I got this article from someone on the imdb board"something new". I wrote this article in 1999 when I was in college. At the time, I was dating a white guy 20 years my senior and this is what I had to say in response to a white girl who was dating a black guy who claimed she got dirty looks from one black man in particular and that he must be "one of those people who screams 'black power' wherever he goes" Here goes: Tuesday, April 27, 1999 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Athens, Ohio An Independent Daily Newspaper Ohio University -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- History clouds personal ideals by Meritt M. L. I am writing in response to the April 22 letter entitled "Notable Division." As a utopian minded human being, I feel it necessary to comment on three things. The first is in regards to the statement about Black people being racist in this country. I hate to disappoint all of those who believe Black people can be racist in this country because that is impossible. The definition of racism is prejudice plus power. Black people do not control the power in this country. If you look at the majority of people who hold offices in Washington D.C., you will notice the majority of them are of European decent - not African, Haitian, Caribbean or otherwise. Since Blacks are not in charge of this country, they cannot be "racist." However, they can be prejudiced. The only place in which a Black person can be racist is in a predominantly Black country where the "minority" is of Anglo (or any other) decent. Second, in regard to the statement of a Black man being "one of those guys who hates all White people and shouts Black power wherever he goes," I need to clarify something. The Black Power movement has nothing to do with hating White people. Its origin lies in the Civil Rights movement when Black people were fighting for their rights. It began in response to racist police in California, and eventually went through the nation as a declaration of Black beauty and self-love. For a long time, the esteem was low in the Black community - a self-loathing (not for everyone of course) was instilled in many men and women because they were too dark or their hair was too coarse. The Black Power movement changed all of that. I suggest everyone go to the library and check out the Eyes on the Prize video series and read a book on the Black Panthers. The Black Power movement had nothing to do with prejudice, only empowerment, esteem, and reaffirmation of the right to live with self-respect and humanity like every other person. Basically, your anti-White fanatics were few and far between. Third, I want to talk about Black male, White female relationships. I condone such relationships. If you feel Black women and men are not happy about these relationships, it is for two reasons. First, everyone has to understand the mentality of slavery in regards to these relationships. Since the times of slavery, White women have been held as the standard of beauty. Anyone who did not have long hair and pale/white/light skin was considered ugly, bestial, and "ungodly." For a Black man to touch a White woman was a taboo for which he could be whipped, lynched, or castrated. The White woman stood as the forbidden fruit - pure, Godly and untouchable. On the other hand, White men had their ways with Black, Native American, Caribbean, Asian and African women, most of whom were slaves with whom he had sexual relations. Many White women of the time were equally curious of the Black male potency. They wondered what about the slave women their husbands found so compelling that they had to sneak off and have a taste of. The master justified it as breeding, but in our recent history, it smacks sometimes of lust and sometimes of White men who fell in love with dark women, bored with the conventions of White society. And so it goes. If you look around, you won't see many Black American students with purely African features. Many of us may have extremely dark skin with small lips and straight hair or light skin with large lips and wide noses. This stems from the master slipping down to the slave quarters each night while his virtuous White wife slept on the pedestal of social morality and decency. Today when Black people see a Black man with a White woman we wonder if he is with her because he wants to taste the forbidden fruit, because she is a trophy for his success or because he truly loves her. When Black women are with White men we wonder if he wants to slip back into the quarters for a free dark treat, or if he simply loves her. You see, a Black woman is never a White man's "trophy for success" because he gives up a lot in society to have her, while the Black man "gains" a lot from having his White woman. This is just the psychological background of it all -all women objectified, all Whites perfect and pure, all Blacks savages. This is the reason for Cosmopolitan and Glamour's existence. This is the reason for the high number of eating disorders among White women, who have subconsciously adopted these standards. This history is the reason for Black anger and hurt. This is the reason White men rule this country. This is the reason for affirmative action. This is the reason for political correctness. This is the reason for stereotypes. This is the reason for violence. The fear is ever looming above our heads. It is deeply saddening to me that we cannot see one another's souls, and we cannot just exist as God intended. We wonder why public policy is a mess and why children die. We wonder why children go on shooting sprees and why there are starving people in the world. How can we save the environment, Kosovo, Somalia, Sudan, South Central Los Angeles, Haiti or ourselves when race and differentiation is so imbedded in our blood? I myself am a Black woman, Christian, Buddhist, Bahai, utopian, anarchist and a Meritt, but above all, I am an entity of which no language can explain. I reject the hegemony of this society, of this life. I urge you all to see yourselves as a bodiless soul with no common language but love, peace, utopia. L, a senior theater major, can be reached at ml234495. What are you thoughts?
She reminds of me of the posters in here last year, known as 'Chilligirl' 'sistagirl' and 'EbonySunGoddess.' I wonder if anyone else remembers these women... also, I pretty much agree with MOST of it.
i think she makes some valid points, but needs a better working definition of power in her equation "racism = prejudice power". political power simply doesn't lie with the majority, otherwise there wouldn't be countries where minorities actually have more individual and economical power and freedom than the majority.
This is not a good justification as to why blacks can't be racist. It does, however explain that we can't opress anyone. Opressing a race and being racist might go hand in hand sometimes, but they are different. She's making it sound like we could go out and do a million hate crimes and get away with it just because there aren't enough enough of us working in the White House. Good stuff. They were with the Nation of Islam. I agree with everything that she has stated about bm/ww relationships in the past. But to forever hold every single bm/ww relationship in the future in contempt because of the past is ridiculous. Holding too much to the past is what's wrong with this country now. :roll:
MP1983.... interesting points... but i didn't write the article that jx posted (from the quotes that you used)... LOL...
