Assignment: Rewrite/revise or write a new piece that tells the story of a time in your life where you became aware of race, that tells of how you "learned" race--like the writing in Wright's "Ethics of Living Jim Crow," or where you saw your parents or family members interact with issues of race. Post to your INDIVIDUAL blog. (at least 300 words, but it can be longer if you'd like.)
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I am very aware of race. Throughout my childhood, mostly through the experiences of the adults, I have learned about racism. I remember when my mother was confronted by a police officer in "our" neighborhood since she was walking around a white neighborhood. She was only excercising but some white neighbors felt she didn't live in that area and called the police to question her whereabouts. My mother came home fuming and upset. Usually, my mother is a nice and docile person. She is a quiet woman, short and quiet. She took the dog out to walk one more time around the neighborhood. Before leaving for a second walk, she said that she is going to show people that she belongs in this neighborhood.
Another example of race is through conversations with my aunt about the workforce. She is a former administrator or assistant principal in a New York City school and now owes her own day care in Florida. She constantly reminded us about the struggles of being black, a woman, and working with racist whites in education and business. Her stories captivated us as we pondered what we would do in this situation. Today, I , at times, call her for advice about a situation related to race and the workforce.
Race as a child wasn't on the forefront of my life until I moved out of my all black neighborhood and school in New York City. I was comfortable and distanced from whites. They might have been my teachers but they weren't my neighbors.
I learned more about discrimination living in Florida, the South (not the real South though). I learned the divide of where you live and how people care about if you are in the white side or the black side. Blacks lived on the other side of the tracks. Some lived over the tracks, very few lived faraway from the tracks. We lived faraway from the railroad tracks. At the time we moved in we made the 2nd black family. It was classism as well. The other black family's bread winner had a degree, so did my mother.
What I didn't know then was that you are always perceived like you are stupid or invisible unless you speak up, or boast your intelligence at times. I was at one point quiet to the injustices because I didn't want to "cause a scene." I hated the mistreatment but couldn't stay in hatred mode for the rest of my life. I had to forgive and forget. Still today in "liberal" MA, almost every day, I am confronted by race.
RS
3 comments:
Rachel --
Your experiences are very captivating. It was extremely interesting to read how the your perceptions of racial inequality only surfaced when you were exposed to (and living among) people from a different demographic. When you were in your all-black neighborhood of NYC, you didn't even consider race as an issue -- despite the fact that it was probably as big an issue in NY as it is anywhere else. I don't really understand why you didn't question racial inequality when you were in NY as opposed to FL. In NY, all the blacks were concentrated in specific neighborhoods, as in Florida. Why was one area more striking to you than another? Was in because you were in the same category (living in the same neighborhood) as the rest of the blacks while you were in NY? This is interesting -- there is racism going on, but, because it is being evenly applied to everyone you are familiar with, the racism isn't as striking to you. In Florida, as you were in a different class from the rest of the blacks, racism suddenly becomes much more blatant.
I am also interested in your current situation. You mention that even today in "liberal MA" you are confronted by race almost every day. What sort of racial experiences have you encountered while living in MA? Do you find racism to be worse in some parts rather than others?
I enjoyed reading this piece. I'm curious to learn more about differences in race relations here in the "liberal" Northeast, and the South - the perceived differences and the real ones.
I particularly liked the part about moving out of your comfort zone in the African-American neighborhood, and would like to know your thoughts, both then and in hindsight, about being forced to see white people as your neighbors,etc..
I too agree with Ben, and while I can in NO WAY claim to understand what you have been through in terms of how your racial identity has created many difficult obsticles for you throughout your life, I do sympathize with your experiences and admire you very much. You mentioned that you try to "forgive and forget", which to me, is unbelievable. Do you feel that your ability to forgive has made your experience easier? Also, I definitely share in your sentiments about "liberal MA". I've grown up in MA all my life and I cannot tell you how many people boast about how "Liberal" and "open minded" MA is. The reality is, it is only my white friends who believe this. While I am not personally affronted by racism on a daily basis, I still notice both the overt and the insideous acts of racism and biggotry that go on in the Boston area constantly. I think that the notion of "liberal MA" is just another means by which white people chose to ignore the issue of racism.
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