There's a big, glowing neon duh sign in the room and it's followed by this little tidbit here: being "liberal" is a choice. Being born a person of color, however? Not so much. The two concepts are not synonymous in any way.
Mind you...here in the Land of Moi, words like "liberal", "conservative", "moderate", "Democrat", and "Republican" don't mean shit--I repeat--don't mean shit. All they are to Moi are labels of cliques which allow grown men and women to act like little mean girls.
In my furious opinion, America's political system is bullshit. It has done nothing but drastically increase the negative connotation which accompanies the term "politician" (a feat one would not even think possible). A job in politics has become just that: yet another job where sickeningly overpaid people go to work--on the days they actually choose to show up--and bitch at their coworkers like selfish, immature deadbeat teenagers for endless hours until it's time to go home and cash their fat-ass checks.
Quick recap: no one "speaks for POC" except for POC. However, if you talk to one self-proclaimed leader of black folks or another, do not think you know a damn thing about us. It takes waaaaaay more than listening to one of them.
Now that I've said all this, let me make something else abundantly clear: sharing this info with those of you who despise white liberals and/or feminists does not make us allies. You go fight your own fights with your little friends and leave us the fuck be.
The day you decide to give two shits about POC interests, come listen to us; we've got plenty to say.
Hello, I have found your blog through Abagond.
ReplyDeleteI do hate it when people assume you are liberal because you are black.
I remember when this white girl thought my family was black (they are white), she said most blacks are Democrat and not conservative (my family is like ultra conservative except for my mom).
I myself am a moderate to liberal, but i have noticed most blacks at least older generations seem to be socially conservative.
I would vote for the Republican party myself if they weren't so racist and against black rights. In fact, that is probably why most blacks vote Democrat.
I do agree, the political system sucks.
And this is sort of the problem, because when you're a POC, your political options are sorely limiting.
ReplyDeleteThanks very much for stopping by.
I agree with your post 100%. I hate when people shed a negative light on me just because I'm black and I choose to vote Democrat. Despite the fact that most WP want to lump us in with the "liberal" crowd, that's not wholly true. If they REALLY wanted to find out what the real deal is, they'd quickly find out the most minorities are generally moderate (I'm a moderate Democrat), not just simply Left or Right. I've figured that out from self-experience.
ReplyDeleteI myself wouldn't mind voting for a Republican, but shoot, look at the congealed, messy ooze that's the Republican party now! Birthers, Deathers, militia groups, conspiracy theorists, Beckheads, Teabaggers, racists of every ilk...how in the world can I be a self-respecting black person and vote with a party like THAT? Heck, that's the reason why I vote Democrat in the first place! I don't want to be associated with all that crazy mess!
I also HATE it when conservatives/right-wingers want to throw up the fact that Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Republican. NO KIDDING! Contrary to popular belief, most blacks already no that and have for quite some time now. Do you think, they way the Party of Limbaugh/Palin/Beck/etc. has been for decades now, would MLK group himself with these selfish, racist, nihilistic WP? No, I don't think so...
...And I would blame him either. Not one bit.
(P.S.: white feminists care NOTHING of women of color, just as gay whites care nothing of gay people of color either. They just use minority struggles to further their own agendas.)
Whoops, I meant "know" instead of "no" and "wouldn't" instead of "would". Minor I know, but I'm a bit of a perfectionist (LOL)!
ReplyDelete(Hi, it's Robin from SWPD. I'm doing some blog-stalking today. ;>)
ReplyDeleteI'm curious about your interpretation for one of the pictures (of the white woman and the black woman with the stroller) that you chose to accompany this article. Looking at it, my first interpretation was that the baby belonged to the black woman, and the white woman may or may not be with her (as a life partner or friend). My second interpretation would be that the baby could belong to the white woman, and the black woman could be the nanny (there's a great deal of Caribbean nannies in my neighborhood, so it's something I see frequently).
Either way, I'm puzzling as to how to connect it to the subject matter. If it's the second interpretation (that of the black woman as nanny) then it could illustrate that the worlds of the WW and the BW are very far apart - that the WW is busy doing her own (white) stuff while the BW is taking care of everything else, literally not "in line" with the WW (since the WW appears to be a few feet ahead).
If it's the first interpretation though (which I'm inclined to think it is; the baby's skintone seems darker to me, and she *is* the one with the stroller), I'm not sure of the relevance - is it that the WW appears busy and that could indicate her disconnect with the BW's life? I don't know. I sat here puzzling over it for about five minutes before it occurred to me just to ask. :) (And yes, I realize I'm almost certainly the only person who read this blog who did more than glance over the photos for a split-second. I can't help it, I'm detail-oriented.)
@ Robin,
ReplyDeleteClick the link in the post for "white feminists".
Oh, FFS. (Not aggravated at you, I'm aggravated at the context of the picture.) It would never have occurred to me to imagine that particular scenario. But yeah, the picture's inclusion definitely makes a hell of a lot of sense now. *sigh*
ReplyDeleteThanks for the explanation. :)