Racism - Self-Inflicted?

I was in Florida this last week with Thomas and we went to lunch with some friends. We got on the topic of public schools and racism. Having studied several cases on race and urban politics, I was thrilled at the debate ensuing. We came to the conclusion that today racism is often self-inflicted.

What is racism? The dictionary defines it as “Discrimination or prejudice based on race.” Each person has their own view of what racism is, shaped through the their own life experiences. Whether positive or negative, the foundation of racism tends to be irrational.

The status quo for racism in America has been the idea that a minority people group, i.e. African Americans, have been treated differently in a negative manner on the sole basis of their skin color. The history of the United States is pretty clear that indeed this group was severely victimized at one point on the sole, irrational, basis of the their skin color.

I respect the history and struggle that black people have overcome in our country and do not take this lightly by any means. However, I fail to see how the African American people in our country are still being victimized on the sole basis of their skin color. And by this comment I mean to say that I do not believe their race is being any more victimized than any other race here in America.

Sure there are still cases where a white person will victimize a black person on the sole purpose that they do not like the person because of their skin color. But isn’t that same scenario happening with the black person that victimizes the white person for the exact same reason? And doesn’t that happen to the Hispanics, Middle Eastern groups, and well pretty much every other people group living here in the U.S.?

I fail to see how things haven't changed for the African American people in the last 40 years. They have every right white people do and are seen in every level of government. So why is there still this big sense of division or as some people call “racism against black people” or any other minority group for that matter?

Well I guess we just have to look around us. I see black student unions and yes, most people will embrace this as “Black Nationalism”, but do I see white student unions? No because that would be racist. I see Kanye West stating his opinion on national television that the former President hates black people. I would assume that is false as he had black people on his committee. I see a pro-black organization trying to file a class action lawsuit against a white person who used the ”N word” in a standup comedy show. Yes, I agree that is an offensive and racism term. But don’t Black standup comedians refer to each other in that manner all the time?

Maybe I’m not seeing this right, but if I was black and didn’t want to be looked at as different based on the color of my skin I probably would not be O.K. with a “black student union.” Doesn’t that in and of itself defeat the whole purpose of trying to “bridge” the gap? There is no reason why any race should not appreciate the black history in America, but isn’t forming “black” unions, groups or anything else the exact definition of racism?

At one point, during the civil rights era, there was a very legitimate need for groups like that. The government needed to wakeup. But I think that time has come and gone and now the pendulum has swung to the other side and it is the people who are choosing to live as historic victims of racism that need to wakeup. There tends to be a double standard here and like I said earlier; positive or negative, racism is irrational and at this point seems to be self-inflicted in the macro society of America.

Graduation

So many of you know or probably heard that I graduated in December...Well so to speak, I'll get my certificate once my internship finally gets credited! lol My three and a half years at UNM just flew bye and I can't believe they're already gone :(. But I don't think I'm quite ready to part with my fellow lobos. I didn't send out invitations or announcements because I think I'm going to go back this next semester and take a few more poly sci classes to double major. I was looking at my options.....1. Be completely done with school and be a bum while I finish nannying or 2. Use the rest of my lottery scholarship and get the double major...hmmmmm.....haha well that's not a hard decision! Anyways I wasn't sure if it was possible to take the classes i need and have it work out with my sched. But I found all five I need and it will work, just one catch -I have to talk to the advisor and get permission to register for fourof them! So needless to say, I mean with UNM's track record for screwing over students completely UNINTENTIONALLY....lol....here's hoping it will al work out. :-/

UNBELIEVABLE...

I'm sitting at Flying Star...all by my lonesome....hoping....wishing....wondering if there is a single soul who can relate to me? I could use this time to divulge my inner feelings and emotions about life and people but I will restrain. I will say that sometimes it's easy to think we are all alone, going through a time that seems so foreign to our understanding. I guess the good news is that we have a loving savior who will never leave us or forsake us....so resting in that truth should suffice.

Tuesday Humility

So I just got back from the Well, a college group I go to on Tuesday nights...Tonight we talked about what it means to be a woman of God and how we are to be according to His word. Well after a very humbling and convicting sermon given by our pastor, we went into a time for questions...the girls and guys separate.

It is so easy to get caught up in this American culture of what a woman should be, do, want, have, etc. As I was listening to what Sarah Kelly was saying, one thing totally stuck out to me. She said, "This time you guys are in, being single, is such a great opportunity to run into and learn as much as you can about being a woman of God." This hit hard...she's right, we should be pursuing Him daily. But instead it's so easy to get caught up with school, work, career opportunities, and all the things of this world.

I have totally come to a point in my life where so many things of this world; people, work, school, a career, and just the "American life" have just creeped up. Its a scary thought in that these things aren't neccessarily bad, that is as long as Christ is first and foremost. But its so easy to get distracted with all the selfishness the world offers in ways that can be justified. I want to pursue Christ and understand what it really means to be a woman of God. In reality...everything under the sun is meaningless...and Christ is our true treasure.

Another Day In The Shoes of a Nanny

So its been one of those weeks! Let me tell you, If going on 30 hours with no sleep isn't bad enough... I got a flat tire this morning on my way to drop the kids off at school! I guess its kind of like the icing on the cake after a week consisting of 45 hours of work, 24 hours of internship, all on top of a full semester of classes. BLAH(Not complaining by any means, and no, my weeks aren't always this busy...)

