I like seeing "brown people" for Sanders speak up to defuse this Black/White antagonism

[carolinayellowdog]

Last edited Wed Aug 12, 2015, 02:49 PM - Edit history (1)

Am posting this in the Sanders group because this seems to be ground zero for the conflict du jour over "Black/White" issues, yet I've noticed a considerable number of biracial Americans, Asians, Latinos/Latinas speaking up on behalf of Bernie in the latest controversy. Will save my credentials/experiences for a final para, but first:

There is not, and has never been, any such thing as a White race, a Caucasian race, a Black race, a Red race, a Yellow race, etc. Race is a social construct, and a biological fraud, perhaps the most destructive pseudo-scientific fraud to ever be perpetrated. My awareness of this fact makes me extremely suspicious of, in fact hostile towards, any American of predominantly European ancestry who presumes to speak on behalf of "white people." And if they presume to speak on behalf of White People, you know they are not just misguided but evil and dangerous-- make that Evil and Dangerous. Although my DNA is 98% European, my personal experience illuminated by four centuries of family history is that any self-appointed spokespeople for "Whiteness" are threatening and destructive. Not just to obvious POC, but to any darker-skinned folks within the "white" category whose ancestry is prima facie suspect. This point is probably not even debatable at DU, so on to the next one.

What about self-appointed spokespeople for "Blackness"-- especially if they make a point of capitalizing Black and using white in lower case, as if that would accomplish anything in terms of retaliating for centuries of European-American domination? I notice that the notorious Ms. Johnson is biracial, yet enthuses at the drinking of "white tears," that some of the most vociferous objections to her behavior have come from biracial Sanders supporters, and yet that other biracial individuals applaud and honor her as a spokesperson for "Black people."

Black/White language of racial polarization is prima facie fraudulent, in that humanity is not dichotomously polarized into opposite races, but rather a vast extended family of various shades of pink and brown (more or less.) The fraudulent meme was concocted by European pseudo-science as a tool to legitimize the suppression of darker peoples around the globe. When our first biracial president was elected, I hoped that the US population might be ready to wake up to the nonexistence of the White Race and the Black Race. But here, six and a half years into his tenure, we seem to be more deluded and conflicted than ever.

My personal experience: have always been perceived and classified as white, as have all my ancestors in US censuses since 1790. And yet, multiple lines of ancestry were defined as mulatto in colonial records; DNA evidence suggests a mixture of African, Asian, and Native American ancestry along with the known European lines. Despite the fact that all the legally non-white ancestry was in the colonial era, there is substantial evidence that in the 19th century my ancestors were marginalized and threatened in a a kind of "almost-white" no man's land where they were subject to discrimination by "whiter" whites. To the point of fleeing their home county after the Civil War, for having sided with the Unionists and allied themselves politically with freed slaves. More currently, I have two half-siblings and three nieces who are biracial as well as five step-siblings who are black. Looks like all of us will be together in a few weeks, eight years since the last such reunion as we are scattered from Montana to Massachusetts to Virginia. In addition to enjoying the prospect of an extended family reunion, I'm looking forward to hearing their thoughts on Hillary, Bernie, etc.

But meanwhile, I'm quite exhausted/disgusted by the wild accusations from self-appointed spokespersons for Black America, and the defensive antagonism from self-appointed defenders of White Progressives. However, I keep noticing that some of the sanest and most reliable voices on the subject here tend to be from those who identify with neither category. Aren't we on the brink of a "browning of America" in which White/whites lose their majority status, and Black/blacks lose their "biggest minority" status? Isn't it high time for the neither-white-nor-black Americans to seize the microphone and say "America has been excluding and silencing OUR voices for centuries, and we have a right to be heard, too"?

[brush]

1. Pls continue to speak up

More of the following is need here.

"There is not, and has never been, any such thing as a White race, a Caucasian race, a Black race, a Red race, a Yellow race, etc. Race is a social construct, and a biological fraud, perhaps the most destructive pseudo-scientific fraud to ever be perpetrated."

