Any Other Non-White Jedi Here?

Aqua wrote: I am partly Asian, but it is not that interesting I guess..

It's plenty interesting.

i wasn't welcoming?.... :laugh: the joys of a text only medium

I asked this question looking for peers and mentors of a similar background. Whenever I try to confide in older black women that I know, I'm given a Bible verse. I want to talk to other people who know what it's like for their hair to be called unprofessional. I want to talk to people who understand the message in Beyonce's songs, who felt the same feelings I did when Obama was elected, who have had known people who were killed in the street for not much more than walking.

well i'm mixed, german, irish, and cheyenne indian, but people only see the white...that's not all of who i am though...

most of the people that surround me on a regular basis are southern baptist so yeah i get the whole bible verse thing...and i strongly dislike the majority of christians so it used to bug me when they did that...but i've reached the point of understanding that allows me to look past it....my hair is almost down to my posterior and i frequently neglect to shave and my arms are covered in tattoos so i frequently get told my appearance is "unprofessional", again i don't care about that...if i worried about what others thought of me i'd be a scared little rabbit hiding in a hole somewhere crying about how the world is unfair...instead i look for how it is unfair to everyone else as well....growing up i actively sought friends from other ethnic groups despite living in an area heavily populated by the kkk, and aryan nation...my own brother (half brother actually) is a member of the a.n. and they have frequently called me a "race traitor" and i simply respond by pointing out that i'm mixed...and that nearly everyone in america is mixed to some extent if they dig far enough in their family history...i've been listening to rap/hip hop/r&B/blues my whole life, and i love a lot of the older stuff....cab calloway, louis armstrong, bb king, aretha, grandmaster flash, nwa, fat boys, doug e fresh etc as well as a lot of the newer stuff, dre, snoop, tupac, beyonce, etc....i cried tears of joy when obama was elected...i thought america had finally matured and caught up to me and those like me...now i cry tears of frustration when i see how hard the republicans work to continually undermine him and how they try to distort everything he says or does...and i have also had friends get killed for simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time....hardships and misery don't discriminate they hit everyone in their path...but yes i also understand that because i'm perceived as white there are some experiences i'll escape...it doesn't mean i don't understand though....sorry for the ramble....

i do believe we have numerous minority members here though....i never ask nor worry myself with it though...

mahoganygipson wrote: I want to talk to people who understand the message in Beyonce's songs,

I ADORE BEYONCE. And you are my new bff.

who felt the same feelings I did when Obama was elected,

Probably the way I'll feel when we have an lgbtq president.

who have had known people who were killed in the street for not much more than walking.

You've got me here, but it is horrifying, plain and simple and I am so, so sorry you've had that happen

I'm not going to try to remove the power of your experience by trying to insert mine into it or by making a comparison, but I will offer my friendship and hope you'll share with me so I can understand better

Welcome

Snowy Aftermath wrote:

mahoganygipson wrote: I want to talk to people who understand the message in Beyonce's songs,

I ADORE BEYONCE. And you are my new bff.

who felt the same feelings I did when Obama was elected,

Probably the way I'll feel when we have a lgbtq president.

who have had known people who were killed in the street for not much more than walking.

You've got me here, but it is horrifying, plain and simple and I am so, so sorry you've had that happen

I'm not going to try to remove the power of your experience by trying to insert mine into it or make a comparison, but I will offer my friendship and hope you'll share with me so I can understand better

Welcome

Just to clarify I haven't lost any family members that way. I do have cousins who have lost friends that way, friends of my parents have lost family members. I wrote that because it just seems so ubiquitous. Whenever my brother goes out it's always in the back of my mind. That's why I mentioned it.

I know a guy who was murdered by the police and it happened just down the street from me. His name was Lavoy Finnicum. He was labeled a terrorist, but he was a family man who was fed up with the police state that's growing up around us. Also, he was white so most people didn't get too upset when it happened.
Mahogany, don't let the main stream media fool you. Your success in this world is all up to you. If you want to make something of yourself, you can! No systemic racism or evil patriarchy can keep you from fulfilling your dreams. All it takes is perseverance. This community of Jedi are here to give you all the encouragement and emotional support you need to help you be strong. Keep the faith!

CableSteele wrote: Mahogany, don't let the main stream media fool you. Your success in this world is all up to you. If you want to make something of yourself, you can! No systemic racism or evil patriarchy can keep you from fulfilling your dreams. All it takes is perseverance.

It's easy to say that from outside. Insisting that another person's cage isn't there isn't going to help them. Listening might.

I mean no disrespect by this, Cable, I know your intentions are 100% genuine and that you're an awesome guy. I do think that white folks tend to assume things that shouldn't be assumed sometimes, even when they are trying their hardest and have their hearts in exactly the right place. You can't really know what limits another person until you've been there.

