Olgita and her mother live in a rough neighborhood. Probably every other day there are knocks on their door from hustling black men selling stolen goods. They sell everything from new car steros still in the box to children’s toys also still in the box. They come knocking and show what they have and offer their cheap prices.
Oligta’s mother and I are in the living room ( an empty room without any furniture except for a large filing cabinet that was dragged out of dumpster and is used to store diampers, baby power, a brush and a mirror) and into the living room comes Olgita running and carrying a little blue plastic children’s chair that her mother bought her at the dollar store. She comes to a quick halt in the middle of the living room, puts the chair down, and screams “¡Mira soy un negro! ¡Mira lo que robe!” “Look, I am a black man! Look what I stole!”. I was dumbfounded. Oh lord! How to handle this one. Charles, of course thought it was hillarious and laughed his ass off. He told me I was taking it way too serious and responded “Come on it is funny. Hey, I told you yesterday to go ride a burro across the border.”
pues si, in the moment, it can be funny. but it still wrong and racist. i guess a good way of going about things, its trying to explain to olgita how there’s poor people, and how sometimes people give up on jobs cuz there aren’t any, or the ones that are there, are not good jobs, and people rather try to make a living somehow. Or, you might suggest that she doesn’t really know where people get their stuff, or that everyone sells stuff in the street, and that its better when its home delivered, and cheaper.
I’ve recently been thinking about what the limits are of offensive/racist speech. I saw Jesus is Magic by Sarah Silverman. A lot of her routine can be seen on You Tube if you search under her name.
Personally, I think she says a lot of things which are off the wall, but she says them in a context where I think she is actually criticizing a certain kind of racism or a certain kind of ignorance. But it’s kind of subtle so if you are Archie Bunker you might not see it that way and just get a kick out of it.
That’s not exactly a response to your original post but its what your post made me think of. Maybe the point is that offensive “racist” stuff can either help maintain ignorance or it can be an opportunity for growth, depending on the context.
Racism is racism, no matter who speaks it. A child can speak it or an adult can speak it. The only difference is, when a child Olgitas age speaks it, they do it out of ignorance. It may have been what they heard, or what they have seen, or worse yet, what they have been taught. As adults we are to correct children and explain to them why racism is wrong. When adults say or do something racist, they to do it out of ignorance but, also stupidity because they should know better and conduct themselves appropriately so that they will be able to set a positive example for children who do not understand everything. It is not right letting a child believe that he or she is funny when they cut down someone elses race. What happens if they are not corrected right away, is , they may grow up in their ignorance and run into the wrong kind of people whom they view in the wrong way and get themselves hurt. For the protection of your children, because people in this world are not only racist, but some are crazy to, and may not have mercy on your child when these jokes are made, and they see that the adult is even laughing. I would say take care of the problem immediately, before she grows up dangerously “Set in her ways.”
Dios Te Bendiga
Mzzz. Rae Carmenate
P.S.
How can “Racist” stuff maintain ignorance, when it is ignorant? As a result of “Racist” Stuff, so many riots have started. So much for maintaining ignorance. I do agree though, that racism, “IF, handled maturely”, can be an opportunity for growth under any context. Such as people taking a stand against it, such as parents bringing up their children in way that they are teaching them that racism is wrong…INCLUDING, those “behind door” jokes that people want to believe, to make themselves feel better, that, “It was just a joke.”
Abdul Halim: Yeah, even though they are obviously very different people, I see Sarah Silverman’s commentary to be somewhat in the same vein as Richard Pryor…. for “shock” but really for teaching/learning…saying what others won’t (or won’t say in public).
And Raven: I SOOO agree with your point about racism and children. I’ve done quite a bit of teaching on that front with the children in my life recently, who are only repeating what they’ve heard from others: “I hate Mexicans, You are such a fag” etc. And of course the response is: “it was just a joke.” It’s TOTALLY a teaching opportunity, that I might not have had if they hadn’t felt so comfortable saying those things. I don’t blame the kids at all, its the adults that they learn it from who should know better. Unfortunately, I think there is also a stereo type out there, that if you aren’t white, you can’t be bigoted. If you are the victim of racism, you can never be racist yourself. Letting kids know that they too can end up perpetuating the same kind of hate and intolerance that has been done against them, is important in my mind.
Agustinsito, you are a great papÃÂ. Olga and I had a talk about it and I think it helped.
Raven & Xine, I think Olga has been influenced by an adult but I also don’t think she comprehends what “black” means (in society). She made a statement that was even worse that she didn’t want to play with a little girl (she had never seen) because she was black. And I told her “You know Charles is black? That might hurt his feelings.” And she got mad and said Charles couldn’t be black. When I asked why not she wasn’t sure but he just couldn’t be black and she thought I was lying to her. Charles is obviously black (to adult society) but to Olga he was her friend. BTW she played with the little girl.
Abdul-Halim, we should watch it together, I’ve never seen any of her stuff.