Freedom of Speech and Censorship Part 2
cabcool said:.
I told you I would deliver, and here I am. Hopefully, you don't mind me presenting my vicarious experience in poetic form. What that does is give me latitude to take advantage of poetic licence in expressing more graphically what prose delimits. It also gives you and other readers the opportunity to read between the lines and see as much as you wish to see (although some might even see less than I intend to say, by their own unliberated minds).
Because I am not "keeping elementary school," I will not rush to give an interpretation of my own poem at this time of posting. I would rather wait to see how others interpret me. BUT, because I also believe in highlighting covert meanings and intentions that are of notable import, I might return afterward to elucidate certain allusions and symbolism that I do not wish to miss the eye or be excluded.
slavesong
♪a white slave owner struggles to emancipate his mind♪
“A private faith that does not act in the face of oppression
is no faith at all.” —William Wilberforce
grandfather owned a thousand slaves;
now he and they sleep in their graves.
he was their master, they his knaves;
they had no rights, he had no wrongs.
how oft they sang their mournful songs,
confused by cruelties and throngs
of passions they could not resolve!
high whites, low blacks the chains involve;
short nights, lame backs, long days revolve
around a pendulum of pain,
scorched by harsh sun, drenched by hard rain
—and gosh, the smell of blood’s stale stain!
dad gifted me a blind black boy
to serve me as my private toy;
my conscience he would occupy
—this willing, fragile peter pan,
whose limited attention span
suited my father’s master plan.
his loyalty was genuine,
my royalty seemed like a sin.
i wondered how he felt within,
strained by my every beck-and-call.
what words could his poor soul enthrall
that would not straightly mine appall?
the souls of black folk, says dubois,
may echo haunting airs of awe
unfamiliar to the bourgeois.
but flesh for flesh and bone for bone:
how has my white advantage flown!
what can for colour crimes atone?
life’s double-trouble hits my eyes,
hewers of wood in silence rise;
drawers of water skip demise.
to plough and nail and dig and bend,
their spirit, by strange means, transcend:
methinks white rule has hit dead-end!
© Copyright 2020 September 24
by Clyve A. Bowen♫
Cabcool, I am waiting until Lepp resonds, as he is the one who requested you submit it. Then I'll weigh in.
I told you I would deliver, and here I am. Hopefully, you don't mind me presenting my vicarious experience in poetic form. What that does is give me latitude to take advantage of poetic licence in expressing more graphically what prose delimits. It also gives you and other readers the opportunity to read between the lines and see as much as you wish to see (although some might even see less than I intend to say, by their own unliberated minds).
Because I am not "keeping elementary school," I will not rush to give an interpretation of my own poem at this time of posting. I would rather wait to see how others interpret me. BUT, because I also believe in highlighting covert meanings and intentions that are of notable import, I might return afterward to elucidate certain allusions and symbolism that I do not wish to miss the eye or be excluded.
slavesong
♪a white slave owner struggles to emancipate his mind♪
“A private faith that does not act in the face of oppression
is no faith at all.” —William Wilberforce
grandfather owned a thousand slaves;
now he and they sleep in their graves.
he was their master, they his knaves;
they had no rights, he had no wrongs.
how oft they sang their mournful songs,
confused by cruelties and throngs
of passions they could not resolve!
high whites, low blacks the chains involve;
short nights, lame backs, long days revolve
around a pendulum of pain,
scorched by harsh sun, drenched by hard rain
—and gosh, the smell of blood’s stale stain!
dad gifted me a blind black boy
to serve me as my private toy;
my conscience he would occupy
—this willing, fragile peter pan,
whose limited attention span
suited my father’s master plan.
his loyalty was genuine,
my royalty seemed like a sin.
i wondered how he felt within,
strained by my every beck-and-call.
what words could his poor soul enthrall
that would not straightly mine appall?
the souls of black folk, says dubois,
may echo haunting airs of awe
unfamiliar to the bourgeois.
but flesh for flesh and bone for bone:
how has my white advantage flown!
what can for colour crimes atone?
life’s double-trouble hits my eyes,
hewers of wood in silence rise;
drawers of water skip demise.
to plough and nail and dig and bend,
their spirit, by strange means, transcend:
methinks white rule has hit dead-end!
