It's International Blog Against Racism Week

Welcome to the second annual International Blog Against Racism Week. Plenty of details and resources can be found at ibarw.

You are also invited to participate in IBARW 2, by doing any or all of the following:

1) Announce International Blog Against Racism Week in your own journal or blog.
2) Change your default icon to an anti-racist one. Lots made specially for IBARW can be found here, or you can request a custom one, or make your own.
3) Post about race and/or racism. See ibarw for ideas and inspiration.
4) Read about race and racism. See ibarw for daily link roundups.
5) Link to others' posts about race and racism. See ibarw for daily link roundups.
6) It's up to you. What's in your comfort zone? What are you ready to push the boundaries of your comfort zone for?

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The thing is. ::flails and wonders how to say this correctly::

The thing is racism is an institutionalized thing. And I'm not even sure if I'm using that word to the utmost of it's meaning.

Thing is, racism is like air pollution, you can't see it. What's more, it's like the air pollution in LA, or maybe Beijing.

You'll breathe it in and you won't know right away and maybe, MAYBE, sometimes you might look up and notice, "Oh hey, the sky looks ick today." Maybe sometimes you might hear some hippie personage complaining about the smog and wreaking our earth and hugging trees and there'll be a "meh" feeling, because it's not like you, yourself, can reach out and hold air pollution in your hands.

Thing is, we all breathe it in, racism, as part of American culture for the most part, but in most other cultures as well but in different brands/flavors. It's there in our entertainment, in our books, in our history. It's there in things we take pride in, joy in, laughter in, as much as it's in there in things of which we might be ashamed.

Thing is....the thing I notice about air pollution, is that it's hard to own up to. It's hard to point at the air and go, It's My Fault. Because really? It's not all any one person's fault. HOWEVER, neither is it no one's problem. It's a...tragedy of the commons, the air pollution, because it's always The Other Person who is polluting. It is HARD, to change your car to a hybrid, to use less electricity so that the power plants pollute less, to plant a tree. ::shrugs:: Sometimes you don't have the opportunity, the ability.

Sometimes you do.

The thing about racism, I feel, is that it's everywhere. And that elements of racism are in everyone, perhaps differently flavored and differently shaped, but there. And yes, I think racism should be discussed, because like most things that are unseen, unrealized, it has power and there are people that are hurt by it. But.

::sighs:: Again, I'm not sure that I have the proper words for what I'm trying to say.

::tries again::

I remember round table discussions with people of many denominations including white, and how at one point there was raised voices and accusations thrown and shame and there was almost this...these visible lines. How everybody made the other groups Other, with the caucasian group most Other of all, and how faces closed up and body language closed up and nothing got done. And eventually the adult mediator spoke and he pointed out places of similarities and places where people were still people and commonalities and people became less Other, and only then did the round table start moving forward.

And that story is really very very simplified. ::stumped::

::tries again:: Thing is...we are a product of our experiences.

Thing is, we are a product of our parent's experiences too. We are often a product that is partly, if not greatly, formed of our parents fears. Of our culture's fears, of the fears caused by our own experiences.

And...I don't think that being racist can *completely* be blamed on one person alone. I think that most everybody is racist.

I know that I am racist. I'm am less racist than some people, more racist than others. I am too steeped in American culture to be otherwise, I am too nervous to be otherwise, I am too unconscious to be otherwise, though it is a constant goal to become more conscious and a lot of that process is the process of questioning myself.

What am I conscious of?

I, as a short un-muscled asian girl, am nervous and twitchy (scared) when walking on the same side of the street as a tall African American man.

What would solve this?

Looking to see if there was really anything to fear. Often times there isn't, oftentimes one's intellect gets in the way of one's instincts, often times there is simple prejudice. (The Gift of Fear by Gavin De Becker has interesting things to say about fear in general) This would, of course, require the initial act of looking. Perhaps this fear is being crossed with fears of being attacked by a male, or someone larger in general, but it's hard to say. Perhaps self-defense classes wouldn't be amiss.

What else do I remember?

Being nervous (scared) to invite myself into a conversation if the people in the group are generally of a darker complexion than me.

Why?

Being "out-of-the-loop", not knowing what to say, not knowing the language/lingo/idioms. Being afraid to offend. Being afraid of being offended. Being afraid.

What was a first step?

Talking to a person of that group one-on-one. "Hi," works, oftentimes, sometimes, "Hey".

And this sometimes won't work. They won't hear or I won't hear or my words come out wrong.

So I...try again.

Thing is...thing is, everyone wants respect. Thing is, everyone wants to not feel Other.

Thing is, sometimes our friends are dumb and our families are stupid and that, if they are true friends, true family, that they would like to be called on when they're fucking up...but...blame and shame are often un-useful things to throw around I've found. Useful for short-term things, but falls apart on the long-term. In the long-term I think it is dis-advantageous to shame the idea of 'racist' so much that one is unwilling to call oneself on it.

And...well, there's more thoughts on other things, but I guess that's good for a start.


[Because it is difficult for me to respond quickly to comments, they'll be screened. I'll try to respond to each one, and they'll be unscreened as I do.]

(cont'd here)