"I wish Dr. King could come back and do a redo because that statement has been adopted and celebrated for the wrong reasons. The original statement has been twisted to imply that there is something inherently wrong with blackness and that great effort has to be taken to overlook it and not judge someone by it. What Dr. King meant to say was, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by negative perceptions of the color of their skin – negative perceptions rooted in delusions of white superiority.”...
for most of my elementary and middle school years, I was the only African-American and non-white person at a private Presbyterian school. I don’t know much of the history of the school, but it was founded in 1971 – I imagine as a response to school integration, like many private schools during that that time. Because I had been taken in by the delusion of inclusion, I thought I was special. I actually took, “I don’t see you as black,” as a compliment. I fully engaged in the politics of respectability...
As I’ve worked to dismantle my own internalized racism and the ways that I privilege whiteness, I’ve learned to resist being “othered” through the use of language. So when someone says, “Oh, they did that to you because you’re black,” I quickly correct them with, “No, they did that because they are bigots.” This often shocks people. I can see the panic in their eyes. Sometimes, their eyes dart about. If there are lot of people, they may get quiet."
http://thebodyisnotanapology.com/magazine/im-not-your-token/
That's awesome. I'm reading a lot of unlearning-internalized-racism recently and it's super helpful. There is so much bravery and work in the world.
Related: on friendship; learning blackness from a long time ago; passive voice one from McSweeney's
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