I don't know if so much involves them wanting to be a target of racism, as much as it is pointing out that, yes, racism flows in different directions.
I've known two people, for extended periods in my life, who were racist against white people. Pure and simple. There was bias, hostility, mistrust, conveyed hate. Maybe it was due to racist events perpetrated against them or their family members early in their life, or maybe it was simply a genetic personality trait (some people are genetically/chemically prone to depression, maybe others are prone to xenophobia). Regardless I recognize that feelings of hate/mistrust/resentment toward others unlike oneself exists throughout each and every demographic.
Maybe it's because I just watched the movie Crash (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0375679/) again, no more than 8 days ago, and with the images and concepts fresh in my mind, can't help but acknowledge the racism and hate and shame flow in many, many complex directions... yes, sometimes even toward white people. But I recognize the fact that me or my skin color may be the target of racism or hate or resentment by no means invalidates the racism inflicted upon others, and (I hope) vice versa.
Personally, it's crystallized within me over the past couple of days that I /will not/ feel white guilt. Period. I will feel no shame in the color of skin I happen to have, I will feel no regret of what flesh I have hanging between my legs.
I'm Steve, not some generic Christian, white, middle-class male whose heritage and gender can be associated with patriarchal white oppression.
When someone points out that I regularly have access/do things that are, at times, still denied to others based on skin color, gender, or orientation, I refuse to view what I can do as a "priviledge", but rather as a 'basic right' that's being denied to others and needs to be corrected.
Maybe I've spent too much time picking up behavioral mannerisms from the T-monster, but I will not be chastised, much less motivated, by "guilt" or shame for injustices I neither committed or condone.
"Tracy took advantage of my white guilt, which is to be used only for good — like overtipping and supporting Barack Obama." -- Tina Fey's character in 30Rock. Sorry, it just doesn't fly with me. It reflects that guilt causes use to do things we otherwise wouldn't do for others. So the adoption of white guilt is pointless for me. I acknowledge the injustices of the past and present... and while I may take action against them, I will not take accountability for them based simply on the color of my skin.
Put simply, I believe in a world filled with clear band-aids, not beige or brown ones. I hope that doesn't make me a bad person in your eyes.
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Date: 2007-04-11 07:05 pm (UTC)I've known two people, for extended periods in my life, who were racist against white people. Pure and simple. There was bias, hostility, mistrust, conveyed hate. Maybe it was due to racist events perpetrated against them or their family members early in their life, or maybe it was simply a genetic personality trait (some people are genetically/chemically prone to depression, maybe others are prone to xenophobia). Regardless I recognize that feelings of hate/mistrust/resentment toward others unlike oneself exists throughout each and every demographic.
Maybe it's because I just watched the movie Crash (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0375679/) again, no more than 8 days ago, and with the images and concepts fresh in my mind, can't help but acknowledge the racism and hate and shame flow in many, many complex directions... yes, sometimes even toward white people. But I recognize the fact that me or my skin color may be the target of racism or hate or resentment by no means invalidates the racism inflicted upon others, and (I hope) vice versa.
Personally, it's crystallized within me over the past couple of days that I /will not/ feel white guilt. Period. I will feel no shame in the color of skin I happen to have, I will feel no regret of what flesh I have hanging between my legs.
I'm Steve, not some generic Christian, white, middle-class male whose heritage and gender can be associated with patriarchal white oppression.
When someone points out that I regularly have access/do things that are, at times, still denied to others based on skin color, gender, or orientation, I refuse to view what I can do as a "priviledge", but rather as a 'basic right' that's being denied to others and needs to be corrected.
Maybe I've spent too much time picking up behavioral mannerisms from the T-monster, but I will not be chastised, much less motivated, by "guilt" or shame for injustices I neither committed or condone.
"Tracy took advantage of my white guilt, which is to be used only for good — like overtipping and supporting Barack Obama." -- Tina Fey's character in 30Rock. Sorry, it just doesn't fly with me. It reflects that guilt causes use to do things we otherwise wouldn't do for others. So the adoption of white guilt is pointless for me. I acknowledge the injustices of the past and present... and while I may take action against them, I will not take accountability for them based simply on the color of my skin.
Put simply, I believe in a world filled with clear band-aids, not beige or brown ones. I hope that doesn't make me a bad person in your eyes.