Shit White People Did or Said To You, and What You've Learned from It.

I figured I create this post where we acknowledge all of the things white people have said to annoy, frustrate, agitate, anger and depress us. You could call this a post where you reveal how whiteness rubbed you the wrong way, for lack of better words. Here’s an example from a recent event.

I was in a chat room in a website where a white dude made a crack about who my favorite Little Rascal is. He guessed it was Alfalfa. I guess he meant Buckwheat, the token negro in the Our Gang clique. Of course, I was a little taken, but I shrugged it off considering his asshole-brand humor. However, a minute later he dropped some more shit by asking, “Why do blacks feel like (whites) owe them something and deserve special treatment?” By this time a white woman joined in on the whole “What are black people’s problem with us whites” venting.

At this time – I don’t know why – I felt like it was my duty to be the wise old teacher to a couple of foreigners, foreigners from reality, history and intelligence. So, I begin to explain as simple as possible. Before I knew it, white meme after white meme came at me like a swarm of bees from the tag-team of white and whiter:

“Why didn’t blacks go back to Africa after they were freed?”

“Lincoln freed the slaves.”

Then it took a terrible, yet predictable detour into something white people gleefully bring up in any conversation about blacks, black crime. It was mostly engaged by the white woman where as the white guy stayed mostly silent:

“Where I live black people commit most crimes.”

“I have to protect myself in case a black man attacks me.”

“You’ve never been where I live! You don’t know what happened to me!” (This was repeated at least four times that evening by that woman.)

“Most crimes are committed by blacks. That’s why there’s a lot of them in prison.”

“I was poor growing up too, but at least my family knew right from wrong!” (Implying that black people who engage in criminal activity don’t know right and wrong.)

“If I see a black man walking down the street, I get scared.”

I asked her if she saw me walking down the street, would she be scared. She said yes, if I looked like a gangster and if my face looked a certain way. She never explained what she meant, as expected. So, after a few more white self-victimizations and a few raised points in my blood pressure, I left realizing that not only was she stuck on stupidity, but she had a lot of support from other people, all of whom are white.

So, what did white people do to you that pissed you off? Feel free to join in on the discussion.

It was that incident that showed me that I was one of those people of color who are optimistic when it comes to schooling sheltered, ignorant whites about racism. I was the one who hoped that my words changed their mindset after one measly argument. I hate to admit it, but I hoped she and her friend may have learned something. It’s needless to say that my words fell flat. White and whiter was not only comfortable in their security blankets of privilege, but are hostile when you take them away. They are part of the white collective that ignores and disrespects what a nonwhite tells them about racism, especially their own.

Sometimes I wonder why we bother to talk to people who prefer to hate and stay dumb than to love and be enlightened. One could say that part of us loves them enough not to see their hatred and ignorance destroy them. One could argue that it’s the doctrine of white supremacy that enforces people of color to love and honor whiteness no matter how much it hates anything and anyone outside of that box. One could say that it’s simpler than that; we’re fed up with the bullshit and will speak out no matter if it hurts their feelings. Whatever it is, some of us are prompt to defend our people, race, ethnicity or color whenever white racism creeps up to strike.

One thing is clear, it is not racist against whites, nor does it show hatred anywhere near the capacity white racism has on the world. What people of color say when it comes to frustrations about dealing with white people DOES NOT compare to the white race’s genocide, rape, slavery, forced relocation, desecration of land, overall annihilation of cultures, excuses in forms of justifications and the collective denial of it all against people of color.

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~ by Brothawolf on February 22, 2013.