tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12730495.post5923616167523265975..comments2023-10-28T06:15:36.249-05:00Comments on Texas Viking: Issues of Gender, Race and JudgmentGlobal Americanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09402854360957989139noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12730495.post-54026124443865917852008-03-31T01:40:00.000-05:002008-03-31T01:40:00.000-05:00Oh, totally agree about us all being quirky. LOL T...Oh, totally agree about us all being quirky. LOL The trick is, how do we move past it. And how do we learn not to blame our quirks on others. How can I, as a light skinned person, make a change in the world, if every dark skinned person I meet assumes I'm a racist and will treat them badly? <BR/><BR/>This has been, increasingly, my experience. And it's been very difficult for me, as I grew up in a "white" step family that never let me forget my "impure" status and began, in college, to affiliate myself with non-white groups. I even had a friend express deep shock that I ended up marrying a white man. LOL But as I get older, I find it more difficult to be accepted by them. <BR/><BR/>::sigh::Gwennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06775001225610891665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12730495.post-40596584257402595122008-03-30T06:36:00.000-05:002008-03-30T06:36:00.000-05:00Very Interesting. I am beginning to think ALL of u...Very Interesting. I am beginning to think ALL of us has some cultural quirks that we need to figure out. <BR/><BR/>Since the early black experience was being transported and worked in segregated groups, I wonder if somehow it is reflective of a cultural "habit" that would led to one group staying separate. But then San Francisco is unique - most places I've been each group tends to do the same. THANKS for the thoughtful note. We'll have to keep exploring it..Global Americanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09402854360957989139noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12730495.post-34533432588930840212008-03-26T15:49:00.000-05:002008-03-26T15:49:00.000-05:00She described herself as being well dressed with a...<I>She described herself as being well dressed with a purse nicer than the white lady in the elevator who clutched her purse as if the black lady might grab it.</I><BR/><BR/>Excuse. But that is projection. The darker skinned woman interpreted the lighter skinned woman's actions as nothing being a sign she was scared but that she was scared of the darker skinned woman because of her color. <BR/><BR/>I have a lot of experience with issues around race, being multi-racial appearing white. Let me tell you about an experience I had. A couple of years ago I attended a training session for mortgage origination software. This is the Bay Area, so the group in the nearly full room was quite diverse.<BR/><BR/>As I sat there, waiting for a friend to show up, I watched the people around and fairly quickly noticed that while Asians, Indians, Hispanics and Anglos were all sitting together, there were two tables that were only blacks, there were no blacks among the other tables and they were tightly packed in. I was astonished. This is San Francisco. We don't do segregation.<BR/><BR/>I thought about it for awhile, watching more people enter to room. I was worried that in some way "we" had made the blacks feel unwelcome. And I decided that I would attempt to make the next black person feel welcome.<BR/><BR/>In a few moments a young black woman walked through the door. I caught her eye as she scanned the room and smiled and nodded to the empty seats in our row. She frowned at me and looked away. Her eyes settled on one of the rows filled with blacks. She frowned again and looked around the nearly packed room, avoiding my eyes. Then she sighed and squeezed in between two black men.<BR/><BR/>I'm open to suggestions about what folks think motivated her to ignore my invitation. It can't be MY behavior, not only am I a half breed myself, my youngest child is half black and dark skinned.Gwennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06775001225610891665noreply@blogger.com