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We white Boomers were also some of the first - the first to play on integrated sports teams, go to integrated dances, live in integrated neighborhoods, date and marry someone of a different race (first in our families), etc.
But how often were you as a Boomer both "the first" and also "the only?" If you were on an integrated sports team, were you the majority or the minority?
Your experience in having the first black person on your white team was not at all similar to her experience being the first black person on a white team.
As we said before, integration is not optional for black people who want to survive and want their children to survive.
There is a new program on television that's actually kind of portraying this in a subtle way--"Almost Human." This really came out in their second episode (although most people were probably too distracted by the "skin" to see it).
But how often were you as a Boomer both "the first" and also "the only?" If you were on an integrated sports team, were you the majority or the minority?
Your experience in having the first black person on your white team was not at all similar to her experience being the first black person on a white team.
As we said before, integration is not optional for black people who want to survive and want their children to survive.
There is a new program on television that's actually kind of portraying this in a subtle way--"Almost Human." This really came out in their second episode (although most people were probably too distracted by the "skin" to see it).
There are of course some differences in personal experiences, and I am in no way trying to minimize any unique experiences that AAs had as schools, neighborhoods, and businesses became more integrated, but when I entered school, none of the kids my age were the "first" OR the "only." Most schools I attended in the South were at LEAST 40 percent minority students. In fact, I was the minority in my high school, which was 52 percent African American.
Many of our sports teams (and other sorts of teams for that matter) had more AA members than white members.
Come to think of it, I'm a minority here in Texas. Texas is one of the few states (I think only four?) which are minority/majority states - where "white non hispanics" make up less than 50 percent of the population.
I don't think they are deliberate and maybe not even conscious of their race-consciousness. They are certainly not as deliberate about it as older Boomers. They're still dealing with being only a few years or less out of the situations that their Boomer parents put them in. I'm hoping that when Boomer influence is dead, the situation will change.
I agree and in fact some will draw contrasts with their boomer parents and even maybe their Gen Xer cousins.
The issue however is that they aren't as immune from subconscious race awareness as they think that they are. How could they when they get these messages all day long? The test where people are shown pics of black men and white men and asked to make assumptions is one that they fail as well.
Even blacks aren't immune as our GROWING skin colorism shows. Indeed I think that millennial blacks have more skin colors issues than black boomers, as they didn't grow up hearing "black and proud". They grew up with light skinned females in the videos.
There are of course some differences in personal experiences, and I am in no way trying to minimize any unique experiences that AAs had as schools, neighborhoods, and businesses became more integrated, but when I entered school, none of the kids my age were the "first" OR the "only." Most schools I attended in the South were at LEAST 40 percent minority students. In fact, I was the minority in my high school, which was 52 percent African American.
Many of our sports teams (and other sorts of teams for that matter) had more AA members than white members.
Come to think of it, I'm a minority here in Texas. Texas is one of the few states (I think only four?) which are minority/majority states - where "white non hispanics" make up less than 50 percent of the population.
Just adding some perspective to the mix.
The South is different from the North for reasons that you disclosed. Indeed that its possible, despite of, or maybe because of its tragic racist history to be where white millennials will be more relaxed if the are the only white in the room
I agree and in fact some will draw contrasts with their boomer parents and even maybe their Gen Xer cousins.
The issue however is that they aren't as immune from subconscious race awareness as they think that they are. How could they when they get these messages all day long? The test where people are shown pics of black men and white men and asked to make assumptions is one that they fail as well.
Even blacks aren't immune as our GROWING skin colorism shows. Indeed I think that millennial blacks have more skin colors issues than black boomers, as they didn't grow up hearing "black and proud". They grew up with light skinned females in the videos.
I tend to agree with you about growing colorism among young blacks.
And how the hell does it explain aspects of your present? I still have yet to hear anyone talk about how significant knowing what you're "mixed" with has to anyone's everyday life. If I ever did some type of ancestry test, and I found out I was 40% Chinese, I was just smile, say "oh, that is why I like Panda express", and go about my day pretty much unaffected. It really has no objective significance. People just want to be more important than they are, so they want to be "mixed" because it think it makes them more interesting. The reality is that people who are so concerned with ethnicity have a weak individual personality, so they need to hold on to something to give them importance. Since they contribute nothing otherwise.
You don't care about who or what you are, so why are you even in this discussion? Just say you're from Jupiter and call it a day!
I'd say that colorism isn't growing, but rather returning from times long past.
No, there are some differences, caused to some extent by wider options available to those suffering from it.
Interestingly by my observation, whites who get over the issue of "race" in the first place tend to not have colorism issues. That is to say, a white man or woman who can set race aside in the selection of a mate doesn't appear to let skin color (or at least a bias toward light skin color) be a determinant either.
I'd say that colorism isn't growing, but rather returning from times long past.
Its a return to the past. But not to the boomers. But to those who were born before WWII, and who came of age in the 50s.
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