So, I had a conversation with a woman today who proclaimed herself as an “ignorant white woman.” I got a little heated in discussion but she listened to me. She was floored by some of the things we talked about. I couldn’t even tell you how it started really, but it was amazing. She really had no idea. Even though her ego was pretty huge, her and I had a decent discussion. Yeah, I got a bit ghetto on her and I probably cussed a few times, but damn! I think I had to just to get through her ignorance … Anyways … here’s some of the highlights …
First, which started the irritation on my part, was when she said Tyrone Martin in a whisper and followed it up with, “what if a black cop shot a white kid?” Okay, first of all … It’s Trayvon not Tyrone … and second it would equally suck for that family too. I explained to her why there was such an uproar behind this murder. He was pretty much hunted down and shot. Then the cop pretty much just walks away from the situation. When I touched upon the whole wearing hoodies stereotype she was speechless. She didn’t a) know about any of the bullshit profiling cops do and b) couldn’t come up with anything to say in agreement or disagreement.
Another peek was when she said, “If we just ignore it, it’ll go away, because we’re all of the same human race” … Now, as I do agree that we are of the same human race, I argued that even though we’re of the same human race, many people don’t care to accept that as being equal in society. I explained to her how “lighter is better” and how her and I both have “white privilege.” She really didn’t like the topic of white privilege though. I asked her why it bugged her so much and she didn’t know why. That’s when she said …
“Racism only exists because we allow to exist.” Well yes, that’s true, but because people have allowed it to exist for so long, we need to talk about it and stop it from continuing to exist, right? Again, she was speechless.
Recently, people have been telling me that I need to speak to “my people.” I didn’t understand what that meant until today. What I said to her, I believe, really stuck. The look on her face when I counteracted her claims was quite rewarding. I think she got it. I hope she got it. Even if she got a little. I hope she took something useful away from that conversation.
I’ve always been passionate about racial issues and social expectation. It wasn’t until 2010 when I read Race Matters by Cornell West. That book changed my life. It changed my path in 2010. Just last year I saw him speak at University of Oregon and I had the opportunity to ask him what we do now. “Now that you’ve shared your wisdom with us and motivated us to create this wonderful energy that’s created in here right now, what do we do with it? How do we bring this out and help the youth.” ~ Or something like that – Well, you know what he said? “Laughter! Listen to Richard Prior. Laugh hard. Don’t giggle … Laugh!” And for cyin’ out loud! He was right!
I’ve continued to laugh – even when I’m in a heated discussion about race – it’s helped me. It’s helped the people I converse with. Yeah, even though I can get intense and I will get bitchy and loud … I kept a smile upon my face and I laughed with her. I agreed with her, but challenged her too.
I hope it helped …
Transitional Goddess 