Diversity and Tolerance for all...except....
Diversity and Tolerance for all...except....
By Kara
Otis Redding said it best: "Oh she may be weary, and young girls, they do get weary..."
I ended the lyric there because the issue I am weary of is not that I am "wearing that same ol, shaggy dress"...What I am weary of is having another "conversation" about race. Don't get me wrong, I love a good conversation. I live for those conversations when all cylinders are firing and you and those you are talking to are open to each other. Few things are as satisfying as a great conversation.
A crucial part to any conversation is listening. I know, it sounds cliche and obvious, but we need to listen rather than wait for our turn to talk.
This brings me to my growing reluctance to talk about race.I am weary because it seems the conversation is not a conversation at all. I am tired of the canned speeches and lectures that end any real discussion. How can you have a conversation when the term racist is thrown around so carelessly? How can you talk about race when you cannot really share your opinions?
"Conversations" on race often end up being history lessons on the horrors and injustices that many Blacks, Latino's and non-Caucasians have gone through. I know the history, but is a recounting of the past really a conversation? I wonder what our goals are in these conversations about race that we are encouraged to have. I used to participate in such "conversations" during college with enthusiasm. I was a leader on campus, and I fought for women's rights and was campus student government leader (AKA nerd).
A student brought it to my attention that The Diversity and Tolerance Board was collecting signatures to try and have a Rush Limbaugh wanna-be journalist at the college paper removed. He wrote stupid columns and the most recent one offended many Native Americans. He insinuated that all Native Americans liked to drink to excess. This column came out during Native American Celebration Week.
The column was offensive and dumb.
However, many of us felt trying to censor the columnist was wrong, so myself, a black student, and a Pakistani student attended the next meeting to express our support for the First Amendment. We argued that addressing the columnist's opinions would be more powerful than suppressing the columnist. Further, the paper said it would not fire the journalist just because some of his articles were offensive to some. Even though my activist friends said the same thing to the board that I did, the members, mostly white male Liberal Professors, zeroed in on me.
To put it lightly, I was told that my whiteness basically made me an idiot when it came to anything dealing with "diversity." I was told that I could "walk around, feeling safe because of my white privilege." (Never mind that I am a woman.)They roasted me. My friends defended me, and I defended myself, but the lesson was learned. If I can go to a "Diversity and Tolerance Board" and get roasted for merely speaking up for the First Amendment, why should I bother touching an even more reactive topic like race? If you cannot be honest and share your feelings without being lectured and belittled, why participate?
I bet Eric Holder would think I am a coward. Maybe he is right.
Kara and her husband live in Wyoming.
Their blog is Come on, Pilgrims.
L.R. wants to here your views on race in the U.S.
Send your thoughts to john@liberalrapture.com
By Kara
Otis Redding said it best: "Oh she may be weary, and young girls, they do get weary..."
I ended the lyric there because the issue I am weary of is not that I am "wearing that same ol, shaggy dress"...What I am weary of is having another "conversation" about race. Don't get me wrong, I love a good conversation. I live for those conversations when all cylinders are firing and you and those you are talking to are open to each other. Few things are as satisfying as a great conversation.
A crucial part to any conversation is listening. I know, it sounds cliche and obvious, but we need to listen rather than wait for our turn to talk.
This brings me to my growing reluctance to talk about race.I am weary because it seems the conversation is not a conversation at all. I am tired of the canned speeches and lectures that end any real discussion. How can you have a conversation when the term racist is thrown around so carelessly? How can you talk about race when you cannot really share your opinions?
"Conversations" on race often end up being history lessons on the horrors and injustices that many Blacks, Latino's and non-Caucasians have gone through. I know the history, but is a recounting of the past really a conversation? I wonder what our goals are in these conversations about race that we are encouraged to have. I used to participate in such "conversations" during college with enthusiasm. I was a leader on campus, and I fought for women's rights and was campus student government leader (AKA nerd).
A student brought it to my attention that The Diversity and Tolerance Board was collecting signatures to try and have a Rush Limbaugh wanna-be journalist at the college paper removed. He wrote stupid columns and the most recent one offended many Native Americans. He insinuated that all Native Americans liked to drink to excess. This column came out during Native American Celebration Week.
The column was offensive and dumb.
However, many of us felt trying to censor the columnist was wrong, so myself, a black student, and a Pakistani student attended the next meeting to express our support for the First Amendment. We argued that addressing the columnist's opinions would be more powerful than suppressing the columnist. Further, the paper said it would not fire the journalist just because some of his articles were offensive to some. Even though my activist friends said the same thing to the board that I did, the members, mostly white male Liberal Professors, zeroed in on me.
To put it lightly, I was told that my whiteness basically made me an idiot when it came to anything dealing with "diversity." I was told that I could "walk around, feeling safe because of my white privilege." (Never mind that I am a woman.)They roasted me. My friends defended me, and I defended myself, but the lesson was learned. If I can go to a "Diversity and Tolerance Board" and get roasted for merely speaking up for the First Amendment, why should I bother touching an even more reactive topic like race? If you cannot be honest and share your feelings without being lectured and belittled, why participate?
I bet Eric Holder would think I am a coward. Maybe he is right.
Kara and her husband live in Wyoming.
Their blog is Come on, Pilgrims.
L.R. wants to here your views on race in the U.S.
Send your thoughts to john@liberalrapture.com
Labels: conversation, diversity, first amendment rights, race
posted by John Smart at
Thursday, March 19, 2009
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