The Cliffhanger...

Sorry to keep you dangling yesterday with my previous post, but I had some places I need to be and I cut the story off in the most appropriate place I could find. Now where was I...

oh yes I was holding the stack of papers thinking. O.k. this is what white people do when there are no black people around. I guess everyone was waiting for me to blow my stack, but I must admit I didn't. I mean I was upset that they would leave this out knowing I was coming over. I found out later they didn't leave it out on purpose. That doesn't make me feel better, but I realize they weren't deliberately trying to antagonize me.

Well anyhoo we started talking after that. I said well I wish I could say that when black people or other ethnic people get together we don't tell jokes or say mean things about white people because that is really not true. We talked a little bit more about how we were raised and how for them as well as myself it was acceptable to ridicule other ethnic groups. I think in general that in this country, considering our history, black people have harbored negative feelings for white people. However until recently we haven't felt able to voice these opinions. It wasn't like slaves could tell their masters off. And until the civil rights movement if we were denied access to something we could say how we really felt. So there has been this whole mentality of keeping your opinions to yourself. My point is, when you are trying to gain access to something the last thing you want to do is bite the hand feeding you. But recently as black people in this country have become more successful overall, our confidence has grown and we feel like we can start sharing how we feel more freely. Whether or views are right or wrong.

On the flipside for a long time it was socially acceptable for white people to ridicule blacks and other ethnic minorities. They could ridicule people, put on minstrel(sp?) shows, or display derogatory pictures with impunity. It hasn't been until the civil rights movement where blacks started standing up for their rights that this behavior on a more national level was viewed as offensive. So I think a mentality of ridiculing and making physical representations was established. However now it isn't socially acceptable to display them which explains why my friend and her friends felt free to enjoy this in their own company, they were embarrassed when I saw their jokes.

This leads me to the other thought from my previous post. Is it the case that these same thoughts are underlying the Zambian culture where the class system provides a structure to express socially acceptable behavior while underneath there are really other views and issues in tension...to be continued...

As always have a good day. Enjoy!