“There’s two different races, in that race,” explained James Rice, a white resident describing black people, as Mr. Fields affably worked voters at Jack’s. “You got some that don’t want to be nothing, and you got some that want to help. You don’t find too many like James Fields.”
--"Race Matters Less in Politics of South," N.Y. Times, February 21, 2008
it's amazing how one little quote in a New York times article can sum up race relations in America. Rum Punch talked about the idea of transcending race a while back and how difficult it is to really do that in this country. you know how white folks automatically put you in that first category Mr. Rice talks about, "don't want to be nothing" till they have an actual conversation with you and realize that you are a functioning human being who has achieved some shit.
but mint julep, tell me something i don't know....
well i can't really. cause Mr. Rice's (or white folks like him's) thoughts, you shoulda knew already. i know i live it and breathe it. it's like my default setting at first glance from a white person. young Black girl = uneducated, teenage mother, etc., etc. or administrative assistant in my office, or sales associate in macy's. but mint julep, you say, stop exaggerating, all whites don't think that when they see you...
uhhhh ok maybe not that exact picture but the default is always on the bad side cause i can see it in their eyes. i'm tall, i'm dark, and i have "those awful dreadlock thingys" in my head. and i love love love it when some nosey ass white person sits next to me on a plane and wants to chat me up, talkin bout where you headed, what you do, etc. and i drop that bomb on them. oh i'm a lawyer. booo-yow bitches!
but if you black in america and you suprised at Mr. Rice's statements, well you shouldn't be. if you Black in America and you're not mal-adjusted, go get mal-adjusted...find some mal-adjustment, it may save your life. (c) Mos Def. I bet Mr. Rice would be suprised at my views on white folks in America...
“There’s two different races, in that race,” explained Mint Julep, a Black resident describing white people, as Ms. White Woman affably tries to work voters in Texas. “You got some that are racist, whether it be concious or unconcious racism, because they happily benefit from or are unaware of their white privilege, and you got some that want to help non-whites, who they view as unable to help themselves, and in so doing they pat themselves on their nice liberal backs and feel superior. I don't really know if I care for either one.”
-- Mint Julep
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3 comments:
Damn.
This is a deep post.
"Two different races in that race"
WTF?
AmeriKKKA, you gotta love it!!
That's something else, but that's America. I've met plenty of white folks surprised at how "articulate" I am and the fact that I've traveled and experienced the world and will continue to do so.
I've seen white folks resentful of me and friends because we were able to do in our 20's what they had to wait to do in their 60's.
Life in America.
I read that story. It was very interesting. I wrote about it over at my blog too. You did a good job breaking down just how offensive that cat's comments were.
http://ravingblacklunatic.blogspot.com/2008/02/can-your-blackness-be-revoked.html
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