In my sociology class we were having our race unit and the professor said that it's the same thing every year, nobody will share their thoughts and opinions when it comes to race. The whole class just shuts down because it's such a taboo subject. I'm not even sure if that's good or bad. If nobody ever acknowledged race, then young kids wouldn't grow up with the concept of racism in the backs of their minds and so they wouldn't become racists. But on the other hand I don't think it's good to just forget about history, and I also don't think we should pretend all people are the same because they're not, even though they're all equal. America was always called a melting pot until people realized that sucked, because nobody wants to lose their culture. Culture goes along with race, so races are different in that regard, and that's another thing, even if we ignore race people will still notice it. I think it's kind of hard for a white American to have perspective on this because we're the majority and I can't image it any other way. I definitely fall into that category of white people that you don't like and that's all I've ever known because that's how it is in my town and all the neighboring towns for miles and miles around. On one side it's the rich white snobs, and then on the other side it's the white trash rednecks. So I feel like I don't even have any perspective when it comes to other races. But that's something else my sociology professor was talking about--she said that when white students start out at Dominican they always comment on how diverse it is (which is what I thought), and when students of other races start out they always comment on how white it is. I'm not really sure what point I was making, and now I'm just remembering that I have a shitload of sociology homework, but I don't know, I don't really think there's a solution to the race issue but at least it seems like on the whole we've made some progress.
man, if we got to talking about that in class i don't think i could keep quiet. i remember situations in high school class discussions where it would just explode out of me and everyone would whip their heads around, because i didn't say much. but i am FAR too passionate and moved by race as a subject to keep quiet. i wish i could have been in your class. AGHH it's soo complicated. i know! is it better to acknowledge or not to acknowledge? i feel like we need to respect and look at the past, but not to cling to it and let it rule us. actually, i believe that with anything. well i think it is hard for a white american to have perspective, but i also think that depends on where that white american grows up, because where i grew up whites weren't the majority. every race was pretty equal. there were blacks and hispanics and asians and whites. in fact, when you look at my class pictures, there were less whites because of all the other races. i think it's ridiculously important (at least for me) that children are brought up in that sort of environment, exposed to all these things, because they won't notice anything when it comes later. like when i fucking moved to MA, i was talking with my best friend at the time, and it wasn't like she was racist, because simply, she hadn't had any encounters whatsoever with any other races. but she told me later that she actually felt pretty uncomfortable around blacks because she wasn't familiar with it you knoww?? whereas when i moved here, i was like, where the FUCK are the blacks, the mexicans, where the fuck are the filipinos, where the fuck is everyone? why are there only white people here?
no you don't definitely fall into the category that shouldn't even exist in my mind, because first--you're not fucking privileged, you're not high class i can shop wherever i want but i don't becuase i don't want to seem rich, you're not, i can go out and spend $80 on cds, you're not, i got a car for my 16th or 17th or 18th birthday, but i complain because it doesn't have ass warmers. whatever. plus, you've been through shit.
i hope you finished all your sociology homework! love you lots baby
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AGHH it's soo complicated. i know! is it better to acknowledge or not to acknowledge? i feel like we need to respect and look at the past, but not to cling to it and let it rule us.
actually, i believe that with anything.
well i think it is hard for a white american to have perspective, but i also think that depends on where that white american grows up, because where i grew up whites weren't the majority. every race was pretty equal. there were blacks and hispanics and asians and whites. in fact, when you look at my class pictures, there were less whites because of all the other races. i think it's ridiculously important (at least for me) that children are brought up in that sort of environment, exposed to all these things, because they won't notice anything when it comes later. like when i fucking moved to MA, i was talking with my best friend at the time, and it wasn't like she was racist, because simply, she hadn't had any encounters whatsoever with any other races. but she told me later that she actually felt pretty uncomfortable around blacks because she wasn't familiar with it you knoww??
whereas when i moved here, i was like, where the FUCK are the blacks, the mexicans, where the fuck are the filipinos, where the fuck is everyone? why are there only white people here?
no you don't definitely fall into the category that shouldn't even exist in my mind, because first--you're not fucking privileged, you're not high class i can shop wherever i want but i don't becuase i don't want to seem rich, you're not, i can go out and spend $80 on cds, you're not, i got a car for my 16th or 17th or 18th birthday, but i complain because it doesn't have ass warmers. whatever. plus, you've been through shit.
i hope you finished all your sociology homework!
love you lots baby
Reply
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