Monday, February 12, 2007

random thoughts

as i wander about the blogosphere- and read my own blog- the thought had occurred to me- folks must not read past the first paragraph or so of any post. my husband doesn't really read greeting cards either and that's how i put two and two together. it struck me because i tend to meander into my point- and either folks don't read down far enough, or they don't have it in them to respond to the actual point of the post. i find it interesting in and of itself what folks choose to respond to. not just on my posts but around the blogs. there doesn't seem to be as much conversation on the blogs as before the election and i can only surmise that folks are tired. they want the contact with their blog friends but much of the fire in their bellies has burned out. understandable.

at the risk of not getting read :) i will use another paragraph to muse about people's ability to handle taboo topics. this is something i have posted before but i think it is worth going over again. i was tooling around and i visit some feminist sights and some folks' of color sites- because i want to know. now, for any new folks or folks who happened by here on accident- i am a really white chick. not only that- but i am not a hip white chick either- so i work hard trying to get to know a bit about cultures different than my own. my over all musing is- why is it taboo for us to actually talk and criticize each other? i asked this in relation to the israeli/palestinian mess over in the middle east- but it pertains to racial tensions here in america as well. now, i have been told that i shouldn't oversimplify complex problems and issues- but we really need to start somewhere.

how do we get started? what would happen if israel decided to actually think about looking at the recent unity pact of the palestinians open mindedly? what would happen if the palestinians actually acknowledged the israelis right to share the land- with share being the operative word? what would happen if white folks could and did ask real questions of black folks without getting defensive? what if black folks tried to answer them without being defensive? what if we decided for just one moment to put our own feelings aside to try and feel what the other person was feeling or thinking? you tell me.

3 comments:

Dardin Soto said...

This is topic dear to my heart Betmo,... I cannot find the "edit" button if it hit me in my shaven mellon and I times I wonder if I am not making my main point soon enough so as not to bore somebody into a coma.
Very good points!

dawn said...

To answer your questions then they would all be in NYC. HAHa interesting to think about though

Sewmouse said...

You can't ask that question, Betmo, at least not to "Persons of Color" (is that this week's euphenism? I lose track)

Anyone who is not "Black" (to use an earlier euphenism) is not allowed to say anything - positive OR negative - about "Black" people.

If you say something negative, you are a racist. If you say something positive, you are a racist because you are implying that all the rest of them are NOT whatever positive ("articulate" comes to mind) you have ascribed to one.

It's a shame, really - because we were kinda close at one point to making it work right - but with this super-sensitivity that seems rife in all the "minority" populations lately (OMG - the Chicago National Hockey League Team uses a native american as a symbol.... BLASPHEMY!!) - it's only going to slide back downhill.

Oh - and calling me a "Cracker" is racist too...

Just sayin'