because this conversation just wasn't fun enough without me

[hesychasm]

I should not be blogging at work, and especially not blogging something potentially offensive at work, but I need to get this off my chest.

With respect to International Blog Against Racism Week, the intent is admirable and I appreciate the openness and willingness to talk about issues that seem to make people -- especially white people --

Comments

[hederahelix]

Word

[hesychasm]

Ack, no, this whole comment is basically what I was trying to say. So thank YOU. (g)

You have to have done the work of not only educating yourself but building up trust and numbers so that the POC you're friends with finally feel safe enough to let you see some of what's really going on.This says so much in one sentence. It reminds me of, and perfectly sums up, a perpetually touchy point surrounding the closed support groups for minority students at my college. Despite being one of the most militantly liberal schools in the country, there was controversy every year about why white students couldn't attend the weekly meetings of the various organizations for students of color. Well, frankly, it was because we couldn't trust that every white person would be ready to hear the kinds of things we were saying about our personal experiences with racism. We could go back to our dorms and have the exact same conversations with our white friends, but we had to do it on that individual basis, on terms negotiated within each particular

[aud_woman_in]

Despite being one of the most militantly liberal schools in the country, there was controversy every year about why white students couldn't attend the weekly meetings of the various organizations for students of color. Well, frankly, it was because we couldn't trust that every white person would be ready to hear the kinds of things we were saying about our personal experiences with racism.

You mentioned earlier racism among various groups of POC, and I'm wondering if black students were allowed to attend meetings of the support group for Latinos, etc? And how did bi- or multi-racial students figure out where to fit in? I'm not being facetious here, I am sincerely curious about how experiences of prejudice between non-whites compare with those between whites and POC.

[hesychasm]

Students were allowed into the groups based on how they self-identified, so as long as you self-identified as the same race which was in the name of the group, you were in. Which begged the question, what if a white person grew up in Asia and self-identified as Asian? We never had that problem in my four years as an undergrad, but it was always an interesting argument to get into. (g)

Students of mixed heritage were always allowed into whichever group they identified themselves as being part of, but during my senior year a Multi group started meeting for the specific purpose of giving mixed students a place to talk. I can't remember if they were exclusive, and I'm not sure what happened to them after I graduated.

(I would never think you were anything but sincere about this stuff!)