tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16645996.post116509125294554393..comments2023-07-04T21:12:47.972-05:00Comments on Why Am I Not Surprised?: For White Folks: How To Be An Ally (Part 3)changeseekerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350201531677548579noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16645996.post-1165838723794950712006-12-11T06:05:00.000-06:002006-12-11T06:05:00.000-06:00Katie, Gertrude Stein (a very interesting lesbian ...Katie, Gertrude Stein (a very interesting lesbian herself) once said "A rose is a rose is a rose." She could just as well have said "oppression is oppression is oppression." One of my mentors called the relationship between racism and sexism "the scarlet analogy." He believed that it would be very difficult to address one without addressing the other.<BR/><BR/>I hear your pain and I acknowledge it. Just know, as I said earlier in the comments, the oppressed make up an ever greater percentage of the population of the earth. Wherever you find oppression, you will find social conflict. And no people ever allowed themselves to be oppressed forever. ;^)<BR/><BR/>As for Oprah, PZ (and Katie), I'm looking forward to it. After the first book is published. And before I start traveling.<BR/><BR/>*nods softly with a smile*changeseekerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18350201531677548579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16645996.post-1165812820607481362006-12-10T22:53:00.000-06:002006-12-10T22:53:00.000-06:00Going on Oprah is not a bad idea. I am quite serio...Going on Oprah is not a bad idea. I am quite serious! :-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16645996.post-1165509446009732222006-12-07T10:37:00.000-06:002006-12-07T10:37:00.000-06:00I know I've already commented, but I've just been ...I know I've already commented, but I've just been reading BBC America online and catching up some things. I'v been reading all these articles about the banning of gay marriages across the country, except for in one state which is Mass. I've seen pictures of everything from young gay couples with children, to elderly gay couples who've been together for 50 years or more. These people are crying, they're so angry because all they want is to be married and they can't even be granted that. <BR/>I feel their anger. <BR/>It brings tears to my eyes. It all goes back to inequality. Gays are still not treated fairly in the United States and it makes me sick. I guess I haven't really be advocating gay rights, because I guess I'm comfortable in my own accepting bubble. I need to open my freaken eyes, you know? <BR/>I wish for social change. I pray for it. Someone in the article said that like anything, social change takes time to happen. How patient can we be before it becomes too much? I don't know. Maybe it's not the same thing. But I feel like I can relate to this (A) character. It just makes me sick. <BR/><BR/>Anyways, I don't know where that came from. But I for a moment I felt so helpless I needed to say it. <BR/><BR/>Katie G.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16645996.post-1165504931844210972006-12-07T09:22:00.000-06:002006-12-07T09:22:00.000-06:00Well after reading this blog I can only think of o...Well after reading this blog I can only think of one thing to say. <BR/><BR/>I can't wait to see you on Oprah...<BR/><BR/>;)<BR/><BR/>Katie G.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16645996.post-1165333593860738422006-12-05T09:46:00.000-06:002006-12-05T09:46:00.000-06:00Yes - the saying hello to Mexicans/ persons from p...Yes - the saying hello to Mexicans/ persons from points south really seems to help. Formerly, we had fewer recent immigrants here than we have had in the past five or six years. I always say hello because my instant reaction was, wow, somebody from back home! Then I realized how thrilled they were, having someone JUST SAY HELLO, as opposed to go on about what-are-you-doing-here, etc.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16645996.post-1165292575974881292006-12-04T22:22:00.000-06:002006-12-04T22:22:00.000-06:00PZ, see what you made me do? xoJoannao, it's a co...PZ, see what you made me do? xo<BR/><BR/>Joannao, it's a constant process of learning. Sometimes, I do fairly well. Sometimes, I amaze myself with my silence. And sometimes...I don't do so hot. Ah, well.<BR/><BR/>NLX-J, you made me realize that, with as much play as this series is getting, I should make it easier to find and follow. So I put links over on my blog roll. Thanks for the suggestion.<BR/><BR/>As for your other comment, I couldn't agree more. Unfortunately, some White folks (many? most?) are so oblivious, they can't seem to (or won't?) notice even the most obvious manifestations of "racial" relations. By starting with simple dichotomies, I try to get the ball rolling, as it were.<BR/><BR/>In person, in the classroom, I can slip in and out of using various examples and drawing analogies, related to ethnicity, nationality, gender, physical "disability," you name it. On this blog, I keep the focus very narrow purposely, though I wrote a couple of things related to the war on Iraq (which I don't call the war <I><B>in</I></B> Iraq, I call the war <I><B>on</I></B> Iraq) when I just couldn't help myself.<BR/><BR/>If I start including all the particularities that so desperately need to be considered by so-called White people, I would become overwhelmed emotionally, as well as intellectually. But my heart is sick with what the White power structure has done and is doing to Native American nations and other indigenous peoples, Latinos, Iraqis, Afghanis, Palestinians, Muslims, Middle Easterners, in general, and in truth, anyone who stands between a White man and whatever he desires.<BR/><BR/>I will say, however, that under the more recent on-slaughts against brown-skinned people immigrants, I have taken to nodding to them on the street now in the same way I give acknowledgement to African-American strangers. The accompanying eye-contact and returned nods, in solemn solidarity remind me that the human race is slowly, but surely (and maybe even not all that slowly anymore) being divided into those who are ordinary humans (who see themselves as brothers and sisters, however different they may be) and those who want to lord it over everybody else. And increasingly, we ordinary humans are making the necessary connections to one day simply stop the madness.<BR/><BR/>Anonymous, thank you for your kind words. I am happy, really happy, I could help.changeseekerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18350201531677548579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16645996.post-1165279582314530442006-12-04T18:46:00.000-06:002006-12-04T18:46:00.000-06:00Thank you for the words "I will sit next to you." ...Thank you for the words "I will sit next to you." I teach high school juniors about the civil rights movement and they are sometimes overwhelmed about the official "strategies" work they see, with all the planning and organizing and practice. I will read them your words tomorrow, to sit down next to those they what to support. Period.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16645996.post-1165246175044464412006-12-04T09:29:00.000-06:002006-12-04T09:29:00.000-06:00I love your thoughts on race. Especially "how to b...I love your thoughts on race. Especially "how to be an ally" parts 1 - 3. I was linking people today....and realized they are not linked as a unit? Or in a category of their own? Or...even at the end of Part 1, unless I missed it. I'm hunting now for Part two. <BR/><BR/>I guess the only critique I want to make, if you'll allow me is that I sort of wish these talks included the entire range of peoples that are involved. So much discussion out there seems to paint the problems with these dynamics as white/black. I think this is the most obvious. But it is not the one hurting Mexico. And not the one hurting Iraqis. It is, I think, the larger, or underlying paradigm that fits white vs black as well as white vs brown(s), and on and on. <BR/><BR/>Thanks again.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16645996.post-1165161770564377582006-12-03T10:02:00.000-06:002006-12-03T10:02:00.000-06:00I am a talker, too, and I'm still working hard on ...I am a talker, too, and I'm still working hard on being a better listener. I'll be thinking a lot about your words today.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16645996.post-1165161423905506582006-12-03T09:57:00.000-06:002006-12-03T09:57:00.000-06:00:-) Great piece, for many reasons, on how 'silenci...:-) Great piece, for many reasons, on how 'silencing' works, for one.<BR/><BR/>Interesting: some of the non-Euro friends I've made via jobs I have had, I was attracted to originally because I admired their skill/wisdom in handling tough work situations. Only upon getting to know them better did I realize how much struggle with self-doubt lay behind that strength & composure.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com