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Jul. 25th, 2009 11:14 pm
This is where the party ends
So there I am having a pleasant conversation with my friend (who I'll call Coleman) and our new acquaintance. He's a bit theatrical, but engaging enough. We're all comparing notes on our religious upbringings and lightheartedly debating the merits of Catholic vs. Jewish services. If not for the presence of a television set in the room, the banter could've likely gone on indefinitely, much to the enjoyment of all.
But there is a television present, it's showing a news programme, and there's a portrait of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Coleman is distracted, chatting with Miss April, so I'm the sole beneficiary of the tirade this man launches into. No reason to reproduce it here; if been anywhere in the States this week (including the American blogosphere) you've already heard it a dozen times. But there eventually comes a point where I can no longer grit my teeth, and that point is when he says, "Gates' ancestors were freed blacks in the North so he's never experienced repression."
How does one respond to such vicious cluelessness? (Assume for the purposes of your response that simply decking the man is off the table.) The two choices apparent to me were to say, "What the FUCK would you know about it, you privileged white motherfucker?" and start a knock-down drag-out argument with biting and scratching or to say as little as possible and leave immediately. Out of consideration for Coleman, I did the latter.
Can we just call a moratorium on this shit? Anytime we have an cause célèbre involving race, can we set aside one day only for members of the dominant class to lecture the rest of us on what it's like to be a POC and then have them keep their supremely unedifying opinions to themselves forever after?
But there is a television present, it's showing a news programme, and there's a portrait of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Coleman is distracted, chatting with Miss April, so I'm the sole beneficiary of the tirade this man launches into. No reason to reproduce it here; if been anywhere in the States this week (including the American blogosphere) you've already heard it a dozen times. But there eventually comes a point where I can no longer grit my teeth, and that point is when he says, "Gates' ancestors were freed blacks in the North so he's never experienced repression."
How does one respond to such vicious cluelessness? (Assume for the purposes of your response that simply decking the man is off the table.) The two choices apparent to me were to say, "What the FUCK would you know about it, you privileged white motherfucker?" and start a knock-down drag-out argument with biting and scratching or to say as little as possible and leave immediately. Out of consideration for Coleman, I did the latter.
Can we just call a moratorium on this shit? Anytime we have an cause célèbre involving race, can we set aside one day only for members of the dominant class to lecture the rest of us on what it's like to be a POC and then have them keep their supremely unedifying opinions to themselves forever after?