that, as white people, we don’t really talk about our own race at all, and how the color of our skin affects our lives. I'm guessing some people just read that first sentence and already pre-judged me as some out of touch hippie college student. Yes. I'm talking about race. No. I'm not a moron.
When we talk about racism, we’re labeled super ultra liberal or radical, too college, too academic, too theoretical, too honest. “How could you live with yourself if you believe you’ve been helped by your skin color?’ other white people ask us.
It doesn’t make sense to them why we would want to try and learn more about the history of black people in our country. When we bring up racism, everyone gets really uncomfortable. It’s totally taboo in most circles. “Why should you be talking about racism?” is what is covertly asked by the people who are silent. “You’re not black. It doesn’t affect you.”
Obviously, it does.
My skin color has affected everything in my life, and I’d be a shitferbrain fool if I ever discounted this privilege. God, even using the word ‘privilege’ and I can hear the hipsters hiss. Even the hipsters are afraid of being labeled too “hippy” because we’re all such pansies about completely embracing our liberalness, our commitment to understanding ourselves in relation to others (or at least this is what liberalism used to mean to me- most of us are now too cynical to talk about it in those terms).
Because we’re afraid to talk about our racism, nothing ever gets said, everything is covert and nothing changes. Racism is something that happens in other places, its something we have no relation to, since all of our friends are white and we don’t beat black people up or anything.
But in Seattle, we’re also very afraid of talking about black people because we’re also afraid we’ll be labeled racist just for bringing the subject up. We’re afraid we might be labeled ignorant so we just laugh at race jokes in an ironical tone. “Dude, look at how insanely racist that conservative guy is. Man I’m glad I’m not like him,” we say when we see a piece of racial comedy. Or we decry Sarah Silverman for being racist just because the program makes fun of racism.
In all of the times I’ve seen race talked about in national publications, it’s always surrounding Obama, or it’s talking about racism in the past, as if it was something that we somehow got over and moved on from. But we haven’t gotten over anything. We’re still racist and we just don’t talk about it. And then, when someone talks about it, all the sensitive white liberals get a their panties in a bunch. “Oh that’s not what I think, Trey Parker and Matt Stone,” and blah blah blah, one ignorant white guy says “I think that’s racist,” and suddenly we’re all barred from laughing at racial or ethnic jokes. The over-sensitive white liberal, has, instead of truly embracing his own position in the socioeconomic ladder, has stalled the conversation altogether with his shocking assertion (that he intends to be shocking, for he himself is terrified of how he saw himself portrayed in the comedy or piece of writing about racism and he sure as hell doesn't want people to talk about it, because he wants to repress these thoughts instead of airing them in a place where they can be refuted).
And it’s not being talked about in the newspapers, and it’s not being talked about online, and when a prominent reporter like Charles Mudede brings it up in a post, commentors ridicule him for focusing too much on racism, but I don’t hear anyone shouting at David Schmader for talking too much about Britney Spears, and which subject do we really think is more important to talk about? I think race, quite frankly. I actually think Charles should talk about race in everything, because it's really fucking important.
If that means its going to make you a little bit uncomfortable, I see that as a good thing. It’s the beginning of a great conversation, really.
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