As a first-time visitor to this blog, you may be wondering about my credibility in the token role of Average White Guy. Fear not:
Bill Cosby and Colin Powell are my favorite black people.
I think immigrants should learn our language, just like my grandfather did.
I’m not clear why it’s okay for 50 Cent to use the “n-word” but I cannot.
I have no idea who 50 Cent is.
I do not think of our new president as black.
I was in high school before I understood that Archie Bunker was intended to be ironic.
I love mayonnaise.
Some of my best friends are black so I am clearly not a racist.
I’m scared I might refer to someone as black when they’re actually “African American.” Or vice versa. Or something else entirely.
I’m not sure why Barack Obama is a great black role model and Condoleeza Rice is not. (Can he speak Russian and play Bach?)
I didn’t know that LGBT was a race.
I haven’t the faintest notion what Eric Holder was trying to say a few months back, I wouldn’t buy a used suit from Al Sharpton, and Jeremiah Wright strikes me as a complete and utter loon.
Okay. Now you know where I’m coming from.
As I wrote in my initial post here, this blog will be a journey for me. I’ll ask questions to which I genuinely do not know the answer. I’ll openly admit to my ignorance.
Along the way, I will try to give voice to the thoughts and experiences of my people — the thousands of good and honest white folks who would be surprised to find a racist bone in their bodies.
But I will also explore what it must be like to be a minority in America. It will be interesting to see whether that developing perspective can co-exist with my own.
I am open to having my mind changed.
Are you?
…
Friday, May 15th 2009 at 2:04 pm |
Dear Jim:
Thanks for the clarification. I think that is a totally legitimate objective, within certain parameters, and I support it.
I should say: I’m also familiar with these kinds of statements, because I’ve heard many white people make them. Even statements that confuse me–for example, the very strident statements I’ve heard about “speaking English”–are familiar.
You said, “[I hope that] some will read this post and think: This guy comes from a place I understand. His life experience sounds similar to mine. If he’s willing to go on this journey, maybe I’ll come back now and then and see how it’s going.”
As affirmed, above, I hope this will happen, also.
Two points:
1. I expect that some people will read what I’ve written, as well, and do exactly the same, even if their life experience is different from yours.
2. I expect that some people, whose life experience sounds similar to yours, but is different from mine, will read what I’ve written, also. Having done so, perhaps they will consider other perspectives, or questions, relevant to that experience.
HA
Wednesday, May 13th 2009 at 2:21 pm |
@Harry:
Thank you for your comments. As always, they are thoughtful and illuminating. I hope readers will spend as much time with your answers as I did.
Forgive me for not addressing all of your points directly. (Though I do want to thank you for the admonition on mayonnaise… much needed.) What I’d like to do instead is explain what I was trying to do in this post.
The thoughts and questions here are common in the places I have lived and among the people that I know. Race is a confusing and difficult topic many whites choose not to think much about. Maybe it’s because we don’t know how. Or perhaps that’s a cop-out; maybe it’s because we don’t really have to. To borrow (and stretch) a metaphor you’ve used, what does the fish know of the field? And how would a fish know that he is wet?
I’m not saying that’s right, I’m just saying it’s real. I understand that this is not actually a choice for people of color.
In the nine months since we started talking about this project, I have learned more than I would ever have imagined. I have tried to let go of my own experience and perspective… to read things I would never have read… ask questions I’ve never considered… understand how people of color experience race.
How can I share what I’m learning with others? What would make anyone come back and read what I post here? Why would a fish want to know about the field?
I’m not sure, but here’s what I hope: That some will read this post and think: This guy comes from a place I understand. His life experience sounds similar to mine. If he’s willing to go on this journey, maybe I’ll come back now and then and see how it’s going.
Wednesday, May 13th 2009 at 9:58 am |
Excellent post, Jim. Clearly, given the number of responses, you’ve affected a large range of people.
I really appreciate the clarity of your list, by the way. If it’s all right, I thought I’d speak to your statements, with statements, or questions, of my own.
You say:
“Bill Cosby and Colin Powell are my favorite black people.”
Please: What do you mean by your “favorite black people”? Favorite, towards implementing what thought, speech, or action, on your part? (An emotion is a thought, for example.) Why are they your “favorite black people”? Who are your least “favorite Black people”?