"professor, is any of this real? or is it all in my head?"
"harry, my dear boy, of course this is all in your head, but why should that mean that it is any less real?"
harry potter and dumbledore in the deathly hallows


the only cages one has are the one's one chooses to confine themselves to. just because the cage isn't real to one person doesn't mean it isn't real to someone else. we each design and build our own cages based on experiences and perceptions. the challenge each must face is to find a way of dismantling or escaping the cage...sometimes reaching out to others with similar cages is needed...

When I used to dress like a raver, I used to get the eyes of the store keeper on me all the time, so I know what that feels like. But the idea that the USA is full of people who hate you because of your skin color is largely manufactured by the media. Yes, there are people who put a strong emphasis on race in places like South Africa or Iran. But in the US, it's not near as big a problem as people think. The concept of systemic racism is the real cage that they are trying to lock you in. If you approach the world thinking that the deck is stacked against you, then you are more likely to fail. If the systemic racism is going to pull the rug out from under you anyway, why try in the first place?
I think a bigger problem than racial inequality is wealth inequality. Poverty tends to breed crime. There are a lot of black people living in poverty, so there are a lot of black people that turn to crime to survive. Can you see how that is not a race issue but a poverty issue?
Thanks for your concern Snowy and I appreciate your compliment, but please don't assume that I don't understand racism. Unless you've been black in South Africa or white in Hawaii or Jewish in Iran (to name a few), you don't know what racial prejudice really is. And if I am to be blamed for my ancestral racism, let me just say that my family fought and died in Virginia to end slavery in America.
My intentions are 100% genuine. I want to see an end to racial inequality in the [strike]USA[/strike] world, but it's never going to happen as long as someone out there is saying that because of your skin color, we need to take extra precautions to protect your rights. We must all be treated as equals and think of each other as equals if true healing is ever to take hold.

In the words of the great Haile Selassie, "...until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned...the dream of lasting peace and world citizenship and the rule of international morality will remain but a fleeting illusion."

Okay, take that to another thread.

EDIT: Please.

CableSteele wrote: When I used to dress like a raver, I used to get the eyes of the store keeper on me all the time, so I know what that feels like. But the idea that the USA is full of people who hate you because of your skin color is largely manufactured by the media. Yes, there are people who put a strong emphasis on race in places like South Africa or Iran. But in the US, it's not near as big a problem as people think. The concept of systemic racism is the real cage that they are trying to lock you in. If you approach the world thinking that the deck is stacked against you, then you are more likely to fail. If the systemic racism is going to pull the rug out from under you anyway, why try in the first place?
I think a bigger problem than racial inequality is wealth inequality. Poverty tends to breed crime. There are a lot of black people living in poverty, so there are a lot of black people that turn to crime to survive. Can you see how that is not a race issue but a poverty issue?
Thanks for your concern Snowy and I appreciate your compliment, but please don't assume that I don't understand racism. Unless you've been black in South Africa or white in Hawaii or Jewish in Iran (to name a few), you don't know what racial prejudice really is. And if I am to be blamed for my ancestral racism, let me just say that my family fought and died in Virginia to end slavery in America.
My intentions are 100% genuine. I want to see an end to racial inequality in the [strike]USA[/strike] world, but it's never going to happen as long as someone out there is saying that because of your skin color, we need to take extra precautions to protect your rights. We must all be treated as equals and think of each other as equals if true healing is ever to take hold.

In the words of the great Haile Selassie, "...until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned...the dream of lasting peace and world citizenship and the rule of international morality will remain but a fleeting illusion."

I get were you're coming from. But when you are the default race you have trouble seeing things from the other side. Not being spat on when you walk down the street doesn't mean there isn't racism. The proof is there.
Black children get in more trouble at school than white kids. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/25/us/higher-expulsion-rates-for-black-students-are-found.html?_r=0
Black people can't get rooms on AirBnB because people don't want us in their homes http://time.com/money/4144426/airbnb-racism-racist-harvard/
To say that we are just poor and full of self-pity is incorrect and has racist undercurrents. Both my parents have Master's degrees and have been passed over for jobs by white people with high school diplomas. They've both received hate mail at their desks multiple times. WHY WOULD WE MAKE THIS UP?!? IT'S REAL. Why is it that as soon as we get in the pool all the white folks leave? Why is that people were more upset over a lion getting killed than some teenagers? Being followed around in a store while wearing your Sunday best is different than being followed around when dressed like a drughead. Having people ask me if my little sister is my child but asking my white friends if they're babysitting is racism. If you can't see that you're a part of the problem.