and propogate them on their own children. It's easy to see how the cycle continues. I don't think I could ever justify within myself simply turning my back on the problem. I finally realized my position in all these dominant groups give me power to make change occur...It is an unfortunate result though that I often feel alienated from friends and family. It's often played off as a mere stage, but I know they say this to take attention off of the truth of what I'm saying. By belittling me, they take the power out of my argument. It's very depressing that being compassionate and considerate are seen as only phases that people go through. I don't want it to be a phase for me, but as obvious as this may sound, I look at my environment and often wonder how it will not be. "
Most of that sounds like the exact words that run through my head everytime I think about racism and myself.
Katie
"I realized that it was possible to simply go through life completely oblivious to the whole situation, or even if one realizes it, one can totally repress it. It is easy to fade into the woodwork, run with the rest of society, and never have to deal with these problems. So many people I know from home are like this. They have simply accepted what society has taught them with little if any, question. My father is a prime example of this..it has caused much friction in our relationship, and he often tells me as a father he has failed to raise me correctly. Most of my high school friends will never deal with these issues and propogate them on their own children. It's easy to see how the cycle continues. I don't think I could ever justify within myself simply turning my back on the problem. I finally realized my position in all these dominant groups give me power to make change occur...It is an unfortunate result though that I often feel alienated from friends and family. It's often played off as a mere stage, but I know they say this to take attention off of the truth of what I'm saying. By belittling me, they take the power out of my argument. It's very depressing that being compassionate and considerate are seen as only phases that people go through. I don't want it to be a phase for me, but as obvious as this may sound, I look at my environment and often wonder how it will not be. "
Most of that sounds like the exact words that run through my head everytime I think about racism and myself.
Katie