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Originally posted by CRMSNTiDEGRL717:
Ok, I don't exactly know what I'll be trying to talk about here, so don't take everything I say to the extreme. Just as "white America" stereotypes blacks, doesn't anyone find it to be that that is a stereotype of "whites" in America?? Just because whites don't understand everything about black culture, doesn't mean they're rascist or anything. Obviously if someone isn't black, they won't understand everything fully. Just as if you aren't white, how can blacks understand everything fully about being "white"? You can't help where you grow up. If someone lives in the "bad" side of town, and gets on RW and talks about their life and stuff they're "keepin' it real", but if a white person who grew up in the spiffy part of town or the suburbs comes on the show and talk about his/her way of life, they are then labeled as the "typical" sheltered, wealthy, dockers type. Maybe someone could enlighten me more on this issue, maybe I'm just ignorant as Coral would put it.
I think Coral is a major b*tch. She's picking on Mike in a manipulative sort of way. How does she know what Mike should know? She didn't grow up where he did. Now, I'm gonna be honest. I don't know much about black history or what not, but considering how much I've been taught about our "white" history, I don't know much about that either. I know when black history month is, and I know who Rosa Parks is. But, I don't know who the guy is that she told him to write a report on. I wasn't taught any black history in school!! Does that mean I wouldn't be willing to learn about it????? NO, it does not. She needs to either drop it(b/c he's apologized), or teach him. If she's not willing to teach him, she needs to quit critisizing(sp) him. I honestly think I could write a 8 pg. essay on this mess, but I think I'll quit for now. Feel free to enlighten me if I'm way off base. Or just express your opinions of my post. 
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Okay because this could be a super long post, I will try and keep it simple, although I doubt I can. In my opinion, no matter if a black person lives in the 'hood' or a wealthy neighborhood, there is no way that we would not come into contact with white people in some way or another. Be it at school, shopping, work, TV, magazines, etc. Now for white people, if you choose (knowingly or unknowingly) to only be around white people that can be very possible. White people can have a 100 mile radius where there is just white people in their neighborhood, their schools, their leisure activities. This is why you will hear far more white people say that they have never had contact with black people. Whereas, I haven't known or heard of too many black people that can say they have absolutely never had contact with white people. Even if their neighborhood was totally black and they went to all black schools from elementary on. I guarantee you throughout that time the black person has probably come into a lot of contact with white people.
Also, as someone stated before, history books in any school teach predominately white history and how things affect white people. So of course, we can better look into the lives of white people. Now what do most white kids learn from history class, MLK Jr, Crispus Attucks (the first black killed in the Boston Masacre: I never understood the purpose of the fact), Rosa Parks, and a bit on slavery. My junior year in high school, I was quite the fireball, and I asked my history teacher why I always had to learn about white people and why wasn't I able to learn about black people equally? You know he had the nerve to say it's because black people didn't record their history
!! I was like it's funny how I can go to the public library and find all types of books on black history and that my family can educate me on black history yet none of this information is taught in school. But yet for some reason, George Washington cutting down the cherry tree and saying, 'I can never tell a lie' is such an import fact
!!
All I'm saying is I can guarantee you that majority black people know way more about white people's lives and history than white people know about black people's lives and history. And I know that to be true based on corporate america, which is where I work. I get sick of educating the white people I went to school with in high school as well as the people I work with (didn't have to do it so much in college because I went to an HBCU) about black people. I will continue to do it because it has to be done but it gets just a little old. Example, a 45-year-old white man that I work with (we're both accountants) asked me why black people don't BELIEVE in getting married before having a baby. I was quite shocked but I knew it to be pure ignorance. I explained that in my experiences majority of the girls in high school that had abortions were white, while most of the black girls chose to have their baby. And that's why it appeared to be that way based on my experiences. I was angry but I didn't show it. Another example, I think most black people understand why more white girls have eating disorders than black girls (that was a story on the news here in Atlanta). Black people know that it is because our men find nice, thick, "healthy" women attractive while white men perfer their women with maybe five pounds more than Calista Flockhart. They interviewed two 13-year-olds, one black, one white. The white one said that white boys want the girls to look like Kate Moss while the black girl said that when she thinks she's fat, the black boys say, "Girl you look good. You thick." Thus making us a little more comfortable with our bodies. When I was an auditor, my manager, a white woman who was dating a black man, kept worrying about not having a big butt or being thick because she had just found out that's what most black men like. It was just all too humorous for me. A white friend of mine from high school who has a big butt and is thick said that black men were the only ones that really accepted her body. So you say what's the point of these stories? It's that black people have always known the difference between what is generally deemed attractive for both races. It was funny to me that white people were just now learning that. I'm sorry one last example, my manager (white man) heard my Soror and co-worker (who is black), saying that she washed her hair once a week or once every two weeks. He starts saying that's gross. Some other white people heard and came around also saying that is gross. So of course for the kazillionth time she and I schooled all of them. We told them why they wash their hair everyday and why we can't. They were like, "I didn't know our hair was that different". Yet it's funny how she and I know.
All I'm saying is white people can choose to not know anything about us because they don't HAVE to see us in their towns, schools, magazines, or on TV. But since we see so much of white people in the workforce, on TV, in magazines, etc., we have no choice but to know about them.
Sorry for such the long post but hope this sheds some light.
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#10 Sigma (Clark Atlanta University) Spring 1999
Currently: MAL, Southern Region
[This message has been edited by DST Love (edited July 12, 2001).]