Am I unashamedly white or typically white?

Typicalwhitepersonjpg

This should be handy.  I can put my Klan robe in it or fill it with crackers and mayonaise.

The truth is, my family arrived in America almost 75 years after slavery was abolished. Right around the time women were "granted" the right to vote. I often wonder how the color of my skin associates me with slavery.  Even families that were here when slavery was an institution had little to do with it.  We never hear about the hundreds of thousands of white people who took up arms, fought the good fight, and gave their lives to abolish slavery.

But alas, it was before my family arrived from Czechoslovakia. I shouldn't be held accountable for it, should I? I would have been on the side of the abolitionists.  I may have even given my life if called to battle. But many years after slavery was abolished I am still accused of being associated with it. I will admit that it wasn't that long ago. I will admit that many people still face hurdles based on race and class but I also am very tired of being compared to a slave owner simply because I have white skin.  I have no more to apologize for than any black person being racially profiled as a criminal simply because the color of their skin. 

My ancestry cannot be traced to slave ownership at any time in the thousand years or so we have been on this planet. When my family arrived we were herded onto Ellis Island, like many "white folk", and kept like cattle until we were released to fend for ourselves.  There was huge discrimination against immigrants. This was no more the Promised Land that they heard of than it was for African Slaves who were sold into slavery by African Chiefs or rival tribes. Where is all the animosity to those Black Africans who sold their own people into slavery. Where is the animosity for what the current state of Africa is now?  Currently, slavery exists very much so in Africa. Women have no rights whatsoever. Genocide, imprisonment, rape, murder? This is not the result of my ancestors either. Yet I cry injustice and contribute when I can to causes affecting Africans. Yet I am a racist?

White people are as diverse as black people.  We also have "culture" believe it or not.  We come from as many backgrounds and heritages as any other group of citizens yet we are homogenized and grouped into a big white ball.  I am of Czech background yet I know more about Black History than Czech history. I know what it is like to be Hispanic in the United States.  I know how to respect people of Muslim faith, Jewish Ancestry. I know much more about the cultures of others than I do about my own.  When my family arrived destitute, my grandmother was sent back from Ellis Island because she was sick.  From the boat.  She was not able to make a second attempt until two years later and she died shortly after obtaining citizenship.

My mother's family trace their roots to Ireland and I can promise you they were thought of as nothing more than livestock when they arrived. They were treated less than second class, relegated to slums, and forced to work in Sweatshops until they could eak out a living and start building new lives for those of us who followed.

We have all suffered for the freedoms we enjoy.  Some more than others.  But we all have a history and no history is more important than that of another.

Blacks have adopted Christian Faith's because of being brought here. It was not their native religion. Many black citizens practice Religions that discriminate, based on Religious teachings, that I, a gay person am an abomination.  Currently many of the laws that have been passed to legally discriminate against me have found their roots in black churches who claim fundamental law under God. They distribute petitions to force ballot initiatives to discriminate against me and my family. They turn out and vote to discriminate aginst me and to pass legislation to discriminate against me for many years to come.

Yet they can't forget what happened to their ancestors. They remember being on the recieving end but forget that they are on the giving end currently when it comes to basic human and civil rights.  They mask it behind religion yet that religion is one they adopted from their slave owners.

There are as many names for whites as blacks. There are names for all people that sting when heard. It doesn't bother me less to be called whitey, faggot, or cracker than it hurts a black person to be called "n*gger", or a hispanic person to be called "sp*c" or "wetb&ck".  We all suffer from ignorance but please stop hoisting it on me.  I'm completely tired of it.  I am fed up with it.  I am tired of acceptable marginalization of people who have the same skin color as me.  I have friends from all ethnic backgrounds and I assure you they have as many names for white people as whites do for others.

I am really tired of the cries of discrimination given the front runner for President of the United States is a black man. He isn't just in the race.  He is leading it currently.  So I am actually afraid that if he doesn't win the Republican side will end Affirmative Action and other programs because the argument will be "Look what Barack was able to achieve". I do not respect his use of race in this campaign and trying to pin it on the other side.

So when everybody from the Barack team cries foul about The Reverend Wright not speaking for Barack I want to also point out that the Klan does not speak for me. My black friends and employees could vouch for me if needed. My hispanic friends also.

I am not a cracker or a faggot.  I am who I was born to be and will not apologize for something I had nothing to do with any more than Barack should have to apologize for the words of his Pastor.

To quote a famous African American "Can't we all just get along"?

Stop the race baiting Barack. Stop trying to pin racial divides on the Clintons. It is going to take a huge toll on your chances. Don't be a professional victim.  None of it applies to you.  Don't forget that your white mother and Grandparents raised you and guided you and got you to where you are. You are not the bi-product of slavery.  Your father was African.  Not African American. You did not suffer through Jim Crow. You went to Harvard and have been elected to the United States Senate and are the front runner to be our next President.  But you are pissing off people with your racial tactics.  They stink badly and don't apply to the priveledged life you have had.

I just got a text message from my friend Will.  He is black and a Rapper,lol. He is 27 years old and wears a grille and hip hop clothes.  He is the only person who has been at my house in three weeks. The text reads

"Happy Easter you certified Hustlaz".

People ask him as often as they ask me "what's up with you guys being such good friends'?

He is definately from a different background, race, sexual orientation, economic background but we have something bigger in common.  We like each other.  We are friends and nobody can take that from either of us. I had to laugh at the timing. Oh, and nobody else sent me an Easter greeting. I love that guy. I gave him a box of blueberry muffin mix and I want to see him bake them,lol. He invites me to his performances and if I ever have the chance to go I know he would make me feel like I was there as his guest and nobody better have anything to say about it. He might even call me onstage. Let's hope not.

From the words of my friend:

"Happy Easter you certified Hustlaz".