I am glad I am white

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Each Christmas my wife and I do both Orange Santa here at UT and we also each get one of the silver stars off those big Christmas trees charities set up in shopping malls and at the UT law school. They have the name, age and clothes size of kids. I don't know how they come to know of these kids, but ostensibly they are from a poor family (or no family).



There is not a picture of the girl included, of course, but I assumed with the name "Shantiqua" I was dealing with a little black girl.



So I am at Target. I am walking around with my red plastic shopping cart trying to figure out what exactly an 11-year-old black girl would want. I find a jacket and sweater that go nicely together. It's cold out and you can never have too many coats. I get a nice junior art set. I decide that she needs some books, so I head over to the book section and to the "young adults" (she's 12, I guess that's "young adult", who the hell knows).



First off, in the girls section, Hillary Duff is on the cover of at least half the books. Blonde teen queen. No thanks. A lot of the rest are Barbie-esque tales of beautiful white girls in tiaras.



Look, I'm not looking for deep literature about racial politics, I'm just thinking that maybe it would be good for her to read an inspirational story that's not about a gorgeous, rich (or even upper-middle-class) white girl.



I finally find two that kind of fit my criteria. Two.



I can't imagine what it is like being raised a minority in a culture (Southern America, especially) that has absolutely no respect for you.



Well, little girl, I did my best.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 41
    I definitely agree with you. Such a touchy subject, but I guess its because the truth usually requires more work on everyones part. So much easier to ignore it.



    I am white, however my best friend/ best man/ former college roommate is black and he agrees that there are not enough roll models for his minority. I think Bill Cosby has a good grasp on this and I love listening to him speak.
  • Reply 2 of 41
    applenutapplenut Posts: 5,768member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by groverat

    Each Christmas my wife and I do both Orange Santa here at UT and we also each get one of the silver stars off those big Christmas trees charities set up in shopping malls and at the UT law school. They have the name, age and clothes size of kids. I don't know how they come to know of these kids, but ostensibly they are from a poor family (or no family).



    There is not a picture of the girl included, of course, but I assumed with the name "Shantiqua" I was dealing with a little black girl.



    So I am at Target. I am walking around with my red plastic shopping cart trying to figure out what exactly an 11-year-old black girl would want. I find a jacket and sweater that go nicely together. It's cold out and you can never have too many coats. I get a nice junior art set. I decide that she needs some books, so I head over to the book section and to the "young adults" (she's 12, I guess that's "young adult", who the hell knows).



    First off, in the girls section, Hillary Duff is on the cover of at least half the books. Blonde teen queen. No thanks. A lot of the rest are Barbie-esque tales of beautiful white girls in tiaras.



    Look, I'm not looking for deep literature about racial politics, I'm just thinking that maybe it would be good for her to read an inspirational story that's not about a gorgeous, rich (or even upper-middle-class) white girl.



    I finally find two that kind of fit my criteria. Two.



    I can't imagine what it is like being raised a minority in a culture (Southern America, especially) that has absolutely no respect for you.



    Well, little girl, I did my best.




    What demographic is your neighborhood and where you shop?



    Stores do indeed stock different material and advertise differently in different markets. When I'm back home in the Bronx it's all but useless to shop at many of the stores near me since they are heavily slanted towards blacks and hispanics as far as style and products.



    I think it's pretty funny that Pantene Pro-V's shampoo and conditioner for black people are brown bottles. Just noticed that last week.
  • Reply 3 of 41
    trumptmantrumptman Posts: 16,464member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by applenut

    What demographic is your neighborhood and where you shop?



    Stores do indeed stock different material and advertise differently in different markets. When I'm back home in the Bronx it's all but useless to shop at many of the stores near me since they are heavily slanted towards blacks and hispanics as far as style and products.



    I think it's pretty funny that Pantene Pro-V's shampoo and conditioner for black people are brown bottles. Just noticed that last week.




    You hit the nail on the head. I didn't even try and could easily think of Raven Simone as someone my class kiddos go gaga over. They also love lil'Romeo. What you really should be asking is why they have nothing but princess materials when cool shows like Kim Possible are on television. (which the teen girls of all stripes also love to death.)



    Nick
  • Reply 4 of 41
    midwintermidwinter Posts: 10,060member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by trumptman

    You hit the nail on the head. I didn't even try and could easily think of Raven Simone as someone my class kiddos go gaga over. They also love lil'Romeo. What you really should be asking is why they have nothing but princess materials when cool shows like Kim Possible are on television. (which the teen girls of all stripes also love to death.)



    Nick




    I caught an episode of Kim Possible a few weeks ago one Saturday morning. I was hooked.
  • Reply 5 of 41
    groveratgroverat Posts: 10,872member
    Quote:

    What demographic is your neighborhood and where you shop?



    That's the thing. The Target closest to me is in East Austin, which is by far the most racially diverse area here. Most of the shoppers in there are not white, either Mexican or black.
  • Reply 6 of 41
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    I'm still waiting for bandaids for people of color. Ever notice how silly they look with the bright bandaids of today?



    But no worries..everyone is so hellbent on breeding out their color with whites pretty soon we'll all be the same damn shade.
  • Reply 7 of 41
    Good thread. My gf is pretty dark and she has told me how happy she was to get a black Barbie when she was little back in her country. She and I went to buy toys for tots for our school collection last Sat and she especially made sure that we bought dark skin dolls. It is not hard to find them here in Houston, but of course most are still white.



