06-12-03 - -
I am white. What does that mean?
The main goal of Affirmative Action, as I see it, is to even up non-African American races after the oppression they have suffered. The main problem I have with it, conceptually, is that it tends to be an "ends justify the means" type of thing. We object that African-Americans get placed before white kids. Then again, on the other hand, schools select on many criteria. One of them is being an athlete. Dumber athletes get into school easier than smarter non-athletes. They do this because being an athlete is good for the school. Why can't they do the same thing for race? In addition, aristocracy is like "white affirmative action." You may not know this, but Bush got into an ivy league school with an SAT of 1200. These schools turn down hundreds of people with *perfect SAT scores* a year. Hmmmm...
Anyhow, back to race. We think the effects of racism are over. How easily we forget that 50 years ago people were killed for trying to vote, protesters were hosed down, and a black church was bombed. How easily we forget that it was legal to ban African-Americans from pools, churches, restaurants, hotels. And 35 years ago...Well, I have a set of "The Illustrated Encyclopedia for Learning" from 1969 to illustrate our ways of thinking then.
"In Africa, more than twenty new nations whose people are almost wholly of the Negro race have achieved independence. The leaders of these new nations are mostly men of education and ability, but the populace is uneducated and backward compared to Europeans."
"In olden times, the Maoris were a fierce tribe who fought many battles with white settlers and explorers. They used to tatto their faces with wild designs. Today, however, the once-savage Maoris are almost completely civilized. Their dress is the same as that of the white citizens."
In Womens Studies 101, my eyes were opened to white privelege. Patty McIntosh described it as an "invisible backpack" -- a bunch of tools and abilities one has as a white person. I think I had never considered the following things: that bandaids in "flesh color" come in my color. That they don't have the picks and oils used for African American hair at convenience stores. That hairdressers often aren't trained to cut their hair. That I don't have to worry that things I do, such as eating with my mouth open or arriving late to work will be held against my race. (( See Peggy McIntosh's article on white privilege, which is where I learned about it. Some of it's less true now, most of it ain't.))
The problem is this: what does one do? First of all, it makes sense that if it's "white privilege" white people have to surrender it. As a white person, I think that what one does is examine one's own behavior... Think about it. What do you say about African-Americans? Watch yourself in a group or a crowd. How do you treat them differently? I think, basically, that everyone is a racist to some degree, regardless of race. Basically, what Peggy McIntosh says in the article, if you don't want to read it, is that racism isn't only singular acts of meanness, it's a system. We are taught to be blind to it, because of what it means to us. While it stays, people treat us better because we're white. Unfortunately, when someone's on top, someone is on the bottom. I realize that it's hard to not judge a group based on it's actions as a whole -- not to judge men or women, Christians or atheists, Republicans or Democrats, for what they've done and said. I wish there were more books about white privilege, but I think there aren't because people are sick of hearing about it. They think it's all over and done with, when ten years ago peach was called "flesh" in the box of crayons.
My old friend Sonny once said, "I have never found an African American woman attractive." I asked, "What about a celebrity?" He said, "Never." Once I said, "White supremacists always think they're the master race." He said, "You never know." Wait -- yes -- I do know. Haven't we scientifically proved that that is untrue, yet? I find those attitudes disgusting. I went on a date once with a man named Thomas. He said, "What do you think about the dark ones?" ((Dark ones!!) I didn't realize what he was talking about until he gesture towards two "dark ones". I said that I believe in racial equality. He then proceeded to say, "So do I, but when you see one, you fucking roll up the window." He later warned me, when I got to a gas station to "watch out for a brother", insinuating that one might rape me. Hey, the "black rapist thing" again. I hate to tell you, but most black crime is against black people.
As far as I'm concerned, politics are like this: if you're not awake, you're asleep. The key weapon is this: knowledge. Some issues are too important to shut up about.
