Going IN on it! More Race Talk . . .

Learn What Racism Is

I have seen on FB, comment sections under magazine articles and blogs, folks talking about 'reverse racism'.  This is a term that I have seen mostly Caucasians use when they are relating their experiences when they were subjected to antagonism by Non-whites, just because they are ‘White’.

'Reverse Racism’ is a misnomer.

They really experienced racial PREJUDICE . . . Not RACISM

Reverse racism in itself indicts the original 'perpetrators' - White on Black - as the Real Deal. 

Think about it.

Was that the real ‘intent’ of using that term folks?  You used it to equivocate what ‘They’ were doing to you as no different to what ‘You’ have been known to historically do to ‘Them’, right?  That says that Racism and all the nasty behaviors associated with it, originated with ‘You’ per se.  This rather ‘awkward’ affixing of this ill chosen, possibly, again, misnomer of an adjective in ‘reverse’, is an obfuscator to ‘spread around’ the ‘heavy filth’ of a practice that is commonly attributed to ‘You’.

Were you trying to admit historically that ‘your people’ were the progenitors of such disgusting tendencies and occurrences?  If you weren’t please refrain from using this rather ‘sloppy’, guilt-ridden ‘comeback’ or retort for an asshole of another ethnicity, who chooses to act like the ‘brown stuff’ to you for something you can’t control – Your Ethnicity.  They were idiots and disgusting fools; label them as such.

In addition, Racism has an element of real-world power to it:

If the racial prejudice, or what has been born out of it (Institutional Racism), gives a definite, tangible benefit to the perpetrator, and as such, gives them 'power' over others or the target(s) of their prejudice, then that is Racism.

All other racial biases and race-based antagonistic behaviors and practices against different ethnic groups who aren't in 'power', or even against those in 'power' is prejudice, which is as old as man and is too common.

For example, Institutional Racism in this country has ALWAYS been a ‘White vs Other’ 'breakdown' because for centuries arguably ONLY WHITES were legally and socially allowed to fully 'take advantage' of the unique experiment that is our Democratic Republic.  Whether it be even simple physical liberty, education, political participation (voting and running for office), property rights, and various machinery and operational licenses, Whites have had an relatively ‘unhindered’ opportunity to pursue and enjoy the benefits of acquiring such.  This culminates into a very ethnically specific, empirically observable, accumulation of wealth, status and power of all sorts in this society and economy. Those who did NOT fit into the 'preferred' ethnicity, were barred from ‘consuming’ ANY such 'fruits', and for centuries this exclusivity was maintained by force as well as legally.

Racism is a system for imparting exclusive benefit on members of a specific ethnicity.

 

Accept Your Present, Know The History . . . and What It Means, It’s Legacy

At this time in our human history, Whites ARE and have been that 'preferred' ethnicity. 

It was not always so though:

Africans and people of African descent were once the top dogs of the planet.  Where they interacted with any other ethnicity, as the Moors did over most of Europe, any prejudice THEY might have had towards Europeans at THAT TIME, would be Racism as well!

They were the ethnicity 'in power' and in charge of all ‘spigots’ of 'opportunity' back then in that world.

Now it is the Caucasian.

That is a fact.  There is no need to feel uncomfortable acknowledging such.  It's just true.

It is the reason why, collectively, they are 'ahead' in this country and worldwide, in terms of wealth, power and deferential, authoritative influence on countries they once dominated or colonized.  Many of the countries we now refer to as the Third World, fit that bill.  Although there is resentment from the locals/indigenous people (racial prejudice against whites is on the rise in Hawaii according to some recent reports), the governments, for the most part, aspire to be on good terms with majority white nations, because they are almost always the wealthiest and most powerful.

Again, they have arrived at that point due to the subjugation and domination of people NOT of their ethnicity.

Sorry but it’s all true.  Ask Walter Rodney and others for that ‘breakdown’.

Let me step 'forward' to today to make my point clear:

Our everyday life is filled with examples of how 'ahead' whites are.

For instance, I've never taken a flight where the majority of the first class or business class travelers aren't white.  That's a simple empirical observation that you can extrapolate to other arenas but let’s stay here.  Everyone knows that a first class ticket is more expensive than coach is.  Anyone who is in first class is there because they can afford it.  If there are less people of color seen consistently, as is the case, it can be assumed it is because they can't afford it.  I'm saying it’s no secret that you get more comfort in first class; those that can do.

Now . . . Please don't make the common retort I've gotten when I've tried to make this point of . . .

"So should they feel guilty that they can do that, and others can't!?"

No, they shouldn't. 

