Hey, I'm a master of keeping my mouth shut. I did it in Boston where my (in-law) family and many coworkers had serious racial preudices, and I do it down here, where I am the minority (pagan, bisexual, polyamorous, kinky), and the current of social and political thought does not flow in my direction.
Some of the worst, most prejudiced statements I've ever heard have come out of the mouths of women, gay people, pagan people, etc.-- and that doesn't mean I've never heard them from White Males, but I'm often genuinely surprised (though I shouldn't be any more) when people whose differences make them the targets of prejudice do not say, "There but for the grace of [insert deity or icon here] go I." And every single one of us has differences that could open us up to being the target of prejudice.
Another point to remember-- and please, people, do not flame me for these observations: Atlanta has a very interesting Black-White dynamic. Even though black people are classed as a minority, the City of Atlanta, more than any other city I've ever lived in, is pretty much black owned and operated. My sense of many of the Atlanta-born black people that I've met, especially while I was doing that music teaching job a couple of years ago, where I had to deal with various beaurocracies in the City of Atlanta, is that the kinds of points of view you're hearing in your office are common and accepted: Atlanta's black population is confident in its place, yet still views itself as an underclass. Atlanta is a place where you just about have to be a minority to get a city contract, you just about have to be homeless to qualify for things like reduced income housing (I would not be able to get free or reduced income housing in the City of Atlanta, for example), the department of social services has been known to write down that a house is filthy because the coffee table isn't dusted, yet you just about have to be black to be elected Mayor. It's not just the south you're experiencing, although if you went out into the Boondocks, you'd see those attitudes from folks black and white alike, it's the south viewed through the very strange lens of Atlanta.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2003-07-31 09:02 am (UTC)Some of the worst, most prejudiced statements I've ever heard have come out of the mouths of women, gay people, pagan people, etc.-- and that doesn't mean I've never heard them from White Males, but I'm often genuinely surprised (though I shouldn't be any more) when people whose differences make them the targets of prejudice do not say, "There but for the grace of [insert deity or icon here] go I." And every single one of us has differences that could open us up to being the target of prejudice.
Another point to remember-- and please, people, do not flame me for these observations: Atlanta has a very interesting Black-White dynamic. Even though black people are classed as a minority, the City of Atlanta, more than any other city I've ever lived in, is pretty much black owned and operated. My sense of many of the Atlanta-born black people that I've met, especially while I was doing that music teaching job a couple of years ago, where I had to deal with various beaurocracies in the City of Atlanta, is that the kinds of points of view you're hearing in your office are common and accepted: Atlanta's black population is confident in its place, yet still views itself as an underclass. Atlanta is a place where you just about have to be a minority to get a city contract, you just about have to be homeless to qualify for things like reduced income housing (I would not be able to get free or reduced income housing in the City of Atlanta, for example), the department of social services has been known to write down that a house is filthy because the coffee table isn't dusted, yet you just about have to be black to be elected Mayor. It's not just the south you're experiencing, although if you went out into the Boondocks, you'd see those attitudes from folks black and white alike, it's the south viewed through the very strange lens of Atlanta.