Cultural Identity.
Non-governmental international organizations.
Immigration.
International adoption.
Bi-racial marriage.
Minority enpowerment.
Child Advocacy.
AIDS epidemic.
Globalization.
Western culturalization.
American Indian reservation laws.
Human rights vs. cultural sensitivity.
The possibilities of unifying a diverse nation.
Culture preservation.
Cultural and life-threatening clashes in the United States.
Monochromatic verses polychromatic time.
The Millenium Goals.
Racism. Acknowledging it as way too real.
Racism. Acknowledging that whoever you are, you are a racist.
Racism. Acknowledging that wherever you are, you are privileged if you are white.
...just in case you wanted to know what I talk about all day.
14 comments:
It's a wonderfully huge step to recognize racism within. It's the ONLY way to eradicate it. I'm always shocked when I hear people say "racism just isn't a problem any more." I made many enemies during a debate in my ethics class when I defended the racism exists here - now - in YOU, in ME. People did not want to hear that...
Here's a true story from racist Portland: Last week a black kid gets shot in the face. Two days before he dies his probation officer sees him counting out eight hundred $1 bills. He obviously ran into some bad money. The authorities call it a suicide even though everyone who knows him, including the staff at detention, say he wasn't suicidal. Now I can understand not finding the killer, because who would step forward?, but to say one doesn't exist is appalling.
I was upset and said it was unfair, and the black girls at work said I should be black. I didn't understand. They said I should be black so I could advocate.
It struck me that if I were black, I would have already been vocal. But what do I do since I'm white? Where do I start? What groups do I turn to? I asked, perhaps rhetorically, and got no response.
Ryan said...
Okay people seem to take what I say the wrong way all the time. So first let me say to you, one of my first best friends in Canada was black and from Canada. Another best friend in Canada was black and from Jamaica. Then I served my mission in South Africa and was one of the few missionaries who served almost exclusively among the blacks, Zulu's. That window of opportunity for a white missionary to serve the zulu's was only open from 1995 to about 2001 out of the 150 years missionaries have been in South Africa. They still serve there now just not as freely as those years.
No one in this world has treated me better than the black people of South Africa. I say black in general because there were more tribes than just the Zulu's.
I showed respect to them and they respected me. The relationship we have is one of pure joy and love.
Add to that I have had friends from nearly half the countries of this world and most of the major religions.
With that being said, it's part of life. We can't control what other people feel. I know how I feel and I know how these people feel about me. If I let people who are more extreme influence what I have come to know then that's the tragedy. I know it exist but I would rather focus on the love I feel from so many people around the world instead of the one's causing the problems.
Ryan Said ....
I will also say My dad's brother is married to an Italian. His one sister is married to an Indian and another sister is married to a french man. I have 3 cousins from my indian inter racial aunt and uncle. The youngest of the 3 married a white guy. The 2nd slept out of wedlock with a black guy and has a black daughter. The eldest is falling in love with a black girl. I don't see the big deal with the inter racial thing. Who cares what people think. They all love each other and live their life just fine.
I myself have at one point in my life found blacks to be way more attractive than whites. In fact currently I think the most attractive women in the world are South American. Like they would ever go for a pale white guy like me.
Do you know the saying once you go black you'll never go back. Whatever floats your boat.
I think it's important to point out that racism doesn't exclusively mean you have negative feelings toward another race. It can also mean GOOD biases. If I've had an awesome experience with someone from Brazil, and then I think ALL people from Brazil are just as awesome simply based on where they're from, then that is racism. So I think it's not unfair to assume, like Emily posted, that we all have racism inside us. It's instinctual and natural for our brains to make connections, put things (and people) in categories, and act upon those assumptions later. It's HOW we act on those assumptions that can get us into trouble.
And I hope no one thinks I think it's okay to BE racist, and to treat others unfairly based upon skin color. I should have mentioned that in the last post! (duh!) I just wanted to point out that yes, we are all racist, because it's unavoidable... we need to learn how to recognize our feelings and deal with them appropriately.
Ryan said....
Stargirl when I was in South Africa I was almost killed by the same race who loved me. There was tons of bad zulu's who would rather harm me than accpet me. I focused on the good ones.
I think it's one thing to be a member of the KKK or something like that and something totally different to have a subtle uncomfortableness about someone or something. I think you're both difining racism in a way that makes it seem like if a person is uncomfortable then their racist.
I went to the performance art night at your house. It was new to me. There was a bit of discomfort. So I'm a racist against all who attended because I wasn't used to what was going on and how others might have felt about my being there or lack of involvement.
Except for the extremist racist ie KKK I think it's just a lack of education on a topic and being uncomfortable because of that lack of knowledge. The more we're exposed the easier it is. Racist seem to a harsh term because it conjures up burning someone or other horrible crimes. Yes all of us are uncertain to a point of where pople stand and where we fit in.
Ryan, I refuse to argue with you anymore, and I feel like you misconstrue all my comments to make them seem like I disagree with you or I'm attacking you. I'm not. Please ignore all comments I make, as I do not want to get into another "discussion" with you. I stand by my comments, and my purpose in commenting on this blog is to support Emily, not to argue.
(again to Ryan)...and I'm sorry you were uncomfortable during a Performance Art Night. To some extent, that is their purpose... to stretch ourselves a little bit, to see what we're made of, to react and to be reacted upon. But to bring that up as an example of racism is absurd. If you felt uncomfortable because you were white and we all weren't, your argument might have something to stand on.
Stargirl, it's so funny. You just finished saying to me that it's not all about race, you can like someone too much and that's racism. I have my definition of racism and I was using what both yourself and Emily seemed to be saying as your definition of a racist.
I wasn't uncomfortable just not in my element. I knew most of the people around me and trusted them in various degrees. Not a perfect trust otherwise I would have been totally comfortable.
I call this a spirited discussion. If emotions can come into play than motivations and desire may be heightened and one is more likely to act on how they feel and better themselves.
Once again, I was simply responding to Emily's post. To reiterate, please do not respond to my individual comments, as I believe they are misconstrued, and things get off-track. That is not the purpose of this blog.
Stargirl I guess I made a mistake of putting your name first. My response was to Emily's post as well. You agreed with the whole thing and then added your good biased comment. I was then saying I disagree with both of you now.
"Racism. Acknowledging that whoever you are, you are a racist."
That's what I'm responding to mostly. Is it clearer now? Oh! Hi Emily I guess people are talking to each other on your blog. Is that the deininition of a blog to agree with what everyone says? If not keep my mouth shut. Just oh I love this and love that. Gimme a break. For this post I don't agree and I'm voicing that opinion to Emily and everyone who cares to read it. We were just having so much fun from before I included you in the discussion. Next time I will call Emily so not to offend anyone. Ooops I forgot to say Ryan Said....
YAY for being alive! YAY for not agreeing! YAY for opinions!! HA! I'm so digging this. I love you all way too much.
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