Two interesting posts on race

For my future perusal:

http://community.livejournal.com/debunkingwhite/673998.html

http://community.livejournal.com/anti_racism/288060.html

To be honest, I had never thought deeply about the origins of the term "cotton-pickin'" until I read that first post.

And I am so flabbergasted at the reactions I see (mostly online, I guess) from people at the very mention of racism, white privilege, etc... basic concepts like these seem to cause intense reactions born of denial and anger.

Jim Crow laws didn't end that long ago, people.

I still have no idea how to foster meaningful discussions about race. I'm trying to learn as much as I can, but that just puts me farther away from the white norm, and that makes it even harder to talk about it without sparking a defensive reaction. I tried, with my mom and Pete a couple of weeks ago, and ended up upsetting BOTH of them, at least temporarily. And I didn't even realize that what I was saying would be inflammatory to them before I said it. Especially Pete, who is really into the blues and has talked about being born "black on the inside" (which makes me cringe, but there you have it.)

April 1

I didn't get suckered by Google's April Fool's trick (in gmail) this year, and I've already sussed another couple out early on, but Yelp had me going for a minute there. I wonder if they played the same trick in all of their localities? I'm sure they did, but it has a special resonance in San Francisco.

( Wink wink )