tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5810407618561752803.post7153690257981166447..comments2023-03-30T06:00:56.422-07:00Comments on A Glimpse of Grace: Racism isn't DeadRobin Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11905541721079387628noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5810407618561752803.post-27945544860048923502014-12-22T11:24:33.351-08:002014-12-22T11:24:33.351-08:00Kevin, thank you for your thoughtful and personal ...Kevin, thank you for your thoughtful and personal response. <br /><br />I DO believe that racism goes in all directions (Included in my post above: "Sure, there are those evil people out there who truly hate all Black people. And there's no doubt that those people are racists. And yes, there are racist Black people who hate all White people. And there are racists of every race and every culture.")<br /><br />I thank you for being willing to write about your experiences, and I have never lived in Mississippi. I cannot speak to experiences there, which makes your sharing very important. <br /><br />I *have* lived in places where I am a minority (btw, I am White), even a hated minority. And perhaps in those places and in Mississippi, (and elsewhere) there is enough active racism to make a White person's life miserable.<br /><br />However, the point of my post was/is that there is a difference between those experiences of active racism (from either side to either side) and the underlying assumptions and expectations that frame the experiences of a person of color in our society. As the mom of two Black kids (now adults), I had my eyes opened to some of those assumptions and expectations. <br /><br />But honestly, one of the most eye-opening experiences regarding systemic racism that I have had is raising my third child (still a child), who looks White, despite her mixed heritage. The freedom to ignore issues of race is such a temptation because it doesn't affect her directly most of the time. That's White Privilege in a nutshell: I have the option of pretending race doesn't matter.<br /><br />Perhaps in your childhood neighborhood, the Blacks had the privilege of ignoring race. I don't know. It's certainly an interesting thought to consider the situation is reversed in some communities in the US.Robin Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11905541721079387628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5810407618561752803.post-8251531383979178372014-12-21T21:16:02.129-08:002014-12-21T21:16:02.129-08:00As a timid and quiet white (5th grade) kid who rar...As a timid and quiet white (5th grade) kid who rarely spoke, much less harassed, black people. I personally experienced racism when Mississippi desegregated it's public schools.<br /><br />A black kid who had pretended to be my friend about an hour earlier. lied and told his friends that I had said that I was going to beat up his cousin. Never mind the fact that I was a little runt who never would have dared say such a thing, much less attempt it. As a matter of fact, I only told him that I knew his cousin and he seemed happy about it. <br /><br />At recess I was circled by about ten black kids who were about to beat me half to death when someone came to my rescue. I guess "racism" goes more than one way.<br /><br />The public school spent the rest of my remaining years in school telling me how terrible I was for being white and how bad we are to blacks. I never bought it. I NEVER, EVER in all of my years of being a white student in Mississippi (yes Mississippi) EVER saw a white student start a fight with a black person (or a Mexican or an Asian). But I saw plenty of the blacks bully whites. <br /><br />Even whites who might have wanted to bully blacks knew that they';d have the system against them... because they are white. <br /><br />Do you REALLY believe that there aren't white kids who have had black kids yell at them as you claim your daughter has? <br /><br />So I'm white. And I'll ask you to do what you just asked us to do. <br /><br />"If you do not believe this, ask people of (whiteness) what their experiences are!!!"<br /> Kevin Paul Alawinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13445784282491736154noreply@blogger.com