So here is a crazy super-undeveloped realization that I had on my way to the store for a beer tonight. It has to do with being mixed-race.
Out of the blue, I kind of went oh. OH. I was born in 1971. My mom, a blond blue-eyed white woman, was all up in the equal rights movement. For me, a kid, it happened a long time ago. So long ago, before I was even born. Right? No. For my mom, it was happening while she was fucking a black guy, my dad. I mean, the difference between 1968 and her getting her ass knocked up in 1970? That ain't shit. She was a white girl choosing to fuck a black guy. Never mind he's 3/4 Native American, 1970 don't give a fuck about that. That is, unbelievably, even more complicated.
So I grew up. And rarely, I would see little mixed kids, and I would always be happy when I did. INCREDIBLY rarely, in the Pacific NW, I would see a mixed-race adult, and I always thought they were so so amazing. In my era, the talk shows often featured mixed-race families, with the kids who could never fit into black or white communities. The outcasts, the kids with no identity.
And I got older. And would see more and more mixed-race kids, and they would stare at me. Especially in my late 20's, early 30's, they would stare at me and I would smile at them and their mamas and papas, to say, yes, yes, you are doing something right. But I still didn't get it. And into my late 30's, encountering more mixed-race adults, having that excited conversation with the clerk at the grocery store, somehow it took me until now to realize;
There aren't actually that many of us from my generation. I came into existence on the very tail end of segregation. When I was born racist lending laws were still in place in my hometown, it was still illegal for a human being to be black after 4 pm in a nearby burg. That was happening. That happened. I used to blow my own mind at the idea that when my dad was growing up, he could not drink from white water fountains, use white bathrooms, or eat in white restaurants. Now, I am astonishing myself at the racism that I myself grew up with, and wonder, truly, at what my own children will find astonishing when they turn 42.
Hopefully they'll take it for granted that being a POC isn't a limitation in some career paths or social settings. And they'll be flabbergasted that gay marriage was even a fight. Or being trans. Hopefully they'll be astonished that some people don't have healthcare or food the same way kids are astounded that at one point there was no internet.
i can only hope you like the :fnord: THEME (http://www.erisbarandgrill.com/audio/IO2.WAV)
in the MEAN time 71 was 2 years After ?"THEY"? attempted my assASaNAtion
{i was given enough LSD to kill 2 herds of elephants|
|However i tricked them} I DID NOT swallow. Never the Less that ?TRIP?
Lasted long after you arrival? Comprenda' ?| now bac2Frost'N about ..
i never get it correct 1st edition {oH well | sell sell sell}
I suspect what will astonish them is that in the 21st century, of all times, racism has become fashionable amongst people who really ought to know better.
Quote from: hirley0 on December 27, 2013, 09:20:45 AM
i can only hope you like the :fnord: THEME (http://www.erisbarandgrill.com/audio/IO2.WAV)
in the MEAN time 71 was 2 years After ?"THEY"? attempted my assASaNAtion
{i was given enough LSD to kill 2 herds of elephants|
|However i tricked them} I DID NOT swallow. Never the Less that ?TRIP?
Lasted long after you arrival? Comprenda' ?| now bac2Frost'N about ..
i never get it correct 1st edition {oH well | sell sell sell}
I'm glad they didn't manage to off you, N0p.
Quote from: hirley0 on December 27, 2013, 09:20:45 AM
i can only hope you like the :fnord: THEME (http://www.erisbarandgrill.com/audio/IO2.WAV)
in the MEAN time 71 was 2 years After ?"THEY"? attempted my assASaNAtion
{i was given enough LSD to kill 2 herds of elephants|
|However i tricked them} I DID NOT swallow. Never the Less that ?TRIP?
Lasted long after you arrival? Comprenda' ?| now bac2Frost'N about ..
i never get it correct 1st edition {oH well | sell sell sell}
Well whoever ?"THEY"? are, they clearly did not understand with whom they messed.
Quote from: Cardinal Pizza Deliverance. on December 27, 2013, 05:59:27 PM
Quote from: Nigel's Red Velveteen Skinmeat Snacks on December 27, 2013, 05:23:46 PM
Quote from: hirley0 on December 27, 2013, 09:20:45 AM
i can only hope you like the :fnord: THEME (http://www.erisbarandgrill.com/audio/IO2.WAV)
in the MEAN time 71 was 2 years After ?"THEY"? attempted my assASaNAtion
{i was given enough LSD to kill 2 herds of elephants|
|However i tricked them} I DID NOT swallow. Never the Less that ?TRIP?
Lasted long after youЯ arrival? Comprenda' ?| now bac2Frost'N about ..
i never get it correct 1st edition {oH well | sell sell sell}
I'm glad they didn't manage to off you, N0p. {TNM was outed this Month
Quote from: hirley0 on December 27, 2013, 09:20:45 AM
i can only hope you like the :fnord: THEME (http://www.erisbarandgrill.com/audio/IO2.WAV)
in the MEAN time 71 was 2 years After ?"THEY"? attempted my assASaNAtion
{i was given enough LSD to kill 2 herds of elephants|
|However i tricked them} I DID NOT swallow. Never the Less that ?TRIP?
