Well its getting even later and I'm just all about wanting to talk and talk and talk. Honestly, the later it becomes the more selfabsorbed I must get eh?
I want to make something perfectly clear: Cultural organizations are a great thing and should continue to persist indefinitely.
That is what I believe. What I think is wrong is the tendency for hyphenated Americans (whites included) to use their association as a way out of owning their beliefs and actions. There are plenty example of INDIVIDUALS that embrace their culture and camaraderie, but don't let it determine who they are as people and citizens of the United States. Its just not going to help anyone.
I still don't know what I'm trying to say...honestly...I hope that if anything it spurs others to question.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Bondage among other things
Yeah its pretty late right now...but never late than never right? Gotta wear that saying out ya know.
I read Bondage during class while trying to keep focus on what everyone was saying around me. It was awkward, but somehow I knew that I should have read it, especially to be able to put the other plays in perspective. It was a great read. In fact it raised a lot of questions about racial relations that I have wanted to see explored for quite sometime.
Interracial relationships are my "thing" because I am in one and have been in others. I don't seek them out nor do I think I have a fetish, but they happen and it hasn't become an issue until I've come to school. Strangely it is an internal conflict. Now that I think about it, in reality its pretentious of me to think that other people really give a fuck about who I'm...ya know...But the difficulties are real, if they weren't i wouldn't be obsessing over them.
Bondage put my "issue" in perspective because both of the characters were playing out fantasies in a way that didn't reveal their own ethnicities even though the action of the roleplay concerned the specific races of their personas. The scene where Mark? (I don't have the play in front of me) is a white man picking up a black woman played by Terri? or Tara (I'll just have to change this when I get my hands on that book.) surprised me because I could totally relate, not that I try to pick up black women by being offensive or anything. Liberalism is killing our equality.
Coming from my previous posts, its definitely an issue to become too "equal". The liberal white mans manual on how to pick up black woman instructs them to fuck their mind first then their body instead of treating them like real women and just go for the gold like any self respecting man would looking for satiation in a women requiring the same fix. But instead he must compliment her intelligence or that she appears intelligent. We should not otherwise just because of her race? She seems to think so and is offended...playfully...flirtfully. Instead of directly addressing the issue we still see the woman use this subversive "insult" to better position herself for what she's after in her man. Is this "technique" of picking up black women really an insult or is it an over reaction on her part?
That is the question to answer and quite frankly from his point of view he might honestly be thinking, hey I want this woman to know that I set her apart from these stereotypes while I'm trying to get into her pants because if she thinks I see her as a woman instead of a black woman she get down to business like we both want...etc. Its all about positioning! Sadly in this case there is no right answer (or never...). Both parties are EQUALLY offensive. HA!
Kinda lackluster but I had to put down in writing eventually
I read Bondage during class while trying to keep focus on what everyone was saying around me. It was awkward, but somehow I knew that I should have read it, especially to be able to put the other plays in perspective. It was a great read. In fact it raised a lot of questions about racial relations that I have wanted to see explored for quite sometime.
Interracial relationships are my "thing" because I am in one and have been in others. I don't seek them out nor do I think I have a fetish, but they happen and it hasn't become an issue until I've come to school. Strangely it is an internal conflict. Now that I think about it, in reality its pretentious of me to think that other people really give a fuck about who I'm...ya know...But the difficulties are real, if they weren't i wouldn't be obsessing over them.
Bondage put my "issue" in perspective because both of the characters were playing out fantasies in a way that didn't reveal their own ethnicities even though the action of the roleplay concerned the specific races of their personas. The scene where Mark? (I don't have the play in front of me) is a white man picking up a black woman played by Terri? or Tara (I'll just have to change this when I get my hands on that book.) surprised me because I could totally relate, not that I try to pick up black women by being offensive or anything. Liberalism is killing our equality.
Coming from my previous posts, its definitely an issue to become too "equal". The liberal white mans manual on how to pick up black woman instructs them to fuck their mind first then their body instead of treating them like real women and just go for the gold like any self respecting man would looking for satiation in a women requiring the same fix. But instead he must compliment her intelligence or that she appears intelligent. We should not otherwise just because of her race? She seems to think so and is offended...playfully...flirtfully. Instead of directly addressing the issue we still see the woman use this subversive "insult" to better position herself for what she's after in her man. Is this "technique" of picking up black women really an insult or is it an over reaction on her part?
That is the question to answer and quite frankly from his point of view he might honestly be thinking, hey I want this woman to know that I set her apart from these stereotypes while I'm trying to get into her pants because if she thinks I see her as a woman instead of a black woman she get down to business like we both want...etc. Its all about positioning! Sadly in this case there is no right answer (or never...). Both parties are EQUALLY offensive. HA!
