I miss our conversations at Wendy's too =)lelenevityFebruary 10 2005, 21:11:14 UTC
Good first point - I intentionally stuck to the years in terms of legality since desegregation occurred at different times across the country. I mean, Georgia JUST desegregated their high school dances in 2002, as I remember, so... it's definitely inconsistent. It would've been a much harder task to try to figure out when exactly we will get to say that our country has actually been desegregated.
By the time I got to Clovis High, I was with you, dude; I way thought racism was a thing of the past, but I remember very quickly learning that I was wrong when I ended up hearing racial slurs on campus and noticing the trend that the poorer parts of Fresno were laregly made up of racial minorities. AND, I'm SO GLAD you mentioned the money thing! It's strange because you can't really talk about racism without indirectly talking about classism. I think it's note-worthy that you and I, two people I would characterize as middle class citizens, get to talk about racism since we aren't lower class.
In my experience, people who live in lower-income areas don't talk about racism AND they tend to adhere more strongly TO it! It's interesting to ME because obviously the system of advantage is WORKING. It has successfully divided the lower class, and while the middle class gets to think and talk about it, we're not rich enough to actually do any good (in terms of at least the educational system, a field you and I are both interested in; I mean, if we had the resources the top 1% of the nation's money-makers had, we could fund lots of better facilities and resources for lower-rating API schools). And you're absolutely right: white-perpetrated racism is WAY not the only problem. I'd venture to guess that racism among minority groups is the prominently more noticeable racism in lower classes.
Good point after good point, Michelle. People don't think minorities are still born into subordination, but I'll never forget the analogy Olson drew: if success were a track race and the time it took to complete the marathon was our history, racial minorities started the race with weights on, and even if we pulled the weights off half-way through the race, they would already be significantly behind. And even though it's not directly OUR fault that we're ahead (which is, I think, how many people don't recognize their whiteness as privilege, as you said), the fact remains that we are, and until Head Start programs and Affirmative Action programs are actually successful, the positions will remain the same.
I think you're right when you say that we're headed in the right direction, and I must admit within the same breath that I feel we are way way far from what I think should be the ultimate goal of true racial equality. I respect your ventures to the Fulton Mall, and I want more white people doing more things like that to make themselves a little more uncomfortable. I think one of the major problems is that white people don't recognize their comfort as privilege.
That said, I truthfully don't know where the lines show distinction between white and nonwhite. I am Portuguese, clearly European, but one of my housemates recently told me she doesn't think of me as white; she thinks of me as hispanic of some sort. My sister's been on the receiving end of racial slurs, and the story's the same with my dad. So am I white? I DON'T KNOW! That would be a really strange concept if I didn't know that race was socially constructed.
[Sorry, but your comment of 4692 characters exceeds the maximum character length of 4300. Please go back, shorten it, and try posting it again.] lol
By the time I got to Clovis High, I was with you, dude; I way thought racism was a thing of the past, but I remember very quickly learning that I was wrong when I ended up hearing racial slurs on campus and noticing the trend that the poorer parts of Fresno were laregly made up of racial minorities. AND, I'm SO GLAD you mentioned the money thing! It's strange because you can't really talk about racism without indirectly talking about classism. I think it's note-worthy that you and I, two people I would characterize as middle class citizens, get to talk about racism since we aren't lower class.
In my experience, people who live in lower-income areas don't talk about racism AND they tend to adhere more strongly TO it! It's interesting to ME because obviously the system of advantage is WORKING. It has successfully divided the lower class, and while the middle class gets to think and talk about it, we're not rich enough to actually do any good (in terms of at least the educational system, a field you and I are both interested in; I mean, if we had the resources the top 1% of the nation's money-makers had, we could fund lots of better facilities and resources for lower-rating API schools). And you're absolutely right: white-perpetrated racism is WAY not the only problem. I'd venture to guess that racism among minority groups is the prominently more noticeable racism in lower classes.
Good point after good point, Michelle. People don't think minorities are still born into subordination, but I'll never forget the analogy Olson drew: if success were a track race and the time it took to complete the marathon was our history, racial minorities started the race with weights on, and even if we pulled the weights off half-way through the race, they would already be significantly behind. And even though it's not directly OUR fault that we're ahead (which is, I think, how many people don't recognize their whiteness as privilege, as you said), the fact remains that we are, and until Head Start programs and Affirmative Action programs are actually successful, the positions will remain the same.
I think you're right when you say that we're headed in the right direction, and I must admit within the same breath that I feel we are way way far from what I think should be the ultimate goal of true racial equality. I respect your ventures to the Fulton Mall, and I want more white people doing more things like that to make themselves a little more uncomfortable. I think one of the major problems is that white people don't recognize their comfort as privilege.
That said, I truthfully don't know where the lines show distinction between white and nonwhite. I am Portuguese, clearly European, but one of my housemates recently told me she doesn't think of me as white; she thinks of me as hispanic of some sort. My sister's been on the receiving end of racial slurs, and the story's the same with my dad. So am I white? I DON'T KNOW! That would be a really strange concept if I didn't know that race was socially constructed.
[Sorry, but your comment of 4692 characters exceeds the maximum character length of 4300. Please go back, shorten it, and try posting it again.] lol
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