I feel a slow rumbling dis-ease.

[Number23]

2. In a way, I do feel you

But in a way, I don't. That's probably just because of the differences in our experiences.

I grew up in an all black environment. That means fellow students, teachers, principals, hell even my doctors and mayors were black. So "Roots" didn't lead to any knuckle-y discussions when I was a kid but I understand that for a lot of black kids in predominantly white environments, getting called Kunta Kente was the lead up to some white kid getting an IMMEDIATE beat down. That's really kind of sad.

I haven't seen 12 Years a Slave and I probably won't. I don't do well at all with depictions of slavery. I read the Autobiography of Frederick Douglass when I was in high school and that fucked with my head for about two solid months. But I hear what you are saying and we'd all better brace for "well meaning" white people that know so very little about the black contribution to this country (I blame American schools for this more than the average white person) and that suddenly want to "talk" because of this movie without understanding that for alot of us, the last things we want to do is express our angst about racism/slavery/discrimination with whites because they won't understand and in the worst cases, they become defensive and completely unsympathetic. It's simply not worth the headache.

On a much lesser but similar note, when Chris Rock made that loathsome "Good Hair" movie, I felt the same sense of dread that you're feeling now. And sure enough, I don't know how many "well meaning" white people have wanted to talk to me about that movie and what it means only to be surprised when I quickly note that I have not seen the movie, WILL not see the movie and have no interest in discussing it. I just shut it down.