What Is There . . . To Eat . . .!?: A Prescription

Listen: I know that the discussions of Race that have exploded since Barrack Obama's election(s) have made some Whites feel 'uncomfortable'. This is simply a reckoning, a, frankly, long overdue one, that has thrust You into a ‘front seat’ with the rest of the non-whites, after a blissfully-oblivious few centuries of sometimes 'designed blindness' to the sometimes desperate 'contest', that has been 'headlined' by some everyday, lifelong 'miseries' birthed by Racism and it's 'child' Colorism. Please recognize that a significant portion of the country has had no relief and/or escape from these scourges. Those of us, White and of Color, who have been ‘facing’ this ‘cloud’, knew that on 11/4/2008 especially, but not only because of it, the time for this would inevitably come.

If you will, allow me to humbly-offer a Prescription . . .

To stop feeling 'uncomfortable' you have an indispensable part to play in destroying the racism that has been deadly and painful for too long . . . but you must examine yourselves. However because You have been the main 'beneficiaries' of this 'racial infrastructure' within our culture and society, You have the most 'heavy lifting' to do. You need to change your unconscious 'default' perceptions of where you fit, and you need to examine if you've been, and continue to be 'aided' by this 'machinery' and reject it, unequivocally . . . as much as you can, that is(It's too fused-in everywhere to really be free of it 'right away'). Resist the reflexive urge to 'defend Yourself' or rebuff a minority that makes such grievances aloud or forcefully, to You or around you . . . and listen without reservation, listen openly. Teach yourself, by enlisting and inquiring about the experiences of Others, so you may have a 'working empathy' about the plight of those who are non-white. Learn to see that the ‘racial infrastructure’ we've all been living within for so long, has been built on the assumption that 'Who You are', that is, what has typically been considered 'White', in all arenas(culturally, business, language, etc . . . even down to the accent 'donned' when speaking) has been taken as the 'default' for everything, . . . The Societal 'Sea Level'. Once you've been able to clearly see this construct . . . 'smash' this 'statue' with an earnest quest for true understanding and knowledge about all those around you.

Those of you who are 'Black' must examine your prejudices. Try to take each person 'as they present themselves to you and by what they do and say'. That is not to say that you 'forget', but 'insisting' and 'reflexively' bringing and wearing a 'shearling coat' to 'summer in the Mediterranean', when a more 'intuitive' and nuanced 'sense of dress' is required . . . retards progress in this realm. Learn to appreciate YOURSELF for who you are physically (banish the talk of 'good hair' and this 'lighter skin worship' that simultaneously, disparages 'all you are and have been' and encourages self-hate). Research and learn who you used to be in history and embrace it like a 'compassionate whore' if there is such a thing. 'Make love' to this 'new' and uncovered knowledge about your ancestors did, and what your fellow ethnic 'sibling', does constantly, daily, with sometimes much less than is ‘normal’, without much ‘celebration’, but is no less amazing – Learn to appreciate that through to your soul. Engage in this ‘coitus’ of informational discovery/rediscovery like a seasoned exhibitionist . . . but respect it deeply and honor it as you savor it. Then you'll truly start to see how inextricable and important to the world and human history you truly have been and still are. The 25 million+ lost in The Middle Passage will thank you . . .

Finally, to those of you who aren't from either of the aforementioned 'poles', you need to also examine your proclivities for racial discrimination as well. Search your cultural and historical 'soul' for THE REASON you 'may harbor' umbrage towards 'The Black(or 'What Has or Is Associated With It')'. Dissect why too many among your ranks ‘automatically’ look to distance yourself from 'the same', while trying to placate and ingratiate yourselves with a societal, racial 'sentience', which, at the end of the day, NEVER WILL, as long as it 'survives' and 'functions', 'treat You' or 'embrace You' in the same way as it does it's 'authoring Master(s) and Progeny'. Like your African Brother above, you too need to re-embrace the rich inclusive traditions you've always had, and truly see your darker-skinned fellow human being as a real 'sibling' to your humanity, no matter where you find yourself or what walk of life you come from. Demand anew that Society appreciate your rich, cultural and even physical differences (no more anglicizing of names or undergoing operations to change features you're born with . . . like the shape of your eyes). Question your elders who may have adopted this 'pet of assimilation' as to why they found it necessary . . . or even desirable to do so. Go back and 'fix' your 'hands', now fortified with the Truth of your newly awakened world view, around the neck of that fear-based, desperate 'start' of these practices and 'strangle' that grotesque creature! Above all, love yourself, love your culture, be appreciative of others . . . Learn about others, and never tire doing so.

All three together must work to eradicate this great stain on the world, and scrub it unflinchingly and tirelessly from the fabric of humanity's future and present.

The Past is to be remembered, feared . . . it must serve as back flow 'preventer' for all time.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" - George Satayana