[Durham INC] New from the Rev-elution - Jeanne Lucas

[Carl Kenney]

Good stuff Christine,I love that you are thinking about all of this. You raise interesting points coming from one willing to move past the damage of our past.  It reminds me of a conversation I had with Rabbi John Friedman years ago.  We thought of showing two films to a group of youth - "Amistand" and "Schindler's List". We then would ask how does one discuss a legacy of pain without creating a sense of helplessness?  You raise a few critical questions that are deeply rooted in your position of privilege.  I don't mean that in a mean way, but as a way to draw attention to how conversations related to race are often garnered from the perspective of those who simply don't have to contend with race.  It is easy to say you don't worry about race when you don't have to deal with race.  It's optional.
That's an important distinction due to the complex nature of race and racism.  An example is the woman you encountered in line that day.  Trust me when I say that is not an uncommon experience.  I have often felt the same way.  It comes with being black.  It happens so often that one is left feeling minimized and overlooked.  In your mind it was a mistake. In her mind you didn't see her. She was invisible.  Have you read the book "Invisible Man"? Ralph Ellison dealt with the feelings stirred by being overlooked.  There's something deeper in your discussion about what happened.  It's the label you gave it.  You called her a racist.  In doing that you minimized her based on your understanding of what was happening.  You placed it within the context of familiar space.  She was rude - not hurt, not sensitive due to other similar encounters, not wrong for misunderstanding you, but a racist.  That's a serious label.  You do know that many argue that racism, along with all other isms, is given to those who can use the assumption of their claim to maintain control over those they limit.  What power did she have over you other than to share her angst?
I would assert that this is what liberal minded people do.  So much of the energy goes into proving a separation from the rest - I'm not like the rest.  Can you really say that when so much of what you bring is based on the assumptions you make as one capable of not having to contend with how it feels to walk in the shoes of those you claim to support.  Your life, it seems, is rooted in privilege denied those who lack your hue.  Your skin opens doors denied others.  You don't have to prove your worth beyond fulfilling the most basic of expectations.  You aren't judged for being white. You only have to prove that you aren't insane.  That is a significant difference that many fail to understand.
As for black boys, there's a problem with what I call checking out.  It happens around the age of 11.  Smart black boys give up once they determine it doesn't pay off to work so hard when those judging them can't see them beyond what they assume.  It's the reason black men don't teach.  Why would they when the system was painful to endure?  All of that work is painful.  That's the part missed in conversations about race.  It's not a problem with the system, its a deeper problem rooted in the way we view black boys.  Even when we think we are okay.

Date: Mon, 21 May 2012 09:04:34 -0700
From: christinebbd at yahoo.com
Subject: Re: New from the Rev-elution - Jeanne Lucas
To: revcwkii at hotmail.com
CC: inc-list at durhaminc.org; inc-list at rtpnet.org

Carl,  It takes awhile for me to put thoughts to paper, thank you for allowing me time to prepare a reply. I'd like to start by sharing my perspective...

As a teenager, Iowa was 98% white.  I drove to church at a small university town 10 minutes drive from where I lived in the country, I was a member of that church for 17 years, until age 30.  The church was next to the university campus and it was at church where I met black and Asian folks.  Most of the black folks I met were from South Africa, Nigeria, other countries, none had come from the south.   I sat next to them in choir, the pew and when I started a business at age 23, I hired black college students, as well as white college students.  I owned this business for 10 years, until
 I moved to Durham in 94'.  

I had fabulous experiences with all races as I grew up.  I met unpleasant people from time to time, as everyone does, but it wasn't their race that caused them to be unpleasant people.  They were simply jerks.  After moving to Durham, if I meet someone unpleasant, I see that it's because they're a jerk, race has nothing to do with it. 

Sometimes, in my interactions with Durham people, it's been me that was the jerk.  Hey, it happens to all of us, we have our good moments and our bad moments, right?  Once at Costco, I got in line at the customer service counter.  A black woman was standing to the side, not in the line... how was I to know she was 'in line' when she was clearly standing 8 feet to the right of the line, I'm not a mind-reader.
That
 black woman was the very first racist I had met in my life.  She tore into me up one side and down the other.  "You think you can butt me out of line "cause I'm black" and on and on she went.  My response?  I busted out laughing!  It was 1999, Healthy Start Academy had been open 2 years by then, my daughter had been the ONLY white child in the school and I lived on a street that was entirely black.  I ignored the woman after a polite acknowledgement.  She feels the need to control, which results in controlling the only thing she can... redirecting a customer service line to go to the right instead of being straight.  She probably exerts her "control" driving slowly in the left lane, etc.  Folks like this need to be forgiven, not yelled at.  If you yell back at someone, they only see "white people are racists", instead of "I'm a jerk trying to exert my power/control by (fill in the blank) and
 it's causing a problem" 

