Hey! In light of the #Ferguson issue, heres my piece. White people cant know exactly what it means to be black. Most of us understand the basic concept of Oh, theyre not looked at quite the same way... but we certainly dont understand what it feels like to be oppressed and made to feel less human every day based solely on our skin color. Even if we go to a place where were the only white person there, typically, were revered as a novelty, rather than hated or made to feel less-than. There are exceptions to those rules, but certainly youre not going to feel oppressed because youre white anywhere in America. To my white friends... Guess what, its awesome being white! Im not ashamed to admit that. That said, I have my own struggles, and theyre real... but they dont involve my skin color, so I can be thankful for that. But white people get snap-judged too. In high school, for me, it was because Im effeminate and dressed nice... people called me Faggot all the time. Now, its because Im honest and dont have a great filter... so people call me Asshole all the time. So yeah, white privilege exists. But does that mean I wish everyone was white? Hell no. If youre white, appreciate it, but also appreciate the fact that your privilege is 100% fabricated by a predominantly white society. I could have been born brown and Muslim. Also, appreciate the fact that when you boil it down, its not just skin color that makes a race in your mind. Its behavior, and its culture. Now get over your white guilt, because thats just you masturbating your subsurface racism. Its a nice shield for you to say Oh Im so sorry... bla bla bla... white guilt... without ever having to really think or talk about it. To my black friends... I hope you see me as your equal. I realize youre different because youre black. I like your blackness. I also like your humanness. I wasnt in a STEPS crew in high school because it was black and I wanted to break the norm. I dont eat hogs maw because I think its interesting and black... I like the taste. I dont get high and start freestyle rap battles because I think Im getting cred with the black community. Long story short, I dont do black things to win over black friends. Frankly, I dont do much of anything to win over anyone. If youre my friend and you are black, you know I offend everyone equally, and you know that you being black isnt why youre my friend. I dont put on gloves to handle any of my friends. So youre black. Cool. Ill be your honky, and you can be my nigga. And yes, anyone who just balked at that, I do call some of my closest black friends nigga because it reminds us were close. If you take offense at the very idea of me saying that word, were probably not that close. Oh and just so we all know where I stand, I believe this: Were all a little racist. I see black people near my apartment on occasion acting like assholes on the street... theyre wearing flat-brims, their pants are sagging, they have very fresh sneakers... theyre very black... and I think to myself Ugh. Black people acting the fool. Then I see white people dressed in starched polos, with braided leather belts, and hip mounted cellphones stopping police officers and reciting their rights in an effort to goad the cops and I think to myself... What the hell is wrong with white people? I also see white people in wife-beaters drowning their kids, jumping strangers on the streets, and drunk-driving into churches... and I also see black people in suits explaining the Cosmos to me, and running our country. And I see black people in suits shooting in the streets. And white people in raggedy clothes feeding the poor. Its all rather confusing trying to keep track of stereotypes and such, so I guess Ill just admit that yeah... some people fit stereotypes... some people break them... some people create new ones. Thats why I take the time to get to know people as human beings, not just labels. While were on the topic though, just so no one is exempt from what some people will consider to be a highly offensive rant... I also see bad Asian drivers. And I notice Indian people on the bus that smell bad. And I see British people with bad teeth. And I see Jewish people being stingy. Why are some people hellbent on pretending like we cant see these things? But maybe more importantly/dangerously, why are some people stupid enough to think thats all theyll see? So heres where this is leading. Maybe if we all stopped being such pussies and the white people stopped pretending like they either dont see color, or that being black is inherently special, or that all black people are awful... and maybe if black people stopped pretending like white people are either the saviors of the universe, or somehow no different than any other people, or theyre the white devil... we could actually open up real and meaningful conversations. And this applies to all the other colors on the spectrum as well. Except for blue people... because those people on live in communities that inbreed... and they probably dont get on the internet anyway. Seriously though. I love and hate all people, depending on my mood and the day... and Im not saying theres some Utopian future on the way... because theres not. There will be struggle between casts, classes, races, genders, religions, and so on and so forth... forever. Its Earth. People suck. But guess what, when you stop pretending and decide to say whats on your mind, you may be surprised where the discussion goes. If youre offended by what I said, before you yell at me... ask yourself Why am I offended? then you can yell at me. If you find yourself nodding your head while reading this, ask yourself What am I agreeing with? then tell me why. Thats all.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 07:01:19 +0000
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