Diversity rant

This is a response I wrote to a student's email. She expressed the ever-present frustration of white students who think that because we celebrate MLK Day, African American History Month, Cesar Chavez, the NAACP, and other things we are somehow debasing whites. I don't know why I feel the need to share with the three of you who will read this, but here it is. If it seems out of context without the original email and the list of "white pride" complaints, I'm sorry. I just don't want to perpetuate it. Also please understand that this student is not in any definition of the word racist. She is struggling to understand how some new ideas fit in to what she wants to believe about herself and the people she loves. She has had to deal with some issues no teenager should have to deal with, and I suspect hasn't had a lot of guidance in learning how to deal with these notions. I believe this is true about a lot of people who parrot those frustrations without thinking about the true implications of centuries of oppression. That's why respectful dialogue is so blooming important, rather than yelling, screaming, and finger pointing that passes for political or sociological dialogue these days. Education, not accusation.

Anyway, enough of my rambling. Here's more rambling, my response to the email:



That stuff has been all over the place. In fact, I think Randy Blazak addressed several of those things specifically and the attitude in general. There is nothing wrong with being proud of your heritage, no matter what that is. The problem arises when it is more difficult to celebrate some roots of heritage than others. When people try to respect non-Christian celebrations in December, it's called a war on Christmas. Genocide in North America is called Manifest Destiny. Attempts to address long-standing inequities is called "reverse racism." It comes back to the Invisible Knapsack thing. The challenge is to celebrate yourself while recognizing that for centuries now others have been unable to do so, and those things don't change easily. I feel strongly that our diversity club has been doing a nice job. They include some of the various European cultures in their diversity week every time. That is exactly what needs to happen: celebrate heritage. Some white folks' insistence that their only ethnicity is "American" is where people cry foul. Especially, as far as I'm concerned, since "American" ethnicity means celebrating the European, Latino, African, Asian, Middle Eastern and all other cultures' influence on our every day lives.

Quite honestly, some of those things in the list piss me off, for that very reason. Martin Luther King and the civil rights era made all of our lives better, not just one ethnic group. His courage and leadership was one we should be doing more to remember, not less, in an era where we are being told that we can spread "American ideals" at the barrel of a gun (and when it fails, try sending more guns). Cesar Chavez made working conditions in the US better for everybody, not just one ethnic group. He, too, prescribed to the non-violence that allowed him to survive in a system where he had numbers of people against a power structure that had the guns (a face-off which the guns will win every time). We should celebrate his achievements more and louder than we do, but because he was fighting against run-away profits on the backs of the working folk, he's called "Socialist" or worse "Communist" and written off. And why do people have problems celebrating these two examples of humanity at its best? Other than this vague economic thing, it's their ethnicity. Bah.

I don't know any enlightened person of any ethnic group who thinks it's ok to call anyone cracker, whitey, gringo, etc. This is the disrespect that perpetuates tensions and hatred rather than break the cycles. Denying that, even as society slowly inches toward enlightenment, there are words and phrases rooted in racism, slavery, and segregation also perpetuates the tensions. Also, not enough people recognize that racism involves power. White folks have the power, economically and politically. Not as much so as in the past, but still significantly so. Hateful and narrow-minded words that have power behind them do much much more damage than hateful and narrow-minded words without power behind them (which do damage, none-the-less).

Thanks for sharing. Clearly, I like talking about these things. I think it's really important to not ignore that these frustrations are out there. Sadly, I don't think there are any easy answers to the frustrations, because somebody, rightly or wrongly, is going to feel slighted. Have a fabulous weekend, and I'll see you on Tuesday.