What can I say, I am ashamed for myself and our country, I am saddened for my child and future children, and I want to fight for freedom of life and living normally for everyone.
How to do this, do not tolerate even for a moment a second any any racist talking from anyone stranger or “friend”, someone yesterday said something under the white privilage mindset, and D set them straight he said ” do you know I am adopting a child who is black (a person of color)” the person was talking about not wanting to ride the subway in NY city because of the black homeless people, D was pretty peeved with this guy, thats just crazy crazy talk, my dad was mugged in NY like 3o something years ago by a guy someone he was mugged it happens from all sorts of people, I have almost been mugged in Italy it happens, D was pick-pocketed in Barcelona, it happens.
I would like to live in a area where we are a minority.
I felt like that a little in Sayulita Mexico and being in Europe for 2 months, it was really hard, one because we were American and two because we had sooo many children, now I can not imagine being treated like that on a daily basis, I saw how badly the African people were treated in Italy, and I know first hand how they are treated second class in Paris,
we stayed for 3 weeks in a primarily Muslim area with many people from Africa,when we took the metro we were the only white people, I actually think people of color are treated better in the US than in France and Italy, but then again how could I ever really know.
White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Napsack
by Peggy McIntosh
“I decided to try to work on myself at least by identifying some of the daily effects of white privilege in my life. I have chosen those conditions that I think in my case attach somewhat more to skin-color privilege than to class, religion, ethnic status, or geographic location, though of course all these other factors are intricately intertwined. As far as I can tell, my African American coworkers, friends, and acquaintances with whom I come into daily or frequent contact in this particular time, place and line of work cannot count on most of these conditions.
1. I can, if I wish, arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time.
2. If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing housing in an area that I can afford and in which I would want to live.
3. I can be pretty sure that my neighbors in such a location will be neutral or pleasant to me.
4. I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed.
5. I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented.
6. When I am told about our national heritage or about “civilization”, I am shown that people of my color made it what it is.
7. I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race.
8. If I want to, I can be pretty sure of finding a publisher for this piece on white privilege.
9. I can go into a music shop and count on finding the music of my race represented, into a supermarket and find the staple foods that fit with my cultural traditions, into a hairdresser’s shop and find someone who can deal with my hair.
10. Whether I use checks, credit cards, or cash, I can count on my skin color not to work against the appearance of financial reliability.
11. I can arrange to protect my children most of the time from people who might not like them.
12. I can swear, or dress in second-hand clothes or not answer letters without having people attribute these choices to the bad morals, the poverty, or the illiteracy of my race.
13. I can speak in public to a powerful male group without putting my race on trial.
14. I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race.
15. I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group.
16. I can remain oblivious of the language and customs of persons of color, who constitute the worlds’ majority, without feeling in my culture any penalty for such oblivion.
17. I can criticize our government and talk about how much I fear its policies and behavior without being seen as a cultural outsider.
18. I can be sure that if I ask to talk to “the person in charge” I will be facing a person of my race.
19. If a traffic cop pulls me over, or if the IRS audits my tax return, I can be sure I haven’t been singled out because of my race.
20. I can easily buy posters, postcards, picture books, greeting cards, dolls, toys, and children’s magazines featuring people of my race.
21. I can go home from most meetings or organizations I belong to feeling somewhat tied in rather than isolated, out of place, outnumbered, unheard, held at a distance, or feared.
22. I can take a job with an affirmative action employer without having coworkers on the job suspect that I got it because of race.
23. I can choose public accommodations without fearing that people of my race cannot get in or will be mistreated in the places I have chosen.
24. I can be sure that if I need legal or medical help my race will not work against me.
25. If my day, week, or year is going badly, I need not ask of each negative episode or situation whether it has racial overtones.
26. I can chose blemish cover or bandages in “flesh” color that more or less matches my skin.”