"Black/White language of racial polarization is prima facie fraudulent, in that humanity is not dichotomously polarized into opposite races, but rather a vast extended family of various shades of pink and brown (more or less.) The fraudulent meme was concocted by European pseudo-science as a tool to legimitize the suppression of darker peoples around the globe."

[haikugal]

2. Thank you so much for this OP!

I've been reading lately and my first thought has been the question..."Why is someone's skin color something we all have to identify? Does that make their opinions any more valid?" I've often wanted someone, (I'm tired), to post just this OP, and here you are, in all your glory saying it all!

You have my sincere gratitude. I thank you!

[Warpy]

3. His crowd in LA looked like America

with the whole human rainbow represented (thanks for the photos, Taz). The hugely white crowds he attracted in northern New England are a thing of the past.

Some people simply have refused to notice.

[carolinayellowdog]

8. nowhere in the US is the "Black vs. White" drama more irrelevant than NM

maybe that is why it's my favorite state; your voice here is valuable for that reason among many others

[zazen]

4. kicking for the huge dose of sanity you've just provided--keep it up, please n/t

[carolinayellowdog]

5. Thanks! it's a real mine field out there but...

Last edited Thu Aug 13, 2015, 10:34 AM - Edit history (2)

Maybe those of us with "mixed race" immediate families and ancestry can speak truth to the horrible lie that has infected America more than any other country. I see it as extremely unfortunate that the pseudoscientific fraud that "White and Black are two separate races and the former is superior to the latter" resulted in some African Americans adopting the false premise while rejecting the false conclusion. I.e. "yes, White and Black are two separate races, and the latter is NOT inferior" or "is morally superior" instead of saying "NO, there are no races." I talked to a sociology prof, an AA woman teaching at a HBCU in NC, who said her largely black students were astonished and incredulous at being told that they didn't belong to a distinct race because there was no such thing. And yet, in the subculture of Americans exploring mixed ancestry, I have found AA's generally far more receptive and open to acknowledging multiple ancestries than whites. But IMO it will take Native Americans, Asians, and Latinos/Latinas to kill this destructive meme, because too many whites are enamored of the Great Lie of divinely-ordained racial separation, and too many blacks have bought into their propaganda unwittingly.

On edit, a further thought. It is frustrating to see many attacks on the basis of "no white person can possibly understand the experience of black Americans" and using the term "whitesplaining." I would comment that it is more accurate to say that VERY FEW whites can understand the social construction of whiteness, the privileges it bestows, etc., and that generally POC are better positioned to describe it, e.g. Nell Irvin Painter, author of The History of White People. But if we grant that whites are almost uniquely disqualified to understand the social construction of whiteness, because they have been propagandized from birth without realizing it-- it is only fair to say that the social construction of blackness is equally disqualifying to ANY American who accepts the false terms which has made this country so insane on the subject. I'd like to read a book on race in America by an African or European observer of the US scene, because either might see through some of the propaganda that has blinded Americans for several centuries.

[azmom]

6. +1

[TBF]

7. I found a good article on Reverb this morning

too that explains BLM vs. Outside Agitators 206. Marissa Johnson is part of Outside Agitators 206. They are a more radical group.

To start with, review how Outside Agitators 206 describe themselves:

“1. We center Black voices to celebrate and affirm Blackness. We believe that any movement to end anti-Black racism must be led by Black people.
2. We believe that everyone has a right to resist their oppressors and what resistance looks like varies for different individuals and different circumstances.
3. We don’t directly speak to corporate media, nor do we need them. We are our own voice.
4. Fuck the police: As an institution fundamentally rooted in white supremacy and anti-Blackness we reject the police presence in our communities, absolutely. It is our responsibility to hold each other accountable and keep each other safe.”

