Although I am more of a reader and commenter than a diary writer here, I became inspired by a few entries to contribute something near and dear to my heart. I love to talk about culture, society and people. Yet, sometimes, when embarking on this subject, it is frought with voices who put up the road-blocks to understanding. Instead of empathy, antipathy occurs. It is disheartening to find people "sick and tired of race" when race and gender is a participant in all social relations, laws, behaviors, and institutions in society. We cannot stop "talking about race". It has even affected our history in which we still experience the deep repercussions.
In the same vein, race cannot hide from the headlines of current news no matter how much the mainstream tries to pretend that "racism is over". As long as this phrase continues to be fed throughout the media as well as trickle from the lips of the "entitled", the barrier of recognizing social disparity will continue. Unfortunately, this lack of cognizance continues to aid and abet a type of "forgetting" and "fear" because privilege in society reduces "uncomfortablity". For those in which "privilege" is a factor in their lives, it is rather convenient to put the woes and the roadblocks of others out of their minds.
When I watch the tiny nuances and dynamics that occur between Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, there comes a resonance that puts me in commonality with the Congressperson from Illinois. On-line and off, I have experienced these subtle actions which highlight a flag of quiet, but pervasive discrimination. In some circumstances, it is like quiet desperation. One who has been ruthlessly, but subliminally "put in their place" have to pick their battles.
That is, until they can't take it any more.
Therein lies the conundrum for people of color. Do we pick our battles? Or do we experience what theorist bell hooks calls, "killing rage", a quiet anger so intense because someone with "entitlement" has belittled us with no thought of conscience or empathy.
These same things occur between white and non-white folks repeatedly. As a result of this historical and politcal competition for President, these small subtle instances and interjections of gender and race are now public, as if it were airing a suppressed secret that those with entitlement want to hide. Let's face it. Mr. Obama's treatment reveals the ugly underside of social division and white privilege.
That is the type of nuance that continues to blare out to some of us in America, if not the world when we watch what is happening during the Democratic Primaries. That one little thing when Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and her cohorts continue to perform in front of the public eye rankles the tail feathers of some of us. And it puts not only Senator Barack Obama to the test in terms of whether he plays the "good black" or the "bad black". And sadly enough, mainstream America does not allow him nor other persons of color to say what we truly feel because when we do, it upsets "polite society".
Watching Mr. Obama make his historic campaign for President as well as my own forays into discussing culture and race on and off-line has given me a new epiphany: it is time to continue airing our viewpoint strongly and loudly without the fear of "upsetting" that particular polite society. When we speak, we tell our stories. And sometimes, they come out in uncomfortable places in which we are lonely voices in a sea of complacency.
But it is important to be brave in our march to progress racial and cultural understanding in America. Yes, it is a different world in the middle of some rough pangs of change. That is why we cannot stop talking about race. Sometimes things must be said in order to challenge crystallized viewpoints. Only when they crumble, there will be more room for healing and discovery.
--politicalceci