General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Poll re white privilege [View all]cherokeeprogressive
(24,853 posts)You were born THIS WAY... so you bear the weight (good or bad) of those who were born THIS WAY before you...
The sins of the fathers and all that.
Yeah. Go tell it to someone else.
My Great Great Grandparents marched... and marched... and marched... at gunpoint. They marched halfway across this fucking continent. Those who couldn't march any longer, and stopped to rest? They were simply shot without a moment's notice or warning.
I carry 13/64ths of their blood. My CDIB says so. My Tribal Roll Card says MY Dawes Roll Numbers are 29972 and 29909. Toolie Catron and Hester Flute. Look them up. MY blood line goes back to a woman named NANCY. Lots of people know who SHE is. Look HER up. I pass as white, though I've been told about a thousand times that from the eyes up I look like the actor Graham Greene.
My Grandfather was born on the reservation in Tahlequah. He married a white woman from the city (interracial marriage? You decide. Taking a chance? YOU DECIDE). They had to move to the central valley in California in order to get away from what others saw as wrong. My Mom was born in Hanford, and mysteriously... everyone left the room before My Grandmother went into labor after finding out who my Grandfather was. My Grandmother gave birth BY HER FUCKING SELF. All these white people LEFT HER ALONE when they found out her Husband was a Native American (Cherokee). Strange thing... and she told me this HERSELF... they were farm workers, my Grandfather and Her. Mexicans weren't treated like that. She gave birth with no one else in the room. How many women in the history of the fucking WORLD have had to do that? Might I add that she was a FUCKING WHITE WOMAN who just happened to be married to a Cherokee?
But I digress...
So as I sit at the next table from you in the restaurant... you see me as just another white guy. When I tip my server 30% or more, you don't notice, how could you know? I'm just another WHITE GUY to you (read PRIVILEGED). Simply because a white girl (RIP Grandma) from Tahlequah had an eye for my MORE THAN HANDSOME GRANDPA (may the Great Spirit Rest His Soul), and My Half-Breed Mom met a Sailor in Long Beach at some stupid dance and fell in love with HIM, I pass as white.
Thank GOODNESS for the privilege I was BORN with.
Sleep well... knowing how your view of the world is right.