Racism has reared its ugly head

by dinah 51 Replies latest jw friends

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  dinah

  I agree about Alabama. It's not really as bad as it is painted to be. There is alot of bible thumping--but I know more people who don't attend church than who do attend. We live in a VERY small community. The teachers and other parents at our school think the world of her. She had one little kid call her the N-word when she was in the third grade. I told her he just hadn't been taught any better.

  There were a couple of other bi-racial girls she was friends with but they said she did act black enough. Her answer to that? Being black is NOT about being a thug. Smart kid!

  The bible comment really floored me--haven't heard that one in over 20 years!

  We've prepared her for this kinda thing, but it still hurts to get hit in the face with it. I've kept my mouth shut. That's why you guys are having to hear all of this. All this comes about two weeks after my depression has ROARED back which makes me irritable and generally ill-tempered.
• 

  mrsjones5

  We don't mind the roaring Dinah
• 

  Dorktacular

  My daughter's half black. Well, not really. The black and white mixed together and kinda made tan..... She's beautiful. Nobody would ever suspect that she's my daughter. :) My daughter is so gorgeous I'm more afraid of how many boys will want to date her as opposed to how many who don't!

  By the way, I bet your daughter is super hot, so if those people can't appreciate her, there's probably a line of guys waiting for their chance. Don't even let it bother you! Obviously they're a family of idiots.
• 

  snowbird

  Dorktacular, you're da bomb!!!

  On another note, ugliness can cut both ways. I'm lighter than my siblings. My maternal grandma never let me forget it. She disliked me intensely. I used to rub the black soil of the Black Belt into my skin so as to appear darker - hoping my grandma would notice and like me.

  But here's the kicker: SHE was light-skinned!!!

  Go figure. It's all good, Dinah. You're not the one with the problem.

  Sylvia
• 

  Mary

  snowbird said: let's not paint all Alabamians with the same broad brush strokes.

  Sorry hon....didn't mean to insinuate that everyone in Alabama is a racist-----I just meant that in the South (ah say, the South), racism still seems to be commonplace and it's not that big of a surprise that it's come into play. Although maybe it's no different in the Northern States..........
• 

  UnConfused

  ANY CHANCE that the boy isn't telling the truth? Guys lie to get into and out of relationships.
  
  Just saying....
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  Dorktacular

  I just meant that in the South (ah say, the South) , racism still seems to be commonplace and it's not that big of a surprise that it's come into play.

  Mary, I have lived in both the north and the south. Trust me, there are racists and bigots everywhere. The neigborhood where I spent my childhood had racial tensions between blacks and Puerto Ricans. The Italians and Irish were not very fond of each other, either. The KKK is just as strong in New York and New Jersey as it is in rural Alabama or Georgia. It is just a stereotype that the South has inherited (and in times past deserved it). I've seen all kinds of racism, not just white against black.

  I experienced much "reverse racism" in the area of Georgia that I lived in as an adolescent. I also noticed a lot of what a previous poster mentioned: Lighter skinned black people discriminating against darker-skinned black people. I had no idea such a thing existed until I attended my majority-black high school. Stupidity takes many forms, I guess.

  I've lived in the south for a long time now and I haven't seen racism as commonplace, or at least no more common than anywhere else. I don't let it bother me because I've always judged everyone as an individual, and most people that I know are the same. Anyway, it's time for lunch and I have to go eat pizza. Yay! Talk to y'all later!
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  Mary

  I also noticed a lot of what a previous poster mentioned: Lighter skinned black people discriminating against darker-skinned black people. I had no idea such a thing existed until I attended my majority-black high school.

  Actually, I'd never heard of this either until Mrs. Jones mentioned it in another thread a while ago......I was having lunch with a former co-worker a few months ago and she told me something that I thought for sure she was making up: She's also bi-racial: Her dad is white and her mom is from India, but immigrated to Canada years ago before she had Priya. Priya was born here in Ontario, is very pretty, very light-skinned like her father, but still has the dark eyes and hair from her mom's side. Anyway, she took a trip to India with her mom last year to visit relatives she'd never met before. Priya is university educated, very smart, her own person, etc. Anyhoo, while they were over in India, one of her mother's uncles excitedly told her that he could get "12 camels" for Priya as a bride, because she's so light-skinned. Needless to say, Priya laughed her ass off at the mere thought of being traded like that, but the uncle thought they had really passed up a good opportunity.
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  snowbird

  It also goes the other way. Darker skinned against lighter skinned.

  Crazy, isn't it?

  Sylvia
• 

  Dorktacular

  My wife is from Trinidad. She is part Chinese, part Indian, part Spanish, part Caribe and part black all mixed up. She is very beautiful and has a very beautiful, unique skin tone. Some of the other people in her family, epecially aunts and cousins are very jealous of her skin and her hair. Some of them treat her specially because of this, others treat her poorly because they are jealous. I think it is soooooo stupid!

  When my wife came to America she found that a lot of the black girls that she worked with were very catty with her because they were jealous of her hair! I don't know how we got on that topic.... oh yeah, you were talking about your half indian friend who's uncle said he could get 12 camels for her... when my wife was about 12, her grandmother had to chase off all of the men that were offering a dowery for her hand in marriage because she was soooo desireable! Her grandmother didn't like that tradition very much, because she was "sold off to the highest bidder" when she was a young girl.

  So, I guess what I'm getting at is how stupid it is to be treated specially or treated badly just because of what combination of genes your parents happened to mix together, rather than people judging you by your character. But, that's life. I try not to live that way and I don't let that be a deciding factor in my opinion of someone.