my friend Tsholo had a bit of a p.s. to her first share on racism and i felt like it warranted a post of its own so it didn’t get lost – this is a 47 minute video but i encourage you to make some time and watch it because it is so powerful. i am a little scared that the choir will get it and everyone else will make excuses so try and watch it with an open mind, especially if you are white and don’t think you are racist.
Tsholo: I watched this video and the saddest part for me, the part that made me cry, was when the biracial guy talked about how he had learned to assimilate into whiteness so that his blackness wouldn’t hold him back, but no matter how close to whiteness he got, he still had that fear that his blackness would cause him to be judged negatively…whether it’s all in his head or not, it is real for him:
THE EVENT: HOW RACIST ARE YOU? with Jane Elliott
[To continue to the next post by Mhlengi Mpongose on Race, click here]
[…] [To continue on to Tsholo part II, click here] […]
I found this incredibly difficult to watch. I’ve been reading this series, and really LOOKING at my attitudes, and thinking about the systems around me. The woman at the end of the video said something that really resonated: “Because it doesn’t affect you, it doesn’t exist, and that’s not the case. You’ve just not noticed.” I grew up with many of my closest friends being of a different ethnicity than myself, and my husband and I are delighted to have found a church family that contains a kaleidoscope of people – many different ethnic, economic, educational, and experiential backgrounds. As a white, middle-class, able-bodied American woman, I am grieved by the tragedy of our history, and long desperately for a time when all those lines we draw to define “us” and “them” will be completely erased.
Thank you, Heather. I also found it really difficult to watch but i feel like it was so helpful in terms of seeing so many of the white peoples’ perspective of “this isn’t a problem” – No, it isn’t a problem for you! And although it seems like quite a mercenary way for people to get the point – and that largely the choir who had already lived the point were the ones seeing it more in action it felt – it does seem like something that contains some moments of eye opener. And yes, this thing is not going to suddenly “fix itself” and i’m not sure if these conversations are going to help much if at all, but i am burdened by the desire to be involved in doing something and while [for just a few months more] i am separated by distance from the context i am largely speaking to [although yes it absolutely it is huge here] at the moment, this seems like the best place to get started – thank you for sharing!