Oh lord, we White people love to do this. We like to find out where everyone who not like us (i.e. non white, different accent, etc..) is from or what their cultural background is. Why do we need to know? Some say curiosity, but I ask you, how many non white people do you see doing this. Honest to god, what are we... census takers?
Now don't get me wrong, I am every bit as guilty of this as the next person. I am really trying hard on this. Part of why I used to do it, was from my own white guilt. I wanted to make sure everyone knew I wasn't a racist and so wanted a diverse group of friends. Naturally some of my new acquaintances wouldn't have a dramatically different look from me, so if they were Jewish, or from some country that was oppressed, all the better. Now how twisted is that? Well fortunately I came to see this side of myself and am trying hard to put a stop to it. Not that I haven't stopped being curious, I still have to stop myself from asking someone with an accent where they are from.
Some people do this catagorization thing because as White people in this country we are obssesed with making sure we know where we stand. Even subconsciously we have issues with assuming that if some one isn't White that they must somehow be beneath us, or at the very least in need of our help. Take the one drop rule that said if you had 1/16th of African American in your blood that you were Black. Please be assured this was so we knew who are subordinates were. We couldn't have people "passing" as White, that would be dishonest.
So next time you are about to utter the phrase "Where are you from?" just stop to think why you are asking. Even if it's curiosity it's not a legitimate reason. If they are someone that you can get along with, then it doesn't matter. I need to close in saying that for some people such as myself this can be a hard habit to break. At work I have a coworker who is Asian, I don't know from where, but that part of my mind that just has to put people in order is going nuts. It's almost sad to the point of being funny. We were talking the other day and she mentioned that her folks where from England. So right here my little catagorization alarm is going crazy "Just ask her if she was adopted or something," my mind is screaming, "You have to know, why doesn't she have an accent, what is the whole story?" That's when I have to stop and ask myself why it is any of my bussiness and why do I need to know. If my friend wanted to share that she would. She has never once asked me about my cultural background, maybe because it never occured to her to. Whatever the reason she doesn't.
So I continue to work with her and we have great talks, she likes Family Guy, and numerous other things that help us have things in common. So where is she from and what's her deal? I don't know, I may never know, and if I want to be a better person and really work on my issues as a White person I may never know. And that will just have to be OK.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
And the Library keeps growing
Their are so many great books out there that I just keep getting more and more.
Here are some recently added additions to my book collection.
The End of Racism by Dinesh D' Souza- OK this one is my one regret. This book is an absolute pile of nonsense. Don't waste your time, his theories are utterly racist in themselves, and he is so far off base that I doubt that he sees the problem.
Negro Thought in America 1880-1915 by August Meier- The so called "Progressive Era" was really only progressive for Whites. This book talks about what lie was like for Black people in America, and what their positions were.
Everyday Racism by Annie S Barnes- Some of the acts in this book will make you wonder aloud, while others will actually make you cry. Filled with stories that remind all of us that racism, or as the author calls it "The White Virus" is still alive and well.
40 Ways to Raise a Nonracist Child by Barbara Mathias & Mary Ann French- This book gives 40 common sense ideas on how to help raise your child with a nonracist way of dealing with the world. It helps White people understand how they can get their children involved in diversity as well as helping them see the way things are for people of color in this country.
Everyday Acts Against Racism edited by Maureen T. Reddy- Another one that will make you tear up. Different stories from a host of people from different cultural backgrounds. A pretty easy read with some great stories that will make you feel there is some hope.
I have a couple others, but I haven't started reading them yet. I haven't read all the way through the ones above, but enough to tell everybody about them.
Here are some recently added additions to my book collection.
The End of Racism by Dinesh D' Souza- OK this one is my one regret. This book is an absolute pile of nonsense. Don't waste your time, his theories are utterly racist in themselves, and he is so far off base that I doubt that he sees the problem.
Negro Thought in America 1880-1915 by August Meier- The so called "Progressive Era" was really only progressive for Whites. This book talks about what lie was like for Black people in America, and what their positions were.
Everyday Racism by Annie S Barnes- Some of the acts in this book will make you wonder aloud, while others will actually make you cry. Filled with stories that remind all of us that racism, or as the author calls it "The White Virus" is still alive and well.
40 Ways to Raise a Nonracist Child by Barbara Mathias & Mary Ann French- This book gives 40 common sense ideas on how to help raise your child with a nonracist way of dealing with the world. It helps White people understand how they can get their children involved in diversity as well as helping them see the way things are for people of color in this country.
