Post-racial this.
By The Elahater
Jan. 20. We all held our collective breath, and as millions of white, black and brown faces dotted the National Mall, all to see America inaugurate its first black president, many wondered, “Could this be it? Are we finally turning a corner in race relations? Are we one step closer to realizing Dr. King’s dream?”
Well, it’s been a week, and I feel like that’s a sufficient amount of time to analyze whether American racism is truly dead. Right? Let’s begin:
You know your one white friend, the one who when he first made friends with a black person, or starting going to majority-black social gatherings, he stopped saying “African American” and would just say “black” with a new-born confidence and self-assurance?
Well, America is that white friend. Yeah. The whole country.
The “I’m Down” syndrome has swept across America. The entire country is suddenly “down,” and not just “down” with black folks, but everyone feels like they are no longer a racist and feel fully confident asking you how you got that golden tan. Was it a weekend getaway to South Beach?
People were scared this was going to happen with the election. And don’t get me wrong, I don’t subscribe to school of thought that fears a black man being elected president is bad for minorities. I just think that Americans view their country, and themselves, a little differently now. “Hey, I’m not as racist as I thought I was.” About 20 people last week felt that way, because that’s how many asked me why my name is so funny-sounding without that familiar hint of uneasiness in asking.
I’m not going to lie; I kind of miss the days (read: 1990s to 2007) when white folks were too scared to say what they thought, and avoided the funny-sounding names and weird customs like the plague.
See, American racism has gone through its own adorable life cycle.
Just like a butterfly!
So the outright, blatant racism was once in (read: dawn of time to 1990s). And that’s been on its way out in the past couple of years, during which racism was being institutionalized and internalized. People of color had new found legal rights, but many were still suffering from the remnants of oppression. For a white person, being called a racist was the worst thing to be called, and for the most part, white people were too scared to even say anything relating to or pointing out a minority’s “minority status” for fear of being labeled with the nasty “R” word.
“Hey, don’t call him a Mexican. It’s kind of racist.”–scared white person.
So they kept their mouths shut and people of color were spared those annoying questions and comments which could distract them from doing other things, like, you know, trying to survive the crushing weight of utter poverty and fighting a system pitted against them and such. Stuff like that.
Perhaps it is better that white folks are speaking their minds a little more freely now, I mean, this is what I once called for, for people to stop hiding behind political correctness and tell me what they really think. But I guess I was full of shit, or that I’m just not patient enough or loving enough to deal with what people really think, especially when that thing is accusing our president of running on “CP time.”
Well, maybe I’m being too sensitive. I guess I, too, had my own set of expectations with the election of a black president, a multi-racial president, a president with the middle name “Hussein.” Ignorance just won’t disappear as quickly as any of us would have wanted.
Interesting rant, although it is racist on its own. I won’t “hate on you”. i will simply say that racism is America will continue as long as folks like you continue to make sure it doesn’t die. Black people focused on things like “surviving and living under the crushing weight of oppression?” C’mon man. I grew up is SouthEast DC. I know a thing or two about what the ghetto is like. But most of America is not like that. And this President just proved that a black man in America can do anything he sets his mind to. So long as we continue to allow statements like those quoted above enslave our minds, then you will always be right. You are as free and empowered as you choose to be. No one is holding you back anymore. No one except yourself…
Elahater… I love it.
USWeapon..
she cant be racist. She doesn’t hold a position of power. To let you know, the correct terminology to use is prejudice.
But then she is speaking truth.. so how is she perpetuating the enslaved minds of others? The truth will set you free and until America as a whole recognizes the truths of what this country has done and admit their wrong so EVERYONE can heal.. Truth will never be fully realized and the enslavery of the minds of men will continue.. Whether they are white, black, brown, man, woman or child.
the face of a black man as president is definitely something to be happy about, but that imagery doesn’t begin to unmask and represent the true potentialities of ‘the black man’ or any man for that matter.
and I would also like to ask you and know.. what thing are two can you share with us about ‘the ghetto’. Please share.
USWeapon is obviously a white guy. I would love to hear what lessons he has from the ghetto. “But most of America is not like that. And this President just proved that a black man in America can do anything he sets his mind to.” You are right. Most of America is not like Southeast DC. Most of America is completely white and gets its perception of black people from TV. Though its nice that now an upstanding black dude is on TV, President Obama will get significantly less air time than Lil’ Wayne and the plethora of celebrities who perpetuate negative sterotypes. That is just one of the examples of the institutionalized and internalized racism Elahater discussed. As for a black guy doing anything he sets his mind to: I set my mind to catch a cab the other day. It didn’t work out.