    If I may expand on the topic, having a dark gf has taught me a lot about racism. Most white people treat her with caution and suspicion and they treat me differently when I am with her than if I were alone or with someone else. Once we were in a Kmart and she asked this old white woman if she knew where to find something. The woman took a look at her and actually ran away!
  • Reply 8 of 41
    buonrottobuonrotto Posts: 6,368member
    Band-aids don't even match the skin of us crackers, why should they match the skin of anyone else? I've actually seen brown band-aids actually, here and there.



    As people get over the silly idea that people of one race should only marry people of the same race, we'll see people's skin here get more and more similar. Ironic perhaps that greater tolerance in that regard would translate into greater homogeneity, at a superficial level anyway.



    In a lot of ways, I find media and corporate culture to be way behind what is apparent to me in a lot of people's real lives. Blacks, hispanics, gays, etc. are represented more now, even over-represented in TV and merchandise in some cases, but they're still presented in a cartoonish way. "Wil and Grace" or the "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" don't exactly break down the social barriers for minority groups, they sort of box minorites in more.



    I see a lot of social mobility of minorities, middle-class and upper-class blacks, hispanics, etc. growing. I've met my fair share of bigots (all of whom were rather uneducated and/or lower income which I'll get to in a moment), but I don't know many people around these middle-class blacks or whomever who treat them as second class citizens. I see a lot more prejudice and suspicion across economic classes than across races these days. Or rather, I've seen a lot more racism when it's tied to economic status. That economic/social class system we have in the USA has always been something I've been very aware of. To me, minorites who are stuck in a lower-class or lower-middle class life are the targets of a kind of compounded racism.
  • Reply 9 of 41
    Quote:

    Originally posted by BuonRotto

    As people get over the silly idea that people of one race should only marry people of the same race, we'll see people's skin here get more and more similar. Ironic perhaps that greater tolerance in that regard would translate into greater homogeneity, at a superficial level anyway.





    The horror is thinking that in 1000 years, there may not be any pasty white chicks around. I love pasty white chicks.
  • Reply 10 of 41
    Look at it this way, at least most of your population is white.



    Tu is a very popular mexican magazine for teenage girls and guess what, none of the models look like the ugly mexican indians that buy the magazine.
  • Reply 11 of 41
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Splinemodel

    The horror is thinking that in 1000 years, there may not be any pasty white chicks around. I love pasty white chicks.



    doesn't really make a difference, you won't be here to miss them.
  • Reply 12 of 41
    buonrottobuonrotto Posts: 6,368member
    Pasty, vampish chicks with black hair and dark red lipstick, right?



    My current crush has skin the color of cocoa, light-skin black as I hear others say. Definitely of mixed parents. I go for a lot of looks myself.
  • Reply 13 of 41
    Quote:

    Originally posted by BuonRotto

    I go for a lot of looks myself.



    that just means you're not picky, but hey, beggars can't be choosers
  • Reply 14 of 41
    trumptmantrumptman Posts: 16,464member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Splinemodel

    The horror is thinking that in 1000 years, there may not be any pasty white chicks around. I love pasty white chicks.



    If I had to look at a world of say, Rosario Dawsons as opposed to say a world of Paris Hiltons, I don't think it will be much of a loss at all.



    Nick
  • Reply 15 of 41
    trumptmantrumptman Posts: 16,464member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by midwinter

    I caught an episode of Kim Possible a few weeks ago one Saturday morning. I was hooked.



    I occasionally watch Kim Possible and Jimmy Neutron and really enjoy the shows. There are dozens of shows that are just intolerable. Any of the Dragonball Z shows can go to hell for example, they suck and teach terrible thinking. Of course I only watch these shows to evaluate them for my children.



    Nick
  • Reply 16 of 41
    buonrottobuonrotto Posts: 6,368member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by mattjohndrow

    that just means you're not picky, but hey, beggars can't be choosers



    Truer words have never been spoken. Note that I said I had a crush on a girl, not that I actually managed to win a date with her or anything.
  • Reply 17 of 41
    shawnjshawnj Posts: 6,656member
    My girlfriend is a first-generation thai/lao-american. She has three monoracial and four biracial nieces and nephews. So the trend with her family is definitely tilting towards a racial assimilation or combination of sorts. It's a good thing.
  • Reply 18 of 41
    midwintermidwinter Posts: 10,060member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ShawnJ

    My girlfriend is a first-generation thai/lao-american. She has three monoracial and four biracial nieces and nephews. So the trend with her family is definitely tilting towards a racial assimilation or combination of sorts. It's a good thing.



    So you're saying that she's being successfully colonized, huh?
  • Reply 19 of 41
    giantgiant Posts: 6,041member
    I always liked the cosby show. I grew up more often than not in neighborhoods more black than white, and I've always felt that it is closer to the black families I've known than the stereotypes are. Same with family matters to some degree. Those shows, particularly the cosby show, were great because I could jump back and forth between them and shows like family ties without having ethnicity even occur to me.



    You know, I was really happy to see that day after tomorrow has a few Black nerds as characters. I have always had a number of Black nerd friends, and I definitely notice they are underrepresented in the media.
  • Reply 20 of 41
    shawnjshawnj Posts: 6,656member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by midwinter

    So you're saying that she's being successfully colonized, huh?



    I guess someone living in Mormon country, such as yourself, would know a thing or two about colonization.
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