Mixed...Media, Races, Messages, Part III
Well, I have all my little furniture pieces cut out and taped onto my living room mini-blueprint. I think I'm pleased with the layout. It will allow me to angle my area rug in the LR, which sounds appealing at the moment. Tomorrow I'll get to see if my scale drawing placement will work as well with the actual furniture pieces as it does with their paper cut-out counterparts.
The following commentary is why the issue of race has been so much in mind recently and was the impetus for several recent conversations with my friend, Tamara. Both of us happened to hear the following review on NPR's All Things Considered. The piece is from John McWhorter, who sometimes comments on racial issues on the show.
Mr. McWhorter was reviewing the new show on FX called Black. White. The show is about two families, one black and one white, who 'trade places.' I admit I've never watched it. I'm not much interested in network tv and this stuff is largely the reason. But the commentary really got me thinking about the issue. Mr. McWhorter, an African-American, paid particular attention to a segment in the show in which the black dad, Brian, and the white dad, Bruno, were walking down the street. Brian and Bruno apparently are not getting along very well. Oh my! Brian can't understand why Bruno doesn't perceive the slight intended when a group of young, white women, approaching on a narrow sidewalk, moved to the other side of the street as the men drew near.
Mr. McWhorter agrees with Bruno, white dude, that Brian, black dude, is overly sensitive to a perceived "daily litany" of insults he believes are hurled at him. Is the perception of slights something that is over-honed as one grows up as an African-American child in America? As you overhear negative comments? As your grandmother tells you what to watch out for, for your safety, and relates tales of "how it used to be." Or are white Americans, having always been in the position of power in our culture, far too undersentisized to slights that are intended? Is white America so ashamed of our history (personal or cultural) of racism that we put on blinders as a way to cope? The end result is the same...the perception of oneself as 'victim,' whether as a black person in America, a battered spouse or, to some extent, a woman...only perpetuates a sense of suffering and impedes the development of a positive self-image, be it an individual or a group.
Tam and I agree. Neither of us knows what creates the divide...race, class, financial status, powerlessness but something has to give soon.
The following commentary is why the issue of race has been so much in mind recently and was the impetus for several recent conversations with my friend, Tamara. Both of us happened to hear the following review on NPR's All Things Considered. The piece is from John McWhorter, who sometimes comments on racial issues on the show.
Mr. McWhorter was reviewing the new show on FX called Black. White. The show is about two families, one black and one white, who 'trade places.' I admit I've never watched it. I'm not much interested in network tv and this stuff is largely the reason. But the commentary really got me thinking about the issue. Mr. McWhorter, an African-American, paid particular attention to a segment in the show in which the black dad, Brian, and the white dad, Bruno, were walking down the street. Brian and Bruno apparently are not getting along very well. Oh my! Brian can't understand why Bruno doesn't perceive the slight intended when a group of young, white women, approaching on a narrow sidewalk, moved to the other side of the street as the men drew near.
Mr. McWhorter agrees with Bruno, white dude, that Brian, black dude, is overly sensitive to a perceived "daily litany" of insults he believes are hurled at him. Is the perception of slights something that is over-honed as one grows up as an African-American child in America? As you overhear negative comments? As your grandmother tells you what to watch out for, for your safety, and relates tales of "how it used to be." Or are white Americans, having always been in the position of power in our culture, far too undersentisized to slights that are intended? Is white America so ashamed of our history (personal or cultural) of racism that we put on blinders as a way to cope? The end result is the same...the perception of oneself as 'victim,' whether as a black person in America, a battered spouse or, to some extent, a woman...only perpetuates a sense of suffering and impedes the development of a positive self-image, be it an individual or a group.
Tam and I agree. Neither of us knows what creates the divide...race, class, financial status, powerlessness but something has to give soon.
posted by Cheryl at
3/30/2006 07:16:00 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home