Race

(Let's start with the fact that I detest the terms "black" "white" "colored" or "-American." They are inaccurate and divisive.

I am not white. I am light, pinky tan at best. The darkest person I have ever seen is not black, but more a dark, chocolate brown. In fact, all humans are brown, just different shades of brown. Let's just use the terms used by horse people which are way more accurate. This would make me Palamino and Bill Cosby would be MahoganyBay.)

When I was a child I never noticed race. Seriously. My mom came home from her standard parent/teacher conference with my 5th grade teacher and asked why I hadn't told her my teacher was black. My responses was, "My teacher is black?" I didn't care about the color of a person's skin enough to notice. Did the same thing with friends in Jr high.

It irritates me that I have been forced to notice such things as I would much rather just form opinions of people based on their personality and character.

My Hubby says at his job where he often deals with kids in their 20's the attitude is much the same as mine. They would no more consider forming an opinion of a person on the color of his skin than the color of his car. It has nothing to do with who that person is. Hubby says he finds this attitude among anyone younger than we are (mid 40's, just younger than the youngest Boomers).

So I find I need to do a bit of ranting.

Hubby read a letter to the editor shortly after the Zimmerman verdict explaining how Mahogany boys have to be taught to behave when pulled over by the police:

"Put your hands in plain sight, speak politely, comply with everything they tell you. You will have a chance to set things right later, but don't make the cop mad!" (paraphrase)

Really? You think my very SandyBay-colored husband ("bay" is a brownish color of varying shades with dark mane, tail and legs.) would get away with stuffing his hands in his pockets and yelling a policeman who pulls him over? Seriously? The fact is that every man I have been with when pulled over by the police behaves exactly as this woman describes. Goodness, I tell my very Palomino DAUGHTERS to act this way! It is simply wisdom to behave with respect towards those in authority, even if you disagree with them, especially if they have a loaded gun!

Are Mahogany mammas really telling their boys they have to act this way because of the color of their skin? That the world hates them this much? If so, this would go a long way to explaining why so many Mahogany boys are so filled with anger and so disrespectful of authority of all shades of brown to the point of getting themselves put in jail. The Mammas are creating the culture of having a chip on their shoulders:-(

Next rant: I read a magazine about midwifing (helping women birth babies.) One issue discussed the fact that the more melanin a baby is born with (the molecule in the skin that causes brown-ness), the more likely they are to die.

One letter to the magazine and my response: "This is disgrace to the Black Community..."

No it's not. This is a disgrace to AMERICA!

Until ALL Americans work to right this wrong, there will be no improvement.

"...Midwives of Color must..."

Really? "White" midwives are not allowed to catch "Black" babies? Do you think this might be part of the problem? Choosing your care providers on the color of their skin instead of the skill of their hands? The best midwife in your area might just be dark mahogany. Then again she might be light palomino or any number of shades in between. Doesn't your baby deserve the best care, no matter the shade of brown?

Must I give up my daydreams of clients of every possible color in my waiting room when I am practicing midwifery just because I didn't inherit very much melanin?

The linked article discusses the choice of the civil rights activists to move what they call the "Black Community" to isolation instead of integration. As a result, dark teachers were picked for dark children no matter who the most skilled teacher was. This ended up being "cutting off their noses to spite their faces."

Because of the lack of opportunities before the Civil Rights movement, darker teachers of the time were often less educated. Had teachers been chosen on their skill level, mahogany children would have received as good of an education as lighter children and would not have needed special rules to compete in college and the job force.

Instead, everyone knows there is the possibility their dark doctor got his doctorate because of the color of his skin and not his skill, meaning most people of all colors will prefer lighter doctors.

Affirmative action has made it so racism will continue when it would have died out a very long time ago without it. This makes me sad and more than a little angry.

Articles: The Aftermath of the George Zimmerman Case, Part 3: The Weight of History