I was asked to reflect on what my race can do to improve for a class in my Master’s program. This is what I submitted, the last sentence seems so appropriate right now.
This topic, as the colloquial parlance goes, requires a lot of unpacking. I was born and raised on the twin island republic of Trinidad & Tobago and immigrated to the United States as an adult. This gives me a unique perspective as someone raised in a country where the majority of people looked like me, including political and industrial leaders. The other major difference in being raised in a country run by people of color is a difference in historical perspective. While US history tends to whitewash atrocities against people of color, the Caribbean perspective of our neighbor to the North is somewhat less rosy, particularly when it comes to race relations.
As a person of color one of the options available is open rebellion. But this has never really been successful, from superior firepower to biological warfare, the native people of the Americas paid the price. There are tribes who only exist in historical records, while many surviving US tribe were forcefully removed from their lands and corralled in reservations. While the most successful slave revolt took place in Haiti between ongoing indebtedness to France and US intervention in internal politics at the turn of the 20th century, the country remains in shambles.
Another option available to people of color is isolation. There have been a number of successful black communities in the US and almost of all of them have ended with death and destruction and the hands of their white neighbors. One of the largest and most successful black communities in the US was the Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa, OK, know as Black Wall Street. This community was destroyed and many of its citizens killed during the Tulsa Race Massacre which included firebombs dropped from aircraft by Tulsa authorities.
Finally there is the option of integration. As much as people of color have tried and succeeded in the US in the last 50 years, the propensity for discrimination in everything from hiring practices to housing has been well documented. While there have been successes, anything outside the fields of entertainment and sporting endeavors has been subject to excessive scrutiny.
Additionally for people of color to succeed they have to work much harder and present a much cleaner image than their white counterparts.
People of color in the US have tried every that has been asked of them but still continue to face systemic racism. This system perpetuates micro-aggressions on the low end, to redlining, excessive incarceration, and unnecessary police violence that leads to death. At this point I am unsure what else is left for us to do.
Buckle up, this is going to take a minute or if you have no interest in the politics of race, you can move on now.
Still here? I am being very deliberate in my use of the word THUG especially as a racist dog whistle to describe black men. I would like to say I’m try to subvert the word, but there are tons of ‘nice’ people who take one look at me and automatically assign that word to me. I’m 6’ 2”, 300+ pounds, and have what can generally be describe as resting bitch face when in public. and for that reason i am perceived as a threat.
Think I’m exaggerating? I worked for large corporation and there were employees there that wouldn’t be in the same room with me and one occasion I had someone basically back themselves into the corner of an elevator to be as far away from me as possible. I have been stopped by the police in a rental car because ‘i didn’t look like the kind of person that would drive a car like that and there had been multiple reports of break-ins and car thefts in the neighborhood.’
This my reality. Every time I’m pulled over, I start recording a voice memo just in case I don’t survive the encounter.
Which brings me to the other reason I want to co-opt the usage of the word is if/when my demise happens at the hands of some ‘terrified’ white person, the researcher tasked with finding my ‘THUG’ photo to justify the shooting is going to be incredibly disappointed.
Using words like THUG are part a concerted effort to dehumanize us and make anything that happens to us excusable. This needs to stop.
references to Alanis aside, i do know the meaning of irony.
and in a case of irony writ large i saw the trailer for The Honeymooners movie this weekend and i am afraid. who thought it would be a good idea to remake one of the most racists programmes in television history and by making the cast all black it would somehow make it right.
they did this last year in a manner of speaking with Walking Tall. i was mildly amused to think that there were a number of good old southern boys that were getting their panties in a bunch that that their folk hero was being played by someone that weren`t white. but that amusement was not enough for me to get over being appalled.
when it comes to race, i try to avoid generalisations and to reserve judgement on an individual basis but i`m going to make one now, i`m appalled by the state of movies, particular movies marketed to black audiences. they are the most insipid and trite pieces of crap. i`m sure there are the good individual flicks but for the most part if you want to see movie with an all black cast you`re saddled with movies like Soul Plane which only serve to reinforce stereotypes.
i hadn`t planned to mention Guess Who, because the concept alone makes my blood boil but i couldn`t leave it alone. are there no original ideas left? who the hell thought that it would be a good idea? the original film has been one of my favourites for a long time and now it`s image is forever tarnished by this crock of steaming faeces.
#AlternativeFacts [August 2017]
Collecting my posted #AlternativeFacts for August 2017
August 01: There are enough resources on the planet for everyone to use without having to worry about them running out.
August 02: There is absolutely no problem being completely reliant on fossil fuels because they will never run out.
August 03: Corporations desire for resources must always supersede any rights of people affected by the collection of said resources.
August 04: Loss of life while mining is perfectly acceptable and safety costs should not be allowed to affect profits.
August 05: Diamonds are appropriately valued based on their scarcity and difficulty to mine.
August 06: Jesus was incredibly supportive of money lenders.
August 07: Company profits should come ahead of all other considerations including environmental damage.
August 08: Financial institutions have never made any investment choices that have lost customers’ money.
August 09: CEOs are always penalized when their strategies cause companies to fail.
August 10: The rights of companies should be worth more than individual rights because companies donate more.
August 11: It is easy for someone to live comfortably on a minimum wage job in any American city.
August 12: Companies should only be interested profits regardless of impact.
August 13: Jesus believed people should be loved conditionally based on political and religious affiliation.
August 14: It is completely possible to use third reich symbols and gestures in a public demonstration in a non-racist manner.
August 15: Confederate flags and statues honor southern history and have absolutely nothing to do with slavery, rape and abuse.
August 16: Using symbols associated with slavery and genocide does not make your movement racist.
August 17: confederate statues have been around since the reconstruction and not installed as revisionist or intimidation tactics.
August 18: Black travelers never needed a special book to tell them where to avoid being killed while traveling.
August 19: The confederate flag is not a racist symbol especially when paired with a swastika.
August 20: Ignoring and further marginalizing the poor and disadvantaged are the basic tenets of both Christianity and Islam.
August 21: Interracial marriage was never illegal anywhere in the US.
August 22: Combining the US flag with those of former enemies does not desecrate it in any way.
August 23: Racism and bigotry are things of the past.
August 24: Class has never been used as a tool to perpetuate racial discrimination.
August 25: No successful black communities have ever been destroyed by angry white mobs.
August 26: Slavery kept tribespeople together to help build strong family, history, language, and community bonds.
August 27: Racial purity is one the basic tenets of Christianity.
August 28: No country has ever been invaded or had their government overthrown by a US administration to gain access to resources.
August 29: No US administration has ever supported brutal dictators or undermined legitimately elected officials.
August 30: US government policies are based on what’s best for the entire populace and not corporate profitability.
August 31: Government agencies are run at peak efficiency.