Thursday, August 28, 2008

One Uppity Black Chick, reporting for duty

Because I've spent this summer at home, I've had a great deal of free time. With me, free time = frequent internet wanderings. Through my growing awareness of race/gender/religious/sexuality/class etc. issues, both through my schooling and through this country's increasing fucked-up-edness, I've spent a great deal of time reading about discrimination in various forms, and I just keep getting pissed off. Not at the discrimination itself; I'm grown and jaded enough to know that it happens sometimes, and that people in power do dumb shit. What frustrates me are the apologist comments, the rants and justifications from people who just don't get it, and don't seem to have no idea of the vastness of their ignorance, nor an inclination to change their ways. Simply put, people are stupid, and the brands of stupidity I'm seeing are harmful.

I can't bitch-slap America and make the entire country see reason. I can, however, take down the morons who cross my path. For too long I have been polite, fearing to call shenanigans lest I offend someone, or get dismissed as just another Angry Negro (now with Afro and fist pounding action!). I have let my well-meaning white friends get away with some erroneous conclusions because gee, I know they're good people, does it really matter if they don't get it? It does matter. The ignorant don't know what they don't know, and thus keep on spreading misinformation. I can't make this world a better place, but I can decrease stupidity, one bawling out at a time.

I here pledge to stop holding myself back for fear of alienating people, for fear of being dismissed as just another overly PC liberal, for fear of becoming one of those women, one of those black people (because being both black and a woman is apparently difficult for some to grasp). I am an Uppity Black Chick, and I am going to mess with some folks' heads. Hey, they started it.

2 comments:

rmberra said...

Kudos.

Sarah Outhwaite said...

You, blogging.....I'm bookmarking you like a sex scene in a long dull novel.