Everyday Acts Against Racism edited by Maureen T. Reddy- Another one that will make you tear up. Different stories from a host of people from different cultural backgrounds. A pretty easy read with some great stories that will make you feel there is some hope.
I have a couple others, but I haven't started reading them yet. I haven't read all the way through the ones above, but enough to tell everybody about them.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Black Kids Doing Better than ever
I just read this article from the Chicago Defender at http://www.chicagodefender.com. It is nice to see that there is some good news in the war for equatibility. I should point out that we still still have a long way to go, but progress is taking place. Anyway, I just discovered the Defender today, it has a lot of great articles surrounding the Black community as well as national and local news for the city of Chicago, where it is out of . What we need as a White community is a good source of info for the issues that are important to the black community. Obviously you can ask a member of the Black community, but remember the myth that White people have that a Black person represents their whole community. Don't assume that one person opinion, no matter how well informed he ar she is, can represent a whole race of people.
OK, enough of my own opinions heres the article. Enjoy.
New Report: Black children doing better than ever
but still trail white children in quality of life
Black children are doing better than ever, but still have a long way to go before closing the racialethnic gap in quality of life, according to a report released last month by the Foundation for Child Development. The report was the first ever to analyze and compare trends in the well-being of Black, white, and Hispanic children over a span of nearly two decades.
According to the report, all children experienced overall improvements in quality of life between 1985 and 2004. However, because improvements were greater for Black and Hispanic children during this time span - particularly after 1993 - the gap between them and whites is narrowing. But even if trends continue at their current pace, it will take at least an entire generation to fully eliminate these gaps.
“Even if we manage to continue to make progress towards closing the racial-ethnic gaps in children’s well-being at the same rate we have been, it would take another 18 years before Black children essentially caught up with white children,” Ruby Takanishi, president and CEO of FCD, said. “As a leading world superpower, America can do and should do better than this,” Takanishi continued. The report is entitled “Racial- Ethnic Inequality in Child Well- Being from 1985-2004: Gaps Narrowing but Persist.”
The researchers pulled data from several years of the FCD Child Well-Being Index-an annual analysis of the quality of life for all American children. It found that the gap in the overall quality of life separating Black children from white children narrowed by 26 percent- a change driven largely by promising improvements in safety, economic security and health for children of color.
A few other key findings of the report include:
- Education is stagnant: While Black children have made progress in many areas, substantial gaps in education between white and Black children have shown little improvement. The Black disadvantage in preschool enrollment has been eliminated, but the gaps in reading and math indicators have barely changed, and the same is true of the Black-white gap in completing a bachelor’s degree.
- Black children have seen the biggest improvement in their likelihood to commit a violent crime. While all children were much less likely to commit a violent crime in 2004 than they were in 1985, the likelihood of Black children committing a violent crime has decreased so significantly that it is now nearly on par with whites. Hispanic youths are less likely than whites to commit crimes or be victims.
- While the likelihood of all youth voting is up, Black youth are now more likely to vote than ever before, and the likelihood of Black youth voting is improving faster than it is for white children.
- The poverty gap between white children and Black children is closing. While rates of poverty are decreasing for all racial/ethnic groups, they are decreasing more rapidly for Black children than they are for white children.
- Black and Hispanic children also benefited from advances in the safetybehavioral domains including reduced cigarette smoking, drinking alcohol, and use of illicit drugs.
- Gaps in family economic well-being narrowed for both Black and Hispanic children as parental employment and health insurance coverage increased.
- Obesity rates rose less for Black and Hispanic children, although they remain higher than for whites.
- Both Black children and Hispanic children were advantaged compared to White children in the emotional/ spiritual domain.
- Even if Black and Hispanic children reached parity with the current level of well-being among white children, the overall well-being of all three groups would be substantially below the best that the U.S. has ever achieved on these measures, and levels of well-being currently experienced by international peers of the U.S.
“With the possibility of an economic recession, policies should aim to protect the economic security of American families, as well as key programs in health and education that support the largest number of children, especially those whose families earn below the median family income,” said Don Hernandez, researcher and author of the report.
