I can guess ;). And yeah, I don't think of Woods as someone who talks about race a whole lot (but most of what I know about him is filtered through other people, since I basically don't follow sports, and def. not golf in particular).
The gentrification bit was my favorite part, too. Well that and the throwaway bit about Snuffy at the end.
I think the most important thing for white people to think about is that, on the whole, black people and white people don't talk about race the same way. I mean, obviously there are exceptions, but I think this is a fair generalization. I suspect this is part of why conversations about race are so frustrating -- we're not starting from the same priors. And it'd be hard to, especially when we're so de-facto segregated. It's easy for white people never to come across a black person talking openly about his/her experience with race and racism. I mean, if I were black I don't think I'd go there with whites -- too much potential for aggro. Especially if you're the only black one in the room; it's easy for everyone to just kind of stare at you waiting for the Black Perspective. Or so I imagine.
That's why I think Obama's speech in the spring was so important -- he went there, and now seems to be the time to deal with it.
I have been wondering in my head for the last day what mileage can be gotten from an analogy to America's problems in talking openly about sex. I mean, it's not really a problem today, or at least not the same problem...! But certainly a few decades ago it was pretty taboo. The similarities I see: they are high-stakes conversational topics with a lot of moral and social judgment riding on responding in the "right" way; and what you were brought up to believe may not actually be very helpful in the heat of the moment when you're clumsily trying to share yourself with another person, because they may have been brought up to believe different things, which they also might not know how to talk about. Clearly there are differences too; I'm just thinking out loud.
People are scared (apes are fearful). Scared of what others might think if they say the word "black." A reaction to the 1960's? Is this like how ashamed Germans are of association with the Nazis? I feel like there is some complacency after the Civil Rights turmoil and this has slowed down The Discussion. A plateau.
I know I'm not alone in feeling that the black clergy and other prominent leaders have failed to acknowledge parallels with the struggle for homosexual equal rights. There have been some good political cartoons lately that address that.
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(no subject)
Date: 2008-11-13 03:05 am (UTC)The gentrification bit was my favorite part, too. Well that and the throwaway bit about Snuffy at the end.
I think the most important thing for white people to think about is that, on the whole, black people and white people don't talk about race the same way. I mean, obviously there are exceptions, but I think this is a fair generalization. I suspect this is part of why conversations about race are so frustrating -- we're not starting from the same priors. And it'd be hard to, especially when we're so de-facto segregated. It's easy for white people never to come across a black person talking openly about his/her experience with race and racism. I mean, if I were black I don't think I'd go there with whites -- too much potential for aggro. Especially if you're the only black one in the room; it's easy for everyone to just kind of stare at you waiting for the Black Perspective. Or so I imagine.
That's why I think Obama's speech in the spring was so important -- he went there, and now seems to be the time to deal with it.
I have been wondering in my head for the last day what mileage can be gotten from an analogy to America's problems in talking openly about sex. I mean, it's not really a problem today, or at least not the same problem...! But certainly a few decades ago it was pretty taboo. The similarities I see: they are high-stakes conversational topics with a lot of moral and social judgment riding on responding in the "right" way; and what you were brought up to believe may not actually be very helpful in the heat of the moment when you're clumsily trying to share yourself with another person, because they may have been brought up to believe different things, which they also might not know how to talk about. Clearly there are differences too; I'm just thinking out loud.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-11-14 12:51 am (UTC)I know I'm not alone in feeling that the black clergy and other prominent leaders have failed to acknowledge parallels with the struggle for homosexual equal rights. There have been some good political cartoons lately that address that.