“I think immigrants should learn our language, just like my grandfather did.”
Why is this language issue so important to so many people, please? I hear people talking about this as though it were a quarter-sized cancerous mole on their foreheads with a wasp on top. To my way of thinking, people who need to learn English, the official language, will do so, or not, according to their survival necessity; i.e., in their own interests.
It almost seems like people here are trying to stamp out other languages from being spoken within the country’s borders. If so, I can’t figure out why, especially given that there is currently a movement afoot to increase language capacity in the US. To me, it seems that people should learn English because that’s the language most people here speak, not for anything having to do with our grandfathers.
“I’m not clear why it’s okay for 50 Cent to use the ‘n-word’ but I cannot.”
I spoke about this in Wizard Academy, but perhaps I wasn’t explicit, or I was unclear. I’m going to try this from a few perspectives, in part for myself, also.
1. The simple answer is that it’s racist when a white person says it. That’s the way it sounds to Black people. When Black people say it to each other, it doesn’t sound that way, because Black people don’t have a history of racism from Black people. We do, though, with white people.
In a way, you’re asking, “Why can’t I yell fire in a crowded theater if a fireman can?”
I don’t know if you have children. But if you had a 4-year-old daughter, and she said, half-angrily, “Daddy, I’m gonna punch you in the nose!”, it would probably just tickle you. On the other hand, if Mike Tyson had a reason to be upset with you, and said, “I’m going to punch you in the nose,” and he meant it…this is a guy who could literally *kill* you with a punch. You’d take it differently.
Same words. Different backstory. Different outcomes. Different responses.
2. You can’t use it as 50 does…because you can’t use it as *he* does; you can’t use it with the same meaning. You can’t, because the word, itself, is a word about “a) what white people say about Black people and b) what Black people say about Black people, in light of a).” That’s its subject and content. If you utter it, you’re affecting its meaning. It’s like cleaning a room, but a room which, if you enter it, even with a vacuum cleaner, will dirty it. How would you clean it?
3. A thought experiment: If you were a knife, and I said, “Go get the knife,” what would you do?
Would you go get *another* knife, thinking to yourself, “If he said, ‘Go get the knife,’ knowing that I’m a knife, he must not want me”?
Or would you say, “I’m a knife, and he’s asked for one, so I will present myself”?
Keep in mind that the wrong answer means I throw you in the fire, and blast you until you melt. Under such circumstances, you’d probably do nothing but stand there, or try to run away.
In a similar sense, because the content of the word—its meaning—is based on the relationship between Black people and white people—that’s what it’s about—when you utter it, you affect that meaning.
The word “love” is like this, in a way. It’s a relationship word, though not solely racially. That’s why when your wife uses it with certain people, it makes you feel good, while if she used it with others, you’d probably want to kill someone.
Much the way certain facts of history makes it impossible for your wife to say she loves certain people without harsh responses from you, as a white person, you can’t have the relationship with 50 Cent that he has with other Black people because of history facts, including historical facts that occurred a picosecond ago.
“I have no idea who 50 Cent is.”
He’s a very popular rapper from Queens, NY.
“I do not think of our new president as black.”
He is, and if you don’t, it makes certain statement/questions you’ve asked, like the one about Condi Rice, below, nonsensical.
“I was in high school before I understood that Archie Bunker was intended to be ironic.”
Humor is complex.
“I love mayonnaise.”
Check your heart regularly.
“Some of my best friends are black so I am clearly not a racist.”
Most Black people would probably disagree with this “if..then” statement. I suspect that your friends might be among them, but many would possibly never tell you this.
“I’m scared I might refer to someone as black when they’re actually “African American.” Or vice versa. Or something else entirely.”
Ask them how they prefer to be addressed or described, after telling them you have a question about race you wish to ask.
“I’m not sure why Barack Obama is a great black role model and Condoleeza Rice is not. (Can he speak Russian and play Bach?)”
Black people don’t care about that any more than white people do, and probably less. There’s not a single politician any white person adores because they speak Russian and play Bach, and many are suspect of people with those abilities.
