rhytswellary

3 months ago

epicinvain:

sourcedumal:

eshusplayground:

Know what’s so funny about this? How the blue-eyed White folks know this is an exercise (as in not real life!) and can’t stand taking the shit people of color deal with for a couple of hours before they’re screaming and crying and storming off. They know it’s fake, and they still can’t deal!

Yet these are the people who are supposedly so much smarter than me, so much more reasonable than me, so much more civilized than me!

She. Goes. IN on these white folks. GOES IN.

“I cannot waste my tears for a white woman who knows that this is temporary…. I save my sympathy and my empathy for those who go through this every day of their lives….”

I know that some of you follow me because you occasionally learn something between my awkward personal posts.

I’m sorry this isn’t captioned, but if you’re able to, please watch this, esp. if you’re non-POC.

The best version of the experiment I went through was living in rural Asia for years and years. As a non-POC, I had thought I was a fairly aware person. I grew up with parents who took the social stigmas in our country very seriously. But being told about something isn’t the same. Being stared at. Having people ask you strange questions about your diet/cleanliness/skin/eyes/behavior just because you aren’t exactly like them. Having people call you rude names/things with a smile on their face because it never occurred to them you wouldn’t be okay with it. Having to skip lunch with friends because they are meeting at a shop with ‘NO BLANKS ALLOWED’ (in this case, no foreigners or no whites). Being nervous walking into the bank because they might not let you open an account. Being nervous walking into the cell phone company because they might not let you have an account. Taking ages to find an apartment that would rent to you. Having people introduce you as their BLANK Friend (oo, how exotic!). Having people move rather than sit next to you on the bus. Having kids giggle about the differences in your body and theirs while sitting next to you on the train. Being invisible to shop clerks that would rather not be the one to deal with you. Going on a few dates with someone before you realize they are dating you because they are curious. Having someone you like break up with you because their parents don’t approve. Being outside.

I had a major awakening, and I hope more people will have the same. NOTE: I had a very good experience in Asia. Most people were VERY kind to me. The expressed racism was usually more of a gentle ignorance than cruelty or hatred. But that is the very racism most people don’t realize they have and we should all be more aware of. They ‘Oh, you are BLANK, so you like to do/eat/watch/listen to/ BLANK.’ or ‘BLANK people look like/have/don’t have/don’t like/can’t/ BLANK’.

“You are so well spoken.” “Did you live in a hut? Did you have electricity? Say something in your language. Do you grow weed? Is weed everywhere?” “Where’s your accent?” Being called a curiosity, a fetish, an abnormality. Having to overemphasise my individual differences over my regular differences because the box I am supposed to come in is too small for all of me. Not being able to go “home” for the holidays because you fear your own family’s violent reaction to the private personal details of your life. Feeling completely marginalised and cornered and still realise that other people have it a lot worse. Feeling grateful that I can lie so well and skirt the margins like I’m dancing.