My ranting responce to Meizac’s Texas and racism…everywhere on The Outlier Collective

Recently a reader and awesome blogger in her own right, asked me if I would be willing to talk openly and frankly about race. I generated a post about this asking my readers if they would be willing to participate in a talk on racism. I was overwhelmed by the response I got and also by the fact that all of us at one point seemed to have taken an African Studies class that did more harm to our self-identity as individuals and to positive feedback between the different racial demographics than good.

Today this want to talk about racism gained even more momentum when I read and reblog a post by  Meizac on the Outlier Collective entitled: Texas and racism…everywhere.  It gave me a lot of ideas about how to structure a conversation about racism on my blog that will be mutually beneficial to everyone who participates white black red or green or polka dot. I would like to invite all of you to give me your feedback about how this can happen positively ,

Racism

Racism is a very personal subject for me and I am a very guarded person. I don’t like talking about it. For many people who live in the United States, it is something if you are bored one day you can  pick a book up and read about it whereas if you were born with an amazing tan like myself racism affects most aspects if not all aspects of your life. For example:

When I commute to Work in NYC: The stop and frisk
When I go to job interview: Oh.. you’re David, the same one on the phone … yea just had a tanning accident
When I approached women when single: You’re really nice but I don’t do/go out with Black guys  but Denzel/ That guy from CSI is hot though.
When I was Named: We named you David because you were born in a backward white country and wanted to give you one less thing to worry about, and because you’re a king
When I watch TV:  Most black people are depicted a handful of negative ways.
When I went to a prep school, my first day sitting at the wrong lunch table: Hey do would you get offended if I told some black jokes… How do you get a black guy out of a tree …. You cut the rope…… You know Schwartzeneggar literally means “two niggers”
When I was a kid paying for a ice-cream before I could count well : get the fuck out of my store ( throws change in my face) You people are all the same all theives….

I am hesitant to talk about race because I get angry not so much at racism itself but by the perception that it doesn’t exist and about the dismissal of my experience of it as a legal American. In the past I found out the hard way that except for a few people no one gives a shit unless it involves them. So what happened when I raised a point  I am automatically thought of as a rabble-rouser, a complainer,
as being intellectually bankrupt because I cannot see how good I have it now that I cant vote and won’t hang from a tree for bedding a white woman.

I will say this for the record as long as there are human beings, there will be racism.  It will not go away. Racism is a series of conscious choices made repeated over time to ignore facts, and turn a blind eye towards another’s humanity whether individually or socially. All I want, all I have ever wanted is to be able to call a spade a spade. I don’t want forty fucking acres and a mule because it would, in effect if accepted, buy my silence. I don’t want anyone’s fucking sympathy, pat on the back or help me reach success. I will do it on my own, and its sweeter because every little success is always inspite of the system. What I want rather, what  I need for the sake of my own well-being to call a spade a spade.

But in this kind of society that the worst thing to do.

I should be able to say:

1. America has never existed. America is an ideal that is waiting to be born, its a beautiful concept waiting to be born, and that is why I still chose to stay here to do my part to make it happen one day far into the future long after I cannot have erection and my grandchildren are dead.
2. I find Europe in particular Western Europe to be as morally bankrupt if not more so than the USA. Historically apples don’t fall far from the tree. Europe being a moral compass is as ridiculous as career rapists running dating services, [especially given the unbelievable abuses enacted by the colonial colonies.]
3. The legal system is prejudiced, the police are the vehicles of enforcing that prejudice and reinforcing the invisible barriers that keep us divided among the socio economic lines

Those to me are the facts. I think its folly to blame or to hold a grudge against any or every  White person for what happened. There were white people who opposed slavery, there are whites who walked with Dr King at great peril to their own well-being. [Actually to be honest with you this white black brown color coordination thing is bullshit and quite tiring] In my eyes we are all people. I extend my friendship, knowledge and compassion to everyone regardless of race colour creed, gender, etc  but despite my idealism which some would call quixotic, the system in operation in this country still doesn’t work with my interests in mind. Actually it is my opinion that it works against my interests.

The Reality

I should be able to say all those things and more without being dismissed/ignored. I don’t mind if you disagree or think I am wrong or think that my style is offensive. I am happy to sit and talk with you, if you want me to check out some info send it I’ll be happy to read it and put a post on my thoughts But to dismiss me means you are not ready yet as an adult to deal with the cards we have been given as a nation. Every nation has its shadow. We can ignore it all we want but at some point it will make itself known and it’s never pretty when it comes out.

Satirizing.

My solution is to satirize what I see and I do it well sometimes when I don’t get too angry.  For example, I talked about

1. What it would like if successful black actors/families adopted poor blonde hair blue eyed babies and gave them names of people who have been historically abused/conquered/decimated  like Dakota
2. How funny it would be if Caucasian female singers got darker and darker as their careers progressed in the media, and grew more and more rotund until they all looked like Mammy from Gone With the Wind.
3. How funny it will be to have Meryl Streep playing Harriet Tubman in an epic 2 part biopic because after all she is the greatest female actresses alive
4. How Kobe Bryant not getting lynched before trial for fucking that White girl was a sign that America has progressed.

This is the only healthy way I know of to vent my anger and rage. Of course these are not my most popular posts, they don’t bring in views but they give me peace. My voice isn’t the loudest and most heard but I would like to think I speak with sincerity even through the sardonic and flippant tone. Edward Hotspur has a very pertinent post: The United States Is Now A Volumeocracy post where he define quite accurate a growing trend that it means that whoever screams the loudest, or in non-audio situations, whoever gets the most coverage, ends up getting their way most often and whenever I look at TV or the comment section of any post talking about racism I see this

Adele 5 albums into it. “Who would have known how bittersweet this would taste?”

 

Why I liked this post

There is something I call the the Time Magazine Effect – only when something gets printed in Time Magazine does it become real. So if I said time and time again  that police brutality was real, no one would take me seriously unless time magazine wrote a piece on it. This is why I love the Occupy Protest:

Now people actually listen a little bit more when it is brought up. I also notice the minute most people start to say anything that can start a real conversation so many people throw their hands up saying I am offended like it means anything because the language or diction didn’t make things seem as palatable as they wanted it to be. I’ve been offended by many things but I as long as I have a place to stay and no one is sticking dogs on me or sodomizing me with a broom stick I am pretty good, but that how I roll I suppose.

I was so happy to hear Meizac says things that I have said in the past and have people comment in reply. That’s amazing to me. I feel that I have to make myself into a spectacle first to incite any response.  You’d be surprised but despite my degrees and education it seems I have no credibility when it comes to talking about race-relations and society; complex data analysis molecular biology cloning techniques, teaching graduate students yeah sure but race relations in the US nope. I’m to close to look at things objectively. The only negative thing about this post were something said in the comment section but I admit its personal to me.

I really loved that this post resulted in another responce from another blogger Sandee “Racism…Everywhere” continued… 

She articulated well so many things I have felt Be sure to check her

It’s hilarious that western countries have trampled all over the natural institutions in Africa and elsewhere, then go back like superman to save the day, making these people look more helpless and pathetic than ever, while they were doing just fine before Europe ever got there.

This system may be the best that we could do for now and it’s great that Meizac and other people help to build awareness of some of the outright hypocrisies that exist.  These are the seeds that some of our young people need to help us to build something better than this.  For now we’re all brainwashed, black people as well, which is understandable — striving to keep up with the dominant culture without seeing the truth.  But we’re all in the struggle together — haha!  — who the hell really knows what we’re doing here?  We can learn from each other and teach each other without having a victim mentality or a mentality of superiority.

That’s it end rant

Mrmary

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