Open Letter
To the crazy bitch that run up on me and opera girl the other night and yelled a whole bunch of mixed up shit,
Strange that the first time that person would ever call me nigger or display to me racism in it's starkest and most naked form would be a black woman. After all, most of my time in America has been spent in the liberal Northeast and even in a much commented bastion of racism like Boston, everyone understands that in public and in polite society, one does not display their prejudices so openly. So while I've experienced and written of (not necessarily here) many instances of subtle racism, I've never experienced anything even close to this in terms of horrifically unselfconscious racism. It was like being in a scene from Crash.
Listen crazy lady, why you gotta run up and mess with a date that was going swimmingly. We were about to get up in my apartment, crack open a bottle of wine and explore positions 1 through 13 of the Kama Sutra. And then you gotta run up yelling about, "what is this shit? what's this all about? this is why Niggers (lets talk about how much pleasure you took in delivering this word repeatedly) like you ain't never got a job. I mean, do you have a job? what is this? fucking, nigger, blah, blah, blah." Don't really remember too much else in detail of your rantings. I'm generally not in the habit of paying attention to the obviously insane. I don't watch Bill O'Reilly either.
Truly though, I wouldn't mind having a conversation with you. I'm curious as to what it is about seeing me with a white girl upset you so much and hit you on such a visceral level. I think I could probably have a conversation with you. After all, you were jogging in full athletic get up, some skin tight Adidas or Nike get up, along with those bright orange headphones they foist on would be atheletes with no taste to help them get in the zone. In order to afford that gear and do something so bourgoise as jogging around a neighbourhood where the most exercise most people get is running to catch the bus, you must be be a member of wage slave (unless you're fueled by daddy's money - a distinct possibility in your case), yuppy, consumerist America. Within such circles, it's probably not acceptable to get all wild and ignant like you did the other evening. Perhaps that's why you did. You were tired of holding your tongue and you felt this was a safe space within which to express your vitirol. Or perhaps there were other reasons. I'll tell you though, it definitely wasn't a safe space. If I had been a pimp with my ho, I would have bitch slapped you without a moment's pause. If I were a drug dealer with a new customer, I would definitely have marked your face for violent and extensive retribution later in the week. And if I were a teacher going to work over the week's lesson plans with another teacher, or just a guy walking with a neighbour (there is a white girl living above me after all), you'd just have ruined the week of someone with no real ability to retaliate.
Well, I'm none of those people, so public excoriation will probably be the worst punishment you receive. Hopefully that's combined with some regret and soul searching on your part, which should have happened when you over adrenalized mind settled down and thought about what you'd done. I've got questions for you though, lots of them:;
1. We ain't in 1950's Mississippi. Miscegnation ain't no crime. How have you not got this memo?
2. Beyond our walking together, there was no outward sign of affection between us. We weren't holding hands, stopping to make out or any of that. I know cause our body language was worrying me at that very moment. So what is it that hit you so deep that you lost hold of your bourgoise mask and went all hood on us?
3. What was that whole mess about the job thing? What does the person I date have to do with my status in the working world? Is dating a black girl the key to the job of my dreams? How have not been informed of this?
4. You pull any other stunts like this lately or regularly? Cause I know a couple of asylums that aren't quite full. Streets would be safer without you. You're a menance.
There's probably more of these, but carrying out imaginary conversations with crazy people is an activity that brings limited returns. I do gotta note a couple of things though. I'm getting really fucking tired of this over defensiveness about interracial dating among black women. Having been interrogated a few times by exes and friends of exes, and reading hysterical conversations in blogland on the same topic, I feel safe in saying that at least a few people are going about addressing the shortage of desirable black men in exactly the wrong manner.
Losing your fucking head, becoming aggressive at the mention of a black man dating a woman of any other race (white, brown or friggin green), demanding regression charts on the number of black versus other women that one has dated, and the general insane sensitivity that accompanies the issue, does not make you in any way more attractive. Being the individualist that I am, unless contributing to an issue on larger grounds, I always advise that one maximise their own potential. Protests about the state of things and societal issues are all well good, and should all taken up where it is possible to make real change. On a day to day level though, if your ass does not want to die an unwanted spinster, I suggest finding a wider pool within which to date. If there ain't no black men, try white men, brown men, hell even women if you find yourself flexible. If you are not attracted to or find those groups not attracted to you or for some misguided reason find yourself unwilling to date outside the pool of available black men, you must somehow or the other be the most attractive fish within that pool. I ain't got no advise for you there, other than to try not to be a completely psycho bitch. Good luck.
