Race Relations: Thoughts on Race Pre-Obama

Initially, I was tentative to actually express how I feel about a particular race I have had problems with in the past. As with the prevailing theory in current society, anything anyone speaks about a race that happens to be perceived to be negative, is always taken as racist, or anti-Semitic, or some other politically correct fluff. It's impossible to speak your mind in today's world without being labeled as something. However, I thought further on what I would write about, and how I would tap dance around the land mines of free speech. Then something came to me: I don't care.

Another slight problem I ran into was the fact that I haven't run into any glaring problems with any one race or gender, so I had to basically dig deep to explain the complex, everything- is-grey answer I'm about to give.. Ultimately I came upon the trials and tribulations I have had in a few instances with the Caucasian race.

The Caucasian race, or white people if you may, have given me the most problems, although not always directly. To be specific, white males have given me the most cumulative issues in my short life. I know about now I'm going to hear the "get over it" phrase, but because they own the world, it's hard to get over it. I believe the main problem I have is not the whole racism thing, but it's the whole "I am entitled to everything I see" mentality. That gets under my skin more than anything. It's possibly one of the few things that could send me into a blind rage. I can't stress how much that bothers me. Their unending cocky nature oozes out of every action most of them do, most times they don't even realize it. I have been a victim of racism, like most minorities, and most times it has been at the hands or white people. It is some much a part of my daily life that I rarely even stop to think about it when it happens, and I'm from the South, where racism is a way of life and lynchings are a professional sport. However, I've mostly become completely numb to it. The way I look at it, racism would exist without white people, and white people aren't the only perpetrators of racism. With that being said, I can't really blame all of the worlds' racial ills on white people. But I can find a strong dislike for this "World is mine" thought.

I don't know exactly if I can give concrete examples of a purveying thought most white males operate under. Peggy McIntosh summed up this notion in here article titled "White Privilege and Male Privilege". In the article she outlines the basic tenants of the package of unearned assets most white people can expect to be able to cash in on simply because of their race. It talks about some things such as never having to worry about getting a bank loan, or being able to avoid spending time with people whom she was trained to mistrust throughout her upbringing. Another point I find happening quite often is the one she brought up about being able to swear and wear second-hand or ratty clothes without anyone attributing these things to bad morals, poverty, or illiteracy. I hear that a lot. People assume that if you are a minority and not dressed in a three-piece suit, or if you don't speak perfect 17^th century King's English, then you are an ignorant, poor, ghetto dweller. Whereas a white kid could buy a shirt from Goodwill, and a pair of jeans that has more holes than denim, and no one looks twice. His intelligence is never brought into question, nor his morals or hygiene. The fact that it's okay to express their mind states (or let themselves go) in that manner, and it is not for a minority is a part of the mentality. It's okay because they expect everything to bend to their will. There are times (more often than not) when I want don't want to shave or pull out my Sunday best to just walk out of my door, but I have to think twice about my appearance. I'm Black and I'm over six feet tall, if I don't look like I'm going to my wedding I could be mistakenly perceived as a murdering, raping, child neglecting, drug runner who subsists off of a steady chicken and watermelon diet. I really get it because of my hair. Locks are instantly deemed as angry Black man hair; or stoner hair. I don't know how much truth is in it, but I was told once that Europeans coined the term "Dreadlocks" because they felt they looked dreadful, and that the original term was simply "locks". Now it's okay for a white person to have long hair, in fact it's the style for them to have that "Fresh out of Bed" messy look (I've heard it can take over an hour for some to achieve this look), but my hair has to give off some sort of bad vibe. The worse part about this however, is when they attribute their limitations on to me. I still have people try to tell me my hair must be dirty because I can't wash it. I can wash my hair three times a day if I wanted and there would be no change. They assume this because of the white friends they have that have attempted to maintain locks cannot wet their hair because it will simply fall apart. This is another roundabout example of this perceived entitlement. Most whites see things in terms of their own limitations and successes. My thought on that is if they see something that they can't do, they almost write it off as impossible. However when they witness it being accomplished, they see it as some kind of anomaly.

When working in a multi-cultural environment, I have found that the same scenarios tend to play themselves out the same way. My last few jobs have been in retail and I have always eventually risen to the top in my respective field. Throughout my time in these workplaces, I have always encountered customers (mostly white) who feel that my white male co-worker is inherently more knowledgeable about the products we sell. At times that might have been accurate, but most instances it was a false assumption. On one job I had a made a good friend with a white man and we used this erroneous perception to our advantage. A customer would walk in and bypass me completely to ask him about a product. He would then proceed to give the customer some surface information, next mention that I was actually the expert on the item in question. We worked together well as a team because I was by far a better salesman than he was, but they would listen to anything he said without fail, even when he was telling them he didn't know much about what they were inquiring about. At times we actually made bets on certain customers as to how long it world take them to make their way to where he was stationed in the back of the store, all the while refusing my request to assist them! Not surprisingly, I won most of those bets. We found out that we could both make more money working together in this fashion and split the sales accordingly.

On another job I was given a raise in my salary over another white male who had been there about the same amount of time. He was visibly upset and did not understand why he did not receive an increase in his pay as well. He felt he was entitled to the raise simply because he was there, never mind the fact that my sales numbers ran circles around his, and I worked almost half the number of hours he did. I may be wrong, but I don't think many other members of any minority group would feel that way in a similar circumstance. I don't know what exactly I would have to do to in order to treat them in a value-neutral

manner, except to continue to do what I usually do. I try to look for the person long before I resort to

making a value judgment based upon their race. It is a difficult task, sort of like trying to tense a

muscle or making yourself cross-eyed for any extended period of time. It takes concentration, and I

find I must be on guard at all times for my thoughts and observations. I am always open for

suggestions, but I think the bulk of the changing needs to be done on their side of the proverbial

fence. Once this hidden asset of privilege is exposed to them, most people I know usually turn

introspective and feel a sense of guilt for inheriting these advantages, however, most will never admit

that it exists, let alone come to terms with it. I crack jokes and put out this semi-militant Black power

aura, but I can honestly say color is not the main influence in the way I interact with people on a day-

to-day basis. I act on how people react to me, and I believe I've become relatively sharp when it

comes to feeling people out. As cliché as it sounds, I really try to treat everyone relatively the same

until they give me a reason to treat them differently, positively or negatively. No matter what I try to

do, there will always be people that rub me the wrong way, sometimes instantly. In those instances I

try to remember a spiritual axiom I learned a long time ago: Whenever I find something wrong with

someone or something, there is almost always something wrong with me internally. It's not that a

person pisses me off so much as it is the way I feel about that particular thing he or she does. I am

always trying to change my attitude about situations. That is the most I can ever hope to do. I don't

ever feel that I will perfect this, but I can strive to make incremental progress as I age and encounter

new people, places, and things.