From where I'm standing

"Many people have wondered how I could stomach doing an interview with a man whose beliefs were so hostile toward people of my own race. Besides the fact that I erect a wall of professionalism when doing my job, there was nothing shocking about what he said. I knew that these were his beliefs. I'm often more taken aback by the subtle racist attitudes and suggestions when I don't expect it." 

- John Eligon on his New York Times interview with a white supremacist.

I remember, as a child, thinking about language. My mother taught me the Portuguese words for "water" and "cat", and I remember thinking that English was the main or principle language of the world. Every other language, in order to be understood, was to be translated from English. Since my standpoint was that of a native English speaker, I could not comprehend the starting point of someone whose native language was something other than English. I can't possibly understand  what it's like to occupy a different language as my native one. Just as I can't possibly understand what it is like to be born a different race.

"What is it like, you know, being black?" or "How does if feel to be white?" are not questions we can regularly ask each other. 

We censor our thoughts and questions too much. We're afraid of being wrong, of offending, of possessing incorrect or unpopular opinions. This is problematic because it breeds stagnancy of thought, and a table of friends (there is a recent Onion article that pokes fun at this http://www.theonion.com/articles/group-of-friends-engage-in-passionate-incoherent-d,33500/) who throw out buzzwords and collectively nod while discussing current events. It's wonderful to agree, to feel social affirmation, but it's even more wonderful to disagree, or even to examine why we might agree. Otherwise, our opinions stay the same. They are not shaped, only cycled through a process of affirmation, reaffirmation and shelving.

I feel as though white people in our society so quickly declare themselves "not racist" or "colorblind". This brings me back to John Eligon's point about his interview with Paul Craig Cobb. "Subtle racist attitudes and suggestions" seem to be the problematic product of the societal taboos we place around race topics. As long as we don't speak openly about these subjects, we are in danger of allowing social and systemic racism to pervade. I hope that, moving forward in this course we are able to speak candidly, and examine our own thoughts and experiences in relation to the topic.