Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Race Relations

Everyone seemed calm today as I went about my duties. I said, "Obama '08" to a couple of people--cautiously--because you don't know how people will react.
It was positive. I can tell those I spoke to watched or kept up with the news of the campaign.
Cool. I'm proud of us.
If you want to know why I felt I had to test the waters on it, it is because:
White folk don't never let blacks have anything good. Ifn it ain't already chewed up and spit out, used up or completely wrecked and useless to them, we usually don't get to have it.
Except this time, so thanks.
There I said it--bad grammar and all. (adds affect)
Everyone was in shock at Obama's winning the nomination.
We are all wondering, what next. What will they take from us?
There was a brief power outage in my area and I jokingly stated,
"y'all think this is because Obama won?"
Everybody laughed but it was a short staccato laughter--the type of laughter where you can tell in the back of all of our minds we said,
"naw, there would have been more people effected if they were going to get us back for the win."
That is how black people in this country (born and raised) think. We are always waiting for the other shoe to drop when it comes to success--major successes by blacks--in the main stream community.
White folk don't won't blacks lording over them. They don't want the plantation effect reversed and they don't want to discuss this part of our history.
Yes I said our. We, both black and white, share this tenuous history.
The more white qualities a black person has the more accepted he or she is by whites and certain other blacks and usually has the ability to go farther in the mainstream. Now what constitutes white qualities vary because some black folk still think the ability to read and write is a white quality.
Having a lilt to your voice, smiling, appearing happy and pleased--most of the time--is considered a white quality amongst the most urban blacks.
In the south, everyone greets each other because it's good manners so I don't know what southern blacks call acting white. I'm a so-called uppity Northern Negro--for women's rights and all.
Also considered white, is usage of the Internet for more than looking at porn and attempting or wanting to use proper grammar. Having a blog is considered acting white too.
Can't you hear some cantankerous person spitting on the floor?
If this blog post has angered you, please look at the title of my blog and grab a sense of humor on the way out.

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