I have to apologize! Way too many comments come my way that puts me on the defensive. That and too much coffee. I never considered the possibility that what I write could actually be the foundation of somebody else’s response. Please accept my most sincere and my humblest apology!

Peace

I didn’t say I found your blog offensive; I said this post was the least offensive. I also didn’t call your blog or racism fictional (racism is real). When I said, “I don’t find issue with your fiction,” I was referring to what you called a “fictional suggestion” in your post. I actually found your fictional scenario apt and surprising, thought-provoking and well-executed.

That said, I think that your reaction might have stemmed from this misunderstanding, that is, believing that I’d called racism “fictional,” which I did not. Nevertheless I want to respond to the ad hominem nature of your post in order to clarify where I’m coming from since it seems to be an issue. I’ll warn you that the next paragraph slips into the details of my life so if you’re not interested just skip to the next one.

I live in Reynoldstown (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reynoldstown) in low-income apartments, I’m a student at Georgia State University (which has one of the strongest black populations in a major university, I believe, and is one of the most diverse schools in the nation), I make $12,000/year, I do not have medical insurance, I ride public transportation, I’m married without children to another white GSU student, my parents are educated and middle-class and most of my family is poor or uneducated middle-class. I’m an atheist (grew up Southern Baptist), I’m a third-year English lit major, I’ve never voted, I’m 20, I had a lot of black friends in high school but now I pretty much hang out with other English majors, most of whom are white, and I might be the Poetry Society President next semester. haha…

I actually agree with nearly everything you say on your blog, which I find fascinating, informative and thought-provoking. I believe that all I disagree with is your insistence that racism is a white phenomenon and that white racists typify white people and white culture (implied by your term, “white mindset”). I think that if you haven’t already studied postcolonial theory, you would find it fascinating.

I cannot say that I am surprised that you find my blog offensive and my various posts fictional. Exactly how much experience do you have with black people or living in the black community to determine what is fictional? You have no idea of what comments from white mindset people that I have seen as the writer of this blog and therefore you refuse to believe they exist. White mindset people are apt to see the subjugation of black people as a “gray area” when black people feel it as real pain.

You may see yourself as a progressive. I know very little about you so I could not say one way or another. Quite honestly it matters very little. Racism crosses a number of thought patterns and categories. It really doesn’t matter. A progressive can be just as prejudice as any one else. You are not immune. A good white progressive may support the black community but it is a sure fire bet that such support will come with minimal risk to their status. As a progressive are you willing to give up all your materialism, privilege, and status in order to see minorities as your true equal? Are you willing to bring you and your family to the black community and live without retirement funds, employment, poor choices for adequate education, and no medical care? What exactly does a progressive such as yourself do to help even this field out?

The white mindset is not a product of white skin or religion or financial resources or political affiliation. The white mindset is a product of living in a culture dominated by white people and that caters to white people. The white mindset comes from those people, regardless of whatever category we may wish to pigeon hole them, who work to protect or maintain this status quo.

Peace

I don’t find issue with your fiction. I find issue with your insistence on a “white” mindset. You display a clear and consistent blindness to the “gray area” that has always existed between white and black people in America. Moreover, I find it hard to believe that you take issue with race-based generalizations that lead to racial oppression but are a strong proponent of broad and unapologetic race-based generalizations yourself. Racism is a product of culture, and I deplore that culture as much as anyone–rich, white, suburban, Christian, xenophobic, bourgeois, mainstream culture–but I wouldn’t classify people that belong to that culture as people with a “white” mindset. I’m white and I don’t think that way. Does that mean my mindset is “black?” I prefer to think of myself as “progressive,” because that is not only apt (it includes similar mindsets from both races) but addresses the plethora of negative aspects that attach themselves to the culture I described above. It is also informed by history–the black community has always had substantial support from progressives in the white community.

Please understand that I do not hate all white people. When I go out and meet people for the first time I respect them as my equal and treat them the way I would like to be treated despite skin pigmentation. Unfortunately, not everyone is willing to give me the same benefit of a doubt. And more unfortunate still, I’m not talking about just white people. There are a number of black people who celebrate the murder of other blacks at the hands of the system. This is a mentality that I refer to as a white mindset. Many black people suffer from the mentality that other black people are the problem.

And I also know that as I struggle to get back into the job market and the racial makeup of corporate America, chances are it will be with the assistance of a white person who is able to look past my locks and give me an opportunity. Why would I hate such a person? It is the game that I hate and the people who play it too well. The majority are white. But some are black as well. Not all white people are the problem. Not every black person is innocent.

Peace