michelleponders

I am so sick and tired of people who continuously cry racism in EVERYTHING! There are people with huge followings who claim everything is racist or make racist comments themselves. And what gets me even more is that these same people believe that it is ok for them to call out what they perceive as racism but no one with less melanin in their skin is allowed to call out racism. You can not call out racism if you are racist yourself.

The latest whining is come from Joy Reid who is now claiming that the song ‘Jingle Bells’ is racist. Reid claims that there is a plaque in Boston, Massachusetts that shows that a ‘racist Confederate soldier wrote ‘Jingle Bells’ to make fun of black people. Supposedly, the song was originally released by the title ‘The One Horse Open Sleigh’ and performed at Ordway Hall in blackface in September of 1857. Of course, a lot of songs were performed in blackface at that time in history. This is certainly something we have since learned that is not nice and very rude so the practice has long been abandoned. But if this is true, is still does not make the song racist. The composer, James Lord Pierpont, fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War. He also wrote a few racist minstrel songs as well. Then Reid tries to link the lyrics stating ‘laughing all the way’ with references to a racist comedic routine known as the ‘Laughing Darkie’. Really? That is quite the stretch. This is just the latest tantrum. Jasmine Crockett(R-TX) is another race baiter. Crockett was recorded saying “we need illegals in the U.S. because we done pickin’ cotton”. Really? Why would you say something like that? Cotton growers have been using tractors with special attachments for picking the cotton for years now. The tractors also have lights with gas or diesel power. Cotton can be picked before and after the sun goes down and no longer needs a horse, plow or multiple people to get the job done. Crockett was recently on MSNOW and made the following comment, “You wanna deport? Let’s start with white supremacists!! Overall, dey commitin more crime.” Oh really Jaz? Tell me why many inmates are being labeled as white under the race section of their inmate information? Then when you look at the mug shots, there is no way the inmate in white. It is obvious that the said inmate is black or brown. Talk about skewing the statistics! Of course the root of the problem is how inmates are classified by race, which is problem that needs to be fixed withing the judicial system. But this seems to give certain people the idea that they can say white supremacists are committing more crime than any other race.

This is just a few examples of people in the spotlight who are what I like to call a race baiter. Race baiters get their clicks and make their money on making statements or wild conspiracy theories based on race. Why?! Why are these people still making everything they find into something about race? It drives me crazy! I am beyond tired of hearing all these racists tropes and the fatigue is real. We have come a long way in dealing with racism but because certain groups of people want to constantly say something is racist, the people following them just fall in line and believe the same thing. Critical thinking and researching and thinking for yourself is just not something that people do anymore. The general population has been taught since childhood to latch on to someone in power who makes you feel good and believe what they say even if it makes your spidey senses tingle and you give them the side eye. In other words, racism is still being taught at home, schools, churches and the town square. If you do not feel right about what this person or group says or stands for, you must still go along with it because you must go along with the narrative being presented. But for the most part, the crowd will go along the completely racist narrative because they want to feel like they have been seen and heard. Even if the narrative is absolutely wrong.

As a gen-Xer, I have seen a lot of change when it comes to racism. And I should know. I am what is considered mixed. My mom is white with a northern Europe decent and my dad is Spanish/Indian decent. My maiden name is Hispanic. In the winter I tend to be rather light but once the weather warms up and I am outside a lot more, I get pretty dark. Now my dad stays dark year round and so did my grandpa. But I have always been two toned so to speak. I have curly frizzy hair. Curly hair runs on both sides to my family and my hair also became very frizzy too. Now, I say all this because I was bullied a lot growing up. I was told that I was either Mexican or black. I am neither. I have a mixed ethnic background. Growing up, I was always told I was white; that was partially true. I was always told to check white on applications when asked the race question. So that is what I did because it was partially correct. I have never been ashamed of my white heritage. My Hispanic/Indian heritage was another story. But I think because I was always teased about it, kids were very cruel, I just did not want to celebrate the heritage from my dad. It was not until after I grew up did I finally celebrate my entire heritage. But I grew up in a time when it was still not normal to see couples of mixed races together, much less having a child together. The racially mixed child was still not really accepted by either side of their family and feels like an outsider. I was lucky that my family never treated me like an outsider. Now, families of racially mixed kids would never do that. Unfortunately we have gone to the other extreme and the child will side with the heritage that is considered still oppressed because that is what is taught. But no one is really oppressed in America. It has more to do with choices they make. Children should be taught to embrace all of their heritage and be proud of being an American because ultimately, Americans are who we are. I tend to not check race on much of anything these days because it should not matter.

Dr. Martin Luther King said that a person should be judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin. I believe that whole heartedly and that is how I judge people, especially after being bullied so much growing up because of my skin color. Now, the changes made towards racism, is the acceptance of people of different ethnic backgrounds dating, getting married and having children. No matter if it is black/white, black/Hispanic, white/Hispanic etc., skin color does not seem to matter. And because we are sinful in nature there will always be groups who will always try to create something out of nothing.