So... the long and the short of it, I look at the racism in Durham from a truly 'outside' perspective.  I don't participate in it, I'm naive when it's right in front of my face. And when it finally does get my attention, it slaps me in the face, reminding me it's there. Call me naive, ignorant, clueless, whatever you want... I don't see color when I'm talking to someone... truly. 
 I have to remind myself constantly to be careful of this naive way of 
thinking.  Just because I think that way, it doesn't mean the other 
person I'm talking to does... 
Now on to the discussion about the male psyche.
I've volunteered may hours at Oak Grove elementary, was a teacher at Agape Corner school, participated in multitudes of events while I was at Healthy Start, and now I'm a master gardener working with all types of races.  In the 18 years that I've worked in various schools, not once have I seen racism in the classroom.  The teachers do not teach black kids any differently than the white kids.  "IF" someone were to do this, I'm sure a multitude of people would call them out on it, and they'd be vilified in the media.

If the male psyche isn't being attacked in the classroom, then where is it happening?  In an earlier email I stated my belief that it starts in early childhood as preschoolers, and by the time the boys reach 3rd grade it's anchored
 to their soul.  Read any test score statistic for 3rd graders in NC and you see evidence the black male psyche is not doing well.
I truly believe the boys get this damaged psyche from their home.  In this day and age, it's just not possible for this to be inflicted upon them at preschool and elementary school.  Think about it, they hear their parents talk about what white folks do to them.  They see the NAACP on the news in Raleigh, broadcasting what white folks do to black folks.  It's a constant barrage from the time they comprehend what's going on around them.  

Allow me to go off on a tangent...  by looking at the Jewish community.   The holocaust was the most recent, and was equally as horrific as what happened to the black race.  Hoever, the Jewish community is successful in all aspects of life.  I can't remember the last time I saw a
 Jewish boy's photo on the news or in the section showing who was arrested this week.  Go to Germany and look at the race relations there.  Yes, they have museums.  My parents walked the Dachau prison camp where a dear family friend spent years as an American prisoner of war.  He served in the U.S. Army, was captured early on in the war.  But outside the museums... if you look at the Jewish community, THEY'RE SUCCESSFUL!
Back to the 60's in America.  The train was in motion.  Nothing could stop it.  The racism HAD to stop, one way or another it had to end.  The momentum of this movement, once it began, didn't stop.  Thank God.   I remember as a child, watching the news and grieving over what was going on down south.  It was a terrible, terrible time.  

It's been 50 years now... time to sit back and looked at the collateral
 damage.  As in war of any kind, there is always collateral damage.  Collateral damage was caused when social problems entered the classroom.  We've got to get education back to the number one focus.  Move the work of segregation/desegregation outside the classroom  Move the schools back to small, local neighborhood schools where "It takes a village" can help raise these young men and you'll see the black psyche begin to recover.  Stop the bandwagon of "woe is me", "look what the white man has done to me".  

You must stop the train, it's time... it's long been time to stop the train.
There will be a Part 2 to this email... coming tomorrow.

Christine Chamberlain
        From: Carl Kenney <revcwkii at hotmail.com>
 To: christinebbd at yahoo.com 
Cc: inc-list at durhaminc.org; inc-list at rtpnet.org 
 Sent: Saturday, May 19, 2012 12:01 PM
 Subject: RE: New from the Rev-elution - Jeanne Lucas
   






This is a difficult riddle to solve.  I offer that given the disparity between black male achievement and that of other demographic groups, including black females, there is something deeper at the core.  The only alternative would be to assert a cognitive difference between black males and the rest of the population. Let's not go there.
Is
 the difference stirred by race, poverty or something deeper.  My point,
 in the beginning of the last email, was to bear mention of the multiple
 layers to this problem.  It is true that schools aren't responsible for
 fixing all that aisles society. I agree that it has been easy to blame 
schools for all that pains us, and that simply isn't a proper assessment
 of what is taking place within the schools.
 		 	   		  

     		 	   		  
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