Racism In 2004
The other day I did a complete redesign of the In Da Mixx webpage. The page now includes more links and a lot more pictures. So far I’ve gotten a lot of positive reaction from friends and artists, especially those who’ve been on the show and would like to see it continue to grow. I have received one negative reaction, however, and it really really irks me because it was racial.
In an attempt to hype up the site, and the show, I put up some links on a variety of message boards. I know, it’s kind of a lame thing to do, but I figured at worst I’d get ignored. Well, it turns out at worst I didn’t get ignored, I ran into a complete racist. Someone on a website that will not be named decided to point out that I was white. Maybe he thought he was being real perceptive in saying this, but I’ve actually known for quite some time that I lack melanin. Apparently, to this guy, being white means I should be listening to country music (yep, he actually said that) and living in a backwoods town (again, his own words). Now, I’ve dealt with racism before, but this was on the level of a white man saying "hang those niggers." The person in question actually called me a "wigger."
I’ve broken down the term "wigger" and the phrase "acting black" for people before, but I don’t think I’ve ever done it here, so here goes. When someone says another person is "acting black," or acting any race for that matter, it’s inherently racist, and not just for the most obvious reasons. When someone says someone is acting black they are automatically associating traits; how a person walks, speaks, what they listen to, what they wear, what they eat, etc. with the color of their skin. This, of course, was the founding concept behind slavery, that a person’s skin tone defines who they are. I find it doubly insane that a black person would use the term "wigger" being that that kind of racism is something their grandparents can tell them about.
Race shouldn’t be an issue in 2004. I’m not saying we should all be color blind, because that’s going one step too far. I feel we should all be color-aware. It would be silly to say I don’t know my black friends are black. I know they’re black. I know they, like all people, have unique histories that are tied to both their individual selves and their backgrounds that have helped shape who they are today. The thing is, and this is the part the aforementioned racist doesn’t understand, people should be looked at for the overall "who they are," not their race. So the moral of my story is understand the race, but see the person.
In an attempt to hype up the site, and the show, I put up some links on a variety of message boards. I know, it’s kind of a lame thing to do, but I figured at worst I’d get ignored. Well, it turns out at worst I didn’t get ignored, I ran into a complete racist. Someone on a website that will not be named decided to point out that I was white. Maybe he thought he was being real perceptive in saying this, but I’ve actually known for quite some time that I lack melanin. Apparently, to this guy, being white means I should be listening to country music (yep, he actually said that) and living in a backwoods town (again, his own words). Now, I’ve dealt with racism before, but this was on the level of a white man saying "hang those niggers." The person in question actually called me a "wigger."
I’ve broken down the term "wigger" and the phrase "acting black" for people before, but I don’t think I’ve ever done it here, so here goes. When someone says another person is "acting black," or acting any race for that matter, it’s inherently racist, and not just for the most obvious reasons. When someone says someone is acting black they are automatically associating traits; how a person walks, speaks, what they listen to, what they wear, what they eat, etc. with the color of their skin. This, of course, was the founding concept behind slavery, that a person’s skin tone defines who they are. I find it doubly insane that a black person would use the term "wigger" being that that kind of racism is something their grandparents can tell them about.
Race shouldn’t be an issue in 2004. I’m not saying we should all be color blind, because that’s going one step too far. I feel we should all be color-aware. It would be silly to say I don’t know my black friends are black. I know they’re black. I know they, like all people, have unique histories that are tied to both their individual selves and their backgrounds that have helped shape who they are today. The thing is, and this is the part the aforementioned racist doesn’t understand, people should be looked at for the overall "who they are," not their race. So the moral of my story is understand the race, but see the person.
Comments