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Came across this article.
Began reading with a soupçon of skepticism.
That began to change as I got deeper into this article…
Began reading with a soupçon of skepticism.
That began to change as I got deeper into this article…
The Art of Being Black in White Spaces
Posted from humanparts.medium.com
Racism
Black Lives Matter
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 10
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Well the first 8 yrs of my life I was a military brat up to 4th grade I never thought much about it. Never faced any signs of being treated differently cause of skin color. Then my dad moved us back to Chicago. To the Black kids in the neighborhood I talked White. To the White and Hispanic kids from 5th geade through college they definitely made it known I was Black. Yeah I get what this article is trying to say. Young or old, one never knows when one will encounter racism. Getting cops called on you cause it’s strange for a Black teenager to walk through a White neighborhood early in the morning to HS. Thankfully it was Chicago and not Florida; no stand your ground and no armed neighborhood watch turned vigilante. Just two cops asking a teen a lot of questions. That was the 80s. Some improvement after 30 years but not much and not everywhere.
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MAJ James Woods
A1C Chris Pointer Yeah everyone’s experiences is different. Passing a deputy sheriff in Okla. at 65mph in a 65 and getting pulled over for a 3in crack on passenger side of windshield. I’m sure it wasn’t the NM plates leading to profiling. He didn’t find a Hispanic. He found a Black man with his White wife and daughter. He didn’t find any warrants against my ID so he left me off with a warning that any size crack in the windshield is a violation. Yeah looked it up. It was BS. Parts of KY between FT Knox and Louisville today one can still be told Black folks need to avoid. So yeah I hear ya; racism is still alive in parts of the country but not all over. And I do find myself in mixed company never bringing up racial topics unless someone brings it up first and even then be conscious of things said so as not to overreact and make anything personal. One needs to understand even Black folks experience things differently; some worse than others while some experience nothing at all.
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My beautiful wife of 14 months is black/ Indian of Surinamian descent. She isn't just black, she's "different". Everyone tries to guess where she is from; no one succeeds.
It gives her the added dimension of not quite fitting in anywhere, and it is a unique perspective.
I didn't really experience racism myself until I became an interracial couple. Now we get all the stares.
My advice to anyone who wants to listen: be yourself. Be the same in public as you are anywhere else. People can spot an inauthentic person a mile away. Don't be that guy. If they can't accept who you are, that is their problem.
Pray that their small, small mind grows a couple sizes someday, and move on.
It gives her the added dimension of not quite fitting in anywhere, and it is a unique perspective.
I didn't really experience racism myself until I became an interracial couple. Now we get all the stares.
My advice to anyone who wants to listen: be yourself. Be the same in public as you are anywhere else. People can spot an inauthentic person a mile away. Don't be that guy. If they can't accept who you are, that is their problem.
Pray that their small, small mind grows a couple sizes someday, and move on.
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SFC Marcus Belt
While I agree with the sentiment, I don't think it's always the best advise to a minority person. There are cultural and social differences and they have to be accounted for.
And whether we like it or not, race is the line of demarcation in American life.
And whether we like it or not, race is the line of demarcation in American life.
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MAJ Byron Oyler
SFC Marcus Belt - Race is a line of demarcation in our country only because we allow it to be and allow those to divide us. Articles like this only drives us deeper and when you look at what the 442nd and the 332nd did to the Germans, we are unstoppable when united. My wife is not white and I will never refer to us as an interracial couple because I do not see those differences. I was never taught those differences growing up and we will not allow it to limit us or our children.
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SFC Marcus Belt
MAJ Byron Oyler - The article was mostly about the writer's experiences with working as a "professional" in a predominately white culture. In that regard, she was mostly talking about how she adjusts her behavior so as to succeed within that culture, so the premise that the article promoted division is not accurate to any useful degree.
What we see in this thread, especially from the non-Black participants, is the furtherance of the concept that differences between how ethnic groups are treated are largely overblown and exist primarily in the minds of aggrieved (bitter) minorities, which, if true, means that it's safe and reasonable to dismiss their concerns and move on.
It's fascinating that you used the 442nd "Nisei" Regiment and the "Tuskegee Airmen" as your examples. The article was about educated, professional, white-collar black people; it was written by a black woman, who, by her own admission, has spent much of her life in white schools, white churches, and in mostly white workplaces, which already represents a level of racial integration completely absent from your examples.
