White people don't want to talk about it

[onpatrol98]

494. Interesting Read...

This was an interesting read! I didn't understand that until I ended up with a co-worker from Boston. I've lived in Mississippi my entire life. I saw her simply as a white woman. Clearly, she was more than that...but for the purposes of this discussion, this is who she was. She considered herself Irish. One thing she quickly noted when she moved to my city is that we had a large Italian population. I thought about it for a moment and agreed. But, I'd never really spent much time thinking about it, until she mentioned it. To me, the nuance didn't register. I didn't see Italian, Irish, etc. I simply saw white people. Not in a derogatory manner. But, it wasn't until her conversation that I considered the nuance.

She also spoke about class issues while living in our city...old money versus new money...belonging to the right family, etc. It simply was not my perspective. Generally, I thought in terms of black & white. Over the last five years, that's evolved into black, white, and Hispanic. But, in our conversations I did begin to look at our city a bit differently. She has moved on to another job, but I hadn't thought of some of this until your post.

Now, a part of me wonders if that's one reason why we experience some disconnect within the democratic party. We talk 'past' each other.

From her experience, class issues (not racial issues) loomed large as she tried to make connections within our city. Class issues were simply not my problem. Because, old money, new money, wrong family, etc...meant nothing to my experience as being a black woman raised in the south. But, in a small city, I could see how these issues could be consuming AFTER the many conversations we had. I'd never really given it any thought before our conversations.

Sorry for the ramble. But, your post was an interesting read.

PS. The Asian population is 0.1% in my city. I found that surprising because I feel like I know a lot of people from Asian descent (probably wrong term). But, I mention it, only because now I'm wondering what that experience must be like within my small city. That's a conversation I've never had.

http://mshistorynow.mdah.state.ms.us/articles/86/mississippi-chinese-an-ethnic-people-in-a-biracial-society