Quote:
Originally posted by AlphaFrog
Ok, if you want this addressed, I'll adress it with MY OWN thoughts:
I have never said that we should forget about slavery, and pretend that it never happened. I agree, it should be remembered, and you shouldn't "get over it". BUT - I don't think you can fairly say that "Because my Great Grandmother was a slave, I didn't get the job I interviewed for today". BUT - I also don't disagree that you MIGHT be able to say "Because I'm black, I didn't get the job I interviewed for today." It is hard to say that though, because you don't KNOW what the reason is you didn't get the job. There could have been 10 candidates for the job and 8 of them had less experiance/credentials, and 1 had more then you, but 1 is all it takes for them to get the job and not you. Hear me though: I WILL NOT say that it does not happen that people don't get jobs because of race.
Anyway, the point of my tanget is, I've never heard of a Jewish person claiming discrimination because their family was a Holocaust victim. And I know one main reason is because most people can't spot a Jewish person from a lineup (ethnic, and especially relgious) it's not to hard to pick out the African American. So I think the idea for "white" people is to remember that this could happen to us, because people who looked like us had it happen to them.
Once again, I don't think we (blacks AND whites) should "get over" slavery, but it doesn't help your case to throw it in people's faces (ie, this poem). And I think what I've wanted to say all along is the reason why I'm uncomfortable with this poem is that she's saying Columbus and Darwin, but I believe she's implying "all white people", and she's saying "in the past" and but she's implying now. I don't agree with the idea that ALL white people are the problem NOW. I'll grant you that even 50 years ago MOST white people were the problem THEN. But I believe today, that most has at least dropped to the minority of white people. I don't think discrimation doesn't happen, but it doesn't happen like it used to, and instead of taking that idea and pushing it further towards less and less and finally not at all, this little girl is making a push in the opposite direction.
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When the day comes that I stop being followed by police while driving - yes, I've been 'tailed' by cops just driving down the highway, when the day comes that I stop being followed all over the store despite the fact I can pay - cash or credit- for whatever I want, when the day comes that I am not taken to the back of the restaurant to sit and eat - when these things stop happening to me, my family and my Black friends, then I will feel that the world has come to terms with all races. That day has not come, and it looks as if it will not come any time soon.
The poem is an expression of the world we live in, past and present.