And I finally found an answer to my question "why only Bernie?". I don't think it makes much sense, but then I don't think a lot of what Johnson says makes much sense. But my understanding now is that she is not a representative of BLM, rather, she is part of this extremist group:

“Going after Sanders is super, super important because Sanders is supposed to be as far left and as progressive as we can possibly get, right? … [In Seattle] we have hordes and hordes of white liberals and white progressives and yet we still have all the same racial problems. So for us, locally in our context, confronting Sanders was the equivalent of confronting the large, white, liberal Democrat, leftist contingent that we have here in Seattle who not only have not supported BLM in measurable ways but is often very harmful and is also upholding the white supremacist society that we live in locally. . . .My center is using electoral politics as a platform but also agitating so much that people continue to question the system they’re in as they’re doing it, and that we start to dismantle it. Because I refuse to believe that the system that we’re in is the only option that we have. And so we hear people saying—Bernie supporters—’Well, he’s your best option.’ It’s like, If he’s our best option then I’m burning this down. I think it’s literally blowing up—this is why the respectability thing is so important—is that you blow it up so big, and so unrespectably, that you can show people the possibilities outside of the system that they’re stuck in. And so that’s why I do agitation work.”

http://reverbpress.com/news/us/outside-agitators-206-not-republican-plant-pose-serious-dilemma/

I have certainly been confused on the issue, and I'm sure others have as well. I give much credit to Bernie for being able to stay calm and try to work with BLM in light of all this. It makes me even more confident that he is the best person to lead this nation as we move further into the 21st century with two very big problems - global warming and inequality. I think he has the intelligence to see that capitalism out of control is at the root of these problems, and that we must make systemic changes.

[carolinayellowdog]

9. the angst of first-generation biracials vs. multi-generational

Thanks for sharing this. Because she is so young, and might be a relative of mine for all I know, I try to be empathetic to this young woman. And yet, she has done enormous damage, maybe irreparable, based on idealizing the "race" of one parent and demonizing the "race" of the other-- when ALL race is a fraud and delusion.

My own personal experience is that of a person whose invisible multiraciality goes back to the 17th century. But thanks to my dad's second marriage, I have a close up and personal view of family members whose visible multiraciality goes back to the 1960s. I don't think that ANY of us are seduced by the kind of divisive hatemongering that has taken over the mind of Marissa Johnson-- yet can understand WHY it is so seductive when one can look at the "race" of one parent and see it so catastrophically disadvantaged and victimized compared to the "race" of the other parent.

Does NOT make "race" a reality rather than a delusion, however,

[TBF]

10. Oh no - philosophy -

Would you call race a social constriction? Natural vs. social is about as far as I can go here. But I am also willing to learn - or at least try to learn.

[carolinayellowdog]

11. big can of worms to open so close to an old man's bedtime, but here goes...

What few "white" or "black" Americans can grasp is that slavery was not solidly race-based, nor interracial marriage illegal, in the 17th century. Virginia passed a law forbidding it in 1691, three generations after the arrival of the first Africans in Jamestown. "Free mulattoes" in the colonial era, and "Free People of Color" in the late 18th and antebellum 19th centuries, were largely the result of marriages or liaisons between women of European heritage and men of African heritage. LOTS of white men are surprised, in some southern states more than others, to find African Y haplogroups when they have DNA tests.

But when we look at enslaved people, rather than free people of color or "free mulattoes" of the colonial era, it is African women and European-American men who are reproducing. Hence, African American males are likely to be surprised by European Y haplogroups just as much as white males are surprised that daddy's daddy's daddy ad infinitum was from Africa.

SO-- "white people" tend to be freaked out by the possibility or reality of mixed ancestry because they fear "grandma was fooling around with a male slave"-- whereas the reality is that the admixture likely occurred before the distinction between "indentured servant" and "slave" was solidified along racial lines. Whereas, "black people" tend to be freaked out about this because they fear "grandma was raped by an evil slaveowner" and don't recognize that a lot of racial admixture goes back to loving relationships before the Iron Curtain of the racial color line fell.

We're ALL COLORED, we're ALL RELATED, and this Black/White divisiveness will look tragically stupid in the 22nd century if not sooner.

[TBF]

12. OK, I'm better with science -

that I can grasp and it makes perfect sense.