“A number of the positive changes outlined in this report can be attributed to smart policies and an active community. If we want to continue to improve our children’s lives, we must continue push for this kind of smart policy.” Margaret Simms, senior fellow at the Urban Institute, which studies social policy, said that regardless of the progress reflected in the FCD report, “we shouldn’t become complacent.”
The Foundation for Child Development is a national, private philanthropy dedicated to the principle that all families should have the social and material resources to raise their children to be healthy, educated and productive members of their communities.
We believe that families, schools, nonprofit organizations, businesses and government at all levels share complementary responsibilities in the critical task of raising new generations.
OK, enough of my own opinions heres the article. Enjoy.
New Report: Black children doing better than ever
but still trail white children in quality of life
Black children are doing better than ever, but still have a long way to go before closing the racialethnic gap in quality of life, according to a report released last month by the Foundation for Child Development. The report was the first ever to analyze and compare trends in the well-being of Black, white, and Hispanic children over a span of nearly two decades.
According to the report, all children experienced overall improvements in quality of life between 1985 and 2004. However, because improvements were greater for Black and Hispanic children during this time span - particularly after 1993 - the gap between them and whites is narrowing. But even if trends continue at their current pace, it will take at least an entire generation to fully eliminate these gaps.
“Even if we manage to continue to make progress towards closing the racial-ethnic gaps in children’s well-being at the same rate we have been, it would take another 18 years before Black children essentially caught up with white children,” Ruby Takanishi, president and CEO of FCD, said. “As a leading world superpower, America can do and should do better than this,” Takanishi continued. The report is entitled “Racial- Ethnic Inequality in Child Well- Being from 1985-2004: Gaps Narrowing but Persist.”
The researchers pulled data from several years of the FCD Child Well-Being Index-an annual analysis of the quality of life for all American children. It found that the gap in the overall quality of life separating Black children from white children narrowed by 26 percent- a change driven largely by promising improvements in safety, economic security and health for children of color.
A few other key findings of the report include:
- Education is stagnant: While Black children have made progress in many areas, substantial gaps in education between white and Black children have shown little improvement. The Black disadvantage in preschool enrollment has been eliminated, but the gaps in reading and math indicators have barely changed, and the same is true of the Black-white gap in completing a bachelor’s degree.
- Black children have seen the biggest improvement in their likelihood to commit a violent crime. While all children were much less likely to commit a violent crime in 2004 than they were in 1985, the likelihood of Black children committing a violent crime has decreased so significantly that it is now nearly on par with whites. Hispanic youths are less likely than whites to commit crimes or be victims.
- While the likelihood of all youth voting is up, Black youth are now more likely to vote than ever before, and the likelihood of Black youth voting is improving faster than it is for white children.
- The poverty gap between white children and Black children is closing. While rates of poverty are decreasing for all racial/ethnic groups, they are decreasing more rapidly for Black children than they are for white children.
- Black and Hispanic children also benefited from advances in the safetybehavioral domains including reduced cigarette smoking, drinking alcohol, and use of illicit drugs.
- Gaps in family economic well-being narrowed for both Black and Hispanic children as parental employment and health insurance coverage increased.
- Obesity rates rose less for Black and Hispanic children, although they remain higher than for whites.
- Both Black children and Hispanic children were advantaged compared to White children in the emotional/ spiritual domain.
- Even if Black and Hispanic children reached parity with the current level of well-being among white children, the overall well-being of all three groups would be substantially below the best that the U.S. has ever achieved on these measures, and levels of well-being currently experienced by international peers of the U.S.
“With the possibility of an economic recession, policies should aim to protect the economic security of American families, as well as key programs in health and education that support the largest number of children, especially those whose families earn below the median family income,” said Don Hernandez, researcher and author of the report.
“A number of the positive changes outlined in this report can be attributed to smart policies and an active community. If we want to continue to improve our children’s lives, we must continue push for this kind of smart policy.” Margaret Simms, senior fellow at the Urban Institute, which studies social policy, said that regardless of the progress reflected in the FCD report, “we shouldn’t become complacent.”
The Foundation for Child Development is a national, private philanthropy dedicated to the principle that all families should have the social and material resources to raise their children to be healthy, educated and productive members of their communities.
We believe that families, schools, nonprofit organizations, businesses and government at all levels share complementary responsibilities in the critical task of raising new generations.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Time to get off the high horse
In 2007, my very own congressman, David Wu, made the statement that there were Klingons in the White House. Funny as that Star Trek reference was I think he got it wrong. Most of the representative administration is white, and if white people as a whole are anything in the Star Trek Universe they are the Ferengi. The capitalistic, technology stealing, Ferengi.
