Well I wouldn't want you to stop participating in any of my rants...which lets face it, will probably continue because thats just how I am...all it takes is an event or an article to get my mind burning. I welcome your comments, perspectives- thats why I post. I just don't like words being put into my mouth. That is all. When I post something, my reasons for doing so may not always be simple, or easy to guess. But they are there if you ever wanted to ask.
My brain is compartmentalised, but my thinking is circular...so my perspectives are.... oblong? I dunno...just not easy to categorise my opinions because I am at any given point trying to incorporate too many POVs at once. When I offer a POV, in my head I am giving it a space it requires for everything to be balanced.
^^^
That probably made zero sense...but its how my brain works when I talk about things like oppression. So we both have issues maybe. Maybe its a spazz thing. I don't know...
About the skin thing- it is not a statement about how I feel, it is a statement about how people are treated in society. Its an illustration to demonstrate why it is black people are harassed just for their skin, and thought to be up to no good if they are in certain spaces like a university or a store...
what is it in the american pysche makes a cop more likely to react to a black person with gunfire than a white person? what is it that makes people misremember a white perp as black? what is it that makes a person feel less empathy for a black person than a white person? what is it that makes children as young as 4 know that black skin is uglier than white skin? what is it that makes teachers rate black boys are more disruptive than white boys displaying the same behaviour? what is it that makes black people perform worse on exams when they are reminded of their race?
those are scientific findings from our country...and they play out everyday interactions...the only way to challenge that widespread attitude in our country is to understand it. one way to understand it is to think of society in terms of spaces, and there being white spaces and black spaces. then you get a better idea of why a black person is assumed to be "out of place" in certain environments and "in place" in the ghetto. especially when you know the history of how and why black ghettos were created.
I offered that thought mainly to wolfish, because my father and I just had had a conversation about it after listening to a radio interview. a professor said it, and we agreed that that illustration was a good one for how we are treated in society. understanding is empowerment.
Of course, carrying the ghetto on our skin is not true, that is the point. it is not true, but people act as if it is.