Yes, USWeapon is a white guy. And lessons learned from the ghetto are not the point.
Kirbaybay, let me start with you. First drop that tired misconception that you have to have power to be racist. To be a racist you merely have to be willing to treat someone differently because of no other reason than the color of their skin. Racial discrimination requires power. So you have to have power to discriminate based on race. You don’t have to have power to be a racist. Case in point, you allowed race to make you discriminate against my opinion. I am white, and therefore wrong. You chose to make race the issue there and you used your power of words to discriminate against me. So I used the correct term: Racist, which is what any person is who uses the color of someone’s skin to make a pre-determined opinion of them, which is what you and Marley have both done, even mocking the fact that I know what it was like to grow up in poverty in one of the worst ghettos in America. Congratulations.
Second, who needs to admit that what happened 50 years ago was wrong? Me? Do you need a signed petition from every white American in order to “heal” from wounds that were never inflicted upon you? Many white Americans have moved on, because none of us ever owned a slave, and many of us grew up believing that there was no difference between people of different skin colors. Who exactly in America does not recognize the truths of what America has done? A couple of fringe KKK idiots in SE Mississippi? Do you really care what they think? I certainly don’t. Because some jerk hangs a noose from a tree doesn’t mean that “white people” are racists. It means that jerk was. Would you be OK with my labeling “black people” as criminals simply because tonight’s paper has a story in it about a black man robbing a local store and killing the clerk?
Let me be clear on how white people feel in America. Let me say the things they don’t say to your face because if they do you throw the “R” word at them. We don’t care about your skin color. That stopped being an issue a long time ago for my generation. Where I grew up, almost every friend I had was either black or hispanic. We don’t judge you based on your skin color, but we do judge you based on how you act, how you carry yourself, whether you respect other people, how you speak, and most important, what you say. And we fully expect you to judge us for the same criteria. Because if you cannot judge people on their actions, words, and beliefs, what exactly CAN you use as criteria?
When I was 16, some friends and I got involved in a street fight with some kids from two blocks up. The guy who punched me in the mouth was black. Do you think that you should apologize to me for that simply because you are black? I didn’t think so. Know why? Because you weren’t responsible and the color of your skin is not a “link” that makes you responsible for the actions of other people who have the same color of skin. So what makes you think that millions of white Americans share some kind of joined responsibility for the actions of other white people from a different time? We are tired of being told that we have to apologize and make reparations for the actions of people that had nothing to do with us. We didn’t own slaves. We don’t use race as a criteria for judging someone. We didn’t have opportunities given to us because of our color. Maybe that isn’t true for everyone, but that is true for me. We are tired of being called racists when we aren’t. And the more that you do that, the more we move away from a mindset that allows racism in America to end. You MAKE racism continue by discriminating against white people and stereotyping them in the same ways that you rightly demand not to have done to you.
And since we are in the “correcting” mood over my choice of words, potentiality is not a word at all. The word is potential.
Marley,
You are correct, middle America does not have a ton of black people around and this gives middle Americans limited perspective on black people. That means that they will perhaps be slower to completely change than someone from DC, NY, or LA. But “most of America” just voted for a black man for President. Blacks in America make up 13% of the population, he didn’t get there by garnering even 100% of that small minority. 50 years ago this would have been an impossibility. That is progress. We, as a country, may not be all the way there yet, but there has certainly been a lot of progress made. And I am proud of that.
You point out that rappers and negative stereotypes are what shapes the opinion of those who don’t normally see black people. You are 100% right. But that is not institutional racism. That is showing what sells. White people don’t tell rappers what to rap about. And they don’t put rappers out there to sway a gullible public. The fact is that these celebrities CHOOSE to represent the black race in this way, because they are getting rich by doing so. Most rappers come from independent black labels these days. Racist white people have nothing to do with it from start to finish. You cannot blame white people for these negative stereotypes that are garnered from what they see. As I said, you base your opinion on what people say, how they act, etc. If the only input you ever saw showing you the behavior of elephants in Africa was shows about them going berserk and trampling people, You would have to assume that elephants are dangerous creatures that live to trample people.
And I set my mind to catch a cab the other day as well. It also didn’t work out. See, it had nothing to do with race.
For All,
I know you will label me a racist, which is unfortunate because it couldn’t be further from the truth. I try to have open and honest dialogue with all people about the realities of the world we are living in.
