Somewhat of a venting post you guys. Above all things I insist upon from my students (undergrads, mostly freshman and sophmores, private Native American university) is that they be able to articulate from whence come their arguments. And so, I read to them (they had no clue what I was reading) parts of the Dred Scott decision rendered by our UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT. One of my students was outraged that I read the term "negro." One girl was very unhappy that I read the term "savage." I am shocked and disgusted quite frankly at how little our kids know about the governing document of this country. Is it just me or is anyone else sick of not being able to talk about it??? I've got a classroom full of diverse American college kids who can't sit and listen to me read a US Supreme Court decision without getting riled over the language. In any event, there may be a black man in the White House in the near future and this country may be about to get a little less "pc" and a lot more "real." How refreshing!!! Everyone have a great holiday weekend!!!

Well, I myself am engaged to a black man. I also have a brown daughter and a white daughter. Yes, I refer to them as the brown one & the white one. It's just plain old easier to describe them as such. We even have nicknames for each other - chocolate, vanilla, and strawberries & cream. I'm strawberries & cream due to my rosy cheeks.

In Africa, people use skin color & tones to describe people. Honestly, it's the most natural thing as far as I am concerned.

It's not you, and we can and will talk about it.

Growing up in school, track and field events, riding on buses, going to sleep overs, etc, frankly I never saw color as an issue, not ever. My best friend, Mina Pratt was someone I couldn't wait to hang out with after school, she's African American. We shared just about everything.

These days, though, I do notice color because it is treated AS THE issue and a hostile one. People are turning it into a negative. Where people were coming together, now, there's agitation and attitude and it's far from something enjoyable.

To me, color is just that, like a quilt. You take that same quilt, wet it down and slap someone silly with it over and over again,and people that might have been enthsiastic at one point or wanting to know the history behind it, are just going to leave it and focuss on something more worthwhile.

Negative begits nagative - it matters little what color it is. That's fact, always has been, always will be.

I see a Civil War headed this way, along side of a broader one. It something I haven't wanted to face in over a decade, but it's here.

Elleise
Clairvoyance Editor
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I have 4 Biracial children, I refer to them as Charleen, Doreen, Mark and Tommy.

I am confused. I thought Mr. Obama was half African-American(--and he was raised by whites in Hawaii.) Does the other half not count? This could be an uniting point--instead I feel it is being used to further divide.
Ravyn

Most African Americans are mixed. Plantation owners often had sex - raped, really - their slaves in order to increase the number of slaves they owned.

Barack Obama is 1/2 Kenyan from the Luo tribe and 1/2 whatever his mom is. She's caucasian, but really she's also of mixed ethnicity as am I and almost all caucasian Americans.

Barack Obama *is* African American in the truest sense - 1/2 Kenyan, 1/2 American - he is considered African American since he is of brown skin. I was pondering this point rather recently wondering if Barack Obama were an African American with a slavery pedigree - would he have gotten this far?

Barack Obama was raised by his mom & his grandparents. His father left them on their own. Nothing unusual about that. Many dads bail out on their families and leave the mom & grandparents to raise the children. In fact, this happens in Kenya quite often.

LOL, my bi-racial child is Elizabeth, Lizzie, Goober, or Goober Girl. My white one (two white parents) is Hannah, Bubbies, Bubbie Girl, or Hannah Banana.

I grew up with nicknames and the tradition continues...

Good for you, Rosie! I have always felt that a person should be seen as who they are and not what color they are. Skin color, to me, does not designate the person - it is what's inside that counts, and inside we are all the same color.

I couldn't agree with you more! The split between the races in our country has gotten to a very "interesting" stage. I do wish we were more free to talk about, ask questions about and in general indulge in curiosity about racial topics of all kinds. In my experience, the subject has become so hot it seems that freedom of speech is scorched beyond recognition. If we are to unite, which from what I have witnessed, most whites do want, and clearly Obama wants then we have got to be able to talk about things. Yet, there are pockets of both races that are stuck in a state of anger and the slightest mention of race is a deadly trigger. How are we to unite if a good sized number of people are stuck in a state of outmoded anger? Healing can only come if anger is healed. If anger is to be healed, it must be let go of. If it is to be let go of, it needs to be talked about. If it is to be talked about, the talk must be "real" and honest.

My son, growing up, was the only white boy in his group of friends. He kept it from me, but it turned out that he was made to feel ashamed of his race and was kept in a state of feeling inferior and responsible for things he had no part in creating. It deeply affected his self esteem. It may have made the other boys feel temporarily uplifted, but making others feel inferior is not a solution. It only perpetuates feelings of dis-ease. Yes, we do need a change.