Black people consider Obama a role model because he did something unusually difficult, and he did it with superb intelligence and tremendous style. As well, he did something that Black people, directly or indirectly, had been led to believe no Black person would ever do, at least in their lifetimes. Many said this.
Also, he *did* it; he acquired the presidency. He was not nominated to it, or given it, as was Rice her office.
Lastly, Black people love Obama because he seems to love people. The same is not true for Condi Rice.
“I didn’t know that LGBT was a race.”
It’s not. Race is racism. LGBT is a category.
“I haven’t the faintest notion what Eric Holder was trying to say a few months back, I wouldn’t buy a used suit from Al Sharpton, and Jeremiah Wright strikes me as a complete and utter loon.”
All of these men made statements that many, if not most, Black people take as givens; that are as uncontroversial as saying, “The sky is blue.” Literally.
Because of the way our world is organized, you really don’t have to pay any attention to anything any of them say or do, really.
That is, unless it’s your intent to either a) have meaningful relationships with a diverse set of Black people, or b) write about race in a way that makes sense.
Thanks for this truly excellent post.
—HA
Wednesday, May 13th 2009 at 4:52 am |
Jim, I totally respect your position as an average white guy.
Looking forward to more of your writing.
Monday, May 11th 2009 at 3:07 pm |
@jweaks: There are lots of voices on this blog, and many takes on a complex topic. Check ‘em all out and you may find one or more to scratch your particular itch. As for me, I’m all for objective truth, but will be speaking only from my own subjective experience.
@Wes Roberts: Great to hear from you! Would love to see you soon… let me know when you’ll be down this way.
Monday, May 11th 2009 at 2:39 pm |
…OK, Jim
…now we really do need to have some conversation one of these times I’m down your way
…find this all fascinating
…never miss the MMM from Roy
…will welcome some time with you
..and suggestions?
Monday, May 11th 2009 at 2:03 pm |
@Jim Knutsen: Perhaps I’m just clueless and/or I don’t understand the purpose of this blog? Maybe I’m being overly contrarian. Please don’t take this harshly and I’m not trying to be rude. In fact, if I sound like a crackpot, please ignore me and move on. I read Roy Williams stuff and appreciate the things I learn from Wizard Academy and so I came here to check this out. I’m not a troll.
Why does anyone get to speak for a people? Who defines that? Why can’t you speak for a “minority?” Are there not other ways to gain knowledge or make judgments rather than life experience? Are not truth and right color blind? How far do you take life experience as a gauge? We all are unique beings in at least some ways; can we only speak for ourselves?
I’m sorry, I’m probably over the top here, forgive me. I do think racism is bad and ending it is a noble cause. I’m not sure we’re going about it the right way.
Monday, May 11th 2009 at 1:21 pm |
Tim Underwood:
Thanks for your thoughtful response. You should be blogging here.
I have similar memories from growing up… stuff that was said by one person and then ignored by another. I wonder sometimes about the cumulative affect of those missed opportunities to help shape my world view.
Interesting that you bring up Sanford & Son. As a kid in an all-white neighborhood and school, shows like S&S, What’s Happenin’, Good Times and The White Shadow were for many years my only experiences with minorities. How did *that* shape my world view?
That’s a post for another day.
Monday, May 11th 2009 at 12:57 pm |
jweaks:
Thanks for your comments. Hope you’ll forgive the sweeping generalization about “my people” in this opening post. The point I was *trying* to make is that I’m in no position to speak on behalf of minorities — here in this space or any other; my life experience doesn’t allow it. I can, however, speak as a white person from the middle of America, and I think I can give voice to the confusion many of us feel around this topic. I hope you’ll come back and continue to add your thoughts.
Monday, May 11th 2009 at 12:12 pm |
You’ve got people, and they’re all good, honest, and white? It sounds like you’re saying “your” people are racist and they don’t know it? I came in via the Wizard as well and I’m always looking to change my mind from wrong to right.
Monday, May 11th 2009 at 12:09 pm |
I’m interested. Looking forward to being Inside.
Monday, May 11th 2009 at 11:06 am |
@ Joe Mann,
What would you do to solve racism, if you were a serious body?
