We Gon' Talk About Race

I love to read.

This blog post comes after my stomach dropped at such a disturbing article . This is the post I'm talking about. Written by former classmate of mine, HD Stone, it is a response to another student's post talking about race. Another student at Wofford responded to Stone's post, but the response was rather general and didn't really ask questions to engage critical thinking. I'm interested in engaging on a personal level, using history, experiences, and statistics to have a meaningful dialogue on Black folks. 

I love quotes. My love for quotes might be number twelve on a list of Top 103 Things Jeremy Likes. That's a good spot to be on such a list. With my love of quotes, and context, I'll pull out some troubling statements in the article and try to dissect them. 

1. "Freedom of speech, other constitutional rights, and the heretofore pillars of higher education take a back seat to this “inclusion and diversity” rhetoric and the implementation of leveling curriculums that will no doubt contribute to the stagnation, and closing of the American mind"

This is a very interesting quote, only because it purports that diversity and inclusion are anti-"freeze peach". In fact, I love when Within the context of the article, the author seems to be referencing the protests that have been happening all across the country where students are demanding more representation in faculty, more awareness of issues, and more cultural tolerance.

I have to question the author's true passion for "freeze peach" considering he was very silent when the #BlackLivesMatter protestor was beaten and bloodied for using his right to "freeze peach" at a Trump rally. I guess "freeze peach" only matters when it's not endangering your privilege. 

2. "Here’s an idea for all of you:  educate yourself on real things. Read Aristotle, read Plato, really examine the tenets of America which make it so great. We live in a meritocracy that clearly advocates a certain way of life; yet, so many deviate away from this grand vision and advocate for this utopic, egalitarian society."

"Educate yourself on real things." just may be the one thing to make the most sense in this whole essay. Honestly. The rest of it just makes me shake my head in disbelief and wonder how can someone be so scholarly and so removed from society. 

"We live in a meritocracy".........so you gonna advocate for reparations from slavery or nah? I'll wait on your petition. Or maybe you don't think slavery happened?  Or maybe you never considered the stress that comes from working around people who you suspect may secretly hate you. If white people have to deal with that sort of stress, please let me know. Maybe I'm wrong. If so, I can be accountable for my mistakes and learn from them. 

But back to this fallacy of meritocracy. Living in a meritocracy would demand an egalitarian society, would it not? Meritocracy negates the truth of benefit that connections, wealth, and societal privilege bring. Sorry Stone, your privilege is not earned. We live in a meritocracy, but minimum wage has stagnated while productivity has increased and the cost of living has gone up? 

But let's assume we live in a meritocracy. Great. Technology continues to make certain jobs obsolete, so what happens to those people put out of work? Is their humanity diminished due to there not being jobs for them? Does their need to eat, drink, and survive suddenly go away because technology took their job? 

3."If we truly want to transcend the tyrannical and backward clutches of identity politics as DuBois clearly advocates, we must abandon identities rooted in things beyond America."

For context, Stone uses DuBois' quote that reads: “The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line.” Ironically, Stone agrees. But it seems he misses the point. But it is with this quote that really drives the fury embedded within the article, mostly because of the "Martin Luther King" effect of taking a quote or person out of context. If DuBois was able to see this rotten use of his quote, he'd probable have an asthma attack from the amount of breath lost in one sigh. 

Stone, however, is correct in saying that race identity is beyond America. People who pay attention can look at how European colonialism has taken the world by storm. 

He also puts the onus to letting go of race politics on Black people as if Black people started this race problem. Just in case you forgot, I'll start off with a list of things that Black people didn't do.

- Hop on a ship voluntarily and come to the "New World"

- Break apart our own families and sell our children into slavery to become hard labor. (see Harriet Jacobs' slave narrative)

- Codify laws to keep each other from speaking to one another or getting an education or getting loans from federal housing funds to buy property and build wealth. (see redlining)

- Hang each other on trees in post-Reconstruction America. (see Ida B. Wells and lynching)

- Ask police to kill us unarmed and extrajudicially, forgetting the Constitutional right to due process.

Instead of telling Black people to "get over it" - as conservatives love to do - maybe he should fight with us. He should gather his friends and family and take them to anti-racist training. Why doesn't he tell his Egg-Avi Twitter friends to look deeper into #BlackLivesMatter instead of trolling?

But of course, this article shows a clear lack of understanding. Stone doesn't have to be cautious of every step he takes in the eye of police. Stone doesn't have to make trips to the library to read books on the criminalization of white folk. Stone doesn't have to look up symbols that represent the fight for his freedom. Stone doesn't have to feel unwelcome in this country, nor does he have any reason to. Stone doesn't have to go to community healing sessions to cope with the trauma that is existing in this country. Stone doesn't have to channel surf looking for representation and people like himself.  

But that's my reality. 

I swear, all this energy Stone had put into this article to tell Black folks to "stop being whiny crybabies" might've been able to eradicate racism, had it been used productively. But alas, Stone's article is less about productivity and progression and more about distancing himself from and protecting privilege - including his own in being a white, straight, and relatively wealthy male.  I must ask, why is it so hard for conservatives to acknowledge the problems of Black people and other minorities without insulting them? 

But at this point, I digress. There were definitely more quotes worth pulling out, but then I'd spoil the article. Besides, as a writer myself, I know certain page hits would be appreciated, so go take a look if you must and decide for yourself. The link is at the top.

Let's keep talking.