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Not really. If you and I were to be honest and discuss what we have gone through we can both understand each other better. I could have an idea of what it is like and so could you. I will never know what it like to have your skin and you will never know what it is like to have mine. But there is more to us than just the color of our skin.
Any struggle that you could go through I could as well. Any struggle I have faced you could too. We can both experience the same gains and losses.
There is nothing that you could go through that I could not in a similar way.
Actually I am not proud to be white. But I am not ashamed of it either. I am proud to be a human just like you. I am proud to know that we might even share a common ancestor. Why do we need to separate ourselves by our differences? Why can't we unite under our commonalities?
I seriously doubt that any struggle that I have been through that you've faced. Now you may have had similar experiences BUT THEY ARE NOT THE SAME.
Again I'm NEVER going to understand what it feels like to be white
YOU are NEVER going to understand what is feels like to be black.
That's one of the reason race is so hard to talk about. Neither side has a frame of reference to know what the other side actually FEELS on a day to day basis.
The disconnect that goes on when this issue is discussed between black and white people is the biggest proof of this.
As a black person it's impossible for me to know what it's like to be white.
As a white person it's impossible to for that person to actually KNOW what it's like to be a black person.
End of story!
I can imagine though, since I have lived in other countries where being white put me in the distinct minority, sort of like a black man living in Vermont. You get to witness the rude treatment from every bigot that is having a bad day, and even some of them who are having a good day.
I seriously doubt that any struggle that I have been through that you've faced. Now you may have had similar experiences BUT THEY ARE NOT THE SAME.
Again I'm NEVER going to understand what it feels like to be white
YOU are NEVER going to understand what is feels like to be black.
That's one of the reason race is so hard to talk about. Neither side has a frame of reference to know what the other side actually FEELS on a day to day basis.
The disconnect that goes on when this issue is discussed between black and white people is the biggest proof of this.
Do you remember the Eddie Murphy SNL skit, where he had makeup and wore clothes that passed him off as white, to see what it was like to be white?
I remember one scene, Eddie was in a bank, getting turned down for a loan by a black loan officer, and the bank president stepped into the room and said "Uh, Rufus, why don't you take an early lunch." Then he appologized to Eddie, and said "Take a loan for much money as you need, pay it back when you like, if you like."
Another scene was on a bus, where everything looked normal. Then, the last black passenger was getting off the bus, and everyone was craning their heads down the isle, watching him get off. The you heard music and a champagne cork pop, and a passenger said "Good god, i thought he'd never get off the bus" and everyone was having a party and eating free food and drinking free booze.
Do you remember the Eddie Murphy SNL skit, where he had makeup and wore clothes that passed him off as white, to see what it was like to be white?
I remember one scene, Eddie was in a bank, getting turned down for a loan by a black loan officer, and the bank president stepped into the room and said "Uh, Rufus, why don't you take an early lunch." Then he appologized to Eddie, and said "Take a loan for much money as you need, pay it back when you like, if you like."
Another scene was on a bus, where everything looked normal. Then, the last black passenger was getting off the bus, and everyone was craning their heads down the isle, watching him get off. The you heard music and a champagne cork pop, and a passenger said "Good god, i thought he'd never get off the bus" and everyone was having a party and eating free food and drinking free booze.
That reminds me of a Titanic skit. I don't remember if it was SNL or Dave Chappell. Anyway, they put everyone in the lifeboats from each level. Then, they started loading furniture on the lifeboats, while the black people were still waiting for their turn.
I seriously doubt that any struggle that I have been through that you've faced. Now you may have had similar experiences BUT THEY ARE NOT THE SAME.
Again I'm NEVER going to understand what it feels like to be white
YOU are NEVER going to understand what is feels like to be black.
That's one of the reason race is so hard to talk about. Neither side has a frame of reference to know what the other side actually FEELS on a day to day basis.
The disconnect that goes on when this issue is discussed between black and white people is the biggest proof of this.
That's why you can only deal with how you feel as a human being. Not a black one or white or any other variation.
I have a disablility. It has hurt me in the past, and I know how I felt, but I can't tell anyone who has not had the same happen. But I chose not to persue an option to protect myself from the flack. And it was *my* choice. People always have a choice, and have to weigh the chances and make a decision. On that basis its a very understandable moment for anyone who had faced that.
Thing is the basis inside us is not our race, skin color or nationality. Its being human. We can relate as fellow human beings and communicate the best we can.
I am neither proud to be white or not proud. It is how I came to be thanks to my ancestors. I am not proud of them for being white either. But I am proud of them for being strong and percivering in the face of difficulties. This is what I take from the past, not any guilt or some racial code I must follow.
Too often when discussions start and people 'try to explain' it becomes about victums. Instead of just sharing experience it crosses into a war. No, I will never know exactly how you feel, but humans share more than they don't, and I *can* get a picture if its related to how human beings feel.
Do you not think I feel really mad when posts relating to my disability are made that are hostile and mean and vicious? And I generally do not discuss it for that reason.
But I've come to learn that whatever it is, we only move forward when we choose to. I have stuff I don't want to remember, but its just stuff. I moved on. I am who I am and if someone doesn't like me it *isn't my problem*. If someone makes a judgement about you, its your choice to buy or not buy. Don't. The one who matters is you, and what you think of yourself, not what anyone else does. And not as a 'fill in the blank' person, but as a human being.
*You* make yourself a worthy human being, not someone else. It's a choice.
I've had black neighbors. They were nice people, and some of the best neighbors I've had. I had a roomate when I was renting a room who was clearly the enemy. Not because she was black but because she was a bully. It was satisfying when she got it my face and I got in hers, and she left me alone after that. I didn't see any of them as 'black' but people and at my neighbors did too. I'm not sure she did, but I don't think that mattered much to her. If I encounter someone who is acting like a jerk, regardless of what they are, I see a jerk.
So no, we'll never cross that divide. But give up the label and see the person underneath it and that is how we'll start making it all human experience.
No matter what, we are all responsible for the decisions we make. But not those of our ancestors.
This is way some people are walking on egg shells around blacks.
okay, so walk on egg shells because we don't want to be considered different because the color of our skin? Wow... well, I guess we will never outlive the fear that the dems have placed in so many people.
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