© Copyright 2020 September 24
by Clyve A. Bowen♫
Cabcool, I am waiting until Lepp resonds, as he is the one who requested you submit it. Then I'll weigh in.
Valeriyabeyond said:https://youtu.be/zC4YpPspnUc
Old debate but I love it
Poetry Slam
LOL! I remember that!
Old debate but I love it
Poetry Slam
LOL! I remember that!
Ahavati said:
Cabcool, I am waiting until Lepp responds, as he is the one who requested you submit it. Then I'll weigh in.
I appreciate that thought, Ahavati. Believe it or not, I, too, am waiting with bated breath to see how someone, in a reverse challenge, could populate my slate without returning to see the extent to which he has set the colour bar burning!
Cabcool, I am waiting until Lepp responds, as he is the one who requested you submit it. Then I'll weigh in.
I appreciate that thought, Ahavati. Believe it or not, I, too, am waiting with bated breath to see how someone, in a reverse challenge, could populate my slate without returning to see the extent to which he has set the colour bar burning!
cabcool said:
I appreciate that thought, Ahavati. Believe it or not, I, too, am waiting with bated breath to see how someone, in a reverse challenge, could populate my slate without returning to see the extent to which he has set the colour bar burning!
While we wait, I have a quick, non-partisan question for you.
Do you think we would advance human rights if we
eliminate the opportunity for
gender/race/disability-based discrimination against unborn minorities
...by
eliminating elective abortion?
I think we don’t want babies aborted because the mother secretly knows they are biracial, because that’s just enabling racist oppression in another form.
I appreciate that thought, Ahavati. Believe it or not, I, too, am waiting with bated breath to see how someone, in a reverse challenge, could populate my slate without returning to see the extent to which he has set the colour bar burning!
While we wait, I have a quick, non-partisan question for you.
Do you think we would advance human rights if we
eliminate the opportunity for
gender/race/disability-based discrimination against unborn minorities
...by
eliminating elective abortion?
I think we don’t want babies aborted because the mother secretly knows they are biracial, because that’s just enabling racist oppression in another form.
EdibleWords said:
While we wait, I have a quick, non-partisan question for you.
Do you think we would advance human rights if we
eliminate the opportunity for
gender/race/disability-based discrimination against unborn minorities
...by
eliminating elective abortion?
I think we don’t want babies aborted because the mother secretly knows they are biracial, because that’s just enabling racist oppression in another form.
Question noted, EW. Thank you for the opinion search. Please allow me to get to your essay and then return to this, just to keep my chronology intact.
I have read and thought about your essay, and will give you my feedback in a little while.
While we wait, I have a quick, non-partisan question for you.
Do you think we would advance human rights if we
eliminate the opportunity for
gender/race/disability-based discrimination against unborn minorities
...by
eliminating elective abortion?
I think we don’t want babies aborted because the mother secretly knows they are biracial, because that’s just enabling racist oppression in another form.
Question noted, EW. Thank you for the opinion search. Please allow me to get to your essay and then return to this, just to keep my chronology intact.
I have read and thought about your essay, and will give you my feedback in a little while.
Future Presidential Mass Debates
Maybe the two sides could have a proper debate, this time with different Big Dave's sensible ground rules:
1. Each candidate and the moderator is fitted with an electronic shocker or shot with a taser.
2.This electrification shot would follow any negative personal comment to the other candidate or their families.
3. It would follow any negative comments about the other side of the house
4. It would follow from any negative comments about the country and its flag
5. It would follow any negative comment whatsoever
6. It would follow any explicit or implied bias from the moderator
7. it would follow any negative or partisan loaded question from the moderator.
So what would be the point of this debate be, I hear you mumble under your pizza encrusted beard?
what would be allowed questions and responses?:
1. What do your parties really stand for
2. What are your real plans for the future of the country
3. Your positive plans and costed policies/plans for the country
4. What direction do you see the country going in under your presidency
5. What is your foreign policy stance going to be to seek world peace
6. What parts of the constitution would you change
7. What 3 positive things you like about the other candidate
8. What 3 positive things do you like about the other side of the house.
At the end, both candidates would hug and exchange expensive floral bouquets and sing Coom-by-ya while toasting each other marshmallows at a campfire.