We all do what we can; use whatever we have at our disposals to enjoy life.  You've got it?  Use it.  The truth is that collectively our societal systems, for centuries, has left You and Your Forebears largely unhindered and without inter-ethnic 'competition' for the fabled 'American Dream'.  You've had a head start to be able to 'fly first class well-represented'.  This isn't 'envy' as some who are shallow would accuse me of being captive to.  It's a plain, unemotional assessment of an easily-observed and verified fact and/or statistic.

First Class, like so many other 'pleasures' in this country and, in fact, the world over, that require more than average sums of money or resources to experience, seem to have, as a vast majority of the 'patrons', who can be called White or Caucasian.

Is this just luck why so many members of a particular ethnic group dominate a certain economic and class strata?

Many would love that to be the case for the sake of their consciences.  Again, you do what you want with your resources . . . but reality doesn't 'owe you' a blissful, pervasive, indignant ignorance of the true cost of your advantages.

True that no white alive today can really be held responsible for the damage wrought by their forebears and shouldn't be held responsible for it either.  However, you do need to recognize how fully it has circumscribed your existence, your worldview, your philosophy to life.  As part of that recognition acknowledge the hardships still being impugned on others not like you.  It is when you refuse to face what might make you feel uncomfortable, falsely believing everyone's generational and personal histories are the same as yourself and ‘insist’ on it . . . you become an unwitting agent of continued discrimination, and thus, pain against and inflicted on those not like you.

Another thing:

This ethnically subjective system built by your forebears is actually DESIGNED to 'support' and make seamless such deliberate obliviousness.  It is so insipid that many don't even realize that they're doing that mental dance.  You provide fuel for this engine of prejudice to keep going; passively, where you are concerned, but even fatally, where others are concerned. 

Open.  Your.  Eyes.  The evidence is stark and is almost omnipresent. 

“The Racial Stockholm Syndrome” or Colorism

Racial prejudice today and its cousin colorism between other non-white ethnic groups also is a spin-off of White vs Other racism.  It comes from dominated, colonized, enslaved and/or conquered non-white people's the world over 'accepting', at the subconscious level collectively, the inherent racial, inferiority 'assertions' about themselves, intimated socially, legally, by force etc by the dominant group.  Along with that is the simultaneous imbibing of the dominant group's 'assumed' superiority as well.  This is a carte blanche ‘swallowing’, in every way, from physical appearance to language, religion . . . almost all the cultural markers, that they are 'inferior' to their ‘conquerors’ vision of beauty or other standards.  These people after a few generations clamber over themselves to see if they can 'identify' with the dominant culture and standards ‘in any way possible’.

Because 'They', The Dominant, have it all.

Why not try to be like Them to curry favor and opportunity, to not feel like they’re at the bottom of all things?

The process of assimilation, when we speak about immigration, has elements of this supplication to it, if you think about it.

Here are some others:

Asians and the operations they endure to give them the 'western look'.

Asians and East Indians anglicizing their names for 'easy consumption' within the existing system.

Blacks use weaves and/or straightening their hair.

People of color the world over using skin bleaching creams to lighten their complexion.

. . . and so much more.

From this clamoring to gain acceptance and favor, a certain class structure or perceptions of class developed between the different non-white groups.  Blacks ended up on the 'bottom' because of how ‘far away’ from 'the ideal' they were.  Also, they were THE identity most ‘campaigned’ against when one consumes popular culture from societies held captive to this sort of foundation of White on Black Racism.  There have been demonstrated tendencies and incidences of Asians, East Indians, and Hispanics exhibiting prejudice against Blacks and their darker-skinned kin because according to well-entombed racial ‘dictates’ such a ‘tint’ is indicative of  the social and societal bottom rung on pretty much everything.

Meanwhile they are victims of very similar and some of the most vile racist actions by the majority just like the Black . . . but hold on to some 'belief' that they MUST BE BETTER than 'them' for a whole host of reasons:

Lighter skin complexion

Long, straight hair and/or hair texture and color.

Similar Body Type even . . .

Here's the sad thing:

Even within their own groups (blacks are also guilty of this) they discriminate against each for being too close to the ‘reviled visage’ of 'Black' in any way it can be 'defined', for any and/or  combination of the aforementioned reasons.  The ‘victims’ have come to accept their ‘tormentors’ ‘reasoning for the torment’. 

A Racial Stockholm Syndrome is now pervasive in many non-white and black communities worldwide.

Now behold the ingenious, automated ‘sentience’ of this built-in, racial infrastructure: 

It 'imparts/denies' a 'gradient' of benefit and opportunity based on how close or how removed you are from 'the standard'.

These groups take this 'standard' and apply it among themselves against each other and yes Blacks did/do it too.  The resultant self-hating mess is called colorism and it has done unimaginable damage to communities of color all across the world.

