A funny thing that I noticed has to do with my confident (shallow) nature. At first I thought it was me. Then I realized my fam is the same way. Now, listening to Dr gomes, I see that its a cultural thing. My Cape Verdean side, the side I was predominantly raised with, despite the fact that I'm 3/4 southern, is so proud because they had to leave their homes (my grandma had much older brothers and sisters who didn't move to America) and their cultures. They try so hard to hold on to that, and something Gomes said, "tell them you're the best," describes the way my family acts toward their youth. At least, parent to child, from my experience.
Another thing I've noticed from being a northerner? I wasn't raised with the knowledge that whites were supposedly superior or being looked down upon. If I did, I barely noticed. It puts me at a point where... I don't know how to describe it, but I've never used "them" as an excuse. That isn't to say all southerners do, but just listening to people talking about the elections, and how "they won't let a black man be president," this they say in the face of him winning in overwhelmingly white states. I see people who were raised with the belief that they had to fight against it... If I don't acknowledge it, do I still have to fight?
I'm going very stream of consciousness here...
My family could have passed. My grandma looked Italian to me back in the day. My great aunt Mary looked very white. I've mentioned before that my great grands didn't like my grandfather because he was "American" (read, darker skinned).
Its crazy to think how much has occurred in even the last hundred years, where I can go through life and not have to worry. Not have to think about propriety and getting into life changing events because of a misunderstanding (my coworker can't vote because he "ran over a white woman" back in his hometown). Yeah, there are some things that have not been solved, but this shit is so EASY for us by even the slightest comparison. And think of what it'll be like for our kids. Sigh.
My mother wants to do this DNA thing for her dad. He was killed when she was 11, defending a woman in a bar. He's really the only history I don't know about.
I'm going to keep watching... This is really deep. I would love to do this. Despite my level of closeness to my current family, my historic family is so relevant. Where, besides CT, do I come from?
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3 comments:
how great is that series?!?! love it. i dont' think the looked down on thing has anything to do with being southern. i think that's a black history thing. my mom made sure we knew it. she shielded us from it while she could but that can only happen for so long if you're one of a few black children anywhere and people are asking you questions. some white people start their children young in recognizing racial differences. i got asked about my color in kindergarten.
i feel you on the being raised as a northerner thing. seeing how i was raised by Africans who didn't not endure segregation or disenfranchisement, i'm not offended by what other may be. and my obliviousness to racism is seen as naivete when it isn't.
Jam- you might be right about that... And my family's superiority complex might have something to do with the fact that my mom and her sibs reacted differently to these things. But when a man says they turned the escalators off on pres day cuz the "white people weren't going to be riding them today" its hard to decide why he feels that way and I don't. I grew up in a literally thirds black/ white/ Latino community so I just don't jump to that.
Stace- yeah I see that. You never really can understand or explain it until you're in it.
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