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

[Michael Brooks]

I'm certainly learning a lot from the ongoing (and I think ultimately 
very constructive) dialogue lately.

A little gem of learning that popped out at me:

    "If being a white person means I have to make additional allowances
    for a rude person, merely because they're black... then that isn't
    love.  This is 'enabling'."


Maybe it's not enabling at all: it's that "turning the other cheek" 
thing. And it's a whole lot harder than love.

On 5/23/2012 6:49 PM, Carl Kenney wrote:
> There is a massive difference between understanding and enabling.  
> Understanding the difference is critical in this discussion.  There is 
> also a massive difference between overcoming white poverty and getting 
> past racism.  One you can hide and move on with no one knowing your 
> past.  The other follows you, and, when you least expect it, will 
> whack you in the face.  With that being said Christine, let me make a 
> blunt observation.  It's one that you may not be able to understand; 
> however, it's one that has to be made.  It's related to how your 
> comments are heard  It comes across as liberal racism.  It's the type 
> of liberal rhetoric that hinders progress between well intentioned 
> folk like you, and people like me grappling to move the nob in the 
> right direction. How is that, you may ask.
>
> It begins with how many people talk about race.  They do so by denying 
> it is real.  That is done by using their own past and success as 
> evidence that any one can achieve the same.  All it takes is a bunch 
> of hard work and the right attitude. Really? Is that all it takes?  
> Can you truly assert hat your experience is the same as a black boy 
> who has to overcome how other view him?  Is it proper to assert that 
> all those people want to remain on welfare, and have you considered 
> that most of the people on welfare aren't black?
>
> The point is this, what does it mean to ally with a person? Does it 
> mean invalidating their journey by pressing your own as proof that it 
> ain't all that difficult in the good ole USA.  In an earlier email I 
> shared my own sad story of trying to make it in Durham.  Despite my 
> vast education and expeirnce, I consistently get overlooked for less 
> qualified people.  Why is that? Is it due to my outspoken ways? I 
> consider that while watching others who share my ways receive calls 
> for work.  Have you considered what happens to a black man who speaks 
> up and fights for the outcast?  Consider those who fight as members of 
> the PA.  Look at where they work.  Consider how much they make, and 
> ask, what makes them so different from that Kenney guy?  Some say, "he 
> doesn't want a job," I've heard that. Really.  Did I say that, or is 
> that a conception based on the way they think about black people in 
> general.  The white peson who is outspoken is viewed in a different way.
>
> I use that as an example, not as my personal pity moment.  It's my way 
> of reflecting on the covert ways difference is handled in public 
> space. It happens without your knowing it takes place.  These are 
> things we can't talk about, because once we do we're viewed as 
> radical.  Today two white women walked across the street when they saw 
> me coming.  There were four yesterday.  Today I wore a suit.  A black 
> one with a white shirt.  I watched as they saw me coming.  they paused 
> before radiply running to the other side.  he happens all the time.  
> Consider how that makes me feel.  They fear me.  Can you say that?  Is 
> that part of the DNA you carry? If not, you can't speak to the build 
> up of having to contend with all that fear.
>
> He's hard to work with.  He's hostile.  He, he, he..there's a long 
> list.  Or, he's too well-known.  We can't take all of that attention.  
> Really?  that normally is reason for being viewed in a positive way.  
> What's the difference.  Black men have to fuction in an acceptable 
> way.  he has to prove he fits.  Is that true of everyone? Really? Be 
> honest with yourself.  Is the character of a person construed in the 
> same way as that of black men?  Consider the tretment of Obama.  Is 
> that normal?  Be honest.  Can you really prove that we are walking on 
> the same playing field? If not, there are assumptions that come with 
> white privilege, and, sorry to say, it takes walking in that space to 
