I was thinking, what would be the the best way to celebrate MLK and the civil rights struggle, and I found this old footage from the Oprah Show. A nice young Jewish boy decides he wants to LIVE the black experience. He read a book in high school “Black Like Me” and was ultimately inspired to experience what it means to be “black” in America. This story is from 1995, I wonder, does anyone believe his experiment would have a different outcome in 2012?
I admire his bravery, both emotionally and physcially, to take this personal challenge of racial honesty. Josh’s plan was to be “black” for 28 days, he lasted 7 days. He felt like after 7 days, his personal journey was complete. He now understood what his black friends had been telling him for so many years, it was a white world. As a white male he had never been treated the way he was treated as a black man.
The real kicker is when two black men “turn” white, it was a different reaction when they asked directions and tried to get into office buildings. There was a sense of “white” priveledges that seems to be afforded based soley on skin color.
Is our world different today?
http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Race-on-The-Oprah-Show-A-25-Year-Look-Back/5
I tried to verify this but could not; Someone once asked Arthur Ashe if having AIDS was the worst thing that ever happened to him to which he replied, “No, the worst thing that ever happened to me was being born black.” I have two mixed race grandchildren and life is not as easy for them as if they were all white. Also interesting–why is it that mixed race people (black and whatever) seem to be always considered black? Tiger Woods is half oriental and half black, but he is perceived as black. Odd isn’t it? Perhaps that goes all the way back to the time, particularly in the south, that if you were some black person in your background–maybe even 6 generations, you were considered black. Some predjudices seem to never go away. Maybe some day when we are all the color of coffee with cream–maybe then, but if there are any blue eyed people in the crowd, someone will find a reason to claim they are inferior–remember the blue eye/brown eye experiment?
For Tiger, actually, he stated once that it was the black community that actually tried to make him “be a representative” for the black race. He refused, citing his other lineages, saying that it was impossible. He wasn’t black. He was ….. human. He was mixed.
But, I get your idea. Its odd. And it crosses races. In New Orleans and here in Richmond, I’ve talked to black people that have told me that the lightness of your skin determines how a black person is sometimes treated by other blacks. My niece is NOT black, but dark skinned 1/2 Guatemalan. But she’s always felt poorly treated by “whites.” Her fiance is black. Our family reunions are going go be very interesting.
Yes, blacks may be viewed differently in a ‘white’ world, but just try walking through a black neighborhood at midnight to see what happens when the shoe is on the other foot. Whites stopped beating blacks for being in their neighborhoods decades ago, but I can’t say the same for inter-city black neighborhoods when a white passes through. So which would you rather be, a black walking through a white area at midnight, or a white walking through a black area at midnight? Now is this a perception brought about by the media as some would suggest, or is this reality? Would you stake your wellbeing on it being a perception?
@Second Alamo
I would never be out walking through city neighborhoods at midnight,
black or white. It’s a stupid thing to do IMHO.
When I was 17, I was on my way home from downtown New Orleans. It was late. I was waiting for the bus. I was dressed in jeans, long sleave black shirt, winter jacket vest, and a beret, like those worn by special forces..but black and no emblem. (I actually looked good in it. 😉 )
Anyway, its about 11:30 pm. Along comes the biggest….darkest….meanest looking…scowling black man I had ever seen. He’s…..looking at me…if you know what I mean. At this time, I’m about 120 lbs 5.5 ft tall.
Since I was unfamiliar with the buses, I asked him…to break the ice, “Cross town bus run all night?”
He scowled at me. He looked around…as if to look for witnesses. I was scared to death and ready to run.
And slapped his knee, and sang “Doo Dah! Doo Dah!”
Stunned, I just gawped at him. He said, Say that again and you’ll get it. If you know Camptown Ladies………
He pulled a beer out of his pocket and handed it to me. He told me that he had been afraid of ME, that I looked like I might carry a knife or something.
We waited for about 20 minutes more for the bus, finishing the two beers, talking about Mardi Gras.
That’s funny, cargosquid.
@Rick: I agree, Cargo’s story was funny. I just want to know why he was wearing a beret.
@Moon-howler
Because I looked gooooooooood……
And it was warm.
A beret doesn’t even cover your ears!
But my hair did.
Besides, we are talking New Orleans temperatures……. we’re talking Feb temps about 50 degrees.
GREAT story Cargo!