Race & Class

I decided to post this based on a conversation I had last night. It reminded me of this clip so I sought it out. The conversation was basically talking around how we as black people view ourselves and rising in status within and outside of our community. And how we look at other black people and have a genuine concern about how others behavior/appearance/etc. indirectly can have an effect on how WE are perceived.

I think its a valid concern. I really do. You can't be working in a corporate environment as minority and have somebody "feeding into the stereotype". And that goes for any minority racially, sexually, etc. Why? Because it reflects badly upon the other members of that minority. But the question comes in what can you do to change that perception if you are all that concerned about it.

Some people have gone to the front lines of the media - writing and airing commentary in books and TV about what's going on in the community. Bill Cosby set off a firestorm a few years back, and Jesse Jackson more recently about the possibility of being too publicly critical or to put it simply "airing our dirty laundry".


A friend of mine took a more hands on approach - recently physically intervening when he witnessed a man beating on his girlfriend in a University Gym. We'll call this direct approach (lol) but really was it all that bad to do something that got -right to the point?

Some would say that its impossible to really change peoples initial perceptions of you or others because they are usually rooted in years of experiences. I would disagree that its "impossible" - but would have to concede that it is a difficult task. Do you try and put it on your shoulders to simply change peoples perception of you and hope that it will pass over to others. Or do you attempt to teach others how to project themselves in a better manner in hopes that this will reduce the negative stereotyping?

I would say both. But I wouldn't begin at either of those points. I don't believe that most of us have a problem within in our ability to perceive what is right and wrong. I do believe that the more difficult task comes in how do we express that. In a very bad case of irony - in the conversation that started this whole thing - I was trying to express that I took some of the comments made as offensive and judgmental which in turn offended the person I was speaking with and put me in a position of judging them. So yes its a tight rope to walk. But it must be walked - ignoring the problem and not doing anything and/or being too blunt can accomplish the same thing - nothing.

It has been said the truth hurts.. Its some painful truth out there. No doubt. Its also been said that a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. I think that's what we need to find as a community. The spoonful of sugar.

E.