All the answers would be typed up by a professional unbiased stenographer and agreed to, as accurate.
The once in office:
1. If a candidate does the opposite of what he promised he would be impeached, electrocuted, grounded, and made to sit on the naughty step.
2. if the then-president changes the policy out of all recognition perpetuating a lie he will be impeached, electrocuted, made to wear a dunce's hat, and to be pelted with rotten fruit locked into the stalls.
3. Where a sitting president stands up and puts his naughty bits, into or one anyone's consenting naughts bits There would be no punishment whatsoever.
4. If a praying President says that he talks to a god and fallows this god direct advice, He must be removed from office, removed as a menace to society, and imprisoned alone on Alcatraz and only fed bananas
5. Any lying President who claims aliens do not exist will be taken to a rubber room where a Zillun from the planet Thaargh will suck out what little brains he has left - He then would be established as the leader of the KKK or ANTIFA
6. If an angry President goes to war for oil, democratizing, money, or invading other countries He will be put alone in the psychiatric wing of Alcatraz where a forced brainwash re-education is applied, whilst beating his privates constantly with a rolled-up atlas while looping "give peace a chance" by John Lennon for 4 weeks 24/7 and daily trifle-boarded.
I know what you are thinking 'Hey big Dave! There is something missing from these rules. It's is any system of rewards as well as punishment'
Worry not my little French garlic milk-soaked Cherioes I have this covered with a thick covering of artichoke, banana, and beetroot porridge and a splash of milk from a hairy haggis
1. For every question answered in accordance with the rules you get rewarded with either a 76 ways nongender toaster with a loaf of bread scientifically created to go the same colour as your own skin colour or a 10-foot sandwich maker that is all-inclusive and does not discriminate on any ingredients, no does it favour any specific ethnic flavours
2. If a candidate answers all questions according to Big Dave's rules, they, (Gender, not specific) will be awarded the Star Prize. A 14 night (no days) quiet scenic vacation on warm sunny topical Isle with award-winning cliffs and rocky beaches. The facilities include water sports, a gymnasium if you work out or even if you don't know who Jim is. It is a '1920s themed resort with plenty of nightly shenanigans and a vast array of bars. It has a top of the green line medical facility, including a '90s ('1890) secure psychiatric wing where if you are not tranquil we will tranquilise you. We have award-winning caterers and a head chef that can make soup, stock and sauces from discarded soiled underwear and smelly socks, What a culinary genius. This is all run in an orderly fashion by professor Red Empshunn III. A place that will steal your heart away and you will be completely sold for life. It is, of course, "Rykers Topical Paradise and Health Spa."
3. if it is a draw the two will be tied, back to back, ordered to walk ten paces, turn then draw a picture of a loaded gun.
The best drawing wins, extra points for colour crayons use and colouring in between the lines, personal signatures will be marked down with a coloured biro with a neutral colour of course
Let's all Mass Debate come on come all!
d.macleod (c)
Maybe the two sides could have a proper debate, this time with different Big Dave's sensible ground rules:
1. Each candidate and the moderator is fitted with an electronic shocker or shot with a taser.
2.This electrification shot would follow any negative personal comment to the other candidate or their families.
3. It would follow any negative comments about the other side of the house
4. It would follow from any negative comments about the country and its flag
5. It would follow any negative comment whatsoever
6. It would follow any explicit or implied bias from the moderator
7. it would follow any negative or partisan loaded question from the moderator.
So what would be the point of this debate be, I hear you mumble under your pizza encrusted beard?
what would be allowed questions and responses?:
1. What do your parties really stand for
2. What are your real plans for the future of the country
3. Your positive plans and costed policies/plans for the country
4. What direction do you see the country going in under your presidency
5. What is your foreign policy stance going to be to seek world peace
6. What parts of the constitution would you change
7. What 3 positive things you like about the other candidate
8. What 3 positive things do you like about the other side of the house.
At the end, both candidates would hug and exchange expensive floral bouquets and sing Coom-by-ya while toasting each other marshmallows at a campfire.
