2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Racism is a tool of the wealthy used to keep poor people from uniting. [View all]ellennelle
(614 posts)your final comment is a bit narrowly informed.
i don't think there is any design of this sort in the reactions of the BLM to bernie whatsoever. blacks are pissed, and i so do not blame them. the only blacks who are not angry are the rich, the comatose, and the uncle toms, as far as i can tell.
that said, i think it's also important for all y'all black folk dismissing any damn thing a white person has to say on the matter of race just, you know, out of hand, is not just too often ignorant of the facts about the white person you might be targeting, but also short-sighted.
now, far be it from me to tell someone how to be angry, and far be it from me to claim to know squat about that anger about being black in this country. i give every person of color that fully and completely; that anger is yours, it is so understandable, and you have a right to it.
my only question to you is this: what are you gonna do with that anger? anger can be a great motivator, but as an emotion with any positive potential, that is just about it - motivation.
so i ask you, what do you plan to do with that anger? make presumptions about every single white person out here? i can understand that, as presumptions have been made about folks wearing black skin forever, and it ain't right! just ain't right. in making such presumptions, do you plan to disregard every single white person's history wrt racism, just y'know based on the color of their/our skin? if so, you face at least two situations. on the one hand, you might have to disregard some of the whitest bigots ever to walk the face of the earth, and i don't think that would be wise or fruitful. on the other hand, you might have to disregard folks who have highlighted and focused and actively worked for decades, longer than many of you young 'un's been alive, to reverse the very problems that those white bigots create and make you so justifiably angry. guys like bernie.
see, this is the danger of letting anger cloud your thinking, being the powerful and irrational emotion that anger is, however justifiable. when we fail to keep that emotion in check, we lose sight of the real goal. we fail to fulfill dr. king's dictum: keep your eye on the goal. we then run the risk of forgetting the point is not to exact some dictum corrective that will balance all the wrongs; that is just a sugar-coated vengeance, and serves no good purpose. the goal has to be more comprehensive, to overcome all prejudice and all the things that feed it, including ...anger.
anger can be a great motivator, but in order to harness the great power of that emotion, you have to be morally and spiritually very strong, very steadfast, very smart. otherwise, anger can make us all at the very best rude, insensitive, and alienating. but in every case, it can make us stupid, very stupid, and extremely dangerous.
and before you reject out of hand what my white ass is saying here, just because it's you know, white - i hasten to remind you i learned this wisdom from dr. king, nelson mandella, rosa parks, cesar chavez, mario savio, leonard pelletier, crazy horse, chief seattle, gandhi.....
the list is long, but sadly not endless, because truly, that list of the wise should include each human who has ever walked; but the list is relatively short because we are human, and we are so failed and flawed. i may not know much as a 'privileged' white person, but i do know this much: it is not just suffering that elevated these individuals to such stratospheres of wisdom, though it does appear to be an essential ingredient (chew on that one for a bit). what is more powerful for achieving wisdom is suffering with dignity, never losing touch with dignity.
the moment you become angry, your hold on dignity loosens, and you risk losing your grip.
this is not white man's wisdom (au contraire; see above); this is simply the face of wisdom, and should speak to us all.