InsaneJournal

Current mood:

irritated

This is in response to this.

I'm just going to go through the list and respond to each point from the opinion that most of this is not a white-only thing. i'll probably have more to say on this when my brain is a little less dead from wedding crap.

Background on where I'm coming from: in the US, yes, but in a major city that is at least 2/3 black with the city government being almost exclusively black.


1. I can if I wish arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time.
Yes, I can, but everyone here seems to do so. For example, in the college I attend, at least a third of the students are black and people tend to stick with others of their own race (the foreign students socialize a little more with others but even they hang out almost exclusively with each other.) In the caf, there is a black side and a white side. It's not something that's encouraged- it just happens. You can go sit with others but generally they'll just stare at you until you leave or do so themselves.

2. I can avoid spending time with people whom I was trained to mistrust and who have learned to mistrust my kind or me.
I hate applying this sort of thing to race because i almost always mistrust people I don't know and assume others do to but in the context of race yes, i can do that, but it's damned hard to do outside of a purely social setting.

3. If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing housing in an area which I can afford and in which I would want to live.
Yes. If you mean "to a neighborhood (almost) exclusively populated with people of your race" then yes, but it'd be easier if I were black.

4. I can be pretty sure that my neighbors in such a location will be neutral or pleasant to me.
Again, not if I move to MOST of the city but possibly so.

5. I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed.
No. Not that any woman really can, but it's extremely hard to here. There are a few areas of town that I feel comfortable enough to pop into, say, the grocery store alone for something but generally i have to grab people to go with because I hate both going somewhere alone and people staring at me because everyone around me is black and i'm white. Unfortunately, some of my favorite stores are in such areas of town.

6. I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented.
Assuming this is meant about local events/people, yes, but not as easily or extensively as black people. Especially when they're talking politics.

7. When I am told about our national heritage or about "civilization," I am shown that people of my color made it what it is.
Yes, but part of that was the certain private school I went to. I've seen public school texts here that seem to imply by the pictures that the events associated with them involved black people almost exclusively. We also tend to do things like skip covering the civil war in history class because it might make the black people uncomfortable.

8. I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race.
Yes. See above.

9. If I want to, I can be pretty sure of finding a publisher for this piece on white privilege.
If you were looking for someone here to do so then hell yes, they'd probably print it on the front page with a headline like "White People Finally Admit To Trying To Oppress Us Still."

10. I can be pretty sure of having my voice heard in a group in which I am the only member of my race.
No, and it's really really effing stupid (not just my particular case but any.) I've been in classes where if you're the only white person (or if you're one of only two or three), you just don't talk 'cause people will talk right over you because your opinion isn't important. On the other hand, I've been in classes with one black person who you'd better not interrupt/contradict 'cause if you do then you're racist.

11. I can be casual about whether or not to listen to another person's voice in a group in which s/he is the only member of his/her race.
Hell no. See above.

12. I can go into a music shop and count on finding the music of my race represented, into a supermarket and find the staple foods which fit with my cultural traditions, into a hairdresser's shop and find someone who can cut my hair.
Actually, no. It's really effing hard to find real cajun music/food stuff up here. Mom has to have her sister send her stuff. On the other hand, there are supermarkets with aisles dedicated to "ethnic foods" which may or may not be the same one containing asian and hispanic stuff.

13. Whether I use checks, credit cards or cash, I can count on my skin color not to work against the appearance of financial reliability.
I've not seen that be a problem. Really, it depends more on what you're wearing and how old you are as to whether or not people look at you suspiciously. I've had days where people mark a twenty I've handed them THREE TIMES with that stupid pen just to make SURE it's not fake.

14. I can arrange to protect my children most of the time from people who might not like them.
You can never protect children from others who might not like them but if you mean that as a race thing then not if they're in public school here.

15. I do not have to educate my children to be aware of systemic racism for their own daily physical protection.
Oh HELL NO. One of the worst things about being here is that if you're white, you can't say a damn thing about anyone who isn't because you're RACIST if you do. You can't say the mayor who embezzled a bunch of money and has driven the city right into the ground is a bad mayor because he's black and CLEARLY you just think black people shouldn't be in power. Same goes for the guy who almost bankrupted the power supply company or the representative who the federal government caught taking bribes (Tennessee Waltz scandal anyone?) or the rep and mayor who've said that GOD TOLD THEM they were the only people who could do their job.

16. I can be pretty sure that my children's teachers and employers will tolerate them if they fit school and workplace norms; my chief worries about them do not concern others' attitudes toward their race.
Not at all. See above.

17. I can talk with my mouth full and not have people put this down to my color.
Again, not so much a color thing here. Really, it depends on where you are and what you're eating. Now, talk to someone with your mouth full and no matter who you are you're given ugly looks.

18. I can swear, or dress in second hand clothes, or not answer letters, without having people attribute these choices to the bad morals, the poverty or the illiteracy of my race.
Again, not really a race thing here. In fact, I think the white people I know are worse about all those things than the blacks...

19. I can speak in public to a powerful male group without putting my race on trial.
Actually, only if you're black.

20. I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race.
Yes, but only because they don't want to call attention to the fact that a white person did well.

21. I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group.
I have been a few times in classroom settings, actually. It's really annoying to try to explain that not all white people are of the same racial background and that actually I have no CLUE about Italian culture because I'm not Italian...

22. I can remain oblivious of the language and customs of persons of color who constitute the world's majority without feeling in my culture any penalty for such oblivion.
Oh hell no. Not in this town. My k-12 school had to add a special Kwanzaa thing in December so as not to alienate the school's black population. If you ask why it but not, say, Chanukah, is included, you're glared at and informed that this is an important cultural observation (as though the other isn't.)

