From: ollie@ocf.berkeley.edu (Oliver Wang)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.asian.american
Subject: Experiencing racism...
Date: 24 Jan 1993 00:34:03 GMT
Organization: P.F.M. Prod.
Distribution: usa
NNTP-Posting-Host: avalanche.berkeley.edu

When it comes to discussing personal experiences of racism (or any other kind
of discrimination for that matter) and relating that to a bigger societal
discussion, keep in mind that just b/c you don't personally experience some-
thing doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

I've heard too many people claim that "This place isn't racist...why, I'm a 
person of color and I've never been a victim of racism."  Good for them.  How-
ever, just because YOU don't THINK you've been affected doesn't mean that 
it doesn't exist.

Consider how much we take for granted as reality.  If the paper says a plane
crashed in NY, you probably believe it.  However, most of you weren't at the
airport to see it.  But you still believe it happened.  But when a person says,
"I was discriminated against" or "I was raped" or something of the like...it
seems that the initial reaction is to automatically become defensive and claim
"Well, actually, according to Webster's you weren't...whatever."  Is it so hard
for us to believe things that go against the status quo?  

I can't blame most of you.  Those of you who are college age or older probably
received around 12 years of American acculturation where you learned that this
is the greatest country in the known universe and that there's nothing really
all that wrong with it.  It's hard to unlearn all that rote pounding of propa-
ganda especially when you started at age 5 by saying the pledge of allegiance.

But try to expand your mind a bit.  Open it up.  There is a wholel of sh*t that
goes down everyday, everywhere.  And things like Rodney King and the like are
not anomalies...they are not aberrations...they are not outliers.  Discrimination of all forms are the rule not the exception.  Obviously you're not taught
this...what nation would want to teach its children the truth and have them
hate it?  It's self destructive to the status quo power structure to have a
generation of citizens looking to bring down the structure.  But just b/c you'renot taught it...or you don't see it on t.v...or if the President doesn't admit
it doesn't mean that it doesn't exist.  What...out of sight...out of mind?  Is
that the American mentality?  Sho' nuff.  

The problem with colleges especially is that everything is handed to you.  We'retaught to passively learn, not actively seek knowledge which is what I would
think learning is all about.  But we are shoveled this stuff and we just accept
it without question...unless it happens to go against what we learned before.
In which case people tend to flip and start saying "p.c." and "cultural elite"
and other sh*t just b/c they're too scared to have their ignorance displayed
before them.  It takes a great deal of humility to really learn as opposed to
being passively acculturated.  

Think about it...and I mean THINK, don't just react to what you've been condit-
ioned with.  Are you person or a parrot?

"Writers treat me like Coltrane...Insane.  Yes to them, but to me I'm a        
different kind.  We're brothers of the same mind...UNBLIND."  C.D. of P.E.

O-D.U.B. aka Ollie



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