Race and Culture (or, a rant about race, pt 2)

Race vs. Culture

Nobody ever really understands what it is. And I don’t blame them. However, people are very comfortable checking boxes. In light of the 2010 Census, and as a series of race, culture, and status rants, I am presenting an argument of race and culture.

I think the first time I ever really thought about this issue was when I was in 7th grade. I distinctly remember a girl telling me “I’m not white, I’m Dutch. And if anybody ever calls me white, I’m gonna kick their ass.” That was it. My mind was blown. She looked white. She acted white. How in the hell was I supposed to know the difference between a Dutch person and a white person if I met her on the street? Little did I know that this was only the first (memorable) of a long series of oddities that confused my perception of race. That is…until I had to check boxes.

In 9th grade I think I finally understood how much of a social construct race was. I was born and raised Navajo. I am Diné. My blood shares the same story as the dirt between the four sacred mountains. But there’s no Diné box. There’s no Navajo box on standardized tests. Only “American Indian/Native American/First Nations/Alaska Native.” So I check that box. And then I thought about that girl from 7th grade. I wondered if she was upset that there was no “Dutch” box. Maybe, but she had to check the white box. So now you can blame the PSATs for my somewhat controversial and slightly convoluted ideas of race and culture. You can also blame the fact that white people never cease to amaze me (as well as acculturated Americans).

Race is a skin tone, not a culture. A culture is a way of life.

In my rantings about race, I’ve often heard what I call the “Irish Argument.” This argument often comes about to counter the presentation that minorities suffered innumerable desecrations and injustices throughout American history. This argument consists of “Well, I’m part Irish, and at the turn of the century they were treated like the scum of the earth.” This is a valid point to make, but does not reconstruct the current institution of how race and racism function. Culturally, the Irish were discriminated against, but racially, they had a leg up since they were still white. And honestly, I think the Irish argument only exists because every other race was not even allowed a part in society. At the time blacks were still slaves (maybe not legally, but practically), Asians were not even allowed into the country (thanks to the Chinese exclusion act), Native Americans weren’t citizens (even though they fought and died in WWI), and Mexicans weren’t even a problem yet. In any case, at the turn of the century, I can guarantee you that if all of those guys were in a room they would hate the white guy the least.

I think subtleties of conflating race with culture exemplify itself in very common conversations that detail one’s traveling experiences. “I walked across Africa.” “I traveled Asia.” First off, Africa is a continent, not a country. I notice in conversations that somehow pull Africa into the mix, people don’t mention specific countries or provinces. People talk about Africa like it’s just one big place, and not a conglomerate of different cultures and governments and tribes. Not to mention that each country has it’s own history of colonization that shaped whatever policies and governments that they have now. I just noticed that that happens more often with Asia and Africa than it does with Europe. Maybe that’s just leftovers from colonial education and our uncanny ability to ‘otherize’ people.

Speaking of Europe – let’s talk about where white people are from. White people, like any person, have stories in their names. Everybody has family trees and a lineage and a homeland. I don’t ask white people if they’re white, we both know that they are, but I do ask where they are from. “Oh I’m part Polish and Dutch and…” That’s cool (also, have you ever noticed that EVERYBODY is Irish on St. Patty’s Day?). But I get different questions – “Are you part Native American?” I say yes (I don’t even bother to mention that I’m full blooded because that comment is normally followed with a tirade of comments filled with mysticism, wonder, odd pride, and straight up ignorance). I realize that I am being asked to racially define myself before I can ever culturally define myself. Oh and blacks! I feel sorry for blacks sometimes because I hear you being just called black – regardless if you’re from the Caribbean, or from Africa (forget people knowing the specific country), or have a lineage stemming from the slave trade. Can you imagine if I said “I’m not Native American, I’m Navajo”? Or if a black man said “I’m not black, I’m Nigerian”? Blaspheme!!

Race is not something I defined, and as a social construct in a larger fabric, it’s not something I can change. I can’t change how racism works, or what it is either. But I think it’s important to notice these subtleties, and to understand the difference between race and culture. Referring back to my previous rant, you can’t be racist against white people, and you definitely can’t be racist against a culture. Prejudice exists in every form of our current system and prejudice does not hurt less than racism. In any case, I hope this clears up some ism questions, and ism arguments. And as always, please feel free to criticize, comment, and question as needed.

A rant about race... (pt 1)

So, for some reason I've seen a large number of my facebook friends posting about race lately, and for some reason, I decided to rant. Comment, criticize, and question as needed. Here goes.

Racism doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It exists within power structures. Socioeconomic power structures exist now in our everyday environment. People without power can’t be racist. People without power can be prejudiced, but not racist. Prejudice is something that you own, something that you create and hold on to. The second you let it go and act, then it becomes part of the powers that be. It becomes part of the system that determines whether or not it’s racist. White racism does not exist. There is no power structure in America that does not acknowledge the benefits that a white person has just by being white. The same goes for sexism. Sexism is an ism when a man exerts prejudice on a woman. Sexism is not sexism when a woman hates dick. We just call them FemNazis. There is no power structure that acknowledges the benefits of being a man. And heterosexism. Most people don’t even know what heterosexism is, or that it was an ism. People have an advantage of being straight. I don’t write the rules. I wish I did, but I don’t. Racism is just another ism that does not exist between two people, but rather, it exists within the structure that position two people in relation to each other. Hate has no bounds. Prejudice has no bounds. But racism can ooze down the power structure and muddy up my boots because I know a lot of white people who don’t want to get their feet dirty. And down here we can still hear the echoes of ‘yes master’ and ‘redskins.’ We still remember chains, and long walks, and internment camps, and fences. And we walk carrying a race tax that whites don’t have to pay. My loving and humorous (and white) boyfriend once told me his version of the story of white struggle – “why do we live in the suburbs and we’re still unhappy?” I don’t know. I’m not white. But I laugh anyway. Does that make me racist? No. No, I can be prejudiced. Oh but if only! If only I had that power to be racist. If only I could shoot words into the air and let them get funneled down to echo. The sad thing is that sometimes we get so tired of looking up that we forget about each other. Clawing and climbing over bodies. Climbing over black bodies and brown bodies and yellow bodies and red bodies so we don’t have to sit and wallow at the bottom. We cutting open old wounds with old (s)words. Sometimes we get stuck dreaming old dreams. But we’re not racist. We’re just tired.

Innaugural blogspot post!!

Ya'ah'teeh!

So I've been posting a lot on Facebook lately, but would like to have an open forum about race, culture, and politics that is not limited to Facebook users. I haven't copied the comments over, but would still like to have dialogue. In any case, enjoy (or at least, productive reflection time)!