All the answers would be typed up by a professional unbiased stenographer and agreed to, as accurate.
The once in office:
1. If a candidate does the opposite of what he promised he would be impeached, electrocuted, grounded, and made to sit on the naughty step.
2. if the then-president changes the policy out of all recognition perpetuating a lie he will be impeached, electrocuted, made to wear a dunce's hat, and to be pelted with rotten fruit locked into the stalls.
3. Where a sitting president stands up and puts his naughty bits, into or one anyone's consenting naughts bits There would be no punishment whatsoever.
4. If a praying President says that he talks to a god and fallows this god direct advice, He must be removed from office, removed as a menace to society, and imprisoned alone on Alcatraz and only fed bananas
5. Any lying President who claims aliens do not exist will be taken to a rubber room where a Zillun from the planet Thaargh will suck out what little brains he has left - He then would be established as the leader of the KKK or ANTIFA
6. If an angry President goes to war for oil, democratizing, money, or invading other countries He will be put alone in the psychiatric wing of Alcatraz where a forced brainwash re-education is applied, whilst beating his privates constantly with a rolled-up atlas while looping "give peace a chance" by John Lennon for 4 weeks 24/7 and daily trifle-boarded.
I know what you are thinking 'Hey big Dave! There is something missing from these rules. It's is any system of rewards as well as punishment'
Worry not my little French garlic milk-soaked Cherioes I have this covered with a thick covering of artichoke, banana, and beetroot porridge and a splash of milk from a hairy haggis
1. For every question answered in accordance with the rules you get rewarded with either a 76 ways nongender toaster with a loaf of bread scientifically created to go the same colour as your own skin colour or a 10-foot sandwich maker that is all-inclusive and does not discriminate on any ingredients, no does it favour any specific ethnic flavours
2. If a candidate answers all questions according to Big Dave's rules, they, (Gender, not specific) will be awarded the Star Prize. A 14 night (no days) quiet scenic vacation on warm sunny topical Isle with award-winning cliffs and rocky beaches. The facilities include water sports, a gymnasium if you work out or even if you don't know who Jim is. It is a '1920s themed resort with plenty of nightly shenanigans and a vast array of bars. It has a top of the green line medical facility, including a '90s ('1890) secure psychiatric wing where if you are not tranquil we will tranquilise you. We have award-winning caterers and a head chef that can make soup, stock and sauces from discarded soiled underwear and smelly socks, What a culinary genius. This is all run in an orderly fashion by professor Red Empshunn III. A place that will steal your heart away and you will be completely sold for life. It is, of course, "Rykers Topical Paradise and Health Spa."
3. if it is a draw the two will be tied, back to back, ordered to walk ten paces, turn then draw a picture of a loaded gun.
The best drawing wins, extra points for colour crayons use and colouring in between the lines, personal signatures will be marked down with a coloured biro with a neutral colour of course
Let's all Mass Debate come on come all!
d.macleod (c)
Cabcool, you said you would deliver and deliver you did. certainly painted a picture. I got the feeling a couple of stanzas down you were very close to touching on empathy.
I'm not going to lie, I was hoping for a 21st century Jo's soap, kinda like what RickE posted. my reasoning g behind that was I wondered where your mind was in the now so to speak
for me, I think we as individuals go through many trials. for the most part we get by, if we work hard enough or long enough we can get a few luxuries
I hope the mindset you put yourself in order to jot down the words wasnt too uncomfortable. the gift if a blind boy ect
my thinking some months in are of suspicion. dont get me wrong, I think any gains the community win are well over due and it would be hard to fault the peoples who have devoted their time and energy to try force change
I think, at some point we are all going to have to accept we need each other. more than that, want each other. have to want to lay what we have in the line, risk everything: home, family, job ..maybe life
I think that is where change will come. Ra
real change we could all be proud of
Cabcool, you're a man of your words, and I thank you
.