"You're not like other black people" or "You may be black on the outside, but inside, you're as white as me." Black people in the circumstances she describes in the article have heard these sorts of things, and the troubling part is that we don't hear them from the people who don't care about us. No, we hear those sorts of things from the white people that genuinely LOVE us, but they don't understand how hurtful those words can be. Which is the actual crux of the problem: because they genuinely care for us, and really can't stomach any form of overt, cross-burning, Rebel flag waving racism, they don't see that even in its micro-scale form, it's damaging to their relationships with the black people they really care for.
Which is the heart of the problem: well-meaning people, like yourself, don't have the problem, so they don't see the problem.
And thus, the problem persists.
What we see in this thread, especially from the non-Black participants, is the furtherance of the concept that differences between how ethnic groups are treated are largely overblown and exist primarily in the minds of aggrieved (bitter) minorities, which, if true, means that it's safe and reasonable to dismiss their concerns and move on.
It's fascinating that you used the 442nd "Nisei" Regiment and the "Tuskegee Airmen" as your examples. The article was about educated, professional, white-collar black people; it was written by a black woman, who, by her own admission, has spent much of her life in white schools, white churches, and in mostly white workplaces, which already represents a level of racial integration completely absent from your examples.
"You're not like other black people" or "You may be black on the outside, but inside, you're as white as me." Black people in the circumstances she describes in the article have heard these sorts of things, and the troubling part is that we don't hear them from the people who don't care about us. No, we hear those sorts of things from the white people that genuinely LOVE us, but they don't understand how hurtful those words can be. Which is the actual crux of the problem: because they genuinely care for us, and really can't stomach any form of overt, cross-burning, Rebel flag waving racism, they don't see that even in its micro-scale form, it's damaging to their relationships with the black people they really care for.
Which is the heart of the problem: well-meaning people, like yourself, don't have the problem, so they don't see the problem.
And thus, the problem persists.
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Capt Dwayne Conyers I read the entire article Twice. I have to disagree. I am not saying this does not happen, but I feel it's not prevalent like this article alludes to. I have many black friends as do my kids and as does my father. I have never seen or experienced a black person speaking around white folks differently to make them feel safe. I have a couple of black women friends (30 years or more) they are both very loud and boisterous...they speak their minds all of the time...I do not fear them nor do they fear me. I had a friend long ago. She took me to a black church way deep on the east side. it was great...everyone welcomed me and I did not fear them and I do not believe any of them acted differently around me. My friend did not act differently in her church or in front of her parents than she acted around me. I had a black female friend...we are no longer speaking. She has a son who married a Hispanic women and they have half breed children. She disowned her son because he married outside of her race..she was always loud and boisterous and very opinionated....she never changed her tone no matter who she was around. When Obama ran for president the first time, I mentioned to her that he is a half breed. I asked why she is going to vote for him when she made it clear to her son she does not condone marrying out side of your race and she hates half breed children. She yelled at me and said Barack was a black man...I said no, he's half black man half white man...that his mother was white....so she said, when you have black in you then you are black. So I asked her why don't you speak to you son or grandchildren. Your grandchildren are black....she said, that was different. I told her she was being a hypocrite...she told me we could no longer be friends... Anyway, my point is....I have never experienced this...neither have my kids who have a lot of black friends...from both poor families and rich families and they all get along just fine.
Like I said before, I'm sure this sort of thing absolutely does happen, but I do not believe it happens a lot....Maybe in the past and maybe in some areas of the states, but I do not believe it's as prevalent as this article makes it seem to be.
Also, it's not just a "BLACK" thing. It's a Hispanic thing and a Asian thing and a Middle Eastern thing. It's an all "RACE" thing... It should not be a thing at all.
Like I said before, I'm sure this sort of thing absolutely does happen, but I do not believe it happens a lot....Maybe in the past and maybe in some areas of the states, but I do not believe it's as prevalent as this article makes it seem to be.
Also, it's not just a "BLACK" thing. It's a Hispanic thing and a Asian thing and a Middle Eastern thing. It's an all "RACE" thing... It should not be a thing at all.
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SFC Marcus Belt
Cool. The term is considered offensive in many places, "mixed" or "bi-racial" being preferred, which are more accurate, albeit unnecessary, descriptors. The people who direct it at you are at best insensitive and dated in their thinking.
Back on topic: your examples all include how your black friends behave in your presence, which, to be fair, somewhat negates your observations, because you cannot accurately observe any potential differences in their behavior without being there.
Back on topic: your examples all include how your black friends behave in your presence, which, to be fair, somewhat negates your observations, because you cannot accurately observe any potential differences in their behavior without being there.
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Capt Dwayne Conyers
When you mentioned “half breed,” that song by Cher started playing in my head.
Thanks...
Thanks...
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