We as white people love to blow our own horn as to all of the great things we have accomplished. Well, let's set the record straight. We haven't accomplished all that much to be proud of. We invented the car and steam power, but those were really just advances on existing technology. The light bulb? Yeah, Thomas Edison invented it, but he would have been hard pressed to make it work without the filament made by Lewis Howard Latimer, a black man.
In fact Black people are responsible for almost all of the civilization changing inventions. Fire (or discovering how to use it), the wheel, writing, math, philosophy (I know I thought it was the Greeks too. Turns out I was wrong.), using stone to build. The list goes on. Then when all of Europe went into the Dark Ages, and went a little bat shit crazy with the whole religious thing, it was the Middle East that kept all of the knowledge of the world from disappearing. That's right those crazy terrorist we are all so afraid of kept the light of knowledge burning while all of us White folk were burning each other at the stake in the name of God.
Again, as a White person, I am not trying to spread white guilt, or make anyone feel bad. My mission is to knock all of us White people off of the high horse we ride around on as if we deserved to be their by perdition. It's OK to be White, I'm proud of being White. What it's not OK to be is vain due to ignorance. Instead realize that our history that we have learned is mostly a lie based on the need for White people to maintain a sense of superiority and control. Later.
We as white people love to blow our own horn as to all of the great things we have accomplished. Well, let's set the record straight. We haven't accomplished all that much to be proud of. We invented the car and steam power, but those were really just advances on existing technology. The light bulb? Yeah, Thomas Edison invented it, but he would have been hard pressed to make it work without the filament made by Lewis Howard Latimer, a black man.
In fact Black people are responsible for almost all of the civilization changing inventions. Fire (or discovering how to use it), the wheel, writing, math, philosophy (I know I thought it was the Greeks too. Turns out I was wrong.), using stone to build. The list goes on. Then when all of Europe went into the Dark Ages, and went a little bat shit crazy with the whole religious thing, it was the Middle East that kept all of the knowledge of the world from disappearing. That's right those crazy terrorist we are all so afraid of kept the light of knowledge burning while all of us White folk were burning each other at the stake in the name of God.
Again, as a White person, I am not trying to spread white guilt, or make anyone feel bad. My mission is to knock all of us White people off of the high horse we ride around on as if we deserved to be their by perdition. It's OK to be White, I'm proud of being White. What it's not OK to be is vain due to ignorance. Instead realize that our history that we have learned is mostly a lie based on the need for White people to maintain a sense of superiority and control. Later.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Tolerance and why I don't care for the phrase.
I cringe every time I hear someone use the word tolerant in reference to race relations in this country. It's not that I don't think that there is anything wrong with the word; it is the context in which it is used. "We need to be more tolerant of others," I hear it all the time. Well do me a favor please don't be tolerant of me, I don't need you to tolerate me, and I certainly don't think that when it comes to race relation we need to tolerate anyone. Either accept them or don't and move on.
You see, tolerance to me says that their is something fundamentally wrong or offensive with that which you are tolerating. Like some pungent cheese you don't like, but you tolerate so as not to offend your host who serves it. People aren't stinky cheeses. Gay people, as a for instance, don't need to have their lives tolerated, if you don't like them then just don't like them. Move your ignorant ass somewhere else, but please don't don't be so condescending as to tolerate them. Tolerating also says that you are somehow above that which you are tolerating. How arrogant to assume that the way you were born is somehow better than a fellow human being, and so therefore you "tolerate" them.
Allow me to say that I don't tolerate the people who believe that they are somehow doing us all a favor by tolerating all of the other races in our country. In fact, I don't like you. I'm not going to tolerate or not tolerate you, I am just not going to deal with your nonsense anymore. You will either become accepting or in the near future you may find yourself the one that people won't tolerate anymore. Later.
You see, tolerance to me says that their is something fundamentally wrong or offensive with that which you are tolerating. Like some pungent cheese you don't like, but you tolerate so as not to offend your host who serves it. People aren't stinky cheeses. Gay people, as a for instance, don't need to have their lives tolerated, if you don't like them then just don't like them. Move your ignorant ass somewhere else, but please don't don't be so condescending as to tolerate them. Tolerating also says that you are somehow above that which you are tolerating. How arrogant to assume that the way you were born is somehow better than a fellow human being, and so therefore you "tolerate" them.