I'm not going to lie, I was hoping for a 21st century Jo's soap, kinda like what RickE posted. my reasoning g behind that was I wondered where your mind was in the now so to speak
for me, I think we as individuals go through many trials. for the most part we get by, if we work hard enough or long enough we can get a few luxuries
I hope the mindset you put yourself in order to jot down the words wasnt too uncomfortable. the gift if a blind boy ect
my thinking some months in are of suspicion. dont get me wrong, I think any gains the community win are well over due and it would be hard to fault the peoples who have devoted their time and energy to try force change
I think, at some point we are all going to have to accept we need each other. more than that, want each other. have to want to lay what we have in the line, risk everything: home, family, job ..maybe life
I think that is where change will come. Ra
real change we could all be proud of
Cabcool, you're a man of your words, and I thank you
.
Valeriyabeyond said:
That is why the idea "politically correct" was formulated - self censorship
One of my greatest heroes "Bill Maher"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politically_Incorrect
That is why the idea "politically correct" was formulated - self censorship
One of my greatest heroes "Bill Maher"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politically_Incorrect
Anonymous
Blackwolf said:
One of my greatest heroes "Bill Maher"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politically_Incorrect
I love Bill.
I've seen him twice live... He's the best.
No BS and just straight talk. I don't always agree 100% with him but I like that, too
One of my greatest heroes "Bill Maher"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politically_Incorrect
I love Bill.
I've seen him twice live... He's the best.
No BS and just straight talk. I don't always agree 100% with him but I like that, too
Valeriyabeyond said:
That is why the idea "politically correct" was formulated - self censorship
I think it was more to do with identity politics usurping the linguistic territory and gaining political control on the general population by force causing their silence from believing they had something to feel guilty about - Just my thoughts
That is why the idea "politically correct" was formulated - self censorship
I think it was more to do with identity politics usurping the linguistic territory and gaining political control on the general population by force causing their silence from believing they had something to feel guilty about - Just my thoughts
EdibleWords said:
Ok. I pick a woman from 2020.
....
My girlfriend laughed when I said what I wanted.
“You are black! Black girls will never be models.” She stopped quickly and her expression became more sympathetic.
I was angry. Tearing my gaze away down into my eyes in the coffee cup, they were as beautiful as everyone said. My blonde boyfriend loves my eyes. He never hits me unlike her ex-boyfriend did - who’s dad sadly didn’t teach him better because he was never there.
His parents love me. I wish I could say the same of my parents about him. My uncle loves him, but he’s from Africa. South Africa, but he always encourages me to just say Africa, like America is many states, but one. He’s a pan-African. He’s more open with me about these things than with my folks because we agree on politics these days.
I‘m voting for Trump, and so is he. Gone is the America who pretends the KKK can be ignored. Now, because of Trump, they are officially domestic terrorists.
Helping him at his thriving business on the edge of town, I told my uncle later that day what my friend said. Motioning me to sit in his golf cart before he drove us off his green he said, “You are an American! With the biggest, most beautiful dark brown eyes and strong bone structure. Your skin is flawless like your mother’s. Go for it! I moved here because it is the land of opportunity, so I could build my dreams and take those advantages back home!”
He also plans to take us back to Africa with him when he is ready. He tried talking with my parents about this desire last week for the first time. Mom and Dad are scared of the idea. They don’t feel like they will fit in, as they only speak English. But I’m excited!
They all agree it will be culture shock, and it sounds scary but I always love a good thrill! Next year my parents will let me visit with my uncle and his kids during summer break. They hope I’ll realize how much easier American culture is. Instead I will learn and bring home my confidence and experience and I really think Uncle and I will break them! They don’t realize how stubborn we can be!
I was warned, though. Even my uncle wonders if I will get the career of my dreams where we move. It might be more like settling. Lots of hard work, stumbling through awkward and even dangerous language confusion. South Africa has seen a lot of violence. This is where Uncle might suggest that we be open to other areas of Africa and remember, she is one, and she will be, again. But I was really hoping we could see my uncle’s home town. Sadly, it is on an unstable border. Maybe in ten years. Peace is spreading across the world. I have more hope today than ever before.
Lately, though, it’s been weird. I saw a man who was wearing blue (who looked too much like my dad for comfort) getting assaulted and called unbelievable names by white college kids who were trying to “dox” him.
