black and white circa 2007

It's funny how a bunch of unrelated, but related things just appear from time to time. I am purposely going to keep this post as light as I can or I will descend into anger, followed by fury, and frighten you all away from reading again.

1. Yesterday, I was reading PostSecret (two days late for some reason, bad on me) and found this:



Aren't we past this yet? The seemingly perfect guy who treats you like a princess and yet, you can't date him because he's black and your grandparents would disown you? Here's a thought - grow a pair. It's 2007!!! Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King fought the fight over 40 years ago and we still need to worry about this? This brings me to the second thing....

2. Am I the only one disturbed by the noose incidents that are happening these days? This is just pure, unfiltered hate. It frightens me. It's not a joke. The word lynch makes me squirm every time I hear it. I'm not even going to utter a word about the Jena case. I can't.

3. This leads me to the subprime market problem in the US. I wasn't surprised to read that black and hispanic borrowers were more likely to be given subprime loans than anyone else. Racism is everywhere.

I stumbled upon all three of these things in the last 24 hours and I find it crushing.

How is a young black male supposed to feel these days? They're defeated before they start and are set up for failure. What hope does someone living in the projects or ghetto have? None. They are expected to be criminals and go to jail. They are assumed to be stupid. They have to pay more for homes and cars than white people. They have to ask to sit under a tree. They get stopped and taken away for walking down the street. (I actually watched this happen on my own street a few months ago.) They get shot and killed - solely based on the colour of their skin - by those meant to serve and protect. They are discriminated against at every turn.

I heard a radio documentary last spring about a high school in some southern state - Georgia? South Carolina? Tennessee? - that was having their FIRST unsegregated prom this year. Do I have to say it again? It's 2007. sigh.

Don't even bother commenting about how it probably seems to be worse than it is. It is worse than it seems. Trust.

I think it's Chris Rock who has a joke something to the effect that no white man would want to be him - and he's rich.

Are the shackles really gone? I have a dream....

SunnyShine

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RainyBow note: I can't start writing on this because I won't stop. All I'm going to say is that here, in an extremely multicultural and relatively tolerant city, I'll walk down the street with one of my best friends, who looks East Indian (and is only about 5'6" tall and a very slight man) and people will actually cross the street to avoid us. This happens a lot, and it never happens with my other guy friends.

It's a joke between us now, but kind of a sad one.