Kinda lackluster but I had to put down in writing eventually
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
More
I reread my post from yesterday and I'm not going to take it down. I'm sorry if what I feel and think offends people, but its how I feel. It would have been more respectful for me to say things different, but it would change the fact that those are my feelings and thoughts.
I'm so sick and tired of hearing about racist injustice and feelings of contempt towards white people for marginalizing and keeping minorities down. It makes me sick to know that some people base their existence off of fighting the man and rising up against their white oppressors. What ever happened to our self worth as human beings? Where did that go? Why isn't it enough to be yourself instead of joining people that look like you. I don't have that pleasure and I know it. I can't find something in common with another person just because I look like them...it just doesn't work that way for "white" America. White America is diverse and full of ideas so polar of each other some can't even have rational, calm conversations when left to their own devices. Why can't people that associate themselves with minority groups look at the differences inside their groups and embrace them?
Seriously, The more we make it "US and THEM" the more we fuck ourselves. Almost like the quote from francis' When the Purple Settles. I do feel guilty, but what else can I say? If people of minority race are able to congregate based off of common ancestry and fraternize based off of a assumed shared belief system, why can't I do the same? I can't and all of you know it, none of us can. Its just not helping anyone.
Some would argue, we need to group together to protect yourselves. There is merit in the statement but in the end it'll only divide our nation further. The racists of the past are dying out, don't help create new racists for tomorrow. Its so easy to turn everything into a hate party and I have to catch myself from just blowing through emotions blindly.
I hope this puts things in perspective and makes my statements a little less offensive if any of you were offended.
I'm so sick and tired of hearing about racist injustice and feelings of contempt towards white people for marginalizing and keeping minorities down. It makes me sick to know that some people base their existence off of fighting the man and rising up against their white oppressors. What ever happened to our self worth as human beings? Where did that go? Why isn't it enough to be yourself instead of joining people that look like you. I don't have that pleasure and I know it. I can't find something in common with another person just because I look like them...it just doesn't work that way for "white" America. White America is diverse and full of ideas so polar of each other some can't even have rational, calm conversations when left to their own devices. Why can't people that associate themselves with minority groups look at the differences inside their groups and embrace them?
Seriously, The more we make it "US and THEM" the more we fuck ourselves. Almost like the quote from francis' When the Purple Settles. I do feel guilty, but what else can I say? If people of minority race are able to congregate based off of common ancestry and fraternize based off of a assumed shared belief system, why can't I do the same? I can't and all of you know it, none of us can. Its just not helping anyone.
Some would argue, we need to group together to protect yourselves. There is merit in the statement but in the end it'll only divide our nation further. The racists of the past are dying out, don't help create new racists for tomorrow. Its so easy to turn everything into a hate party and I have to catch myself from just blowing through emotions blindly.
I hope this puts things in perspective and makes my statements a little less offensive if any of you were offended.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Better Late Than Never
I just finished reading Kimchee and Chitlins.
It was an emotional ride for me because I feel so strongly about race relations, especially those between black people and people of other ethnicities. I hate to say this and I hate to feel this way and it makes me feel guilty, but reading what the character Reverend was saying in the play made me fill up with so much emotion I was afraid I would throw the book across the room. After reading the End of Racism I couldn't help but feel anger towards any group or people who pushed their strife onto white America, not just black people as a group. I know its racist to say this, but its time for minorities to wake up and realize that the beds they lie on have not been made by white people, but by themselves because they have made the choice to lie where ever they may be.
This might seem insensitive, but I've honestly had enough of people complaining about racism this and racism that. Do you think in the end any of this shit matters? HONESTLY, if you want something, racism of today's America is not going to stop you, in fact if you pull the "racism" card you will be pushed to the forefront of whatever field you choose and that is something I wish wouldn't happen, but it is our reality.
The reverends statement that Black people cannot be racist because they have no power is utter blasphemy to my ears. Racism is not the consensus. It is the interactions we have with our neighbors, friends, teachers, and bosses, it is not who we associate with but whom people associate us. I'm not a minority and my skin isn't dark, but I know what it feels like to be discriminated against and I know what it feels like to be marginalized for something I cannot change. Everyone can act white to make it "okay", but I'm unwilling to change who I am as a person just so I can fit in and make friends "their" way. I know what it means to have someone project their racism onto me and expect that its my racism being pushed onto them...it makes me sick and humiliates me because where do I stand? A white man cannot call out a black man calling him a racism bigot. To many, my standing up would be racist...even our own cries for help as people are deemed unworthy as the cries of a group member, a nobody, a racist and certainly not an INDIVIDUAL.
