How much of our life is really our own? More specifically, how much of yourself is really you? Before you read this, please finish this statement, “I am who I am because ____”. I asked this same question to a ton of my friends and there were two common answers. One, that they are who they are because of their mother (nobody said their father, even if they had one). Two, because of the experiences from their childhood whether they be good or bad. Another notable answer, though less common, was the ability to overcome hardship and how that shaped personality. Of course, these answers only make sense, right? You will become a product of your environment, because the absence of anything outside of what is in front of you blocks you from being anything else. So, that again conjures up the question, “how much of yourself is really you?” Are you okay saying you are your past? Personally, being someone who comes from a childhood of gang violence, I do not feel comfortable saying that’s who I am. Is it possible to be an “unexpected outcome” of your childhood?
Most events in one’s life are usually inevitable, it should be up to the person experiencing them to learn and handle it in the way they need to. But is that ability to interpret information from life’s experiences an instinctual privilege or is it a learned one? If we look at politics, literature, music, decision making, interpretation are key elements to it all. I believe the ability to gather information is in fact an instinctual privilege. However, one’s interpretation of that information is structured by idols and their views. Whether that be parents or other influences, everyone in High School finds someone they look up to and follows learns from their values. This is somewhat eerie, because most high school students feel as though they have found who they are, and know who they want to be. But, at the core of a person’s development throughout adolescence is taking and gathering from media, local trends and beliefs, societal structures and ideas adopted from idols.
That is why, it is impossible for white people to understand, interpret information (create counter-opinions) of, nor relate to, what it is like to be a person of color in The United States of America. If you are a white person, no matter class, the information that you receive from the environment that surrounds you(the societal structure of your country), and the information you receive from inevitable life events, which is available for your interpretation (based off of your idols or mentors) would not by nature match the interpretation from a person of color. Therefore, chronologically from your lifetime, you will never be able to have the ability to interpret any information that can deny that of a person of color. An attempt to do so, would be a complete conclusion based off of your life as a white person, which not by nature would match the chronology of lifetime for that of a person of color, no matter what class. For example, a black person from a rich white community who is a trump supporter, the information received from events, would be interpreted similar because of idols influenced to them by a community that is prejudice against them. However, the intake of the interpretation would inevitably be harmful for the person of color. Solely because, being a person of color, racism is something you will experience no matter what.
As a person of color, the world is so much different for us, from birth. We have the affects of racism in our lives from birth, people who are white do not. People of color, our story, our claims, are real. They are true. They are backed up by the nature of life itself, because of the information forced upon us from birth, about how The United States feels about us/racism. Racism is a system of oppression. It is a system, created by white people, because their interpretation of the information they received when seeing a person of color is to make us a second class citizen. This interpretation is influenced by their mentors, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Christopher Columbus. We have been able to identify their racism because of abolitionists and civil rights activists. Racism as a source of information, telling us about the intentions and impacts the dominant culture has for us. Racism as a source of information, forced onto us because we are the minority, making us know from the information racism has (economic structure, share of opportunity, being treated equal to the dominant culture) , forced us to understand and know without consent, what it is like to be a victim of racism, and be a person of color, within The United States of America.
Since we know now that interpretation is influenced by mentors throughout adolescence, white people could only ever be caring enough about racism, if they learn from the same mentors we do. We need leaders who are people of color to explain to white people, the information we have by nature of the life for a person of color in The United States of America, has been interpreted correctly. But, white people need to be able to listen and to actually go through with listening to, people of color. So, at the next Black Lives Matter rally, a black person needs to have the floor. It is not going to be white people convincing each other to fight racism, it is going to be people of color taking down racism.
White people, I’m sorry if this seems aggressive. But, racism deserves no respect when being spoken about, so please try and understand the anger, and listen to it. Please, be involved, listen to the people of color in your community. Questioning for the purpose of understanding is acceptable. It’s a life that you could never truly grasp. But trying to deny someone of racism they experience, something that was placed against us from birth does not even make sense. Get involved with your local people of color and support us in making a difference!
“Be yourself” or “Be who you want to be” both encouraging phrases for self esteem, but two very different messages. Be yourself is a boost of self esteem, when someone feels like being who they want to be. It is ok to take criticism, it is necessary to growth, and being who you want to be.