> understand what that means.
>
> With that being said, I'm not angry.  I'm faithful.  I keep waiting 
> for people to get their head from out of the sand.
>
>
>
> > Date: Wed, 23 May 2012 11:29:09 -0700
> > From: christinebbd at yahoo.com
> > To: inc-list at durhaminc.org; inc-list at rtpnet.org
> > Subject: Re: [Durham INC] New from the Rev-elution - Jeanne Lucas
> >
> > "Anyone can count the seeds in an apple, but only God can count the 
> apples in a seed." ~ Unknown
> >
> > Cut open an apple. Count the seeds. Now cut open one of the seeds. 
> How many future apples do you think it contains? The only way to know 
> is to plant it, care for it, and patiently wait for them to arrive. 
> Jesus rocked the religious people of His day with the words, "For the 
> entire Law is fulfilled in keeping this one command, 'Love your 
> neighbor as yourself.'" Jesus counterbalanced the whole Mosaic Law, 
> containing over 600 ordinances of do's and don'ts, with one simple 
> command to love.*
> >
> > Can you imagine the incredible, limitless potential in this one 
> command? If everyone treated all people, good and bad, the way they 
> would like to be treated, imagine how many laws would be irrelevant in 
> our country.*
> >
> > If, instead of dropping to the lowest common denominator of our 
> neighbors, we each personally raise the bar to where Jesus set it, at 
> "love", imagine how many trees of life would be planted, watered by 
> streams of living water, providing shade and fruit for the whole world 
> to enjoy.
> >
> > Keep reading...
> >
> > I'd like to go back to the woman I met at Costco.  In an earlier 
> email, Carl empathized with the woman and said, "I have often felt 
> [unseen]...  It comes with being black.  It happens so often that one 
> is left feeling minimized and overlooked."
> >
> >
> >  I explained how I made allowances for the woman, I understood she 
> felt the need to control her surroundings, etc.  But as I make 
> additional allowances, because I'm white, ... is this still love?  If 
> being a white person means I have to make additional allowances for a 
> rude person, merely because they're black... then that isn't love.  
> This is "enabling".
> >
> > Let me empathize with these feelings of yours...Going back to Iowa 
> once again...  It was 98% white.  There is no 'privilege' to being 
> white where I'm from.  Back there you had whites and you had white 
> trash.  That's it.  I was white trash.  Poor.  As a poor, badly 
> clothed, skinny white kid attending a white church filled with parents 
> whose kids weren't, I often felt overlooked and minimized.  I wasn't 
> invited to sleepovers, etc. The parents walked right by me, didn't say 
> 'hey', pulled their kids down the hall faster when I was there.... 
> Sure, I could feel sorry for myself, give myself a label, wear it on 
> my sleeve for the rest of my life, because I was beaten down by my 
> parents, ignored by society, etc etc etc. And then I could expect 
> society to make allowances for me because I have a damaged psyche... 
> right?
> >
> > Carl, you said when you were talking about privilege, you didn't 
> mean monetary privilege.  You were talking about the privilege of 
> being white.  And I say no, I have 'privilege' because I earned it.  I 
> overcame my past, it took about 10 years, but I didn't wallow in it, I 
> moved forward.
> > I have a unique privilege... I'm white, came from an extremely poor 
> background, without a cent from welfare.  Welfare is today's slavery.  
> "Enabling".  I didn't have a family to rely on.  I didn't have the 
> government to rely on.  I don't preach against welfare because I'm 
> white and republican... I preach against welfare because I never had 
> it suck me into it's trap.  When you're hungry and alone, with no one 
> to help, you have two choices.  The streets or get a job.  I chose the 
> job.
> >
> > At 23, I was too 'stupid' to know any better... I started a 
> business.  I hired people.  I started down the path of the 1% and 
> didn't even know it.  Would I have done this if welfare had sucked me in?
> >
> > Today, I think of all the wasted minds, trapped in welfare, and it 
> sickens me, sickens me to the core.  And I can 'love' them til the end 
> of time, but until I stop the enabling... it's really not love, is it?
> >
> >
> > Christine Chamberlain
> >
> >
> > *author unknown
> >
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