Don't Talk About My Mama

A couple folks forwarded me the same item upon which I will briefly comment. The item is an article which essentially said that whitefolks would expect to get 10,000 for being being black, but 1 million bucks for giving up TV. This evidently shocks a lot of people who are convinced that whitefolks treasure and value their whiteness.

How much do white Americans think it "costs" to be black in our society, given the problems associated with racial bias and prejudice?

The answer, it appears, is not much.

When white Americans were asked to imagine how much they would have to be paid to live the rest of their lives as a black person, most requested relatively low amounts, generally less than $10,000.

In contrast, study participants said they would have to be paid about $1 million to give up television for the rest of their lives.

The results suggest most white Americans don't truly comprehend the persisting racial disparities in our country, said Philip Mazzocco, co-author of the study and assistant professor of psychology at Ohio State University's Mansfield campus.

So, like I've been saying, this is another proof that black culture is transparent, and there is really nothing mysterious about it. We have a shared culture in America and there are no profound differences.

Secondly it proves that whitefolks, swimming in a sea of whitefolks, don't take their whiteness half as seriously as blackfolks swimming in a sea of blackfolks take their blackness. What it means to be white is not an important question to whites. What it means to be black is not an important question to whites.  What it means to be black is an important question to blacks. What it means to be white is an important question to blacks.  Blacks care more about racial identity. I will call this a cultural psychology. Everyone who thinks of themselves as a minority obsesses over their perceived differences. One's ability to self-destruct, especially when worn close to the surface, far surpasses others' ability and willingness to destroy you.

What do you do the the man who tells you that you better not talk about his mama? How do you oppress a black man? What does it take to make an overweight woman insecure? All of the answers are as simple as falling off a log.