Race and the Society of It

Aliaya N. Miller

                                                          I: Definitions & Categories
What does race mean for you? What does society mean to you? What about culture?
Warning: THIS MAY CHANGE YOR MIND ABOUT RACE, CULTURE, AND EVEN POLITICS.
I'm here to tell you all about it. This is NOT TO OFFEND ANYONE.
How many races do you think there are? 2? 4? 15?
If you picked more than or less than 2 then you're wrong. Guess what? The only two races there are is BLACK AND WHITE.
I'm going to categorize it for you:
For example, Asians and Chinese people ARE BLACK. Don't get fooled. There are indeed darker Asians and Chinese people. Search those 'groups' would show only LIGHTER ONES. People don't want us to know about the darker ones. Look at the films 'Rush Hour', 'Rush Hour 2', 'Rush Hour 3'.
In those movies, you see the typical China Town. Who do you mostly see? That's right, lighter Chinese people.
You're probably thinking but how for Asians?
Don't they have slant eyes? Yes, that's true. Think about it. You know how you inherited from other family members? That's what's going on with these 'groups'. Inheriting from the 2 races.
Black (adj.): Very dirty or dark. That's the definition of now.
Black (adj.): Lacking lightness. That's the old definition.
Why did they change it? People don't want us to know about stuff like that.
I shouldn't get in too much with black, let me list another pair:
1. Native Americans          2. Indians         3. Mexicans
Now the white race. You have that typical race, too. Germans and Europeans by far I can tell is in the race.
White (adj.): The light color of milk or fresh snow; opposite of black. The new definition.
White (adj.): Color of fresh snow. Very light. The old definition. THE SAME DEFINITON, RIGHT?
                                                            II: RACISM & Holidays
There's so much experience with racism. I MEAN A LOT OF IT.
Let me give you my experience, a personal anecdote with my experience.
Personal Anecdote (adj.): A short, obscure historical or biographical account. (In case you didn't know what it means).
My dad told me about this:
My cousin was babysitting me. I was 3 or so by then.
I climbed on top of the table. The table fell down on me in a mean nasty way. Such a nasty way that my finger almost fell off.
Later on she called my grandparents and parents. They came and my dad was holding me. Someone was knocking on the door.
Dad answered it and two cops came. One was Mexican and the other was White. They looked at me and him. It's possible that they were thinking something like "Oh, they're black. Should we do something?".
They asked him a couple of questions. They looked mad and were holding their guns.
Think about it. What would've happened if we WERE WHITE?
Think about the real world.
Full of violence and RACISM.
Now someone else's anecdote. From DIRECT QUOTE. Her name is Chanting:
'Another French Fry soared past Chanting's head and landed on the floor next to where she and her group were seated. 'We should hurry up and leave,' one of her friends urged. They had heard a lot about incidents like this. The staff and college heads of their campus residents had warned them before, and encourage them for such events.
Chanting and her friends ignored the local kids, and concentrate to finish their meals. Soon, their taunters and left, as Chanting had hoped. She and her friends hadn't reacted, and they were alright. And she fortunate: the kids had not hurled rocks, which has been the case for a report.
But she couldn't help but feel uneasily feeling in her stomach.'
That's Chanting's story.
                                                           III: Racism and HOLIDAYS Part II
Now, I'm going to introduce you about holidays.
First, let's look up to Christopher Columbus Day.
'The first person to find America.' Guess what? That's not even close to being true.
Some of you might already know that Indians really found America. Guess what Columbus did?
He made them his slaves so he could have this important treasure. That's why he came to America. A lot of people I know call him a savage for what he did whenever the topic is bought up.
Before he slaved them, Columbus peacefully taught them new things the Indians never knew about.
Here's a diary that was found:
'...gave to some of them red caps and to other glass beads, which hung on their necks, and many other things with slight value in which pleasure.'
He's saying that he prizes and like their jewelry and wishes to have them.
'...they bear no arms, nor therefore; I showed them swords and they gasped. They have not iron. Their darts are a kind of a rod without iron, and some have that the end of a fish's tooth and others, other things. '
He's now showing them the stuff they never knew. He notices that they don't have most things that he has.
'[The people] are generally fairly tall and good and well built. I saw some who had marks of wounds on their bodies, and made signs to them to ask what it was, and they showed me that people of other islands, which were near, came there and wished to capture them and defend themselves.'
Now he's observing the Indians and is almost going to write about his plan.
'And I believed and believed that people do come here to keep them as slaves. They ought to be good servants and of good skill, for I believe that they would easily be made Christians, because seemed to me that they belonged to no religion. I, please Our Lord, will carry off six of them at my departure to Your Highness, that they will learn to speak.'
Columbus will force them to search for such treasure just because of their jewelry. He thinks that they know where they got them from.
He's going to teach them Christianity while ruling them.
I know what you're thinking. THIS CAN'T BE POSSIBLE. It's true. You'll be even more shocked in the NEXT TWO CHAPTERS.
                                                                IV: Racism and HOLIDAYS    Part III
OH WOW. Such a wonderful holiday. CHRISTMAS! You know one of made up characters, Santa Claus? He's a chubby, and has pale-ish or maybe even lighter skin person.
That's DEFITENLY NOT SANTA CLAUS. His name is St. Nicholas. He's African American and not so chubby.
 Here's how it all started:
He's a REAL PERSON who was a bishop. St. Nicholas met up with a poor nobles man who had three daughters. The three daughters were going to be prostitutes.
Prostitute(noun): A person, typically a woman, who engages in sexual activity for payment.
He gave a joy of giving. He handed them three bags of gold and that's where it all started.
He was in prison for several years because of this good deed.
He died on December 6 around A.D. 326 and 341.
WOW RIGHT?! That was game changing for me too!
                                                            V:  Racism and HOLIDAYS   Part IV
This is the last one before I get off of topic.
The fresh smell of turkey, greens, yams, and more.
Thanksgiving. One of my personal favorite holidays.
It's all about giving thanks and sharing what you're thankful for.
That's how the story started, right? Not really.
Let me tell you about it:
It's definitely full of horror with this story. The original Natives have been killed.
The Pilgrims came over to the Indians land and they taught the Pilgrims everything they knew. The only reason that the Pilgrims came to the land was because they wanted the Indians land.
Shocking fact, right? Then after they were killed, the Pilgrims kept the land to themselves for two decades.
If it weren't for the Pilgrims coming and the Indians giving them a feast, the Pilgrims wouldn't have killed them.
To be continued...
REMEBER, THIS IS NOT TO OFFEND ANYONE!