Let's Talk About This In Full Public
People have been wondering where I've been and why I haven't been making my online presence felt. Well, boys and girls, I've wanted to post my usual random stuff but it would feel wrong to do so without first getting something off my chest. And no, for once I'm not using an lj-cut despite the length, because I'd like this to not be skimmed over or skipped through.
I've been meaning to post about this for some time now, but I continuously put it off, most likely because of the potential for some seriously ugly, ridiculous and disillusioning so-called "debate". However, the devastating disaster down South has really shoved some delicate issues to the forefront, and for once, whether we like it or not, the topic's on everyone's minds.
There's plenty of discourse going back and forth about what's happening in New Orleans even as I write this. I'm upset and I am angry, and I've had problems reading my friendslist for days on end now, not only on account of the excruciating updates on the situation but also for some of the personal editorializing that goes along with it. Normally, personal opinion is not a negative in my book...but due to the incendiary nature of the topic, it has become one.
What am I dancing around so awkwardly, trying to warm up the old writing engine? The answer is race...and, of course, racism.
Let's provide a background sketch. I'm pretty sure that everybody here knows I am interracial. I'm the oldest child of a mixed-race marriage (for anyone who'd like to know, they are still happily married after 31 years together). My two younger siblings and I were given a loving home's stability and functionality, excellent genetics, top-tier educations, a strong work ethic, a powerful sense of pride and, of course, economic/class privilege - that is undeniable. Note: I am not rich, nor are my parents, but to claim anything less than marked class privilege would be ridiculous.
We were also taught that we could do anything, be anything, that we deserved the best of everything...but we did not talk about race. My parents, bless their idealistic 1960's hearts, believed that a color-blind world was just around the corner, so they worked hard to keep race awareness out of our lives. We children have matured enough to realize that this dreamed world is unfortunately nowhere near being realized, and ignoring that fact, alas, will NOT magically right all the wrongs and make the bad stuff go away.
I feel the need to state all the above in order to disarm any potential assumptions of where I'm coming from in all this.
Everyone reading this should proceed to the following article if they have never read it...and hey, if you've read it before, why not refresh your memory while you are here? Pay especially close attention to the numbered list.
"Unpacking The Knapsack of White Privilege" by Peggy McIntosh
If you feel uncomfortable reading any of this, you should ask yourself why.
If you feel that I'm suddenly getting too "political", or you're thinking that you didn't know I was "like that", or if during the time you've known me you've ever thought that I was "different from those/those other people", if you've ever been taken aback by the fact that I speak intelligently - then shame on you.
If, in your secret heart of hearts, you've ever been surprised at my intelligence, extreme literacy, formal speech patterns, etc. because of my skin color, or if you've ever mentally used my skin color instead of my individual personality to account for any of my foibles, quirks, flaws, personal failings/successes, predilections or excesses - then SHAME ON YOU.
Believe it or not, I have heard some of the above sentiments in my burgeoning adulthood, when I didn't realize what those speakers were really trying to say. These are the ways in which people resolve their personal prejudices with actually knowing a member of the group against which they feel that prejudice, and I emphatically do NOT want to be part of someone else's fucked-up paradigm. If you recognize this as your paradigm, then guess what? I don't want you here, and I'd prefer that you leave this journal. No incident, argument or drama will be necessary...let's simply go our separate ways from this point forward.
As for the horrible situation in New Orleans that has made all of this so pressing, I think that this article, "George Bush and Third World America", states everything far, far better than I ever could.
I've been meaning to post about this for some time now, but I continuously put it off, most likely because of the potential for some seriously ugly, ridiculous and disillusioning so-called "debate". However, the devastating disaster down South has really shoved some delicate issues to the forefront, and for once, whether we like it or not, the topic's on everyone's minds.
There's plenty of discourse going back and forth about what's happening in New Orleans even as I write this. I'm upset and I am angry, and I've had problems reading my friendslist for days on end now, not only on account of the excruciating updates on the situation but also for some of the personal editorializing that goes along with it. Normally, personal opinion is not a negative in my book...but due to the incendiary nature of the topic, it has become one.
What am I dancing around so awkwardly, trying to warm up the old writing engine? The answer is race...and, of course, racism.
Let's provide a background sketch. I'm pretty sure that everybody here knows I am interracial. I'm the oldest child of a mixed-race marriage (for anyone who'd like to know, they are still happily married after 31 years together). My two younger siblings and I were given a loving home's stability and functionality, excellent genetics, top-tier educations, a strong work ethic, a powerful sense of pride and, of course, economic/class privilege - that is undeniable. Note: I am not rich, nor are my parents, but to claim anything less than marked class privilege would be ridiculous.
We were also taught that we could do anything, be anything, that we deserved the best of everything...but we did not talk about race. My parents, bless their idealistic 1960's hearts, believed that a color-blind world was just around the corner, so they worked hard to keep race awareness out of our lives. We children have matured enough to realize that this dreamed world is unfortunately nowhere near being realized, and ignoring that fact, alas, will NOT magically right all the wrongs and make the bad stuff go away.
I feel the need to state all the above in order to disarm any potential assumptions of where I'm coming from in all this.
Everyone reading this should proceed to the following article if they have never read it...and hey, if you've read it before, why not refresh your memory while you are here? Pay especially close attention to the numbered list.
"Unpacking The Knapsack of White Privilege" by Peggy McIntosh
If you feel uncomfortable reading any of this, you should ask yourself why.
If you feel that I'm suddenly getting too "political", or you're thinking that you didn't know I was "like that", or if during the time you've known me you've ever thought that I was "different from those/those other people", if you've ever been taken aback by the fact that I speak intelligently - then shame on you.
If, in your secret heart of hearts, you've ever been surprised at my intelligence, extreme literacy, formal speech patterns, etc. because of my skin color, or if you've ever mentally used my skin color instead of my individual personality to account for any of my foibles, quirks, flaws, personal failings/successes, predilections or excesses - then SHAME ON YOU.
Believe it or not, I have heard some of the above sentiments in my burgeoning adulthood, when I didn't realize what those speakers were really trying to say. These are the ways in which people resolve their personal prejudices with actually knowing a member of the group against which they feel that prejudice, and I emphatically do NOT want to be part of someone else's fucked-up paradigm. If you recognize this as your paradigm, then guess what? I don't want you here, and I'd prefer that you leave this journal. No incident, argument or drama will be necessary...let's simply go our separate ways from this point forward.
As for the horrible situation in New Orleans that has made all of this so pressing, I think that this article, "George Bush and Third World America", states everything far, far better than I ever could.