It seems
> they (whites)can visualize racial equality as long as it does not threaten their
> individual material advantages.
this rather neatly sums up most white folk in the u.s. today. (though, as some of you might have guessed i would, i consider the term "racial equality" presumptious and, thefore, seriously problematic).
thanks, jennifer.
chris niles
Maybe my perspective is tainted because I
> cling to the lowest rungs of the American economic and social ladder.
>
> When we went over Angela Davis's contribution to "Fires in the Mirror", by
> Anna Deveore(SP?) Smith, some folks in the room thought Davis was an
> academic in an ivory tower! I said that more complex language and thought
> is required to fight political battles on the turf of the establishment.
> People smirked at that. I do know that if one is of low social status with
> limited powers of articulation, and few crednentials or accomplishments
> under belt- it's hard to get anyones attention!
>
> The passing novel. I realize this character is fiction, but we also read
> Julius Lester, "Lovesong: On Becoming a Jew". Lester has hereditary ties to
> Judaism, and I understand his embracing that faith. What I don't understand
> is how he seemingly denies his black heritage. The character in the novel
> does too. He's a lightskinned man who has great ambition from childhood.
> He disowns his family, and develops the identity of a white, Jewish classics
> professor.
>
> The character in the novel gains economic and social power. Now maybe it's
> the moral character of the individual that is flawed. Or maybe these folks
> are developing survival mechanisms in a dog eat dog world. What kind of a
> society would cause a person to want to deny or recreate themselves this
> way?
>
> I think it was Chris, that brought up the point about some white folks that
> claim to be part Indian or whatever. He said how many people are out there
> claiming to be 1/4 black?
>
> I was at the bus stop at Walmart. Someone's graffiti read "They steal our
> culture and sell it back to us". That struck me.
>
> This is not a new question, but is it just natural for humans to be selfish
> and greedy?
>
> I was giving my professor the November issue of Oprah which had an interview
> with a Holocoust survivor (forgot his name forgive me), and also featured
> Anna D. Smith. She started thumbing through it at and saw a luxurious
> chair. She said "I want that chair." It just seemed superficial.
>
> Now I was on the bus with my younger boys yesterday, and were riding around
> the opposite way on the route so we would not have to wait outside. We went
> though a really prosporus area. I envied the folks that lived there.
> Having children makes me regret sometimes not joining the rat race so they
> can have a yard to play in, among other luxuries.
>
> I must be a fool, but I have never been able to stomach people who exclude
> others because of appearance and class. Even back in elementary school. I
> was white middle class then, not unattractive or anything. I just could not
> join the groups that spent their free time hurting others. I would defend
> people, and therefore I became one of the fringe.
>
> Jennifer Young
>
>
>
>
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