For the immediate future however, please keep your narrow mind and narrow hind out of my path. With my date on my arm, the most important thing to me was getting her to safety, away from psycho lady. On any other day I run into you, I may have the time to speak cruel, cruel words to you. I haven't hit a female since I stopped roughhousing with my sister at 13, but if you come up on me all hysterical like that again, I may make exceptions. That is all.
Flint, in a not so seductive mood
Strange that the first time that person would ever call me nigger or display to me racism in it's starkest and most naked form would be a black woman. After all, most of my time in America has been spent in the liberal Northeast and even in a much commented bastion of racism like Boston, everyone understands that in public and in polite society, one does not display their prejudices so openly. So while I've experienced and written of (not necessarily here) many instances of subtle racism, I've never experienced anything even close to this in terms of horrifically unselfconscious racism. It was like being in a scene from Crash.
Listen crazy lady, why you gotta run up and mess with a date that was going swimmingly. We were about to get up in my apartment, crack open a bottle of wine and explore positions 1 through 13 of the Kama Sutra. And then you gotta run up yelling about, "what is this shit? what's this all about? this is why Niggers (lets talk about how much pleasure you took in delivering this word repeatedly) like you ain't never got a job. I mean, do you have a job? what is this? fucking, nigger, blah, blah, blah." Don't really remember too much else in detail of your rantings. I'm generally not in the habit of paying attention to the obviously insane. I don't watch Bill O'Reilly either.
Truly though, I wouldn't mind having a conversation with you. I'm curious as to what it is about seeing me with a white girl upset you so much and hit you on such a visceral level. I think I could probably have a conversation with you. After all, you were jogging in full athletic get up, some skin tight Adidas or Nike get up, along with those bright orange headphones they foist on would be atheletes with no taste to help them get in the zone. In order to afford that gear and do something so bourgoise as jogging around a neighbourhood where the most exercise most people get is running to catch the bus, you must be be a member of wage slave (unless you're fueled by daddy's money - a distinct possibility in your case), yuppy, consumerist America. Within such circles, it's probably not acceptable to get all wild and ignant like you did the other evening. Perhaps that's why you did. You were tired of holding your tongue and you felt this was a safe space within which to express your vitirol. Or perhaps there were other reasons. I'll tell you though, it definitely wasn't a safe space. If I had been a pimp with my ho, I would have bitch slapped you without a moment's pause. If I were a drug dealer with a new customer, I would definitely have marked your face for violent and extensive retribution later in the week. And if I were a teacher going to work over the week's lesson plans with another teacher, or just a guy walking with a neighbour (there is a white girl living above me after all), you'd just have ruined the week of someone with no real ability to retaliate.
Well, I'm none of those people, so public excoriation will probably be the worst punishment you receive. Hopefully that's combined with some regret and soul searching on your part, which should have happened when you over adrenalized mind settled down and thought about what you'd done. I've got questions for you though, lots of them:;
1. We ain't in 1950's Mississippi. Miscegnation ain't no crime. How have you not got this memo?
2. Beyond our walking together, there was no outward sign of affection between us. We weren't holding hands, stopping to make out or any of that. I know cause our body language was worrying me at that very moment. So what is it that hit you so deep that you lost hold of your bourgoise mask and went all hood on us?
3. What was that whole mess about the job thing? What does the person I date have to do with my status in the working world? Is dating a black girl the key to the job of my dreams? How have not been informed of this?
4. You pull any other stunts like this lately or regularly? Cause I know a couple of asylums that aren't quite full. Streets would be safer without you. You're a menance.
There's probably more of these, but carrying out imaginary conversations with crazy people is an activity that brings limited returns. I do gotta note a couple of things though. I'm getting really fucking tired of this over defensiveness about interracial dating among black women. Having been interrogated a few times by exes and friends of exes, and reading hysterical conversations in blogland on the same topic, I feel safe in saying that at least a few people are going about addressing the shortage of desirable black men in exactly the wrong manner.
