on being a member of the human race
the following is a rather long essay on various race issues that were brought up in conversation, blogs, or books i've read this summer. i'm addressing several topics that all tie into one, and i've finished most of this tonight, so, forgive me if the continuity breaks down a bit.
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i dunno if i'll be able to explain things fully, since it's kinda something you either have to live through or come to through some kind of epiphany, but here goes.
life in America today is different from life 50-100-200 years ago but most of that is actually due to technological advances. As much as some would like to say so, attitudes about race [and/or other minorities] have not changed very much. Discrimination and racist practices have changed to be more socially acceptable, as has our rhetoric: we want to be seen as “tolerant” [a terrible choice of word, in my opinion] of those who are different, whether we actually are or not. Which leads to living a lie and dramatic inconsistencies in all our lives.
Whether you believe it or not, there are vast differences in the stations of black people and white people, even today. [Now, of course, I’m talking in generalities here, as one must, in this type of discussion. Anecdotal evidence, as you well know, is inadmissible and therefore an example of a few rich black people and a few poor white people will not truly support anyone’s argument.] The general difference in socio-economic status does indeed have something to do with the culture and its vestiges of slavery. This difference, along with cultural differences [which most certainly DO exist, even though we are all American], often leads to segregation. I’m not talking about a gov’t sanctioned segregation, but one that has been acculturated [on both sides] and somewhat self-imposed [on both sides].
Segregation leads to an ‘us’-‘them’ mentality. Groups are put at odds with each other, in part because of an ego issue - differences spotlighted mean one thing: if there’s a right way and a wrong way, “one of us must be wrong - and it’s not ME.” Continuing in this mentality, and adding in the built-in mistrust that comes when we reduce others to a ‘them’ instead of relating to them as actual persons, we gain a kind of loyalty that can be unwavering. Imagine also, that one group is outnumbered by the other and has been mistreated by that majority group. How much more distrust will grow, now? How much more loyalty?
There is no question that the minority group understands that there are members of the group that are in the wrong. No question that have hurt people, or made costly mistakes. Admitting or discussing this with the majority group, though, does not help. It only furthers the majority cause of assigning negative attributes to the minority group. For the minority, it takes way more than two or three success stories to counteract one failure. Way more than five or ten.
The failures that take place will almost always be discussed by the minority among other minorities, ONLY. The sense of ‘airing dirty laundry’ is seen as taking away from the efforts of the minority to bring parity with a seemingly more benevolent majority.
However, as benevolent as the majority may portray itself - even to the point of fooling members of the majority - the institution of the society propagates itself, including its prejudices. The differences in viewing minority and majority members when they make mistakes are probably the most telling. When a member of the majority fails, it is an individual failure. Viewed as such by members of both groups, the failing individual does not represent all, and will more than likely be easily forgotten. Contrasting this with a similar mistake from a member of the minority group, we may reach the ‘a ha’ moment. The mistaken member of the minority will often gain notoriety; other examples of minority mistakes will be discussed. Casual parallels with innocuous minority behavior will be drawn, reinforcing the idea that this activity is to be expected.
Consider our history, and the fact that members of the minority that did rise to various powerful roles before generally accepted were often removed from their positions through dubious or unscrupulous means. This knowledge only compounds distrust of the majority group and leads to more loyalty within the group. Loyalty that may be horribly misplaced later on. But of course, that misplaced loyalty only furthers the original agenda: signifying to the majority that even the most egregious mistakes are accepted in the minority culture because of whatever stereotypical notions might be useful to purport at the given time.
Conspiracy theories are discounted as fantastical stories explaining somewhat uncertain events. But members of the minority group have been privy to actions by virtue of being completely present and yet still unseen [as has been often the case]. What the majority might deem a conspiracy theory [to lessen its credence] the minority group might Know to be true.
It is now much easier to see why, Marion Berry, or even OJ Simpson, may be supported [add Michael Vick, here, too. I’ve heard there have been some issues of race drawn on this case as well (as far as those who support him and those who don’t)]. They may have been wrong. Very wrong. But who really knows the truth? With all we know about corruption, isn’t it possible that people are still being set up today? If they were not framed, does another minority suffer from their actions? Gain from their punishment? If the answer to both is in the negative, it may seem to the minority that there is no purpose for the entire affair, other than to maintain the status quo. Since the minority, time after time, gets the proverbial short-end-of-the-stick, maintaining that system is not in their best interest. Why leave a member of their own group exposed and alone?
Remember, most often, members of the minority group are not seen as individuals. The accused person often is associated with the rest of his/her race. But more than that, most visible members of the minority group are portrayed in typecast or specific roles in media and people come to assign those attributes to all members of the group.
continued..........