Incidentally, Trusty Getto directed me to this opinion article about Omaha's new school districts, and it's excellent. Like this:
I was disabused of that notion one memorable day when I was maybe 9 and went on a school field trip to the L.A. Zoo. More fascinating to me than the Eastern Lowland Gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri) or the Eastern Grey Kangaroo (Macropus giganteus) was the Suburban Southern California White Kid (Caucasianus americanus), giggling blond herds of which roamed the zoo that day. I stared after them in amazement, wondering -- this is true -- how their parents could tell them apart.I have to admit that I suffered from the same problem (although in the inverse) as the black author of this article.
This is mostly in response to the title of the post: "I'm a damn ignorant racist."
ReplyDeleteI took a class called "Youth and Popular Culture" last semester, and we covered a lot of very touchy subjects (gays, minorities, women, and their respective subcultures, etc). The class was basically an open debate between students for the most part, with the instructor there only to keep us on-topic, or relatively so. As a result, a lot of tempers were lit up, and people often got offended.
My philosophy on the class was that if someone wanted to take what I said in class and hold it against me outside of class, then I wouldn't want to be friends with them anyway.
Point is, controversial topics and views are the most interesting material for blogs. I'm not telling you to keep being racist, but it's very important that you don't censor yourself for fear of offending. People will generally get over the fact that your views are different than their own, so long as you are open to their views as well. I made several friends in that class with whom I disagreed/argued heatedly in class almost every week.
So what was my point? I dunno. To tell the truth, I've kind of forgotten myself. But damn it, I needed a study break! Oh yeah, that's right! Keep blogging about stuff that I can argue about. That's the one.
Now, I go back to studying electromagnetic waves and relativity. Fun.
See below for my comment on your membership in the "ignorant racist" club ;)
ReplyDeleteYou are exactly right - the article does make your point beautifully. I hasten to add that the author makes his point so well in part because of his deep understanding of the racial divide that exists, and he specifically writes in a style designed to communicate some understanding of it to white folks (like me).