By my self imposed deadline of Friday, this post is late. I am going to get into why that is.
About a week ago today, I got onto Facebook and was poking around when I saw a post from a guy I know. The headline picture was a split image; first of two black people in traditional Egyptian garb holding hands, then of a pregnant white lady with her black husband behind her and a superimposed image of the word "Why??" Decided to read. The content was a response to a letter published by a (newspaper? magazine? never got to verify) about how a strong and respectable black man could never choose to be with a white female as opposed to a black woman. Said person commented on the link "And the church said Amen!"
Those of you who know me know that I am currently married to a white woman as of 2007. Instantly I got upset, and I was going to get very annoyed, put people on blast and generally fly off the handle. Not generally my style, but things that hit close to home are usually emotional triggers. I waited til this long because I wanted to calm down and approach this situation rationally. First I had to understand why I was upset. Reason being that condemnation of interracial union in 2013 struck me as petty to the point of being ridiculous, especially by black people. So many centuries of struggling to be free of condemnation only to inflict it on each other. Seems highly illogical. Then after consultation with like minded individuals, I dug deeper, and found a lot of interesting information.
One might think that the furor over interracial relations is a feature exclusive to black and white relations, but not so. In my research I found that Nazis and Jews had their own issues with this theme. No one wants to compare themselves to the Aryan nation, yet on an almost daily basis their concepts bias our interactions. "Keep the bloodline pure!" "We grow weaker when our genes are spread around!" "S/he doesn't look like us, and I can't abide that." Oh sure, this exact phrasing isn't used, but the concept is there. The idea. Ideas are bulletproof, after all, everyone is quick to cite from the V For Vendetta film, yet cannot see how it applies to daily life.
So why did everyone fight so hard to end apartheid, to bring the struggle for equality to a world spotlight, to battle dogs and hoses and lynchings for all these years to get to this point, where what racial intolerance there is is frowned upon (but not nonexistent, I can personally attest to that)...and then have all of it go out the window because of people who choose to view equality only as a way to get money, or to sustain a lifestyle, instead of a way of life? Why must I be told I have "sold out" because my wife is not Cleopatra? Why must whispers dog my heels as I go down the street with my mixed son?
After more research, I think the answer goes back many years, into the doctrines of one Willie Lynch. I urge everyone to look into this speech as much as possible. I can already tell that some will stop to question the veracity of such a speech, and I say to you you are being bogged down in semantics. Look at what it says, then look around at many of us. Europeans have used the principle of divide and rule for so many years to conquer African countries, one of the major results being the Genocide in Rwanda after Belgian immigrants enlarged racial divides between warring factions, for their benefit. Distrust and envy still abound today in black communities and it does not have to be this way. I hear the phrase "sell out" and think about it. To sell out indicates that someone has given up everything of value to attain something. What of value has been given up by either member of an interracial relationship? The chance to stay single? Values? What values would forbid someone from loving another because of the color of their skin or their race? Does that not in itself form the foundation for what we openly condemn as racism?
By the way, I know the word miscegenation is used quite often to describe interracial relations...this is why I shy away from it now. Anyways, back to the point.
The distrust and envy entrenched in so many societies worldwide is leading us down a path of futility that is quite frustrating to watch. Far from unifying to better ourselves, we insist on fragmenting along lines that we claim we fought to erase decades ago. I waited this long to air out my thoughts because I thought that this issue deserved more than a knee jerk reaction spiel of "Y'all just hatin'!" I provided ample reading material here for anyone reading to dig into themselves, and I think it helped me too doing the research on this.
I went back to that guy's Facebook wall tonight to get that picture so you guys could see it.....and he had deleted the link. I hope that was done for the right reasons. Yet one more thing to think about, something I have had to do a lot of.
One more thing. Since I wrote this on her birthday, check out this lady.
One might think that the furor over interracial relations is a feature exclusive to black and white relations, but not so. In my research I found that Nazis and Jews had their own issues with this theme. No one wants to compare themselves to the Aryan nation, yet on an almost daily basis their concepts bias our interactions. "Keep the bloodline pure!" "We grow weaker when our genes are spread around!" "S/he doesn't look like us, and I can't abide that." Oh sure, this exact phrasing isn't used, but the concept is there. The idea. Ideas are bulletproof, after all, everyone is quick to cite from the V For Vendetta film, yet cannot see how it applies to daily life.
So why did everyone fight so hard to end apartheid, to bring the struggle for equality to a world spotlight, to battle dogs and hoses and lynchings for all these years to get to this point, where what racial intolerance there is is frowned upon (but not nonexistent, I can personally attest to that)...and then have all of it go out the window because of people who choose to view equality only as a way to get money, or to sustain a lifestyle, instead of a way of life? Why must I be told I have "sold out" because my wife is not Cleopatra? Why must whispers dog my heels as I go down the street with my mixed son?
After more research, I think the answer goes back many years, into the doctrines of one Willie Lynch. I urge everyone to look into this speech as much as possible. I can already tell that some will stop to question the veracity of such a speech, and I say to you you are being bogged down in semantics. Look at what it says, then look around at many of us. Europeans have used the principle of divide and rule for so many years to conquer African countries, one of the major results being the Genocide in Rwanda after Belgian immigrants enlarged racial divides between warring factions, for their benefit. Distrust and envy still abound today in black communities and it does not have to be this way. I hear the phrase "sell out" and think about it. To sell out indicates that someone has given up everything of value to attain something. What of value has been given up by either member of an interracial relationship? The chance to stay single? Values? What values would forbid someone from loving another because of the color of their skin or their race? Does that not in itself form the foundation for what we openly condemn as racism?
By the way, I know the word miscegenation is used quite often to describe interracial relations...this is why I shy away from it now. Anyways, back to the point.
The distrust and envy entrenched in so many societies worldwide is leading us down a path of futility that is quite frustrating to watch. Far from unifying to better ourselves, we insist on fragmenting along lines that we claim we fought to erase decades ago. I waited this long to air out my thoughts because I thought that this issue deserved more than a knee jerk reaction spiel of "Y'all just hatin'!" I provided ample reading material here for anyone reading to dig into themselves, and I think it helped me too doing the research on this.
I went back to that guy's Facebook wall tonight to get that picture so you guys could see it.....and he had deleted the link. I hope that was done for the right reasons. Yet one more thing to think about, something I have had to do a lot of.
One more thing. Since I wrote this on her birthday, check out this lady.
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