So recaping this morning...Make the kids breakfast, pack lunches, get them dressed, all while holding a fussy little guy. So I'm a little tired at this point, was up all night writing a 10-page paper but can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Just have to drop the kids off and come back and put Sean down for a nap....and yep, take a nap too!

Well this was not the case...I get the kids loaded up in the car and then not even 20 yards later I realize the rear end tire on the passenger's side is completely flat. School is suppose to start in 10 minutes and we have at least a 20 min walk ahead of us. So I park the 4runner, grab the baby and try to balance him while carrying Megan's heavy snack box for her class. I only lasted 10 minutes before my arms were about to give out. So finishing the rest of the walk was painful to say the least!

A Day in the Life of a Traveler

Friday

            Well the day was off to an interesting start.  All the flights from ABQ (Albuquerque) to ATL (Atlanta) were oversold…and yes I should not have been surprised as Spring Break arrived.  So my plans for a straight shot to ATL quickly turned to a double leg through CVG (Cincinnati).  I made the full flight out to CVG around 1:30 and of course got the middle-seat.  Ah yes the middle seat, everyone’s favorite seat where two large people are almost always sure to overflow into your seating space, your looking room is only straight in front of you cause anything in your peripheral vision and beyond is now an invasion of their privacy, and where you have no rights to the arm rests.  You know the drill.  That was a lovely two and half hours, but it got the job done.

            CVG to ATL came with no problems, plenty of room on the plane, only there were sixty-two non-revs; so the space quickly became middle-seat torture for the last thirty that made it aboard.  Luckily I got a window seat. It was a two-person row with plenty of leg space and looking room.  Right as I put my headphones in, the lady who was to occupy the seat next to me arrived.  We got our stuff all situated and without a second to spare she introduced herself.

            Hunter Frazer was a beautiful well-to-do woman in her mid-forties.  She had a smile so graceful and eyes so piercing as to never go unnoticed.   As our small talk came to an end she continued to induce conversation.  For the next two hours, this lady poured her heart out about her failing marriage to the love of her life, the beautiful children they had, the wonderful family whom she treasures, and the wonderful memories of her past. 

            I never imagined I could look in the window of one woman’s life of love, hurt, and hope. Hunter married the man she fell in love with, a Marine JAG officer, when she was 21.  She followed him for over 20 years and recanted all the fond memories of being a military wife.  However she was in the middle of a divorce as her husband had a second affair and took every bit of trust left to walk on, away with him.  The tears in her eyes came from the sincerity in her heart and the smile she always resorted back to was the hope she had for the future. She made such an impression on me that I don’t believe I will ever forget her or her story.

            I arrived in ATL at 9:30 after a long day of traveling of middle-seat madness and a brief look into a stranger’s life.  But in the end it was just another interesting day across America.

 

Sunday

            The day started with an early flight from ATL to VPS (Fort Walton Beach).  I arrived an hour before my flight, but to my surprise, the security line was so beyond backed up that I was sure I wasn’t going to make my flight.  As I got in line, I noticed a young man in front of me.  Well it wasn’t too long before we both were stressing about making our flights and he introduced himself to take his mind off of the situation. 

            Carson was a senior at Georgia Tech studying some kind of engineering. He was on his way to Philadelphia for a conference for a possible summer internship with the nation’s best in his particular field of study.  It wasn’t long before we started to talk about March Madness.  He had his money on North Carolina and I had mine on Tennessee. 

            We talked for the next thirty minutes as we traveled through, what seemed to be, the never-ending line.  By the time we went through security, our brief conversation of college life and basketball turned into smiles and wishes of good luck.

            On the airplane I sat in between a man in his mid forties and a woman in her late twenties.  Yes, another adventure in the middle seat, I’m practically a pro at sitting between people now.  A few minutes after take off the woman next to me started a conversation about how late we were taking off.  She was quite irritated to say the least; I just nodded and smiled, knowing that it’s fairly common for this kind of occurrence.  The man on my left jumped in and decided to irritate her further by exclaiming the baggage claim always takes forever in VPS.  It was quite humorous after our conversation had continued for a good twenty minutes.  The man on my left was definitely Mr. Optimistic, volunteering his time every summer to teach English in third-world countries and on my right was Captain Negative, who’s reason for still being single is because she’s stuck in the air force and has nothing better to do.  As you can imagine the conversation was quite amusing…smiles on the left side of me and negative sarcasm on the right.  I put my headphones on and tried to enjoy the rest of my middle seat flight.

White As Snow

I saw an old friend tonight and we talked for a few moments. I guess you could say we had a falling out (I hate that term because I think that any situation can be worked out..) a little over a year ago. When I saw her tonight I felt so awkward as I do every time we run into each other. It's so stupid people let things and misunderstandings come between them. I remembered a lot of the good times we had shared and wondered if we would ever have any kind of friendship remotely close to one we had. Probably not..at least that's what I gathered by her actions. But I cannot put it all on her. I'm definitely not running back with open arms...Its hard to open back up to someone who hurt you. But with all this to say, we forgive those that hurt us because we have been forgiven by the blood of christ. So I guess the rest of it is in His hands....