THE "R" WORD

I don't normally talk about politics or political issues on this blog, but, especially having just moved back here-- St. Louis--from Los Angeles, I feel my thoughts on racism have a spiritual/psychic perspective that are needed in today's world. So, here goes. Send the hate mail if you'd like, but hear me out.

Something that has really thrown me off here is the prevalence of the "n" word. Not "nigga'", which seems to be socially acceptable even among young whites in L.A., but the word "nigger."

Growing up, I don't remember even hearing this word until 3rd grade, and I was hard-pressed to find an adult who would tell me what it meant. (I finally cornered my mother, who explained it with the admonishment it was never to be used. Ever. Not as a joke, not as an insult if you were really, really angry. Never, for any reason.)

You'd be hard-pressed these days to find a third grader who didn't know what the word meant. Is that bad or good? Some people say it is good: black people have taken the word back for themselves. That the use of it has taken the "bad"out of it. Others, myself included, feel it is over-used, that a word with such a hateful history should be used only by those to whom it was once directed, and even then, sparingly. (I still find it a little disconcerting to hear it blasting out of car stereos, especially when those cars are filled with young white people.)

And when I say I hear the word alot, I don't just mean with my physical ears. As a psychic and empath, I often "hear" the thoughts and feelings of other people. Not usually as specific words, or coherent sentences, which is why the word itself startled me so much when I kept hearing it in my head.

At first I thought some lost, latent part of me had returned. I did go through a period in my adolesence where I was with white, racist boys. It was my experiences with that crowd that convinced me there was no place for racism in my life. A few years later, as a radical political activist, I spent alot of time around African-American militants, including former Black Panthers and other sixties-era activists.

Still, why, all of sudden, would I hear this word with such clarity? I have had several conversations about it, most notably with other psychics and intuitives, all of them black. One friend (in L.A.) had suggested that perhaps I was picking this up from black people themselves, perhaps conversationally, as they were thinking about other black people. I began to notice when the word would appear in my head. It did appear that it was mostly around African-Americans that I would "hear" the word.

One of the psychics I questioned about this, explaining that in 20 years in Los Angeles I had only had the experience one other time, that is one single time. I had been so horrified that I have never been able to figure out where it came from. (I can't discount the possibility that I harbour racism, which I will discuss in more detail later.)

"Honey, you might be hearing what they think about themselves," my psychic friend suggested casually and without much concern. "There are alot of black people that still think of themselves that way, or that think you, as a white person, only see them that way." And thoughts backed by emotion are always "louder" psychically.

Since I want to live in a world where everyone is happy, this was kind of depressing. Between the weather and the economy here I can't say that I've been 100% sure this was a good move for me. One thing I love about Los Angeles is how multi-cultural and tolerant it is. Those are big reasons why I have stayed there for twenty years. I don't want to make it sound like Los Angeles is some mecca where no one is racist, but it is much more liberal, progressive environment. Especially for white people.

There is, and not just in Los Angeles, a feeling among white people of "hey, we're over it." Hip-hop is the most successful commercial music, many of the entertainment industry icons are black. The two most "white" sports games ever, golf and tennis, have black stars (Tiger Woods and the Williams sisters) . Even hockey has Anson Carter; I saw him play when he was with the L.A. Kings.

Of course, this attitude among whites is something along the lines of the brutalizing husband telling the battered wife that he's over it, never mind her bruises, and then being confused when she still flinches everytime he comes near her. Or his shock when she becomes enraged at him, or throws a punch back because she finally can.

And let me say this in it's own paragraph with a lot of bold: THIS COUNTRY NEEDS TO MAKE FINANCIAL REPARATION TO ALL THE DESCENDENTS OF FORMER SLAVES.

That's right. Census and voting records probably aren't accurate, but really, how many Africans were allowed to emigrate here before the 1920's? Honestly, I coudn't find any mention during a quick web search to show when free Africans were allowed to emigrate here, but I am willing to bet the percentage is pretty small, and if a few people get checks that shouldn't, so be it. Until this government makes payment to African-Americans for all the work they did in building this country nothing will be right.

(There is whole other post here, too, on Native Americans and all of the broken treaties, but I would like to just mention briefly that no one has the right to enforce taxes on Indian gaming in tribal areas. This had become a big issue in California due to the success of Indian casinos. The reason Native Americans don't pay taxes to the U.S. government is that they were put on those reservations because all of their land and rights were taken from them. Google "Trail of Tears" if you don't know what I am talking about. The Cherokee tribe is NOT from Oklahoma, and that is just one example of many. And let us not forget that Hitler got the idea for concentration camps from U.S. reservations and small-pox infested blankets.)

Alot of the racial tension in Los Angeles these days is between blacks and latinos. This has alot to do with a war between black and latino prison gangs. And perhaps partly because many of the jobs that have been performed by African- Americans in the past (housekeeping, yard work, fast food, etc) go to Latinos in Los Angeles.

Also, immigrants from Mexico and South and Central America, unlike immigrants from other countries, are often poor. (African immigrants are more college educated than even Asians, according to Ivy league statistics.) Latinos live in the same neighborhoods that black people do in this country.

Personally, I think alot of the tensions between Latinos andAfrican-Americans in this country is the vastly different viewpoints they hold about their similar employment and economic situations. Latinos that come here see this as a land where the streets are lined with gold. In Los Angeles there is a whole strata of people who literally live out of our garbage. When you take your recycling to the curb on trash day in L.A. it is emptied of cans within minutes. I knew an older Mexican couple that made a decent living by going around to bars each night and emptying the trash cans of bottles and cans for recycling.