A good friend of mine (white) grew up in a predominantly black city. She is very close to the black community and is acutely aware of black issues. We were having a conversation the other day, and politics came up. She said, "Do you know what would happen if we had Obama as a president?" I said, "What do you mean?" She said, "The blacks can't stand him. They say he denies his black heritage." She essentially continued to say that they felt as if he would not support black issues. What does that mean exactly? I know for sure that Obama has a huge number of black supporters. What about the black citizens who do not support him and his efforts to unify the races, making us all simply "citizens?" What does that say about unity in our country? There are not only divisions between blacks and whites in our country. There are divisions between blacks. And divisions between whites.

Interesting about your students and the mention of the word "negro," Gina. I took some online college courses a few years ago. The topic of race came up in class. I felt that since we were all college students, and were there to learn, that it would be a perfectly appropriate place to ask about black issues. There were one or two black students present at the time. One of them, a woman, informed me that many blacks prefer to be called "Negros" including herself. Her grandmother wishes to be called "colored." Lots of black people hate being called "African Americans" and that this was white government's propaganda term. Boy, was I shocked! My instructor shut down the conversation. She told me I had "white guilt." In a system like this, how are we to learn anything?

Eleise - with all said above, I can see where you are picking up signals that there will be a racial war. But what can we do as citizens to uplift the vibrations and shift the thinking of certain people? How do we ease those infected with deep seeded hatred and rage? How can we aid in the correction of misunderstandings, fear of using politically incorrect terminology, and the release of the belief in the divide?

Shay

Shay, quite some time ago we were discussing similar issues with Native Americans in my forum. I would like to insert a copy of that discussion (quotes from you and me) here as I feel it is important for all of us to come together, regardless of our skin color. I think Elleise has some very profound thoughts, like you, and I agree with her - it is coming to the time when we will have to stand together to become one United Nation. Here are the quotes:

"They have been subdued by the government on so many levels - beaten down, then the image of them raised up." by Shay

"Shay, this is so true and very difficult for me to comprehend. I have a deep bond and respect for the Native Americans and this hurts and makes me ashamed of past atrocities by our government. In "Black Elk Speaks" he told about how after they were "rounded up and put in pens" that the whites asked them to go around the country and even to Europe to show off their uniqueness, beauty, nobility and warrior attributes. How degrading could that be - to be conquered then to be shown off like the wild animals in zoos. I am white caucasian and just cannot tolerate anything like this against another race of human beings. My father lived for a time with a Native American tribe back in the early 1920's and they saved his life and taught him many things. He never forgot their goodness, willingness to help him and the love they showed him and he passed these memories and stories on to me and my siblings. These were people, just as human as anyone else and deserved far better treatment than what they received. Even today, they do not get the respect they deserve. They were the first peoples on this continent and struggled with living and experimenting in farming and many other things that carried on thru today to give us all a legacy to be proud of."

"All peoples and cultures in this world have at one time been conquered and their lands taken over by others. But, to treat them in such manner as our Native Americans have been treated is inhuman. Someday, and who knows how close this may be in our future, we may be conquered and our lands taken over and our world, our cultures may be trampled and vanish - therefore, I think we had better open our eyes to this possibility and uphold the Native American, give them the respect they deserve and stand with them as one Nation so we will not be wiped out. If we could stand together as one and become one - then we will survive. We need to let go of the past and build a future together for the good of us all."

"The Native American peoples have not vanished as scholars and our government thought they would - they are still here, still very much alive and still as noble and strong as they were before European contact. If we could become as noble and strong in our beliefs and desire to survive, then what a great Nation this could be."
Edited by Phyllis NatAmEd (03/31/08 05:55 PM)
_________________________
"...let us become Spiritual warriors fighting our greatest enemy - ourselves...." Black Elk's Vision

Phyllis D. Burns
Native American Editor
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Yes, Phyllis I remember that conversation well. It still haunts me - the image of the herding, then exalting.

The African American, black, negro, colored issue is just as troublesome. It is a different feeling issue, but still, disturbing in it's own right.

With blacks hating blacks who "aren't black enough"; blacks removing themselves from the presence of blacks who are extreme blacks - rappers, etc.; whites who resent the presence of black anger; whites who fear the presence of black anger; blacks who resent they mythical white lack of struggle; whites who want desperately to please the blacks; blacks who feel like citizens who happen to have dark skin; whites who see blacks as citizens who happen to have dark skin; blacks who find power in intimidating whites; whites who feel power in intimidating blacks... The maddening sound of it.

When Gina wrote of her student's horror at terminology of the past, I thought of my son. And my friend. Terrified to say or think anything that may upset their peers. Many white kids in their position uphold the black race as superior, a force to be reckoned with. No matter who is doing it, holding another person hostage to your anger can only give the illusion of respect. True respect comes from good deeds and a spirit of truth.

