Race Relations | Giftie Etcetera: Race Relations

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Race Relations

I've been reading a friend's blog that deals with race and gender. I've also been watching the election campaigns very closely. Mostly, race isn't on my mind. I worry a bit that Ander does not have a diverse enough group of friends, and I do what I can to not just expose him to white people, but beyond that, I don't think about race much. Except, now, it's on my mind a lot more.

So, yesterday, I tried to consciencely notice who I interact with. I have a big criminal case against an assistant district attorney. He is black. I went to the doctor. The doctor and the nurse practitioner were both black women. I went to dinner. All the servers and all the patrons were white. I went to the kickball game. Most people were white, but one person was of Asian descent and a few people were black.

I was glad to notice that people in power positions, like the doctor and the attorney, were black. But I am concerned that I self-select working with high achieving minorities. I didn't hire the doctor BECAUSE she was black, but I didn't consider for a moment NOT hiring her because she was black. I met her, I instantly loved her, and she became my doctor. I wonder if other white people in my area would have even considered her?

I was very disturbed that no one in the bar and grill I ate supper at was black. The food is good. The neighborhood straddles a mostly white upper middle class neighborhood, a mixed middle class neighborhood, and a poor black neighborhood. I've never seen any clues of racism at the restaurant. But all the people were white. It raises my eyebrow. Are black people self-selecting out? Is there some underlying racism there? I truly do not know.

Anyway, I plan to actively notice the race of the people I interact with in the next few weeks. Maybe I'll get some insight and awareness.

Etcetera.

2 comments:

Rochelle said...

Let me know how it goes. I cannot say that I have the priveledge of many interracial relationships considering the fact that MT is 96% white....lol. But I am happy to say that my lovely son is friends with one of about 4 black children in his school and 2 of the 4 are in his classroom. So I am pretty psyched that he has that opportunity. :)

pacatrue said...

This reminds me of the "stuff white people like blog" because one item on the list is that white people like having non-white friends.

I actually have issues with that blog when considered as more than just silly jokes, but that's another topic.

Anyway, almost everyone I see on a daily basis is either Asian in some manner or white in some manner. A couple exceptions, but that's the basic situation.