Anyone who has travelled to a third world country will tell you that the poorest person here is wealthy in comparison, even if only by opportunity. Many an American has been shocked to hear that the stereotypical 7-11 working Indian (from India) was wealthy in his country. It takes so much money to leave a third world country, and no matter how wealthy one is in the home country, it is still a poor country. Better to work in 7-11 here than live in a palace surrounded by poverty, starvation, and disease there.

So it is not surprising to me that two different viewpoints living side by side would have tension. African-Americans live in a "ghetto" and Latino immigrant live in a goldmine, to make an somewhat simplistic remark. And that is without getting into the difficulties African-Americans have faced in getting housing and business loans where immigrants from other countries have had no problems (in this case, mostly Asians).

Going back to those racist boys I knew in my youth (and those that I still encounter today, especially at Scottish festivals) it is ironic that they are always the ones that are so latched on to their own cultural heritage. I believe that all people should have a knowledge and understanding of their ancestory. To quote Marcus Garvey "A people without a knowledge of their history is like a tree without roots." But that doesn't make one legacy or heritage better than another.

National and ancestral pride is too often a convenient place to harbour hate. I have often amused myself with the thought that if any of the ideals of white pride were achieved, how quickly those groups would turn on each other. The Irish white pride group would then fight the German white pride groups, etc. I have no doubt it would quickly degenerate to blonde hair fighting brunettes and redheads, blue eyes fighting green eyes, etc. People who fear differences will always find differences to hate.

Even more ironic is the nationalist (either by birth or descent) who disdains outright white pride but still harbours racism. This often comes up in disguise (to other white people, not to black people or people of colour) as "why don't they just get over it, it's the past". The person who says this is usually the same person who holds a staunch opinion on Campbell versus Macdonald*, a feud which began in the 17th century. Get over it, indeed.

(Of course, in European countries it is not unusual to find feuds and wars that originated hundreds of years before. In fact, the Irish "Troubles" began about the same time that slaves from Africa were being brought to America. 1609 for the Troubles and 1619 for slavery, to be exact.)

In fact, when looking over the history of the world, it does seem that racism and slavery have always been with us. Even on the African continent. The pyramids were built by slaves. Even some Native American tribes took slaves from other tribes. My belief is that racism is actually deeply ingrained in all people. Back in the days of prehistoric man times were tough. If someone didn't look like your tiny tribe they were outsiders and if there was famine or drought that outsider probably wasn't there to shop for a mate or share their bounty. Best to kill them or run from them or at least lie to them before they stole your wooly mammoth carcass.

I have heard a lot of white people complaining about "reverse" racism, meaning blacks that are racist against whites. I think every person has the capability to be racist. (I actually agree with Louise Hay's assessment that every person has the capability to be Mother Theresa or Hitler. Anything one human is capable of all humans are capable of, given the right individual circumstances.)

Let's just take into account here that this is the first time in the history of this country that black people have had the opportunity to be racist. I am not saying that incidents like "Jena 6" is something I uphold, but let's go back to that battered wife analogy. I am not sure that it is really "reverse" racism so much as ancestral anger finally having a voice. This is the seeds of "Strange Fruit" and years of oppression.

I once dated a guy that often walked home from work late at night through a neighborhood (in L.A.) that skinheads often drove through looking for gay men to beat up. Since most skinheads are racist too, especially the kind that drive around in groups beating people up, I begged him to call me to drive him after work. He was tall and a bodybuilder and had grown up in a tough part of Philadelphia, but I still worried about him.

He refused, telling me, "A black man with his head bowed is a nigger, and a black man with his head up is a threat. I can't win playing their game. I refuse to be afraid or change my life."

Nothing ever happened to him, but his words have stayed with me. In the South black men used to be called "boy". I am not sure that even the most enlightened white person can ever really understand the black experience in America. So while I think racism of any kind needs to be examined and then removed from one's personal inventory, I think there also needs to be room made for whatever anger African-Americans feel. I think we white people need to do whatever we can to really listen. Here. Now. With understanding and acceptance, whether your people were here back then or owned slaves or not.

And for the record, on the other side of Life, in the spirit world, Love sees no colour. There is a good chance, in fact, that on the other side we experience everything that anyone has ever experienced. Which means that, once you die, your soul will be white, black, man, women, thin, fat, Hindu, Jew, old, young, tall, short, fast, slow, etc.

Well, I've said my piece. Feel free to email me if you'd like.

PRAISES, THANKS, & BLESSINGS!!!

*FROM WIKIPEDIA: Massacre of Glencoe, 1692, 38 unarmed MacDonalds from the Clan MacDonald of Glencoe were murdered in the Massacre of Glencoe when an initiative to suppress Jacobitism was entangled in the long running feud between Clan MacDonald and Clan Campbell. The slaughter of the host MacDonalds at the hands of their Campbell guests was a major affront to Scottish Law and Highland tradition. Massacre of Glencoe, 1692, 38 unarmed MacDonalds from the Clan MacDonald of Glencoe were murdered in the Massacre of Glencoe when an initiative to suppress Jacobitism was entangled in the long running feud between Clan MacDonald and Clan Campbell. The slaughter of the host MacDonalds at the hands of their Campbell guests was a major affront to Scottish Law and Highland tradition.