And in another story.
I have been trying to collect my thoughts on race and identity all afternoon, but I still sound like a neanderthal when I talk about it. I will let it sit for awhile and hopefully I will have something that’s a little bit more reader friendly before the weekend.
silly pragmatism, don’t you know white people aren’t allowed to talk about race?
Yes, well… At least not without some sort of self-righteous indignation. I am probably the only white, upper-middle class male that would ever dare consider discussing race, ethnicity, gender or class. As pragmatic as I may be, it really is just an average between my cynical and idealistic janus-like perspectives.
imagine being me - an african studies, white, upper-middle class (upper class), ivy league educated, SOUTHERN PHD STUDENT trying to talk about race at an urban university?
let’s just say i was set straight my first day of senior year, when, in 2003, a professor looked at me, in a class of 200, and said, “raleigh-elizabeth, you’re from the south, how do you feel about reparations?”
retelling this story over the holidays, my aunt added:
“tell them if the union gives us our land back in GA that was seized during the war and the corresponding capital value over the last 120 years, we’d be happy to. with interest and apologies.”
