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fabrisseCrikey. People are saying, quoting a remark by David Simon, that "there are now two Americas."
All I can think is, "Oh, honey, no." There have always been multiple Americas; it's just that white folks have always thought theirs was the only one that counted.
I watch demonstrations of white privilege every fucking day. I probably demonstrate my own privilege in ways that I don't fully comprehend because that's the problem of privilege: you don't always recognize it when you have it.
But. I'm more aware because I'm in the reverse situation from most people of color. I'm the only white person in my office. I'm one of fifteen or so in my 300+ person organization. When I tell my friends who work for the Federal government that I work for DC government, one of the first questions is about how do I feel about working with people that don't look like me. The questions are less direct than that, of course. None of us is a bigot. But aren't you worried that you live in a mix-raced neighborhood, go to that area of town, work with people who went to different types of schools... all of the subtle, and not so subtle codes.
I'm tired. I'm tired of the twenty-something white people going to Nats or Caps games who won't give up their seats on the Metro to an elderly black person or a pregnant black woman or a disabled black man. I know it's not general obliviousness, because they snap up and offer to white people with the same issues.
I'm tired of the rare white customer being so relieved to see me or requesting me when they get one of my colleagues in the rotation.
Baltimore's issues exist because we don't look at racism. We don't realize that Samuel L. Jackson, to give a famous example, was over 20 before segregation ended in the city where he was born. People remember segregation. AIDS policies were and still are geared more toward the gay community than toward the Black community, but AIDS for whatever reason spreads more quickly and more ways in Black communities. It's estimated that one in twenty people (5%) of the District's population is HIV positive. Some of this is due to poor education. Some of this is due to Congress not allowing needle exchange programs. We have a generation in this city reared by their grandparents because their parents died of AIDS.
Those of you in Boston remember busing. Imagine living with that fight every single fucking day and you'll have some idea of what being poor and black in Baltimore is like.
All I can think is, "Oh, honey, no." There have always been multiple Americas; it's just that white folks have always thought theirs was the only one that counted.
I watch demonstrations of white privilege every fucking day. I probably demonstrate my own privilege in ways that I don't fully comprehend because that's the problem of privilege: you don't always recognize it when you have it.
But. I'm more aware because I'm in the reverse situation from most people of color. I'm the only white person in my office. I'm one of fifteen or so in my 300+ person organization. When I tell my friends who work for the Federal government that I work for DC government, one of the first questions is about how do I feel about working with people that don't look like me. The questions are less direct than that, of course. None of us is a bigot. But aren't you worried that you live in a mix-raced neighborhood, go to that area of town, work with people who went to different types of schools... all of the subtle, and not so subtle codes.
I'm tired. I'm tired of the twenty-something white people going to Nats or Caps games who won't give up their seats on the Metro to an elderly black person or a pregnant black woman or a disabled black man. I know it's not general obliviousness, because they snap up and offer to white people with the same issues.
I'm tired of the rare white customer being so relieved to see me or requesting me when they get one of my colleagues in the rotation.
Baltimore's issues exist because we don't look at racism. We don't realize that Samuel L. Jackson, to give a famous example, was over 20 before segregation ended in the city where he was born. People remember segregation. AIDS policies were and still are geared more toward the gay community than toward the Black community, but AIDS for whatever reason spreads more quickly and more ways in Black communities. It's estimated that one in twenty people (5%) of the District's population is HIV positive. Some of this is due to poor education. Some of this is due to Congress not allowing needle exchange programs. We have a generation in this city reared by their grandparents because their parents died of AIDS.
Those of you in Boston remember busing. Imagine living with that fight every single fucking day and you'll have some idea of what being poor and black in Baltimore is like.
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no subject
Date: 2015-04-30 05:38 pm (UTC)I think it's easy for people in or near Baltimore to be biased, too - not just in terms of racial bias, but we immediately think of our own personal safety when it hits so close to home, without necessarily considering the bigger picture. This isn't unreasonable, but that's why I feel like we have one side saying "STOP BEING THUGS" and not really... listening to why this is happening. It doesn't help that the media coverage itself had an angle. In all honesty, before I saw comments on Facebook and LJ, I really thought it was just people being idiots and misusing the cause. I had no idea how many people were in favor of it. Then I read what they had to say, and... while there's some things I don't think were really necessary on one hand, on the other, there is a problem. So instead of dismissing people's anger, let's talk about it. I see some people doing that, but not enough. Especially when it comes to cops in this city. They're corrupt. Let's be real.
Short version? I completely agree. (Really, short version, I had more but some things came up in the middle of posting this.)
no subject
Date: 2015-05-01 02:24 am (UTC)Late comment is late
Date: 2015-05-17 11:55 pm (UTC)See, the media take on that one at first was "it's such a shithole right now that even two rival gangs are coming together to pull more shit." By the time those details came out they were barely over a whisper in the outcry.
And wow, I can imagine if your family's been here that long it hits home in a different way.
no subject
Date: 2015-04-30 06:02 pm (UTC)I am seeing arguments on tumblr that the "riots" were basically engineered by the police. Summarized:
(source)
More details: Mother Jones Eyewitnesses: The Baltimore Riots Didn't Start the Way You Think
ETA: And I mention this because if true, even the narrative of "Well, these people have been under pressure a long time and it's not surprising it finally blew" is unfair to that community: they didn't crack under the pressure of years of racism. It actually apparently took putting a large number of youth in immediate fear of their lives to provoke them to anything like violence.
no subject
Date: 2015-05-01 02:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-04-30 07:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-05-01 02:25 am (UTC)