23. I can criticize our government and talk about how much I fear its policies and behavior without being seen as a cultural outsider.
HELL NO. If you're white, you don't discuss the city government except to say that you agree completely with their policies and choices because if you do otherwise then you're racist. Only black people are allowed to criticize it.

24. I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk to the "person in charge", I will be facing a person of my race.
About half the time this is the case, unless you're talking about city government. In that case then I can be pretty certain the person I face won't be of my race.

25. If a traffic cop pulls me over or if the IRS audits my tax return, I can be sure I haven't been singled out because of my race.
Depends on the part of town. Out east, yes, but in downtown? Nope.

26. I can easily buy posters, post-cards, picture books, greeting cards, dolls, toys and children's magazines featuring people of my race.
Yes, but almost every store here has at least equal white/black dolls etc. with there being at least one black-only store for every white-only one.

27. I can go home from most meetings of organizations I belong to feeling somewhat tied in, rather than isolated, out-of-place, outnumbered, unheard, held at a distance or feared.
Nope but again, not a race thing.

28. I can be pretty sure that an argument with a colleague of another race is more likely to jeopardize her/his chances for advancement than to jeopardize mine.
Nope. If anything, I have to defend my points better.

29. I can be pretty sure that if I argue for the promotion of a person of another race, or a program centering on race, this is not likely to cost me heavily within my present setting, even if my colleagues disagree with me.
The only race you can't promote a program centering on is white. At my school you have the Black, Hispanic and Indian (and the one for all (inter)nationalities) student associations but if you were to ask for one for WHITE students you'd get lynched.

30. If I declare there is a racial issue at hand, or there isn't a racial issue at hand, my race will lend me more credibility for either position than a person of color will have.
Nope. Generally, people agree with the black person in the argument because they don't want to be called racist.

31. I can choose to ignore developments in minority writing and minority activist programs, or disparage them, or learn from them, but in any case, I can find ways to be more or less protected from negative consequences of any of these choices.
Oooh no. In fact, in my high school, a girl objected to Huck Finn on the grounds that it was "racist" because "it contains the n-word" so she got to read another book by the author of her choice instead but when we encountered a book in which the main character railed against the evils of the "white devils," you couldn't say it was racist without being called so yourself.

32. My culture gives me little fear about ignoring the perspectives and powers of people of other races.
Not in this city.

33. I am not made acutely aware that my shape, bearing or body odor will be taken as a reflection on my race.
Nope. In fact, I've been told that "all white people are either anorexic or fat like you."

34. I can worry about racism without being seen as self-interested or self-seeking.
Only if I'm being worried that I'm being racist against someone else.

35. I can take a job with an affirmative action employer without having my co-workers on the job suspect that I got it because of my race.
Depends on the job but I've actually been hired on by someone who admitted that they were looking for a white person because they didn't want to be accused of hiring only black people.

36. If my day, week or year is going badly, I need not ask of each negative episode or situation whether it had racial overtones.
Somewhat the case, though generally that's more because I tend to back down in potentially racially charged situations.

37. I can be pretty sure of finding people who would be willing to talk with me and advise me about my next steps, professionally.
Yes, though i've not seen anyone turned away when asking for help in such situations no matter what their race is.

38. I can think over many options, social, political, imaginative or professional, without asking whether a person of my race would be accepted or allowed to do what I want to do.
Yes, though I'm not sure I could be successful in, say, politics because of my race.

39. I can be late to a meeting without having the lateness reflect on my race.
Nope. "Only white people are arrogant enough to be late."

40. I can choose public accommodation without fearing that people of my race cannot get in or will be mistreated in the places I have chosen.
Only in a few areas of town.

41. I can be sure that if I need legal or medical help, my race will not work against me.
Again, only in a few areas of town.

42. I can arrange my activities so that I will never have to experience feelings of rejection owing to my race.
Yes, but only if they don't take me into the aforementioned areas of town.

43. If I have low credibility as a leader I can be sure that my race is not the problem.
Not if it's in, say, a classroom setting. But socially, yes, though only because I know how crap I am at socializing.

44. I can easily find academic courses and institutions which give attention only to people of my race.
No, but it'd be true if I were black, hispanic, asian, or anything besides what I am (white.) You can't focus only on white people because if you do you're racist. Focusing on other groups is perfectly fine.

45. I can expect figurative language and imagery in all of the arts to testify to experiences of my race.
Not if you mean my cajun heritage. If you're implying it's difficult to find such things for black people around here then you'd be wrong.

46. I can chose blemish cover or bandages in "flesh" color and have them more or less match my skin.
*L* A friend and I were discussing the other day how we've finally found a make-up line that has foundations and such that actually work for people as light-skinned as we are. Most are either too dark or almost white and thus too light.

47. I can travel alone or with my spouse without expecting embarrassment or hostility in those who deal with us.
Not really, though I kinda expect that anyway.

48. I have no difficulty finding neighborhoods where people approve of our household.
Definitely not- down here, being a good church going family is far more important than what race said family is.

49. My children are given texts and classes which implicitly support our kind of family unit and do not turn them against my choice of domestic partnership.
I don't have children nor do i have any sort of partner so I can't really speak to this one but by the latest census information I've seen, there were about as many (married couples with/without children) as there are (single parents or non-married couples with kids) here and you just can't say things like "they've been together fifteen years and have three kids. They really should get married" 'cause you just can't understand their situation.

50. I will feel welcomed and "normal" in the usual walks of public life, institutional and social.
Only in certain areas of town. And whenever I say things like that, I don't mean only the best areas- I mean only the outer areas and a few spots downtown.