Something to think about.
In all my history and black studies classes, none of my professors made me see this.
Today in my black studies section, my TA asked whether we thought the U.S. had been a slave nation or free nation longer, and I allowed my mind to wander a bit cause I was expecting him to say something someone had already told me. But as he started naming years and doing math on the board, my brain tuned back in, and here's what I realized (I'll skip to the interesting part):
1964 U.S. passes first of several significant civil rights acts
-1619 year that began the forced migration of black people from Africa to Jamestown
-----
345 years of legal discrimination
2005
-1964
-----
41 years since discrimination has been made illegal
SOMETHING TO CONSIDER:
If your parents are older than 41, they were around during legal discrimination in the United States. Let me tell you. My mom is 54, and my dad is 48, which means that they were around for LEGAL discrimination for 13 and 7 years, respectively.
This blows my mind. My mom probably remembers entering things marked 'Whites Only,' and this probably explains her passive racism. Neither of my parents are overtly racist, I don't think, but I still feel that they are most definitely products of their time (at least racially) since they casually slip race into their negative stories where race isn't pertinent except to connect the person's race to their downfall, they casually mock accents, and every new friend I get, they inevitably inquire about their ethnicity (if they can't guess it).
And when I told my mom that Oakland's looking better and better as a place for future employment (since I love California, Northern more than Southern and since I want to teach in an inner city), she kept shooting me down with things like, "You can't make those kids respect you," and "Those kids are just gonna look at you as *whispers* 'the white girl.'" And you know, I'm sick of this shit.
I'M SICK. OF. THIS. SHIT.
To the people who think that racism is over and minorities should stop whining, consider this: the United States has existed as a legally-discriminating country for 345 years - we've only been a nation without legal discrimination for 41 years. You would have to be stupid to think a culture that strong, a system that powerful could be undone in 41 years, in the span of less than an average lifetime. You think racism is over? Take a good look around outside where you're used to. I've taken a good fucking look around rich Santa Barbara, and you know what I see?
White people.
Racism is power. Race doesn't even exist and we've managed to create a system of advantage BASED on a fabrication. Imagine that. And we're more evolved than animals? Bullshit. Our arrogance is what makes us so petty, our greed is what makes us so unsuccessful, and our hatred is what keeps us stagnant.
My friend Jackie is from San Jose, and certain elementary schools in her area were so evenly ethnically distributed that they matched up English-speaking kids with non-English-speaking kids, and by the end of the year, they were all bilingual by about the same amount. Fancy that. WHY AREN'T MORE SCHOOLS DOING THAT?
Can we all learn the word 'ethnocentrism' kiddies? That's right.
I'm sick of this MY white privilege. I resent my skin color, and it's not even cause I feel the need to take responsibility for what white people did in the past, it's that for the most part, even though I never asked for this privilege, I'M USUALLY NOT TARGETED FOR RACISM, and if I want to, at any time, I can pull the race card and make someone else feel below me. How fucked up is that.
If I wanted to, at any time, I could call a black person a nigger, a Chinese person a chink, a Jew a kyke, the list goes on and on...and it would MEAN something. How did I earn that power? I didn't. And nobody deserves that power.
Fuck this. I wasn't pissed off when I started typing this.
Today in my black studies section, my TA asked whether we thought the U.S. had been a slave nation or free nation longer, and I allowed my mind to wander a bit cause I was expecting him to say something someone had already told me. But as he started naming years and doing math on the board, my brain tuned back in, and here's what I realized (I'll skip to the interesting part):
1964 U.S. passes first of several significant civil rights acts
-1619 year that began the forced migration of black people from Africa to Jamestown
-----
345 years of legal discrimination
2005
-1964
-----
41 years since discrimination has been made illegal
SOMETHING TO CONSIDER:
If your parents are older than 41, they were around during legal discrimination in the United States. Let me tell you. My mom is 54, and my dad is 48, which means that they were around for LEGAL discrimination for 13 and 7 years, respectively.
This blows my mind. My mom probably remembers entering things marked 'Whites Only,' and this probably explains her passive racism. Neither of my parents are overtly racist, I don't think, but I still feel that they are most definitely products of their time (at least racially) since they casually slip race into their negative stories where race isn't pertinent except to connect the person's race to their downfall, they casually mock accents, and every new friend I get, they inevitably inquire about their ethnicity (if they can't guess it).
And when I told my mom that Oakland's looking better and better as a place for future employment (since I love California, Northern more than Southern and since I want to teach in an inner city), she kept shooting me down with things like, "You can't make those kids respect you," and "Those kids are just gonna look at you as *whispers* 'the white girl.'" And you know, I'm sick of this shit.
I'M SICK. OF. THIS. SHIT.
To the people who think that racism is over and minorities should stop whining, consider this: the United States has existed as a legally-discriminating country for 345 years - we've only been a nation without legal discrimination for 41 years. You would have to be stupid to think a culture that strong, a system that powerful could be undone in 41 years, in the span of less than an average lifetime. You think racism is over? Take a good look around outside where you're used to. I've taken a good fucking look around rich Santa Barbara, and you know what I see?
White people.
Racism is power. Race doesn't even exist and we've managed to create a system of advantage BASED on a fabrication. Imagine that. And we're more evolved than animals? Bullshit. Our arrogance is what makes us so petty, our greed is what makes us so unsuccessful, and our hatred is what keeps us stagnant.
My friend Jackie is from San Jose, and certain elementary schools in her area were so evenly ethnically distributed that they matched up English-speaking kids with non-English-speaking kids, and by the end of the year, they were all bilingual by about the same amount. Fancy that. WHY AREN'T MORE SCHOOLS DOING THAT?
Can we all learn the word 'ethnocentrism' kiddies? That's right.
I'm sick of this MY white privilege. I resent my skin color, and it's not even cause I feel the need to take responsibility for what white people did in the past, it's that for the most part, even though I never asked for this privilege, I'M USUALLY NOT TARGETED FOR RACISM, and if I want to, at any time, I can pull the race card and make someone else feel below me. How fucked up is that.
If I wanted to, at any time, I could call a black person a nigger, a Chinese person a chink, a Jew a kyke, the list goes on and on...and it would MEAN something. How did I earn that power? I didn't. And nobody deserves that power.
Fuck this. I wasn't pissed off when I started typing this.