Debby
Well-known Member
- Location
- East coast of Canada
Shalimar and April were having an exchange on that Zimmerman thread and rather than hi-jacking it with a bit of a detour, I thought I would start this new thread.
From Shalimar: 'Debate should not abet
racism. I retract my previous statement, and offer an apology.[/QUOTE] and I was reminded of my experiences with 'racism'.
I watched a video this morning that was kind of interesting on the subject of racism. A youngish and successful white guy living in S. Africa, post-apartheid, finally realized that he was a racist because he had no black friends and he was terrified of black people. So he moved into one of those horrid shanty towns that the black people were forced to live in, with the intention of surrounding himself with black neighbours for a month to begin to 'understand his culture'. When his new neighbours realized that this 'whitey' (and he used the ethnic word from their dialect but darned if I could spell it so 'whitey' will have to do) was moving in, they were kind of shocked because it didn't make any sense, but they helped him carry boxes and so on and welcomed him into their community (and they didn't rob him of his stuff as his first 'racist' impulse was predicting). Well to make a long story short, the one month turned into six and by then he had relaxed, made lots of friends, come to realize that under the skin, we are all the same, same hopes, dreams, loves, and fears, etc.
While his video was more about the importance of being honest about yourself just generally speaking, I think his experience goes a long way towards helping us all realize that we each carry the seeds of 'non-acceptance' of others and may not even realize it but that we can change if we decide to.
Many years ago, I went to Richmond, Virginia to take a course on massage therapy for horses. Coming from a community where I might see a few Asian people in my predominantly white schools (Vancouver, BC) , it was the bizarrest experience to get off the plane and realize that there were at least as many black people as there were whites. It gave me a little better understanding of what it must be like for the one or two black people that I might pass by occasionally as I went shopping or whatever in my own town. How immersed and isolated they must feel you know. Maybe that was step one of the beginning of a new awareness in my mind, who knows eh?
Anyway, at about the same time, we were going to a small church that had a couple of black families in it and I have to say this for that mostly white church, they were all pretty warm and welcoming to them. One family was born and bred Canadian I think and the other family were from Jamaica. Because our cultures were more similar, my family got to be friends with the Canadian folks and we'd see them outside of church as well occasionally so it wasn't just a case of 'Sabbath friendships'.
But I think even though Weeva and her kids were our friends, there was probably still an element of racism in us tucked away, hiding in the corners of our souls and for them, we'd made an exception you know? Doesn't that sound awful? When I say it I'm embarrassed even, but that's the way it was.
In Canada, our 'cultural racism' seems often to be more focussed against the First Nations people. All my life I've been hearing about treaty disputes between the government and 'Indians' and on some level felt as did many of the whites, that 'they were always standing there with their hand out' and 'always wanting more.....'. But a couple years ago, I happened to read an article about the inequity in their school funding and I finally began to see for the first time, how it really is to be a First Nation person/parent in this country.
Knowing how highly competitive the world is nowadays and how it seems you need to have credentials and certificates and diplomas just to get by too often, and then finding out that their children's schools get 2/3 the funding that my children's school got, I finally began to understand racism, myself, them, our culture and their problems with drugs and alcoholism! How hard is it to be successful in life when you've got the education, and your family is supportive and your community isn't fighting the double edged sword of drug abuse and alcoholism but when you are living in the midst of pathetic education, poverty and drug and alcohol abuse, it becomes almost insurmountable. I think I had a light bulb moment, began to read more about it and finally really learning what was going on and as I was closing in on 58, I've finally begun to understand and make the mental changes required to overcome my own racist attitudes.
I hope I'm better. I think that I've finally begun to see 'beneath the skin' and to realize that except for cultural histories and traditions, we're all pretty much the same.
Have any of you gone through most of your lives with one philosophy on the subject, only to be caught up short to realize that you didn't really have a clue and needed to make changes yourself?
From Shalimar: 'Debate should not abet
racism. I retract my previous statement, and offer an apology.[/QUOTE] and I was reminded of my experiences with 'racism'.I watched a video this morning that was kind of interesting on the subject of racism. A youngish and successful white guy living in S. Africa, post-apartheid, finally realized that he was a racist because he had no black friends and he was terrified of black people. So he moved into one of those horrid shanty towns that the black people were forced to live in, with the intention of surrounding himself with black neighbours for a month to begin to 'understand his culture'. When his new neighbours realized that this 'whitey' (and he used the ethnic word from their dialect but darned if I could spell it so 'whitey' will have to do) was moving in, they were kind of shocked because it didn't make any sense, but they helped him carry boxes and so on and welcomed him into their community (and they didn't rob him of his stuff as his first 'racist' impulse was predicting). Well to make a long story short, the one month turned into six and by then he had relaxed, made lots of friends, come to realize that under the skin, we are all the same, same hopes, dreams, loves, and fears, etc.
While his video was more about the importance of being honest about yourself just generally speaking, I think his experience goes a long way towards helping us all realize that we each carry the seeds of 'non-acceptance' of others and may not even realize it but that we can change if we decide to.
Many years ago, I went to Richmond, Virginia to take a course on massage therapy for horses. Coming from a community where I might see a few Asian people in my predominantly white schools (Vancouver, BC) , it was the bizarrest experience to get off the plane and realize that there were at least as many black people as there were whites. It gave me a little better understanding of what it must be like for the one or two black people that I might pass by occasionally as I went shopping or whatever in my own town. How immersed and isolated they must feel you know. Maybe that was step one of the beginning of a new awareness in my mind, who knows eh?
Anyway, at about the same time, we were going to a small church that had a couple of black families in it and I have to say this for that mostly white church, they were all pretty warm and welcoming to them. One family was born and bred Canadian I think and the other family were from Jamaica. Because our cultures were more similar, my family got to be friends with the Canadian folks and we'd see them outside of church as well occasionally so it wasn't just a case of 'Sabbath friendships'.
But I think even though Weeva and her kids were our friends, there was probably still an element of racism in us tucked away, hiding in the corners of our souls and for them, we'd made an exception you know? Doesn't that sound awful? When I say it I'm embarrassed even, but that's the way it was.
In Canada, our 'cultural racism' seems often to be more focussed against the First Nations people. All my life I've been hearing about treaty disputes between the government and 'Indians' and on some level felt as did many of the whites, that 'they were always standing there with their hand out' and 'always wanting more.....'. But a couple years ago, I happened to read an article about the inequity in their school funding and I finally began to see for the first time, how it really is to be a First Nation person/parent in this country.
Knowing how highly competitive the world is nowadays and how it seems you need to have credentials and certificates and diplomas just to get by too often, and then finding out that their children's schools get 2/3 the funding that my children's school got, I finally began to understand racism, myself, them, our culture and their problems with drugs and alcoholism! How hard is it to be successful in life when you've got the education, and your family is supportive and your community isn't fighting the double edged sword of drug abuse and alcoholism but when you are living in the midst of pathetic education, poverty and drug and alcohol abuse, it becomes almost insurmountable. I think I had a light bulb moment, began to read more about it and finally really learning what was going on and as I was closing in on 58, I've finally begun to understand and make the mental changes required to overcome my own racist attitudes.
I hope I'm better. I think that I've finally begun to see 'beneath the skin' and to realize that except for cultural histories and traditions, we're all pretty much the same.
Have any of you gone through most of your lives with one philosophy on the subject, only to be caught up short to realize that you didn't really have a clue and needed to make changes yourself?
