You know at first, I said I was not going to even reply to the post. Because I knew I would see the answers and posts that I have seen.
But I had to respond when I saw how hard people were coming down on prettygyrl and Shalom.
You wonder why they are angry. Being an African-American in this country makes you angry.
When you see the divide in this country, the majority of poor people in this country are people of color, while the majority of wealthy people in this country are white.
Still today Blacks do not make as much as their white counterparts in the same job with the same education. In fact Black college educated females only make a little more than white males who only have their high school diploma. If people want cites to these statistics, I will be happy to give them.
You whites seem to jump down us African-American throats about mentioning slavery. Okay, lets put slavery aside for the moment. Lets focus on segregation. The Civil Rights Movement ended in the late 1960's. Less than forty years ago. My mother was born in the fifties and my grandparents were born in the 1930's. I have an aunt who is in her late nineties. Some white people love to think this is a discussion of the distant past. IT IS NOT. I look at my grandfather everyday and feel sad, he is an extremely intelligent man and could have been a lawyer. (I just finished my first year of law school at one of the top ten law schools in the country. I am his legacy.) But at that time the hurdles facing African-Americans trying to be lawyers were almost insurmountable and he was unable to leap them. He ended up being a mechanic.
THose African-Americans of those era who were able to achieve the impossible, get much do respect. WOmen, like my founders and those of the other BGLO's who were college graduates at a time when it was an extremely exceptional accomplishment. (It is still an amazing accomplishemnt when a Black person graduates college today. Why? Because the overwhelming image of African-Americans in this society are lazy welfare queens or hardened felons. To stay focused and know that this is not true is a battle everday, At least for me it was.) Remember we started BGLO's because we were not allowed admission into white organizations. We started HBCU's because we were not admitted to predominately white colleges.
Foe example train porters back in the 1940's who were African-American were college graduates and even had graduate degrees but the best job they could get were porters. They were more educated than the WHites they were serving often times.
The past, that many whites like to say to dismiss the wrongs of racism and even some Blacks is alive today in my grandparents, my aunt, the many other elderly African-Americans who had to deal with times more worse than these and ME.
Still today people in the South want to fly the confederate flag. A flag that represents a group of people who support and believed in the enslavement of MY PEOPLE.
This is why are ANGRY. And maybe we may displace our anger on issues that you may feel are not relevant. Even if you feel that way, you should RESPECT where that anger comes from.
One person made a comment that just because they were white it didn't mean that their life was easy. TRUE that. But you did not bear the extra burden of being Black with all the stigma that it causes. So you have it much easier. Danny Glover a Black man could not catch a cab. His money, his fame didn't mean anything. He was simply a Black man. That was all the cab driver needed to know.
I had serious issues with interracial dating: Blacks and Whites. And I uses to question myself was I a racist. And I realized after hearing someone speak on the issue that my anger and hurt was valid because it was based on a system of opporession. A system that has historically glorified whiteness with beauty.
And Jae so the anger you get from many Black women is the feeling that somehow you are affiming society's stereotype that whiteness is to be prized over Blackness. We get so much grief from those outside our race. WE expect support at least from those within our race. And so as a Black women that is where the pain and anger comes from. I am not saying it is right, it could very well be displaced and that is probably not the reason at all you are dating white women. But as a Black man, especially, you should be able to respect those feelings.
At this point it does still make me angry and I prefer that Blacks and Whites do not interracially date. But if a Black and White happen to fall in love, then by all means be happy. I would be upset if my son brought home a white girl. But I think that is different than a white not wanting their child to date a Black. Why? Because often times whites are not for interracial dating because they believe that Blacks are not as good as whites. I believe that Whites are equal to Blacks. I object for societal reasons. Because no matter what we know or all the good comment by whites that they are not racist. Racism still exists. I think it is critical for the success of the Black communities that there are strong BLACK families. Do you as an individual Black person bear a responsibility for your "race"? YES Why? Because our ancestors died and risked their lives and I am not just talking about slavery. for the freedom that you have today.
Everytime I sit in class, one of the 6 Blacks in this entering class. And hear the ignorant comments made by Whites. I get angry. And if it were not for those Whites who do reach out to me and remind me that there are those who sincerely care about racism and other issues and want to be on the front lines in the battle against it. I must say it is only a few. When I think of those whites like Thaddeus Stevens and William Lloyd Garrison who did spend their lives fighting for racial equality, I always rethink my view on hating all Whites.
Buit it is hard to keep that perspective. I have a four year old son who thinks police are cool. But when he becomes a teenager and fits the stereotype of a "black male criminal", they won't be his friends any longer. When his father is stopped and harrassed by cops because of the melanin in his skin. When I was worried about my brother moving to New York, after the Diallo incident. When I look at my son and cannot say with the same confidence as a white mother that one day my son can be president.
I remember as a little girl thinking about wanting to be president, but even at that early age I knew my dreams were futile. I was Black and a woman. That is painful. This is the pain of Blackness. But then there is the pride of being from a group of people who survived despite this oppressive situation.
I am angry everytime I go home to Compton. Where you see no White people and see the situation that Blacks and Hispanics live in. When I see the kids playing in the projects, kids whose whole life is spent in the ghetto and know that their future is dismal.
This is why African-Americans are still angry. For you white people who can't understand the anger. I hope this helps. And I hope the next time you try to jump down a Black person's throat for having animosity toward whites, maybe you will think twice and instead be an example of why their stereotype is wrong. Just like for many years African-Americans have worked to show that the stereotype of Blacks is not true.
All of my white friends are those who can understand these feelings in me. I still associate with those whites who don't but we can never truly be friends.
These are the everyday issues that African-Americans have to deal with.
And please stop saying that slavery does not matter. History, does not matter? Does the history of your Greek organization not matter? Don't you take credit and pride in the good accomplishments of WHites in this country? We glorify them right. We honor Jefferson and Washington, both slave owners. Oh I see selective history, take credit and honor only the good things but the bad things brush under the rug. I DON'T THINK SO. IF HISTORY DOESN'T MATTER THEN WHY DO WE LEARN IT IN SCHOOL. ANYONE WHO MAKES THE ARGUMENT THAT HISTORY DOES NOT MATTER IS IGNORANT. ANYONE WHO DOES NOT REALIZE THAT THE PAST AFFECTS THE FUTURE IS IGNORANT.
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Aim for the moon,.... if you miss you'll be among the stars.
[This message has been edited by chAKAlate (edited May 31, 2000).]
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