I try not to let anything scare me, but I’m feeling nervous about the street activism these days. And then I saw a skinny guy with earrings in a pink shirt being screamed at because he had on a pink MAGA hat. One girl even threw her drink at him and called him bad word meaning - a bundle of sticks. You know the name. I’m sickened. Some white teens attacked my boyfriend yesterday and said he was a racist, to which I shouted, “he’s my boy, F-off!”
They screamed back “his parents have a flag like a bunch of fascists!” One of them pushed him. I got so mad I jumped and grabbed her hair, throwing her to the ground. She didn’t dare hit me. I got to go on a field trip because I’m BIPOC. It wasn’t a minority field trip, but the white kids in my class only - were excluded. Teacher’s idea.
Suddenly I felt bad for her and got up. She’s annoying and wrong as can be but she’s trying to do the right thing and now I have too much power.
The teacher steps in. Only asking me how I was. I said nothing to get the brat in trouble because only she would be punished with detention. I’d seen it before. She was too privileged to get away with anything. My stomach turning, I suddenly really wanted to leave America even more.
Hi, EW
Thank you for an interesting interpretation of the challenge, in the way you have situated the Black persona of your vicarious experience. You have been quite convincing in grappling with “the issues.” Here is what I have gleaned from your presentation:
Yours is a smoothly integrated character of the 21st century with the not-atypical ambition of believing you could be a model—after all, many Blacks of both sexes have been successful models on the world stage.
The interracial bridge has already ferried you into the arms of an Afrikaner (assuming he is of Dutch East Indian origin) lover. Your girlfriend is evidently also Black because, if she were White, she would have found a covert way to let you know that Black girls “cannot become models.”
The parents of your South African boyfriend are more receptive to interracial relationships than the typical White American; they have no issue with BIPOC. You are an American citizen—you can exercise the franchise to vote. Strong family support gives you confidence in yourself (appearance included), although your self-esteem faces its fair share of challenges.
Well sheltered at school, you seem to hold some privileged position among teachers and students, and you are not afraid to flaunt your aggressive power in the streets, as in the fracas that required you to defend your boyfriend. You know you have some power, yet you do not always want more trouble than necessary for your assailants.
I am not certain that you or your parents want to move back home with your boyfriend to SA. You are willing, despite the possibility of having to shelve your modeling dream, but they are uncertain because of the language barrier. Violence is another factor that concerns your family—would you be safer remaining in the USA?
Why would anyone call your bf racist: is it because of his SA origin, which teeters on the edge of White supremacy and deep skin discrimination? Or could it be based on the notion that he seems more like a White traitor for endearing himself to a Black girl?
I hope I have interpreted you accurately and wholesomely. Your sense of situation comes across powerfully and convincingly. I believe you have done with my challenge what lepp was asking me to do with his. I hardly believe I could manage as well as you, because I live in Jamaica, where racial lines are invisible in everyday living and I would not have the experiential vocab to do justice to such a perspective.
Well done.
Ok. I pick a woman from 2020.
....
My girlfriend laughed when I said what I wanted.
“You are black! Black girls will never be models.” She stopped quickly and her expression became more sympathetic.
I was angry. Tearing my gaze away down into my eyes in the coffee cup, they were as beautiful as everyone said. My blonde boyfriend loves my eyes. He never hits me unlike her ex-boyfriend did - who’s dad sadly didn’t teach him better because he was never there.
His parents love me. I wish I could say the same of my parents about him. My uncle loves him, but he’s from Africa. South Africa, but he always encourages me to just say Africa, like America is many states, but one. He’s a pan-African. He’s more open with me about these things than with my folks because we agree on politics these days.
I‘m voting for Trump, and so is he. Gone is the America who pretends the KKK can be ignored. Now, because of Trump, they are officially domestic terrorists.
Helping him at his thriving business on the edge of town, I told my uncle later that day what my friend said. Motioning me to sit in his golf cart before he drove us off his green he said, “You are an American! With the biggest, most beautiful dark brown eyes and strong bone structure. Your skin is flawless like your mother’s. Go for it! I moved here because it is the land of opportunity, so I could build my dreams and take those advantages back home!”
