J.E.Mosel
  • Home
  • Gallery
  • Illustration
  • Sketches
  • Writing
  • Thoughts & News
  • Contact
  • Photos
  • Illustrations in Progress
  • Earth Ride (The Pipeline Blog)

Dear White People: Do Better. Listen.

11/11/2016

0 Comments

 
"There are many white people who mean right and in their hearts wanna do right. If 10,000 snakes were coming down that aisle now, and I had a door that I could shut, and in that 10,000, 1,000 meant right, 1,000 rattlesnakes didn’t want to bite me, I knew they were good... Should I let all these rattlesnakes come down, hoping that that thousand get together and form a shield? Or should I just close the door and stay safe?"
 
Some of you have heard this quote before, from an interview of Muhammad Ali in 1971, and many have shared it already in past months or years or even at the time. I urge you to watch him speak the full quote himself. It is all the more true, relevant, and painful once again today. A cautionary tale. A painful one. Please, no matter who you supported, read this and try to understand. So that we can work forward.
 
There were 10,000 snakes coming down that aisle.
 
And many were professedly, blatantly, and proudly willing to bite. The rest? They formed no shield.
 
White people, privileged people, safe people, let those rattlesnakes descend upon our fellow Americans. We were those rattlesnakes. We have shown our natures – confirmed the question, time and time again, when it comes down to it. Even those who "mean right and in their hearts wanna do right." Some, in the form of direct votes for the man just elected, and some, in not voting. Or others, in a lack of care, lack of empathy, lack of sight, lack of seriousness, lack of responsibility, lack of dedication, lack of listening. . . We did not do all that we could to stop an unsafe and hateful situation, and instead tolerated it. It disgusts me that I have to explain this, that white people still do not get it, did not and do not take things seriously. In all of this, I also want to avoid stroking the egos of white people by inflating their sense of importance. There are too many out there already with White Savior mentalities. That is not what I want. That's not what anyone wants. I highly doubt that is what Muhammad Ali's quote is suggesting by a shield -- his quote is saying that there have been violent, hateful, and racist people who identify as white. Despite those white people who are honestly "good", the fact remains that there is a danger to people of color. And that, unfortunately, white people historically and presently cannot be relied upon to do what is required of them: confront the racism in themselves, and stand up against the racism in other white people. Especially if it causes them inconvenience or discomfort. So, it seems the safer, more logical choice to avoid white people altogether. That it is certainly, based on this, in one's best interest to be wary. (And Muhammad Ali goes on to explain that he cannot so quickly forget the 400 years of lynching, killing, rape, and injustices and ignore all of that when he sees a white person)

After this election and its rhetoric, after so much of the history of this country in particular.... it is very hard to disagree. Especially when the odds of a bite are, perhaps, far more likely than one in ten. It would seem so, when I look at a map of the vote of this country.


Read More
0 Comments
    Picture
    Picture
    Thoughts, musings, updates about your's truly, and what I am up to.

    Archives

    August 2019
    February 2019
    July 2018
    March 2018
    March 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    July 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    February 2014
    October 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    May 2012
    September 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010

    Categories

    All
    Ainu
    Art
    Art Festival
    Australia
    Bees
    Bike Trip
    Biking
    Biomass
    Chiang Mai
    Chippewa National Forest
    Climate Change
    Corvallis Fall Festival
    Daily Life
    Distance Running
    Drought
    Earthride
    Ecophysiology
    Education
    Environment
    Equality
    Feminism
    Forest
    Forest Management
    Fulbright
    Graduate School
    Hiking
    History
    Hokkaido
    Japan
    Kindness
    Kyoto
    Lake Harriet
    Mac 50k
    Marathon
    McDonald Forest
    Minnehaha
    Minnesota
    Morioka
    Native
    Nature
    New Zealand
    Oregon
    Oregon State University
    Paintings
    PhD
    Plants
    Politics
    Quotes
    Research
    Rights
    Running
    Sappachi
    Sapporo
    Science
    Shiretoko
    Silviculture
    Sister
    Spring
    State Park
    St. Olaf
    Summer
    Thailand
    Tokyo
    Track
    Trail Running
    Travel
    Tree Climbing
    Trees
    Trump
    Tsukuba
    Ultra-marathon
    United States
    Walk
    Winter
    Writing

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.