People Are Not the Colors of the Rainbow
I'm a half Latina, half white, Liberal, living in conservative East Texas and work for an office that promotes and educates on Diversity issues. These issues include but are not limited to race/color, culture, lifestyle, and gender roles. So, for the most part I'm use to certain groups treating me like I have an illness or like I'm the enemy and must be destroyed. I actually don't mind working with these groups. It's the "I'm not prejuidice" group that I have the most trouble with.
Here's the thing I believe that people who continually say to me, "Oh I love black people and Mexicans. I love all colors of the rainbow" are trying to make themselves feel better about being prejudice by convincing me that they're not prejudice.
I won't say that color isn't one of the things I see but if the first and/or only thing you see is a person's color then you've got some problems. Maybe part of my feelings have to do with working with such a diverse group of people. But even before I worked in this department I always tried to see more than the color of someone's skin.
Also, using the term "Mexican" to encompass all Latinos is prejudice. There are more than just Mexicans, there are Cubans, Puerto Ricans, Spaniards,and Brazilians, not to mention all the American Latinos in the United States. By lumping us all under one umbrella you do us an injustice. You do exactly what you say you're not doing, being prejudice.
Finally, people are not the colors of the rainbow. We don't have red, orange, green, or even blue people walking around. I know it's meant as a way of including all races but why can't you just say, "I love everyone."
The reason I bring this up is that I recently came in contact with a woman, who upon finding out where I worked felt she needed to justify herself. She bragged about being a forth grade teacher to a mainly "black and Mexican" students. She, among other things, told her black student that it wasn't black people that voted President Obama into office but white people because there are more white people than there are black in the United States. So in essence, she told them their votes really didn't matter.
I, mostly, kept my mouth shut because I was a guest in another person's home (not the ignorant "teacher's" home) and I was raised to be respectful of my host. I wish I could have said to her what I blogged about here but I have a feeling it would have fallen on deaf ear.
Here's the thing I believe that people who continually say to me, "Oh I love black people and Mexicans. I love all colors of the rainbow" are trying to make themselves feel better about being prejudice by convincing me that they're not prejudice.
I won't say that color isn't one of the things I see but if the first and/or only thing you see is a person's color then you've got some problems. Maybe part of my feelings have to do with working with such a diverse group of people. But even before I worked in this department I always tried to see more than the color of someone's skin.
Also, using the term "Mexican" to encompass all Latinos is prejudice. There are more than just Mexicans, there are Cubans, Puerto Ricans, Spaniards,and Brazilians, not to mention all the American Latinos in the United States. By lumping us all under one umbrella you do us an injustice. You do exactly what you say you're not doing, being prejudice.
Finally, people are not the colors of the rainbow. We don't have red, orange, green, or even blue people walking around. I know it's meant as a way of including all races but why can't you just say, "I love everyone."
The reason I bring this up is that I recently came in contact with a woman, who upon finding out where I worked felt she needed to justify herself. She bragged about being a forth grade teacher to a mainly "black and Mexican" students. She, among other things, told her black student that it wasn't black people that voted President Obama into office but white people because there are more white people than there are black in the United States. So in essence, she told them their votes really didn't matter.
I, mostly, kept my mouth shut because I was a guest in another person's home (not the ignorant "teacher's" home) and I was raised to be respectful of my host. I wish I could have said to her what I blogged about here but I have a feeling it would have fallen on deaf ear.
I see you as somewhat of a hypocrite, you say that people are not colors yet you sit here and call yourself half-white. I agree with your message, but you just made no sense in saying your "half-white" and then saying people are not colors
ReplyDeleteFirst, let me apologize for not allowing this comment sooner. I haven't been receiving email notification recently and I've been going through a few things that keep me from blogging.
ReplyDeleteSecond, while I appreciate that you agree with my message I suspect that you've gotten caught up in a detail that really doesn't have much bearing on the subject.
As I said earlier on in this entry, "I won't say that color isn't one of the things I see." So, I do see white and I see myself as half-white.
What I don't see is people being part of some happy little rainbow. Brown, black and white are not part of a rainbow. They are skin colors and for some (as for me) a part of their cultural identity. And cultural identity is not a rainbow.
I wonder if you'd have felt differently if I'd said half-Caucasian? Perhaps, I should have but honestly, it didn't occur to me and honestly most Caucasian people I know call themselves white.
Thank you for your feedback. I appreciate your input. I hope I was able to clear things up for you.