Losing your fucking head, becoming aggressive at the mention of a black man dating a woman of any other race (white, brown or friggin green), demanding regression charts on the number of black versus other women that one has dated, and the general insane sensitivity that accompanies the issue, does not make you in any way more attractive. Being the individualist that I am, unless contributing to an issue on larger grounds, I always advise that one maximise their own potential. Protests about the state of things and societal issues are all well good, and should all taken up where it is possible to make real change. On a day to day level though, if your ass does not want to die an unwanted spinster, I suggest finding a wider pool within which to date. If there ain't no black men, try white men, brown men, hell even women if you find yourself flexible. If you are not attracted to or find those groups not attracted to you or for some misguided reason find yourself unwilling to date outside the pool of available black men, you must somehow or the other be the most attractive fish within that pool. I ain't got no advise for you there, other than to try not to be a completely psycho bitch. Good luck.
For the immediate future however, please keep your narrow mind and narrow hind out of my path. With my date on my arm, the most important thing to me was getting her to safety, away from psycho lady. On any other day I run into you, I may have the time to speak cruel, cruel words to you. I haven't hit a female since I stopped roughhousing with my sister at 13, but if you come up on me all hysterical like that again, I may make exceptions. That is all.
Flint, in a not so seductive mood
posted by Flint at 3:31 PM
4 Comments:
Holy crap, man! I always find mention of stuff like this really surreal... Who ARE these people?!
Good on ya for not having a go - I would have, date or no. But then, I'm female and generally date men, may be different with a woman. Actually, I can see where that protective instinct comes in. Nonetheless.
It's interesting, insofar as I'm aware, this isn't really an issue in my country (New Zealand). We have various immigrants who have intergrated to one degree or another. We have the native people (Maori) who, I'd say depending on their socio-economic level, to be honest, are also intergrated to varying degrees. And then of course there's "white" and whatever fits into that category.
We have a lot of Indian-NZers, and in some families it's not really OK to date white people.
But I'm pretty sure the only time "black and white" is an issue is if you're in a "black" bar with your Maori girlfriend (and you're male). THEN you might get some shit. :/ Not likely the other way around!
But it may just be because I have not been exposed to it. I certainly hope not.
Unbelievable! Psycho Bitch is exactly right! I am blown away anyone would have that much gall regardless of their personal demons. You're right, this woman should not be loose on the streets invading the lives of strangers to "get her rocks off."
I applaud you for not picking up her "bricks" and beating her with them. I would have wanted to leave her bleeding emotionally at the side of the street.
Bravo! I know this is a touchy issue for a lot of people, about preserving heritage, but dating is not breeding, people. Oh, and if you don't want to call this kind of behavior "racism," how about "purism?"
I read this post yesterday, but did not comment cos I got quite enraged and did not want to be totally one sided about it.
But here we go...
I completely agree with Dana, but that's because I like in the UK... But I have also lived in LA, and babe.. these people are EVERYWHERE.
Personally I find that the lower social class people are the more race issues they have, as my mother says.. When you're poor and white the only thing you have going for you is the fact that you're white, and when you're poor and black... Of course that must be the reason you're poor.
Yes there are soo many reasons why racism exsists, the world is definetely not fair.. And I do not blame any one particular person for the problem, and I also understand that black people in america are trapped in the situation because of society issues, not just because they want to as a lot of people think. But ultimately keeping the rich, rich and making the poor poorer does no good for anyone.. and is the main root of all evil, especially racism... and worse stereotypes.
I'm lucky and don't have to deal with things like that on a daily basis now, but sympathise with your situation... Ultimately you are bigger than that fool, this is why you can express you're feelings like this.
I don't believe in 'preserving heritage' i simply believe in preserving the human race, but then I've got most of the major continents running through my blood.
As a girl, It is a lot easier for me than it is for my brothers, so I can completely relate to you in this sense, as my brothers dating white girls seems to be an issues with a lot of black women, and alot of white men... Whereas black girls dating white guys are usually ignored.
Sorry about the gross end to your date, I hope Opera girl wasnt too truamatized by the whole thing.
:)
Post a Comment
<< Home