Post by Argent'horn on Feb 18, 2007 15:39:02 GMT -5
This is a response to the discussion on how white people see race on Dar Kush and eslewhere.
I have been thinking for some time about the common white reaction "I don't see race," and the common black response "How can you not see something that threatens me every day." (Both 'quotes' are generic; not attributed to anyone in particular.)
I will say that I do see race, and my reaction upon meeting someone different from me, whether in terms of race or some other factor, is to want to get to know him or her. I can only conjecture why this is true, but this is a subject for another post.
My question is this: What is a healthy, appropriate way for a white person like me to view race? I am often more upset than the black people involved seem to be when I see evidence of racism. I spoke yesterday by phone with a friend of mine in another state. She is a black woman married to a white man. She is fairly light skinned, and their six year old son is so light that he is not easily identified as belonging to any particular race. When he is with his dad, he is treated quite differently by strangers than he is when he is with his mother. Store clerks, for example, will let him play with a toy when he is with his father, but will take a toy away from him if he is with his mother. The child notices this, and it has become a problem. This sort of thing upsets me, but there is nothing I can do about it. So, yes, I often see the subtle, unconscious workings of racism, and I can only resolve not to add to them myself. Not seeing a person's race would likely mean that I was oblivious to the effects that these ongoing things have on individuals. But, I suspect that that is probably not what many white people mean by this statement; isnt it likely that they mean that they do not make judgements about people based on race? If so, then there are certainly times that this attitude is morally and ethically mandatory. For example, it would never be appropriate to consider race as a factor when grading a student's mathematics homework.
So, I ask again, what is a sane and sensible way for a white person to view race? I suspect that my "dilletante anthropologist" approach is not terribly common, and I don't even know whether it is a reasonable and constructive approach.
I hope this is not too far afield from the intended purpose of this discussion board, but it may well have something to do with how one could write characters of another race as well.
I have been thinking for some time about the common white reaction "I don't see race," and the common black response "How can you not see something that threatens me every day." (Both 'quotes' are generic; not attributed to anyone in particular.)
I will say that I do see race, and my reaction upon meeting someone different from me, whether in terms of race or some other factor, is to want to get to know him or her. I can only conjecture why this is true, but this is a subject for another post.
My question is this: What is a healthy, appropriate way for a white person like me to view race? I am often more upset than the black people involved seem to be when I see evidence of racism. I spoke yesterday by phone with a friend of mine in another state. She is a black woman married to a white man. She is fairly light skinned, and their six year old son is so light that he is not easily identified as belonging to any particular race. When he is with his dad, he is treated quite differently by strangers than he is when he is with his mother. Store clerks, for example, will let him play with a toy when he is with his father, but will take a toy away from him if he is with his mother. The child notices this, and it has become a problem. This sort of thing upsets me, but there is nothing I can do about it. So, yes, I often see the subtle, unconscious workings of racism, and I can only resolve not to add to them myself. Not seeing a person's race would likely mean that I was oblivious to the effects that these ongoing things have on individuals. But, I suspect that that is probably not what many white people mean by this statement; isnt it likely that they mean that they do not make judgements about people based on race? If so, then there are certainly times that this attitude is morally and ethically mandatory. For example, it would never be appropriate to consider race as a factor when grading a student's mathematics homework.
So, I ask again, what is a sane and sensible way for a white person to view race? I suspect that my "dilletante anthropologist" approach is not terribly common, and I don't even know whether it is a reasonable and constructive approach.
I hope this is not too far afield from the intended purpose of this discussion board, but it may well have something to do with how one could write characters of another race as well.
