Racism 101- A lesson fo' dat ass

As an old year closes out, and a new year approaches, I was given a very harsh pill to swallow – and truly, it hurt. I guess the reason why is because I have made a conscious decision to live on this earth believing that we cannot blame those living now for the mistakes of those who lived before us. But the reality is that, sometimes, we have to. Racism is not just alive; it’s commonplace.

 

I have always prided myself in being progressive and forward thinking. I’ve always been about uniting, and not dividing. During the electoral process, I listened to the positions of all the candidates. I didn’t jump on the Barack train. While I had been watching his career since his rise to fame in Illinois, I still favored Hillary Clinton and, in fact, Huckabee. When they were no longer choices for me, I chose between McCain, whose policies I certainly do not agree with, and Barack, whose policies are palatable for me. While people were buying the Barack t-shirts, calendars, mugs, pins, hats, sneakers, and other paraphernalia, I just watched in a sort of sadness. It was at the point in time that I realized how prevalent racism is within our society. When my black counterparts recanted stories explaining just why they hate whites so fervently and white people adamantly stated why they wouldn’t vote for a black man, I saw the world that I was living in, rapidly dividing.

 

And even still, I held onto a hope that, perhaps, change could begin to happen despite the uninformed reasons for the decisions of many to vote for Obama. While I think their decisions were largely based on race, there were some that did actually listen for the first time –and no matter what their reasoning – I believe that the American people got it right this time. Unfortunately, I think that people began to believe that CHANGE had come. Truly, the only change that I can see is that racism no longer needs to be covert.

 

I walked into Urban Outfitters on last evening. This is a store that I have been adamant about not patronizing for years. I simply don’t agree with the name of the establishment, the aim of the establishment, and the leanings of the establishment. They make money off of taking pieces of culture and religion and defaming it. They are sacrilegious, racist, and discriminatory in their clothing. To go from the name – The Free People- to creating products that enslave people, I’m not sure that I am willing to support them. Yes, they practice freedom of speech and propaganda very well. So, if you like that, then by all means, do what you have to do. But the actions of the staff in store I went to last night, really reminded me that, at the end of the day, with all my money – ahem, “I aint nothing but a nigger.” Get mad if you want to. I said it!

 

And it’s really unfortunate. We often talk about people stooping to new lows when they attack individuals in anger. I’m here to tell you all that even the calmest person can be taken to the point where violence seems to be a viable option. After what I witnessed last night, I spoke to the manager (who was the culprit). Her smug demeanor only boiled up a level of hatred in my heart, that going to jail for a short stint seemed perfectly okay to me. I realized that in a matter of minutes, I’d gone from denial, to shock, to sadness, to anger, to hatred. And that truly scared me. It put into such great perspective just how easy it is for a person to snap when faced with an issue of racism. It forced me to step back and outside of myself and to utter words of apologies to those older people who harbor that same hatred in their hearts that I felt last night.

 

Today is a new day, and yet, I still feel shaken to the core. While I still believe that I am able to forgive like many of my elders cannot, I will no longer pass judgment on someone who does make a decision solely based on the race of an individual. I don’t want to lose my faith, but I’m starting to lean in a direction that I once thought was ignorant – “separate…” might not have been a bad idea!

Comments

[Yo]

I totally agree with your last statement. ;-)