tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post4411045437615336081..comments2024-03-28T10:48:15.246-04:00Comments on alien romances: Human RacesRowena Cherryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11839386556697211986noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-87124194153366791432009-01-22T21:52:00.000-05:002009-01-22T21:52:00.000-05:00. . . many people literally viewed the KKK as nobl...<I>. . . many people literally viewed the KKK as noble knights defending their homeland and the purity of their ladies.</I><BR/><BR/>In the mid-1990s, I was a Big Brother with United Way in the Foothills area of South Carolina. I remember the buzz that went up when the KKK had some sort of rally in the area. Some people were aghast, while others were excited--not necessarily <I>pleased</I>, but in the sense that this was big news for an otherwise sleepy community. My Little Brother fell in the not-necessarily-pleased-but-excited-and-otherwise-ambivalent camp, and so it fell upon me to explain to him:<BR/><BR/>"You know," I said, "if they take hold around here, it's not just blacks that need to worry. You won't be safe either. They hate you and me too."<BR/><BR/>He stared at me for a second, digesting this. "You mean because we're Catholic?"<BR/><BR/>I was a bit thrown by the fact that this was the first thing he thought of. "That too," I finally said. "But more importantly, because we're Hispanic. They don't see us as white."<BR/><BR/>There was this moment of slow comprehension--I could pretty much literally see it cross his face. Growing up in the community that he had--and with the specific circle that he had--he had internalized the notion that white was the way to be, and it had never occurred to him that by some standards, he wasn't. He definitely had some racist ideas about blacks. I haven't been in touch with him in years, but I hope realizing that he himself was subject to prejudice and racism maybe opened his eyes to the possibility that some of the stereotypes he had absorbed were themselves not true.José Iriartehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03653811568201804995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26974492.post-23528194621466491162009-01-22T21:29:00.000-05:002009-01-22T21:29:00.000-05:00Very interesting. I'm a seventh-generation Southe...Very interesting. I'm a seventh-generation Southerner and I can see the remnants of this alive even in my own family.Barbara Romohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04891370713836651167noreply@blogger.com