It was an emotional ride for me because I feel so strongly about race relations, especially those between black people and people of other ethnicities. I hate to say this and I hate to feel this way and it makes me feel guilty, but reading what the character Reverend was saying in the play made me fill up with so much emotion I was afraid I would throw the book across the room. After reading the End of Racism I couldn't help but feel anger towards any group or people who pushed their strife onto white America, not just black people as a group. I know its racist to say this, but its time for minorities to wake up and realize that the beds they lie on have not been made by white people, but by themselves because they have made the choice to lie where ever they may be.
This might seem insensitive, but I've honestly had enough of people complaining about racism this and racism that. Do you think in the end any of this shit matters? HONESTLY, if you want something, racism of today's America is not going to stop you, in fact if you pull the "racism" card you will be pushed to the forefront of whatever field you choose and that is something I wish wouldn't happen, but it is our reality.
The reverends statement that Black people cannot be racist because they have no power is utter blasphemy to my ears. Racism is not the consensus. It is the interactions we have with our neighbors, friends, teachers, and bosses, it is not who we associate with but whom people associate us. I'm not a minority and my skin isn't dark, but I know what it feels like to be discriminated against and I know what it feels like to be marginalized for something I cannot change. Everyone can act white to make it "okay", but I'm unwilling to change who I am as a person just so I can fit in and make friends "their" way. I know what it means to have someone project their racism onto me and expect that its my racism being pushed onto them...it makes me sick and humiliates me because where do I stand? A white man cannot call out a black man calling him a racism bigot. To many, my standing up would be racist...even our own cries for help as people are deemed unworthy as the cries of a group member, a nobody, a racist and certainly not an INDIVIDUAL.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
M Butterfly
Yeah I definitely haven't written anything in this blog in too long. Its kinda of ridiculous to be honest. I don't know what came over me, but there just wasn't the motivation to say anything nor was there any motivation to read what others had written. Its hard to run away for ever. Starting again now is better than never resuming.
My Response to M Butterfly:
I've seen this film before and I've seen it with a much different audience as well. The Audience really makes the film and honestly I don't mean to be so blunt, but Bobby its not fair of you to tell people that he is a man from the start. The point of the film is to toy with the idea of him being a man and not knowing for sure until the very end. Its that illusion that brings about the true meaning of the film because even though it isn't the greatest film, the ideas that it brings out are quite dense and have many facets to be explored.
When I first saw the film I wasn't sure what to think. Being who i was then, I was frightened by the way Rene acted and wondered if I could fall into that trap. Of course my fear is false since I've established that my relationship is not built on some fantasy that I have. I would not construe to think that my "oriental" lover is by any means "oriental" as to say that I am the occident to her orient nature. Its quite the contrary. Obviously we have cultural differences, but her and I being human beings has never been in doubt.
Seeing the film a second time wasn't as enjoyable of an experience as the first time that I saw the film. Its not any less brilliant in ides, I'm just a little more critical when it comes to its production value and continuity. The storyline pushes the boundaries of believability and the lines are definitely fake. It is a deception that is being created, but its so painfully cliche at times that it hurts. If the story were a book, not a play or a film it would probably be a much more powerful experience and something that could really change minds and move people to behave in a different manor. Maybe its just too painful to stare at a bold example of Orientalism and all of its embarrassing and shameful implications.
My Response to M Butterfly:
I've seen this film before and I've seen it with a much different audience as well. The Audience really makes the film and honestly I don't mean to be so blunt, but Bobby its not fair of you to tell people that he is a man from the start. The point of the film is to toy with the idea of him being a man and not knowing for sure until the very end. Its that illusion that brings about the true meaning of the film because even though it isn't the greatest film, the ideas that it brings out are quite dense and have many facets to be explored.
When I first saw the film I wasn't sure what to think. Being who i was then, I was frightened by the way Rene acted and wondered if I could fall into that trap. Of course my fear is false since I've established that my relationship is not built on some fantasy that I have. I would not construe to think that my "oriental" lover is by any means "oriental" as to say that I am the occident to her orient nature. Its quite the contrary. Obviously we have cultural differences, but her and I being human beings has never been in doubt.
Seeing the film a second time wasn't as enjoyable of an experience as the first time that I saw the film. Its not any less brilliant in ides, I'm just a little more critical when it comes to its production value and continuity. The storyline pushes the boundaries of believability and the lines are definitely fake. It is a deception that is being created, but its so painfully cliche at times that it hurts. If the story were a book, not a play or a film it would probably be a much more powerful experience and something that could really change minds and move people to behave in a different manor. Maybe its just too painful to stare at a bold example of Orientalism and all of its embarrassing and shameful implications.
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