*sighs* Prejudice is Sickening

I keep trying to post a comment Here, but I can't get it to go through, probably because it's too long. Here's my comment in its entirety, and some afterthoughts. Read the article first, obviously. It's quite sickening, and the comments are worse.

This is a perfect example of reverse-prejudice. A group who has been repressed and hated grows to be the one bearing the hate, even generations later. Dark thoughts run deep. 



What I don't understand about this is why there's such a hatred here against something that brings the races together. I am not saying that blacks don't deserve to resent the men who put their people into slavery. I'm not saying that many white people weren't at fault. But the problem here is blaming groups of people, rather than blaming greed and misguided ideas.

I am more than anything worried about the fact that she tries to defend her position as not being prejudiced. She's apparently blind to her own ingrained bias, and rather than trying to correct it, is trying to give it excuse. She cites her religion and her upbringing as reasons why she can't possibly be having racist thoughts, which are in themselves not credible reasons. I worry much more when people try to defend wrong ideas, than when they simply have those ideas.

The feelings she's expressing not only are full of prejudice, but also full of resentment from past hurt against her ex who left her (Basically, "I'm alone with a kid, while a bunch of black men are dating white women instead of me.") Also, the idea that it is a betrayal for black men to date white women not only shows the obvious prejudice, but also has the frighteningly common and unintentional purpose of reinforcing the very ideas she's fighting against. She sees herself jealous of white women because they have in the past been considered more beautiful or more worthy, and the fact that she is so threatened shows that she still, deep down, believes herself inferior. If she had the esteem to consider herself equal (which she should, and would if she were not so worried about racial barriers, and worried more about making herself a good woman), the white woman would not be a threat. There would be nothing to threaten.

I am also appalled at many of the comments. Many of them are just as, if not more insulting than the original post.

What I hope for Jill Scott is no kind of angry retribution, but for her to realise that her thoughts are not only prejudiced, but that they're hurting herself more than the people she so fears. There is no reason to be afraid of love, in any of its forms, and racism from both directions will only persist until people stop pointing fingers and start destroying the old ideas that hold us ALL down, no matter our race.

Past this comment, I feel I must bring up something I have seen happen time and time again that is just as worrying. It is evidenced here, and in many parts of society.

There is a tendency for the once-oppressed to use their oppression as an excuse.

It becomes both an excuse to hate, and a means to try and glean some retribution or payment from the group that was once largely the oppressor. Probably most frightening to me are those who crucify their own for standing up for themselves, for being "too white". When did "white" become synonymous with "educated" or "wealthy"? It's ridiculous! Blacks are just as smart, just as capable as whites, and so many are holding themselves down, because they have the very human flaw of not really wanting things to change, if they can use the old ways to make things easier on themselves. This is not merely a black problem, however. Sadly, those who are unbiased and those who are working to right things for themselves are too often overshadowed by those who ride the coattails of their ancestors' plight. It is a sad ordeal when people fuel their own misguided stereotypes.

I find it the most offensive for people to hang onto their old hurt and use it to make their lives easier, rather than truly better. I feel that the ancestors that they are so supposedly trying to defend here would be ashamed. How horrible is it that those enslaved by other men had more pride, showed their intelligence and capability more than those today who enslave themselves?

It is so easy to blame. it is so easy to say, "You hurt me. You owe me." It is not so easy to do as the true activists did and teach people--sometimes including your own people--that they're wrong.

(The idea of deconstructing ideas rather than going against people is an idea I'm also going to go over in my next gender/sexuality blog.)

Have a Father de Mello quote: "Most people tell you they want to get out of kindergarten, but don't believe them. Don't believe them! All they want you to do is to mend their broken toys. 'Give me back my wife. Give me back my job. Give me back my money. Give me back my reputation, my success.' This is what they want; they want their toys replaced. That's all. Even the best psychologist will tell you that, that people don't really want to be cured. What they want is relief; a cure is painful."