2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: "Interrupting Bernie: Exposing the White Supremacy of the American Left" [View all]artislife
(9,497 posts)Is that I am a minority.
When AZmom talks about the Latino experience in Arizona, I give her words a lot of weight, because she is LIVING it. I actually gave Bains a lot of weight to her words. I didn't know it was White progressive explaining. I had that from the White older Feminists in 2008, telling me what was important to my brown self and what wasn't. But they knew, yes indeed and they didn't like that I came to a conclusion that I wanted Obama for the nominee. I have been tenderized.
Look at it this way. When someone talks about losing a house to foreclosure, do you listen differently if it is a bank telling you or your friend who is packing up their sh*t before the sheriffs come?
And I am half White so, I love my Irish side, too. And I get to live a pretty good existence because White people just think I am white.
But let me tell you that other minorities see it. I had a AA friend that I worked with. We had such a good time together, same sense of humor, anyway, her mom came in to see where she worked. I met her and we chatted awhile. Later my friend said her mom called me the Mulatto, and I liked it. Why? Because she was saying it from a place of inclusiveness. I used to joke that her mom liked me better than her, and our christmas gifts seemed to reflect just that.
We had some similar experiences. I talked about my Native grandfather growing up on the Rez and my Mexican grandma being the only one to speak English for the family. Of her sitting in the back of the class and never asking questions.
We both cried when my friend's 5 year nephew died of Meningitis after being briefly checked at Children's hospital. She wondered aloud if he had been brought in by 2 White parents and not a single Black mother with 3 other kids in tow, if the staff may have taken more care. We both cried because we had a suspicion that it may have been true.
So yeah, I do try to get a clear picture in my head of who is speaking. So if someone is telling me about Maine politics and they are from Maine, well I give it a lot of weight.