You asked what I learned in the ghetto. I learned that it is a difficult place to get out of. I learned that our parents told us that we couldn’t get out, and it broke the spirit of many of us who wanted out desperately but ended up believing that it was impossible. After all our parents told us so. I learned that the public education system in America is broken, and whether you are black or white, it takes someone exceptional to get from it what we should. I learned that there are racists in America from all races, because it is a state of mind, not a color of skin. I learned that if I changed the way I treated people and changed the way I spoke, I was treated completely differently. I learned that poverty kills… of the 11 guys that were my posse growing up, 6 are dead. I am only 38.
I learned that the people who made something of themselves generally came from homes where no one told them there was any reason they couldn’t. Which means that I learned that we are setting our children up for failure when we tell them that the deck is stacked against them so badly, when it isn’t nearly as stacked as it was for our parents. I learned that police are scared to death in the ghetto, which causes them to live on edge and be more prone to snapping than others. I learned that my black friends who learned to speak better and act differently did so because they realized that it wasn’t about skin color, it was about being what society expects of everyone, regardless of race. I also learned that for doing so, they lost lifelong friends for not being “black enough”.
I learned that human potential is limited only by what we believe we are capable of. Our own beliefs to the contrary are the biggest obstacles to making a good life.
I learned that many black people in America have been raised in ways that are similar to how white people were raised 100 years ago. Their parents passed on judgements about race and about what you will face in America. And because of this there are black people in America who believe all the hype about how racist America is.
Most of all I learned that power is what drives people. And power is gained by ensuring that we find a way to keep people from coming together. Democrats and Republicans divide the country in half in order to ensure that the people don’t come together and realize that they are both corrupt and out of control. Blacks and whites are kept at odds with each other because it keeps certain people in a position of power. If racism was allowed to die, people like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton would no longer serve a purpose or have any power. As the old saying goes, “divide and conquer”. Those that teach that race is an issue need that to be true in order to conquer. They dread the day that blacks and whites get together and eliminate racism, so they sow the seeds of division.
I appreciate your thoughts above. I understand your frustration and I understand why you feel the way you do. But I stand by my statement. Racism will die in America when everyone decides to let it die. So long as you continue to force it as an issue, it will remain one. And in that scenario we all lose.
An interesting link on racism:
http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/10/can_we_please_define_racism.html
Wow USWeapon. You wrote a very nice essay above. I admire your passion and appreciate your perspective. Unfortunately, in the interests of brevity, I will have to stop short of trying to address every disagreement I had with what you wrote.
First, your initial comment was not wrong because you are white. Rather, your statements indicated that our opinion was from a mindset formed by being privileged. This privilege is not economic, but racial. Yeah, you came form Southeast, but obviously have no personal experience of the daily trials of being a minority in America.
You are also completely incorrect about the rap issue. Mos Def’s “The Rape Over”, found on his album “The New Danger” may provide some perspective. I recommend listening to it after you listen to Jay-Z’s “Takeover”, found on “The Blueprint”. Then ask yourself why Jay-Z’s music is all over the radio, but Mos Def’s is not.
Lastly, you stated that people in a position of power want to keep blacks and whites at odds with each other. I ask you to consider who, in this country, is in power. Even further, who in the world, is in power? Who has held power across the globe for hundreds of years? When you discover that, take the time to think about the attitudes that the people in power have towards the darker peoples of the world.
Being from Southeast definitely gives you a special perspective. However, I think you would benefit from a perspective more moulded by history and considerations of the world and how it is today. I agree with you that Obama’s election is definitely a sign of progress. However, like Elahater seems to think, it does not signal the END of ignorance and racism. There has been progress, but we have further to go.
OK USWeapon. After posting the comment above, I checked-out that link you posted. It reminded me why educated people tend to be liberals.
Sure we have further to go, on both sides. What is inherently wrong is doing to whites what was wrongly done to blacks for years, lumping them together as a collective in terms of action and responsibility for the past. The majority of today’s people are not racists. And that majority is growing every day. It is unfair to make these blanket statements about “white people”. We are every bit as unique individually as black people. You wouldn’t accept it if I threw all blacks together so why is it OK to do to white people?
And I repeat that while you seem to believe that it is some “white power” determining what is on the radio, it is not. What is on the radio is whatever is going to sell. Jay Z outsells Mos Def, so he is all over the radio.
How sad that such a nice new blog has such a pathetic commenter.
Elizabeth,
I am pathetic because I attempt to have open and honest conversations about the subject using facts and real life experiences? I haven’t degraded anyone or lied about any facts. It is the inability to openly discuss the facts of the issues in a logical way, eliminating emotion from the equation, that keeps us separate. I attempt to discuss honestly and openly and respectfully, and as a result I am branded a racist and pathetic. And people wonder why the politicians have all the power in America….