For the past few weeks, tension has been high around this site due to Kos posting an anonymous diatribe targeting Donna Brazile. The fallout included Kid Oakland, a well-liked front page poster, resigning his post. Charges of racism have been rampant.
Personally, I am more than a little disturbed by the ease with which these accusations have been flung. In my mind, there is little more complicated than U.S. race relations. No matter what our color, we all have a lot to learn about race, ourselves and the ways we look at and judge each other.
I am not here to write anything else about the piece on Brazile. Enough has already been said. My point here is to open up a diary where we can openly talk about race and hopefully learn about each other.
What I'm going to do is list some of the things that I have heard white people say about black people that are either utterly false or seriously misguided. Again, thinking these things doesn't make a person racist, but I do think it makes a person come off as ignorant, and for people who have dealt with racism their whole lives, a person saying willfully hateful things about a person based on her/his color feels almost as bad as a person who should know better saying ignorant things.
For those of you who want to know, I am white and--not that anyone is--I don't claim to be an expert on race. One thing I have done is more than just read a bunch of books on race. I have friends of color and my child is bi-racial (or black or whatever, currently he identifies as "brown") so being informed on the affects of racism matters to me because I love my friends and my child and I don't want to be a total outsider to their experience. As well, this is my small attempt to up the dialog and shine some light, which can have life or death consequences for people of color.
Here goes with my list:
- There is not such thing as race: it's a political and social construct used frequently to keep people in their place. You cannot realistically divide the world's people into groups based on their skin tone. Most of us are mongrels of one form or another, and I doubt there is a single person in the world, who can claim to have "pure" blood, whatever the fuck that is.
- Affirmative action is NOT racism in reverse. It's a late-in-the-game attempt to even a playing field and as woefully inadequate as it is, it's better than nothing. I had this argument with my sister when she was whining about unfair affirmative action was to her son, who was applying to college. Really I asked her? How often did he have to worry about the quality of education he was receiving at his local public school. How often has your son had to wonder whether or not he got a job because of his skin color? How often was he stopped and questioned by cops whether on foot or in a car because simply because his seemed out of place in the neighborhood? How many times has he or his friends been brutalized by cops? How often was he followed the instance he stepped in a store to make a legitimate purchase? How often was his resume ignored because his name sounded too black? It should go without saying that all this shit has a much bigger affect on a person's intelligence than how much melatonin a person has in her/his skin.
- Having brown skin does not give a person an athletic advantage. There are all sort of reasons black people may figure prominently in SOME sports, but this is not a given and it hasn't been scientifically proven either. And this seems like a good place to add that black people are not rhythmically-gifted. Yes, the culture as a whole is proud of and loves its music, but there are a lot of black folks who can't dance (or sing) to save their lives.
- Rap music is a legitimate form of music and there is much more to it than lyrics about "bling" and put downs of women as hos. And no, great, political rap music didn't die with Public Enemy. There have been a long list of bands since them, who are worthy of your ear if you are a music fan.
- NBA players are not spoiled rotten thugs. Most of them worked their asses off to get where they are, and did so in the face of numerous challenges, including racism and poverty. Those of you who want to insist on shining a spotlight on their behavior need to compare them to their own peers (the ones they grow up with) as opposed to kids who grew up with every advantage under the sun. And while we're at it, stop criticizing them for going to the pros straight from high school. Why is it okay for baseball and tennis players and not basketball players?
- Black men are not better endowed than other men. This is one of those crazy stereotypes that even some black people still believe, but it's wrong. Not only do I know from my own personal experience (yes, I am one of those slutty white girls) that it is not true, my girlfriends all back me up on it. And while it may seem like a salacious point, America's obsession with black men's sexuality has had deadly results for men of color. Don't forget that it wasn't too long ago that black men were hung for even whistling at white girls.
- Black people who vote republican are not "Uncle Toms." That is a scathing insult, which white people should be extremely careful about ever applying to a person of color. Just like white people, black people who vote republican have a lot of different reasons for doing so and democrats need to stop thinking that they deserve the black vote because of stuff that happened in the sixties. It's 2005 for fucks sake, Ohio was a debacle. You need to earn the black vote just like every other vote.
And I think that's it for now. I could go on an on and on, but again, I'm no expert, and I want to give other people the floor so they can tell me how right I am or how wrong I am. I would, however, like to clear up one common misconception that black people often have about white people: My hair does not smell like a rained-on dog when it is wet!
So what do you think?