Allow me to say that I don't tolerate the people who believe that they are somehow doing us all a favor by tolerating all of the other races in our country. In fact, I don't like you. I'm not going to tolerate or not tolerate you, I am just not going to deal with your nonsense anymore. You will either become accepting or in the near future you may find yourself the one that people won't tolerate anymore. Later.
Reverse Racism
Let me state emphatically that I do not believe in Reverse Racism. Racism is a white problem in this country not a Black, Latino, Asian, Middle Eastern, etc... problem. Let me try and explain myself. The reason for this belief is how you define racism. The best definition I have ever heard is simply Racism= Prejudice+Power. So when you add power to the equation their can be no reverse racism.
I am not saying that there are no prejudice people who are non white, for certainly there are. However, Black people, for instance, do not have the power necessary in this country to institute policies and procedures that affect White people on an institutional level. They simply don't have access to the resources or the representation in the areas of power that would allow them to implement those changes.
So I say again that there is no such thing as reverse racism. Racism is a White problem exclusively in this country. White people are the only ones with the power added to their prejudice that can allow them to implement far reaching policies that negatively affect people from another race.
Next time someone gets up on their high horse about reverse racism be sure to tell them that they have their definitions confused. They probably won't care much, white people who aren't willing to examine their own actions in affecting others probably aren't willing to listen to you explain to them why they are wrong. A lot of White people cling to the prejudice that they experience on a limited basis as their evidence that they aren't the only racist people in our country. When in fact they really are. Later.
I am not saying that there are no prejudice people who are non white, for certainly there are. However, Black people, for instance, do not have the power necessary in this country to institute policies and procedures that affect White people on an institutional level. They simply don't have access to the resources or the representation in the areas of power that would allow them to implement those changes.
So I say again that there is no such thing as reverse racism. Racism is a White problem exclusively in this country. White people are the only ones with the power added to their prejudice that can allow them to implement far reaching policies that negatively affect people from another race.
Next time someone gets up on their high horse about reverse racism be sure to tell them that they have their definitions confused. They probably won't care much, white people who aren't willing to examine their own actions in affecting others probably aren't willing to listen to you explain to them why they are wrong. A lot of White people cling to the prejudice that they experience on a limited basis as their evidence that they aren't the only racist people in our country. When in fact they really are. Later.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Isn't racism mainly a southern thing?
Ahh the South. They always get the lions share of blame for racism don't they. Well I am not going to say that the south is a great island of racial understanding, but you can't put all of the blame on them. In fact during the Nadir period of racism and even through today the south has far less "Sundown" towns and counties by a huge number than the rest of the nation. Of course part of the reason for that is that the south wasn't about to keep their cheap source of domestic labor out of the areas where they worked, but still...
The rest of the nation has just as bad of a history of racism as the south. It is just easy for those of us whites not living in the south to say that the problem is just there. For instance I live in Portland OR, and this town is one of the most segregated communities in the United States. My university is fairly diverse, but the actual town and the suburbs are really segregated. Even in a hotbed of liberalism like Portland we have the same problems that are subscribed to the rest of the country. If you live in the right area than your kids get a good education, and you don't have to be rich, just live in the right area. I live in a suburb called Beaverton, which is admittedly mostly white with small pockets of Latinos and Koreans in the area. Our schools are great, but if you go just across the river and north a bit you will encounter schools that can't afford PE, Music, Art, etc...
So no it isn't just the south, it's everywhere. Look around wherever it is you are and you will see it. Trust me. Later
The rest of the nation has just as bad of a history of racism as the south. It is just easy for those of us whites not living in the south to say that the problem is just there. For instance I live in Portland OR, and this town is one of the most segregated communities in the United States. My university is fairly diverse, but the actual town and the suburbs are really segregated. Even in a hotbed of liberalism like Portland we have the same problems that are subscribed to the rest of the country. If you live in the right area than your kids get a good education, and you don't have to be rich, just live in the right area. I live in a suburb called Beaverton, which is admittedly mostly white with small pockets of Latinos and Koreans in the area. Our schools are great, but if you go just across the river and north a bit you will encounter schools that can't afford PE, Music, Art, etc...
So no it isn't just the south, it's everywhere. Look around wherever it is you are and you will see it. Trust me. Later
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