The Differences of Skin and Culture

I come from a part of the Country that is predominantly racist, that is the South. I grew up around a considerable amount of racism (implicit and explicit) for about 22 years of my life. I myself, for many years had racial tendencies which propagated inside of my being from living in such a culture for so long. It wasn't until I came to the realization that whites, blacks, yellows, reds, whatever... all of our blood is the same color, so why should we care if our skins are different colors? I literally had to take my Southern heritage into a darkened alley and stab it to death in order to save what is left of my soul, then flee to New England.

When I arrived in New England I expected to not have to deal with racism so badly. I figured it would exist in some ways, but nothing as overt as what exists in the South. I encountered something equally as bad : mentioning race is taboo. At one time I came home and mentioned to my roommates something an African American girl I worked with had done, in which I described her as "black". They gasped in horror and asked in a snarky manner, "What does being black have to do with it?" It's descriptive, not name calling. There's a difference. And the avoidance of racial descriptions are practically ubiquitous with most of my experience in New England, that is until a crime has been committed, and even then it is attempted to avoid.

Not wanting to mention race is equally as bad as unconditionally judging persons of another race. Not being allowed to even describe someone of as being "African American" or "Hispanic" makes the whole topic of racial issues in this country completely closed to discourse. How are we ever expected to overcome our racial, religious, political, social, gender, sexual orientation, and cultural differences if we can't even talk about it? (Thank goodness I moved to Colorado, where these discussions can actually occur and no one get upset, so long as one refrains from derogatory phrasing).

I think this is one of the primary problems with the GOP and the politics in America today. I'm convinced that most of the Republican Party hates Obama because he's a black man in the Oval Office. But, of course, they have to say, "I don't care if he's black. I just don't like his politics." Well then, what about his politics do you not like? Obamacare? Okay then, what about Obamacare don't you like? Still thinking? Do you even know enough about how it works in order to not like it?

If the GOP would just admit they don't like a black man in the office, then we could actually discuss the issues, rather than battling racial wars with American taxpayers' dollars via political issues. And while I'm on the level of controversy I am at right now, let me ask : does anyone else think that the only reason the GOP nominated Cain was so they won't look like a bunch of racists? Or is that just me?

Racial issues are one of those critical issues in America that needs to be talked about. We will never get past any of this unconditional hate of the Other unless we talk about it.

The critical thing here to learn about race is not about epidermal melatonin, but about culture. Latino is not a race. Latinos can be dark color of skin, mocha, tan, or full-out white. Latino is a culture. The same goes for African Americans, Asian American, Creole, Native American, et cetera. These issues should have absolutely nothing to do with skin color, but about the cultures that define these people. And because of our ignorance we either avoid the issue for seeming racist if we broach the problem, or we just be racist. And what a sad bifurcation that is.

"You belong to the people who taught you the world. And my heart, my heart is Mexican."
~A Day Without A Mexican