He also plans to take us back to Africa with him when he is ready. He tried talking with my parents about this desire last week for the first time. Mom and Dad are scared of the idea. They don’t feel like they will fit in, as they only speak English. But I’m excited!
They all agree it will be culture shock, and it sounds scary but I always love a good thrill! Next year my parents will let me visit with my uncle and his kids during summer break. They hope I’ll realize how much easier American culture is. Instead I will learn and bring home my confidence and experience and I really think Uncle and I will break them! They don’t realize how stubborn we can be!
I was warned, though. Even my uncle wonders if I will get the career of my dreams where we move. It might be more like settling. Lots of hard work, stumbling through awkward and even dangerous language confusion. South Africa has seen a lot of violence. This is where Uncle might suggest that we be open to other areas of Africa and remember, she is one, and she will be, again. But I was really hoping we could see my uncle’s home town. Sadly, it is on an unstable border. Maybe in ten years. Peace is spreading across the world. I have more hope today than ever before.
Lately, though, it’s been weird. I saw a man who was wearing blue (who looked too much like my dad for comfort) getting assaulted and called unbelievable names by white college kids who were trying to “dox” him.
I try not to let anything scare me, but I’m feeling nervous about the street activism these days. And then I saw a skinny guy with earrings in a pink shirt being screamed at because he had on a pink MAGA hat. One girl even threw her drink at him and called him bad word meaning - a bundle of sticks. You know the name. I’m sickened. Some white teens attacked my boyfriend yesterday and said he was a racist, to which I shouted, “he’s my boy, F-off!”
They screamed back “his parents have a flag like a bunch of fascists!” One of them pushed him. I got so mad I jumped and grabbed her hair, throwing her to the ground. She didn’t dare hit me. I got to go on a field trip because I’m BIPOC. It wasn’t a minority field trip, but the white kids in my class only - were excluded. Teacher’s idea.
Suddenly I felt bad for her and got up. She’s annoying and wrong as can be but she’s trying to do the right thing and now I have too much power.
The teacher steps in. Only asking me how I was. I said nothing to get the brat in trouble because only she would be punished with detention. I’d seen it before. She was too privileged to get away with anything. My stomach turning, I suddenly really wanted to leave America even more.
Hi, EW
Thank you for an interesting interpretation of the challenge, in the way you have situated the Black persona of your vicarious experience. You have been quite convincing in grappling with “the issues.” Here is what I have gleaned from your presentation:
Yours is a smoothly integrated character of the 21st century with the not-atypical ambition of believing you could be a model—after all, many Blacks of both sexes have been successful models on the world stage.
The interracial bridge has already ferried you into the arms of an Afrikaner (assuming he is of Dutch East Indian origin) lover. Your girlfriend is evidently also Black because, if she were White, she would have found a covert way to let you know that Black girls “cannot become models.”
The parents of your South African boyfriend are more receptive to interracial relationships than the typical White American; they have no issue with BIPOC. You are an American citizen—you can exercise the franchise to vote. Strong family support gives you confidence in yourself (appearance included), although your self-esteem faces its fair share of challenges.
Well sheltered at school, you seem to hold some privileged position among teachers and students, and you are not afraid to flaunt your aggressive power in the streets, as in the fracas that required you to defend your boyfriend. You know you have some power, yet you do not always want more trouble than necessary for your assailants.
I am not certain that you or your parents want to move back home with your boyfriend to SA. You are willing, despite the possibility of having to shelve your modeling dream, but they are uncertain because of the language barrier. Violence is another factor that concerns your family—would you be safer remaining in the USA?
Why would anyone call your bf racist: is it because of his SA origin, which teeters on the edge of White supremacy and deep skin discrimination? Or could it be based on the notion that he seems more like a White traitor for endearing himself to a Black girl?
I hope I have interpreted you accurately and wholesomely. Your sense of situation comes across powerfully and convincingly. I believe you have done with my challenge what lepp was asking me to do with his. I hardly believe I could manage as well as you, because I live in Jamaica, where racial lines are invisible in everyday living and I would not have the experiential vocab to do justice to such a perspective.
Well done.