Conclusion

There has been this sort of explosion of race-based discussion across all media as of late, in a way I don't think has happened since the 1960's at the height of the Civil Rights Movement.  We've seen activists and scholars rise to somewhat national prominence due the highly charged atmosphere where race is concerned, which was undeniably precipitated with Barrack Obama's ascension to the White House.  By itself, that achievement for blacks is one that, personally, I never thought I'd see in my lifetime.  From Melissa Harris-Perry, Tim Wise to Cornell West, Al Sharpton and even Tavis Smiley have 'suddenly' found avenues to express their passions in a legitimate and serious way.  These luminaries have been at this for, in some cases, decades.  Suddenly, with Barrack Obama's rise, the opportunity to really discuss this great stain on this country has presented itself . . . and they've risen to the occasion.

When we see Barrack Obama stride out from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, to make a speech or do a press conference or his weekly address . . . it makes Blacks, the world over, feel very proud, vindicated.  

I feel PROUD!

Why?

That cheering many of you heard from many Black neighborhoods when he was elected was expressions of vindication.  You may or may not be able to empathize with that feeling for yourself, but that is what it is.  Some will say:

“. . . well he just happened to be the best man for the job out of who was left . . .!”

True.

But for us in the African Diaspora that acknowledgement for a position with as much power, visibility and prestige that the POTUS carries . . . is HUGE!

Our History has seen us constantly being denied the opportunity and advancement, even when it was clear we were the best person for the job.  Whether it was because we were barred from legally doing so, or the more subtle institutional prejudice took its toll . . . we for too long were crushed under a glass ceiling.

And now the ultimate of these barriers have been shattered.

We feel vindicated.

 

For all the brutal, physical control and destruction, for all the psy-ops waged on the African Diaspora to wipe away, the fundamental question of ‘Who Am I’ and the Future that inevitably will be carved out with the Answer . . . we feel vindicated because it has all failed!

It has failed because one of US is now There.

I close with 'yell' of a 'verse' to explain:

Vindication

For the all of the Weight of the Ghastly Loss . . .

For all the suffering of the Middle Passage Lost

For the last few Centuries of suffering . . .

For enduring the malicious scarring . . .

Mutilation . . .

Evisceration . . .

Violation . . .

Castration . . .

Subjugation . . .

. . . of My Many, Inter-echelon Traveling Bodies . . .

For all of the Targeted, Constant Mind Rapes

To . . . Wipe Away My Sense of Self, 

At cutting out My Mental Tongue

So I can no longer ask freely:

“Who Am I Really?”

Using the Bloody Sponge to . . .

Sop-up the very essence My Humanity . . .

My Dignity . . .

My Integrity . . .

I now play MY Trump Card Forcefully:

Barrack Obama, THE Leader of this Country!

For Those who liked the Deal of 3/5^th’s

For Those who liked to use whips . . .

For Those cry about ‘taking Back!’ . . .

While for Centuries They rode to prosperity

On My Back . . .!

For Those who Experimented on me at Tuskegee . . .

And practiced Torture on Me . . . in preparation

For the Infamous Holocaust in Germany . . .

For Those responsible for My Countless, Stolen, Progeny

Lost down the bellies . . . of Swamp Beasts

So you could temporarily

Profit from Reptilian Leathery . . .

For Those that spat on Me . . .

Set Dogs on Me . . .

Turned Hoses on Me . . .

For Those that High-Hung Me . . .

While Burning and Carving Me . . .

Making Still-Live, fractious Souvenirs From Me . . .

You really thought you could contain Me . . .?

Terrorize me . . .?

Rape Me . . .?

Desecrate Me . . .?

Murder Me . . .?

To Stop my True Potential from Bursting Free!?

You’ve failed . . . miserably . . .!

LOOK at the returns from Ohio and see ‘Me’:

Barrack Obama, the 44^th in the Presidency

Ain’t that Ironic to see . . .

That my forebears built That Residency . . .

It probably wasn’t intended for the likes of Me . . .

But now one of US holds the sacred Presidency . . .

So next time you pull me over due to my color . . .

So next time you follow me around the store . . .

So next time I pass and you click-shut your door . . .

So next time I ride with you and you clutch your purse

Tighter just a bit more . . .

These ignorant slights hurt just a bit less than before . . .

I’ll look you right in your . . . eyes

Maybe then you’ll realize . . .

That I now glisten . . .

My Soul twinkles with the joy of my forefathers in Our Heaven

My Aura lights up along with hundreds of millions worldwide

With a solemn, unshakeable, overwhelming Pride . . .

You’ve failed . . . miserably,

To squelch Me . . .

Now watch the pep in my stride,

Watch me in a quandary as I glide . . .

Everywhere . . . What is it that possesses me?

Vindication!!

You couldn’t have EVER stopped Me!

Barrack Obama, My President Be!

© Dike Matthew 8/8/13