Lasted long after you arrival? Comprenda' ?| now bac2Frost'N about ..
i never get it correct 1st edition {oH well | sell sell sell}
Well whoever ?"THEY"? are, they clearly did not understand with whom they messed.
it WAS the same "HEY" as this time
HEY ,, only this time it sure looks like they got me. They improved Delivery
Quote from: hirley0 on December 27, 2013, 06:36:22 PM
Quote from: Cardinal Pizza Deliverance. on December 27, 2013, 05:59:27 PM
Quote from: hirley0 on December 27, 2013, 09:20:45 AM
i can only hope you like the :fnord: THEME (http://www.erisbarandgrill.com/audio/IO2.WAV)
in the MEAN time 71 was 2 years After ?"THEY"? attempted my assASaNAtion
{i was given enough LSD to kill 2 herds of elephants|
|However i tricked them} I DID NOT swallow. Never the Less that ?TRIP?
Lasted long after you arrival? Comprenda' ?| now bac2Frost'N about ..
i never get it correct 1st edition {oH well | sell sell sell}
Well whoever ?"THEY"? are, they clearly did not understand with whom they messed.
it WAS the same "HEY" as this time
HEY ,, only this time it sure looks like they got me.
They got everyone, Hirley0, so don't feel alone.
Quote from: Dirty Old Uncle Roger on December 27, 2013, 06:39:12 PM
They got everyone, Hirley0, so don't feel alone.
yeah,,, it TRUE more than 1 they for sure
i was reffering here to the psU they
the senior Seen.it.OR in fact
10:52?
08:37 2013 12/27 another dream: Snow @ School? with KM
& RM geo dept open well dirt bream {left over from flood
hot volcanic spot , John Deer dealer 3$/hr pickup / driver
the difference between a DREAM & a NightMayor is delivery
I wonder what people will think of this decade in 40 years.
I like hirley's theme much better than Leo Sayer's. It's got a little beat.
Quote from: Nigel's Red Velveteen Skinmeat Snacks on December 27, 2013, 07:32:01 AM
So I grew up. And rarely, I would see little mixed kids, and I would always be happy when I did. INCREDIBLY rarely, in the Pacific NW, I would see a mixed-race adult, and I always thought they were so so amazing.
My niece is mixed in rural Pacific NW. She doesn't know any black people. Literally 0. She loves black actors because, "They are like me." I remember hearing her say that and really it stuck with me. I still don't know what to think of it though.
Quote from: Penumbral on January 09, 2014, 10:59:16 PM
Quote from: Nigel's Red Velveteen Skinmeat Snacks on December 27, 2013, 07:32:01 AM
So I grew up. And rarely, I would see little mixed kids, and I would always be happy when I did. INCREDIBLY rarely, in the Pacific NW, I would see a mixed-race adult, and I always thought they were so so amazing.
My niece is mixed in rural Pacific NW. She doesn't know any black people. Literally 0. She loves black actors because, "They are like me." I remember hearing her say that and really it stuck with me. I still don't know what to think of it though.
Human beings have a natural affinity for those who resemble them physically, and those who look like family members. I'm sure it's because of the association with family/safety/home. There's nothing wrong with it, but it's a good thing to be conscious of to make sure we aren't inadvertently giving someone preferential treatment just because they "match" us.
There was far to much innocence in what she said for me to think there was anything wrong about it. Like you said its about safety and sometimes fear. If anything it just made me think prison gangs were more childlike then they know.
QuoteNow, I am astonishing myself at the racism that I myself grew up with, and wonder, truly, at what my own children will find astonishing when they turn 42.
Excellent OP Nigel.
I was thinking about this a while ago and there were a couple of decent threads about the perceptions of TV shows from the 50/60/70's and how even the most progressive/permissive shows have a number of constant uncomfortable moments for a modern audience.
MASH got a lot of stick for the way women were treated on the show. The characterisation of Klinger could probably fill a blog with rage for a few weeks. I doubt you'd try and pull off something like that now and indeed I doubt you would be able to for fear of rights and advocates groups.
I've got something stirring about TV then/now/future, need to think more.
Thanks Junkenstein! I'm looking forward to what you come up with re: TV then and now.
Great post, Nigel's Red Whaddada Doobadoo Dee Dadaddumm Whoohoooo That's So Funnn! I'd love to hear more about that era and how things went through -- it might just be me, but I find that stories I hear IRL, or read on social networks, or fora, or even IRC are "more real" than the ones I read printed on paper or on major websites/news sources. Social limitations and racism are topics appearing in conversation and writing more and more in Greece these days, and fairly so, so this might be another reason it appealed to me immediately.
Travelling through England some time ago, I found myself hosted by a Brittish man in his late 60s, whom I've met as a client in some hotel in Greece when I used to be a receptionist/bartender. After the anticipated on my part awkwardness of having to roll and smoke joints "hidden" in his spare bedroom, and trying to make sense of his daughter and son in law when drunk (both me and them; more fun than I'd admit at that point in time), we've spent a couple of nights eating BLTs, drinking ginger beer and discussing his youth: how he messed with Irish workers' heads and they digged holes and buried him whole-but-the-head in them, about poverty and not having a proper meal and borrowing liquor and cigarettes off oneanother, and generally what living and working as a "poor bastard" meant these days. I maybe laughed more than I should have, and I blame the joints, but then again he seemed to be enjoying just "talking about stuff" with me, remembering how things went, good or bad. I've kept notes -- this post reminded me that writing about that story could be both a fun and worthwhile project for me.
Cheers,
-S
Thanks Aye Aye! I would certainly be interested in reading more about that story, if you get to it.