This Week In Blackness Ep#5 – about White Privilege

I refuse to use the word "racist" around white people. It like calling them a nigger. Instead of wasting time using such a stigmatized word, I rather focus on white privilege.

Tim Wise is the most amazing anti-racist out there. He's so anti-racist he begins his lectures explaining how white Americans will listen to him because he's a white male. If he were of color, they will tone him out. His website (timwise.org) has some cool down to essays, and youtube him if you dont have the time to read, he speaks with a fire (you'll see what I mean once you hear him).

Journey Remix!! You have to laugh to keep from crying... Thanks for another great episode.

This is going to be long...I tried to find an email addy so I wouldn't take up a lot of space but I failed. So here you go:

Hi there!
I wanted to share with you some of my thoughts on the subject of racism. I have the book 'Lies My Teacher Told Me' by James W. Loewen and I find it a fascinating read. I read two chapters last night after watching your recent episode. One was about racism and the other about anti racism. His book, on a basic level, is talking about how high school/middle school kids are exposed to history from the text books used. Now, I did pretty good in school, but I never got into reading textbooks on history/social studies and, even through college, had to read and re-read a paragraph wondering if I was even reading English. (Because I was bored and not interested, not because I couldn't read English.) Ahem.

Okay, so theory number one is that as we are learning, our base education does not address racism/anti racism in our history correctly/thoroughly so we have no basis in fact on why people behave the way they do when it comes to this topic.

I am confused on the topic because of my background along with what I didn't learn in school. I'm a white woman; I grew up in Troup Co. GA; my first 'love' was a black boy in 4 year old kindergarten (he could color in the lines-he was SO awesome); and I had many friends who were black. Now, I did see horrid housing conditions from the bus window and I was mystified how anyone could live like that, but my brain has always been wired to come up with an answer that tries to justify a situation (case in point: When I was around 3-5 I had a yellow raincoat that did not have pockets. One day at school I put on my raincoat and it had pockets and in the pocket was a pack of gum. I reasoned that my mom had made me some pockets and put gum in there for me to enjoy. It never entered my mind that it wasn't my raincoat.) I can't remember how my brain justified how anyone could live in a shack like the ones I saw, but I'm sure I came up with something (that's just their play home, like a tree house).

I also had a family member who would get me and my brother to say 'yessirboss' (sounded like yasuhboss) but we didn't know what that meant. It sounded funny. We even used it when the family member was trying to be serious - and got in trouble. Sheesh. I had family in Alabama who had maids/helpers who were black and saw how they had to be driven back and forth because they didn't have transportation. I also saw how the family loved them and how my dad said yes ma'am and no ma'am when talking to them.

When I got older, we moved to KY and that's where I noticed that my school was mostly white and found out that the city high school was mostly black. It was a fact that hovered in my brain, but I was a teenager and boys were my cup-o-tea.

I am happy to say that because of my foundation, when a family member told me that a relative in the 1950s/60s was murdered by a black man my brain went to 'I wonder what he did to deserve that?' So, one of the many things I'm grateful for in my life is that, in most cases, I'm not quick to jump on the bandwagon.

When it finally started sinking in that there were racial issues, I remember asking a family member who grew up in the 50s "How could you think that it was okay to treat people like this?" and the answer was "It's just how it was." I couldn't get an intelligent answer. My theory number two is that raising children to think in a particular way makes them do your biding without them knowing why. The answer used to exist but the answer isn't needed anymore because the racism is handed down generation after generation and is not questioned. Who would I be today if my parents yanked me away when a black person came and tried to swing in a swing next to me? Or walked out of a public place when a black person came in? Or talked openly about how much they hated black people?

I've learned a new theory in the past year about why race relations are still shitty. I was told that the Irish/German/etc people were discriminated against and they were able to 'make changes on their own' without help from the government. Basically there are people who believe that black people are a bunch of wimps who couldn't fight for change on their own and had to hide behind the apron-strings of the government. (In reading 'Lies My Teacher Told Me' and other enlightening books, my brain did a 'say whaa?') So you are looked down upon, again, for having people do your dirty work for you. Not only do you want to be treated equal, which is stupid, but you have to have the big bad government hold your hand and come tell us what to do. This theory may fall in the second theory from above.

But what I can't understand is how Viral and Hateful this hatred is. I have a theory.

If you were to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that god did not exist and got the government to put a stop to worship you would have a fucked up situation on your hands. When people have a belief that is based on faith and nothing more...you can't mess with that and have a good outcome. So my theory is that the way that whites could justify enslaving black people in the first place (and believing that blacks were subhuman) was that they had a strong belief that it was okay and right. Then people start popping up saying that it's wrong and they even use the bible to prove their point how do you think bigots are going to react? So, where did the white/black racism start? Was it when blacks were first used as slaves? Or was it when whites were told that it was wrong to enslave blacks? Or did it start someplace else?

It's been proved to me that racism is this: when a person is told over and over that a group of people is 2nd class and should be feared and this person never has an experience on their own to see for themselves, then they form a belief based on nothing but repetitive bullshit. (and the repetition has to come from someone they trust). I have in laws who 'slightly freak out' when a black person walks by simply because they were told stories as a young person and never took the opportunity to see if what they were being told was correct. The power of the imagination is amazing.

In the book I keep mentioning the author talked about how the state of Maryland had legalized slavery during the civil war and how some people wanted to make it illegal. They had a vote and it was very close until the absentee ballots started coming in. Because those men had fought side by side with black men and saw for themselves that these men were men and were equal they heavily voted in favor of abolishing slavery. It's about positive exposure and about having at least a slightly open mind that can be made more open.

So, in a nutshell, those are my thoughts and I would love to hear more from you on the subject. Keep up the good work, I really like TWIB and think you're funny.

Bye bye.

Ok, so can I just say that this is the best show I have watched since Dave Chappelle went away to Africa. I love everything about this show and I wish it came on television...although it couldn't be on BET.....congrats on an innovative idea!