What the people who believe that intimidation is power, don't know, is that they are gorgeous human beings. If only they would allow it to be so, it would be so. Letting go of anger would not diminish them, it would empower them. Then, it would not be about "the color of their skin, but the content of their character." Dr. Martin Luther King

Shay

Shay, appreciate the "white guilt" comment. I have had that one thrown my way before and it goes all over me. OOOhhhh yea. And Eleise, the "civil war" comment, that was part of my lecture. I likewise believe those days are coming and am glad not to be the only one to have thought it. People kind of look at you like your crazy. And Jeanne, you need to run for president, given your household. I notice you're a Yankee???? And Phyllis, I'm teaching at Bacone University and have ONE Native American in my class and she is level to the core, as I have found most Native Americans to be (to which I totally attribute to the Native American Concept). I told them all to go purchase a copy of "Democracy in America" by de Tocqueville which is my favorite book in this life. You know the young Frenchman and his predictions have been well publicized over the last few years and his observations on race are out of this world. He was very much against any other country adopting a constitution such as ours due to the race issues which existed in the US at that time (he was here for nine months in 1831). Slaves counted as 3/5ths of a person, Native Americans tribes were addressed as sovereigns, but he knew westward expansion would not stop. He wrote "the history and the future of America will forever be tied to skin color. A person's historical status readily ascertained upon a glance at the skin and the natural resentment and power or lack thereof that go with it will remain." That's paraphrased. Skin color is the ultimate giveaway. And so, same as Plessey (separate but equal) who was 7/8ths white, but had dark skin, Obama is "black" even though his mother was white and he was raised by white grandparents. I am so happy that was pointed out by one of you. My dad mentioned it to me last night, I hadn't gone there yet with regards to the implication of it politically.

Just to let you guys know....and I point it out to my students every semester: they sit in the classroom along racial lines. I watch them and it appears to occur "naturally" I do not know why. I asked them about it when they started getting riled up. In response to one student I upset, I told him I'd answer his question if he could articulate to me why exactly he chose to sit where he was sitting in the class. I asked them if they realized they did it or if they even noticed it during class. They all became very, very quiet. Blacks on one side, whites on another. I have about nine black students, seventeen white students and as previously mentioned, one Native American (who sits right in front of me).

Last thing, my twelve year old son asked me recently "would everyone be happier if they had just stayed under the sun where God put them?" Seems to him that if we were all meant to live together peacefully and for "health reasons", God would have given us the same skin according to him or the sun would shine equally over the planet with the same effect "to not have these issues and to be protected from skin cancer." Food for thought. He then asked me about Babel. Yes.......that's my twelve year old. He also wrestles, thank goodness!!!!!!

I grew up in very small rural community, father was a prison warden and the only black people we ever came into contact with until the ninth grade were in prison. There have been some who have tried to make me feel guilty over my upbringing, which will never happen. I do admit it is difficult to find your way when racial issues are addressed in theory only, we didn't have black families over to dinner because there were no black families who lived in our town. I asked black students how many white families came to their houses for dinner. They all answered none. I live in Oklahoma (literally translated "home of the red man") And so . . . . . .

Have a great weekend guys! I am so very happy to be part of BellaOnline. Ciao!!

I remember taking Microbiology in college from one of the most intelligent men (or people period!) I have ever met. He was just a freaking genious - held 3 different PhDs - biology, chemistry, and theology (af all things!) He was an ordained Methodidst minister, too. We had some very interesting classes where he would explain why some things were done in the Old testament made scientific sense, and it was just cool!

But, anyway - back to this topic - he said racially there are only 3 true races Caucasoid, Negroid, and Mongoloid. Everyone on earth is made up of parts of these 3, and it would be very difficult to find a person of pure heritage in any of the three races.

The main reason being (and please no one take offense at this analogy, but it is the closest I can think of) just like when you breed purebred dogs, the weaknesses become more and more prominent. The same thing happens with plants, too. Pretty much anything living. The way that farmers make a heartier strain of tomatoes is by cross-straining it with another variety. Mutts tend to be much healthier dogs than say pure bred golden retrievers that have many arthritic and heart problems.

And then you look at people. There is Tay-Sachs that is passed down in the Jewish community, Sickle-Cell anemia in the black community. These are recessive genes. Both parents must carry the gene. So if one of the parents were of a different race - then there would not be the possibility of these diseases.

Then quite honestly, I just look at some of the different people that are bi (or more) racial - and they are beautiful people! Halle Berry, Obama himself is a nice looking man, and of course now my mind is blank on other famous people, but I just think of some of my kid's friends and see the same thing.

There is true strength in unity. Not just political or social - but genetic, too.

It takes a strong person to be gentle.

Touche, Phyllis. And to listen without speaking, to take responsibility for their actions...to admit that what they are doing, isn't working. To turn their focus toward what they do want, as opposed to focusing on what they don't want. Each of these things takes tremendous strength.

Shay

I agree completely, a sensitive man can be a strong man. He would have to be because he cares and feels so strongly for other people. These are the people who seem to get hurt the most.