We can’t make it illegal for people to BE racist; we CAN make it illegal for people to DO certain racist things. Only actions, and not intent, can be legislated (although intent can be factored into the prosecution of an action). But what are the legal racist things that we seek to end?
Monday, May 11th 2009 at 11:03 am |
Erasing Our Past
I’m delighted to have learned of this Blog.
I’m ecstatic that I learned of it from Roy Williams’ Newsletter.
I sometimes muse over racism.
During those quiet, reflecting times…
Sleepless nights…
Something that happens. BANG.
White officers, black citizen.
Black Heisman Trophy winner, predominately black jury.
The inhumane fire hose in Birmingham.
Reginald Denny.
Just the other day, I mused again.
It happened innocently enough, stumbling into Wikipedia looking for one thing and emerging with something completely different.
As I neared the bottom of the “Sanford and Son” page, this caught my eye:
“Some material from Sanford and Son, specifically, derogatory racial references, is now considered too controversial to air on network television and is routinely edited in syndication…”
Specifically – as I read the examples – the derogatory material contained the word “nigga”, spoken mostly by Redd Foxx.
All those references have now been edited out in the reruns currently airing on TV Land.
It got me to thinking about the couple who lived next door to us when I was growing up, specifically the husband.
My neighborhood was a fairly diverse mix of several races and nationalities and as such, my childhood friends mirrored that variety. One of my best friends was Chris, a kid a half-dozen blocks away.
We hung out a lot, listened to the O’Jays, Eric Clapton, played Monopoly and ate peanut butter sandwiches.
Kid stuff. Not black kid stuff, not white kid stuff.
Just kid stuff.
I considered him a good friend. Not a black friend. Just a friend who happened to be black.
Our next door neighbor happened to be white…like us. He drank a little too much and used the N-word in our presence.
I recalled the day I was listening to Earth, Wind & Fire’s “That’s the Way of the World” album. I loved that album. I still do.
On this day, the familiar Old Crow and nicotine smell signaled his entrance well in advance of his familiar gait – that of a man who was bitter, tired and looking for a pulpit.
He found it at our house.
My mother is a kind woman and a good listener. It’s never been her style to argue someone’s opinion or state her own case. She’s from the era of “don’t say anything and everything will be alright”.
She did however teach me that the N-word wasn’t appropriate. She also taught me not to talk back to adults. This left me in somewhat of a quandary when this particular neighbor would use the word in my presence.
That day, as he passed our hi-fi, he uttered something about “nigger music”.
The thing that struck me even more than the phrase itself, was the angered tone of his voice. As soon as he was seated in the kitchen, I removed the record from the turntable, waved hello and headed down to the basement – my temporary solitude from this hate.
On my little record player, I re-started the album from where I’d left off. I couldn’t articulate the feeling then, I can’t do it much better now.
I do recall being mad that my mom didn’t say something and even more mad his utterance was a slam against Chris and Earth, Wind & Fire and things and people that brought me joy.
It was in the juxtaposition of the anger upstairs and the love emanating from the speakers downstairs, that solidified how I would grow to treat people.
I’m sad to see the past being censored.
Would I have had my moment of clarity without both extremes tugging at my conscious? Maybe.
Though for me, the decision was made a whole lot easier being able to experience the unedited version.
As for Chris and I, a few years back we caught up after decades of not seeing each other. We had dinner, laughed and toasted a long friendship over a nice single-malt.
Just a couple of guys.
I’d be grateful to hear some of your thoughts on this post.
Monday, May 11th 2009 at 9:22 am |
As a white guy who grew up in Georgia in the 1950′s and ’60′s, I am keenly aware that racism is alive and still pervasive in all areas of this country. I was raised in a very bigoted world. However, I learned as an adult that my preconcieved prejudices were unfounded and illogical. Having spent ten years in the US Air Force, served in Viet Nam and obtained a master’s degree, I opened my belief system to understand about human value regardless of race.
As I’ve aged, I have watched many misguided attempts to “bring us together”, while promoting “diversity”. Are they mutually exclusive? We can recognize and applaud cultural and racial differences, but are we not all Americans? The current “programs” I see are not doing anything to help this country deal with the insipiant racism that still exists. My perception is that there is no real interest in solving racism by any serious body. I currently live in Spokane, WA