It’s 2015. We are well into the Twenty-First Century. It’s a new day…and we as the Human Race are still obsessed by color. I live in Florida. Here, it seems to matter more than anything else.
Race confuses me . Here in the U.S., people used to be classified by the race of their mother…unless your mother was white. No one gave a crap where you were from. All that mattered was if your skin was opaque, translucent or transparent
But over the course of my forty-one years, I’ve noticed some curious happenings. Black men who preach the evils of the white devil yet only date white women. White men who seem to hate black men but have black girlfriends. I’ve seen a roomful of Rastas proudly proclaim how we should be proud to be black and all of their wives are white…with dreadlocks.
I don’t want to get too detailed. These are just my random thoughts but I’m sure Asians and Latinos have their own set of observations. However, I only have a ten minute window before my caffeine wears off and I gotta keep this brief.
When will we, myself included, learn to see beyond it. Race, I mean. I personally enjoy feeling like a New Century Woman. I’m all for expanding my mind and spirit. Looking beyond the surface and exploring the worlds unseen. It’s this race baggage that is starting to bug me.
I really wanna let it go. But how?
I feel that it’s my duty to instill pride in my sons. I want them to be happy that they’re African American. I enjoy it. Ever since I was a young girl, I’ve always thought that being a Black Woman was Awesome! I would walk to our neighborhood library and read books by Black Women. About Black women. My mother and elderwomen of our family make me swell with pride. How accomplished, educated and amazing we are and have always been. Is that wrong?
The down side to that is I always seem to put other races in the category of Other. Unlike me. They almost seemed surreal when I was a kid. All I knew about Asia was Kung Fu movies and Specterman. Latinos didn’t even exist. We had Black, White and Other. Who knew what the other meant?
That makes me sadly racist and a little embarrassed. All I can say is I’m working on it.
Maybe this post will help exorcise some of these race issues. I hope so.
Pray for me.
acancersworld 
I’ve always enjoyed reading your posts, but for some reason I don’t see any of my “likes” registered on your front page. Curious. I’m trying again. You said, “… over the course of my forty-one years, I’ve noticed some curious happenings. Black men who preach the evils of the white devil yet only date white women.” Standing ovation for saying this. I am slowly building up to this particular statement in recent and upcoming posts on my blog. First an NYC writer’s statement, a Dutch designer’s reflection, a sample of her work and then a set of three fiction posts in which I will treat with a man who has this exact mindset. I want to make this outcome true for everyone who does this. I don’t care about preference. I only care about the value attached to the preference. It promises to be entertaining and I would love for you to read them when they come out. If you have a reflection on the issue after the last three, I would be happy to read it in the comments. I’m waging war on this BS. Please join in.
Thank you for reading and getting me…lol. You are the first person to respond to this post. Even my closest friends won’t touch this one. I look forward to reading your words. I’m sure they’ll be awesome!
P.S.
I love your page!
Thanks for responding. I will listen to anyone who speaks their truth. For me, I can’t say the words directly because the issue is very close to me and it will just blow over, so I want to create the atmosphere first and then drop it in. The best part is, everyone will be reading one portion of the text and not connecting necessarily with the subtext. You know, sometimes when you want to send a strong message it’s most effective when only the person(s) it’s meant for get it? This is that sort of thing. Thanks for your attention. I enjoy your tone of voice. x SB