Wow - clever, unique topic that no one has written about before, right?
Shut up.
I wanted to write this article because one of the things that's sooo interesting about it to me is how other people view this. We had guests from India visit us last year and one of the things that they were curious about is the racial tension in America.
Uhh, say what? *puts on southern accent* Yall must not be from round here boy. We don't talk about them kinda thangs here.
But seriously- what an innocent question and how curiously sordid is it that it being asked in such a plain, innocuous manner seemed so strange. So I started to go back from the beginning about how slaves were brought here before America was even officially formed in 1776. Talking about how slavery was abolished during Lincoln's tenure as president.
*They nod in affirmation*
So then we started to get into the Jim Crow south, 3/5 voting rights, segregation, separate but equal, Brown vs. Board of Education, etc. [Shout out to my history teachers for helping me retain all this.] They, of course, are totally getting everything because there is still the pariah class so the idea of a lower-than-average group of people is nothing new to them. But it felt so strange using phrases like "Correct, many of the black people of America have been oppressed and suppressed by being given fewer opportunities and living in less than desirable communities and conditions where a cycle of perpetual poverty is propagated." It's very strange saying that "Many people in the lower strata resort to drugs and alcohol to numb themselves because they don't know what is in store for them, so they do whatever they want today" - an idea that rings true with many middle and upperclass people looking at the lower socioeconomic groups of their country.
Isn't it weird though that we as a people cant have this conversation out loud? If you are in the public spotlight and someone accuses you of being a racist - they may as well tag the word rapist in there as well, because your career is going to be undoubtedly changed. We act like there is no racism or classism, but it's very much there.
Weird story- I was shopping for flipflops a couple of years ago and I was talking to this department store associate who seemed to have an ample amount of time on his hands. We started talking about Colombia, his wife, the drug trade, etc. All of a sudden this guy segues into "Yea, there are a lot of folks in here who are getting ready for an all out race war. I'm talking guys stocking up on guns, ammo, food, water, all of it." And this was before doomsday preppers got big. I was just in shock that this guy was a.) telling me all this b.) agreed that such a civil war was imminent c.) so many other people were in agreement. Sound strange? How many people were shocked and in outrage from Trayvon Martin? How many people were in defense of being 'assertively aware' of a large, criminal-ish young man, "who was not a boy", and understood why his death was not intentional? How many people will be indignant about Jack Roberson, the diabetic man shot to death in his Georgia home? How many people levy ridiculously racist jokes against our president?
How many of you have heard the idea that Reagan was responsible for bringing crack into the ghettos? That the government used drugs to keep black people in squalor? How many times have you heard the N word in the last month (ending in "er", not "a")?
I'm telling you, man..racism... it's alive and well, albeit in hiding. Sheeeeeeeeit.
Shut up.
I wanted to write this article because one of the things that's sooo interesting about it to me is how other people view this. We had guests from India visit us last year and one of the things that they were curious about is the racial tension in America.
Uhh, say what? *puts on southern accent* Yall must not be from round here boy. We don't talk about them kinda thangs here.
But seriously- what an innocent question and how curiously sordid is it that it being asked in such a plain, innocuous manner seemed so strange. So I started to go back from the beginning about how slaves were brought here before America was even officially formed in 1776. Talking about how slavery was abolished during Lincoln's tenure as president.
*They nod in affirmation*
So then we started to get into the Jim Crow south, 3/5 voting rights, segregation, separate but equal, Brown vs. Board of Education, etc. [Shout out to my history teachers for helping me retain all this.] They, of course, are totally getting everything because there is still the pariah class so the idea of a lower-than-average group of people is nothing new to them. But it felt so strange using phrases like "Correct, many of the black people of America have been oppressed and suppressed by being given fewer opportunities and living in less than desirable communities and conditions where a cycle of perpetual poverty is propagated." It's very strange saying that "Many people in the lower strata resort to drugs and alcohol to numb themselves because they don't know what is in store for them, so they do whatever they want today" - an idea that rings true with many middle and upperclass people looking at the lower socioeconomic groups of their country.
Isn't it weird though that we as a people cant have this conversation out loud? If you are in the public spotlight and someone accuses you of being a racist - they may as well tag the word rapist in there as well, because your career is going to be undoubtedly changed. We act like there is no racism or classism, but it's very much there.
Weird story- I was shopping for flipflops a couple of years ago and I was talking to this department store associate who seemed to have an ample amount of time on his hands. We started talking about Colombia, his wife, the drug trade, etc. All of a sudden this guy segues into "Yea, there are a lot of folks in here who are getting ready for an all out race war. I'm talking guys stocking up on guns, ammo, food, water, all of it." And this was before doomsday preppers got big. I was just in shock that this guy was a.) telling me all this b.) agreed that such a civil war was imminent c.) so many other people were in agreement. Sound strange? How many people were shocked and in outrage from Trayvon Martin? How many people were in defense of being 'assertively aware' of a large, criminal-ish young man, "who was not a boy", and understood why his death was not intentional? How many people will be indignant about Jack Roberson, the diabetic man shot to death in his Georgia home? How many people levy ridiculously racist jokes against our president?
How many of you have heard the idea that Reagan was responsible for bringing crack into the ghettos? That the government used drugs to keep black people in squalor? How many times have you heard the N word in the last month (ending in "er", not "a")?
I'm telling you, man..racism... it's alive and well, albeit in hiding. Sheeeeeeeeit.
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