I want to break the digital ice by talking about…

Let’s start off with…

If there is one thing…

Hmm. I’ve heard of writer’s block but not writer’s overload. So many things to talk about. So many enemies to make. Let’s just do racism. Have you or anyone you know been a victim of racism? According to many sources, it seems to still be prevalent in much of America. What confuses most people is the scope of it. As a white, middle class male, I am supposedly the main source of all racism in this country. I also have a southern accent. Woe is me. I fully understand the implications of what some white men did in the past. Notice I said “some white men” as opposed to “my ancestors”. My family lived in the foothills of East Tennessee, eating possum and testing the best leaves for wiping one’s backside. As these ventures aren’t conducive to building wealth, we were too poor to own anyone. As if we wanted another mouth to feed. It was hard enough to scrape a living out those rocks for the kinfolk. But, because I am white, I get lumped into that category. The Rights movements of the past made great strides in developing the current state of racial affairs in our country. They pushed hard to be considered equals in a society in which they had been so harshly treated. My hat goes off in recognition of their achievements. Hopefully I can make it a tradition to recognize a group that has SO earned the right to take themselves seriously. Here is their “Carriage Return of Silence”.

Now, I feel the need to point out a double standard that most people are afraid to mention. The road goes both ways. If white culture is to be tolerant of others, then others should return the favor. I’m not talking about BET (WET sounds like a channel I’d like to see, but not for white culture *wink*). I’m not even talking about Black Planet. I understand the need to preserve cultural identity. What bothers me is that a lot of African Americans don’t trust me. I’m a trustworthy guy. I’ve never stolen anything more than a book of matches. I don’t lie unless my bosses require me to. What did I do? I think that people conduct a special kind of stereotyping, in which they assume that the other party has applied a stereotype to them. At this point they must choose what to do with that assumed image. As a white man, I immediately want to break past that barrier. I don’t want anyone assuming that I’m a geeky white boy, with glasses and overbite, and a quasi obsession with Star Wars I think I’m better than them. On the other hand, if I assume that the other party thinks I’m a bad ass white boy and would rather spit in their eye than share a conversation about how body chains get caught in the jeans, that might be a fun prospect to entertain for a while. And that’s exactly the point. If either party is too good to provide mutual respect, then all is lost. Things don’t get better. They just shift around a bit. I’ve been cold-shouldered by a minority before. It makes you feel small. I imagine it’s something similar to a black man being watched carefully in a convenience store. Yet, under our definition of it, the former situation is not discrimination, while the latter is. I think the sooner we open ourselves up to each other, have a laugh about our differences and move on, the sooner I can wear my platinum grille, without hiding from black people. It’s not that serious.

PS It would be wonderful if I could get feedback from every demographic possible. Ethnic, gender, and economic differences effect our lives tremendously. I hope I’ve made my opinion clear that it shouldn’t. What is yours.