Dominoes

Let's forget the thickos and the uneducated for a tiny second . We can excuse them .

Why do white educated people ( with all the Martin Luther King stuff , and hey we've all wept listening to 'Strange Fruit' , and apartheid is crap , and we aren't going to buy those peaches , and everyone has read Frantz Fanon and Césaire , Senghor , Toni Morrisson bla bla bla ). White educated people who know that eleven MILLION people were displaced from Africa to the Caribbean and to America . White educated people who know that the people who were criminally kept down are their equals in every sense .


Well , why do those white educated people secretly know/ hope that their grandchildren won't be black ?

[Aliantha]

Do they?

OK , Aliantha , it's even worse . They do not even entertain the idea .

[Aliantha]

I think you're making a sweeping statement that's simply not true.

Well , it's true for me . It is a terrible thing for me to admit . I am an intellectual who is profoundly motivated and convinced by the idea of our common humanity . I combat racism every day .

I am also the product of my childhood . My parents were seen as avant-gard in Africa . They were . It was also clear to me that I was white in all the countries I went to as a child .

I am now in the French Caribbean . My children are the only white pupils in the class . They are of an age when children fall in love .

I know that there is a wall in my head that has been built over centuries against that .

I recognize that wall , and ask questions . I dare to ask questions . I think Cyclefrance will understand . It is to do with Kipling and The British Empire as well .

[Aliantha]

Well you can talk about colonialism and empirical thought as much as you want, and maybe it's true that you feel that way (I think that's what you're trying to say) and if so, I would think that perhaps you need to change your world view.

To answer your question; I don't think 'all' educated white people feel that way. It's certainly true that some do. In my personal experience, there is much to be gained by having children of mixed race, but it's also challenging. I don't think my parents gave it a second thought when I started dating a man who's skin colour was different to mine, and I'm certain they were overjoyed when we told them I was expecting his child. My parents are far from uneducated although they don't have university degrees.

Maybe my family is different, but the racial diversity in our large group is great in my view. We have people from pacific islands, Japan, Portugal and the Phillipines who have married into our family and therefore have lots of dark skinned kids running around with the fair skinned ones. The children are colour blind.

It's a shame some adults aren't although it's not a problem we have in our family.

Thank you for being so frank and true , Aliantha .

[Aliantha]

No problem. This is a very serious issue and I think it's a shame that educated people can still feel that way about race. I certainly don't think any country has solved the problem of racism in any of it's forms and the further problems associated with these types of views only bring confusion into the mix.

Ultimately, if you're worried about your kids getting involved with kids of a different race, I would suggest taking the blinders off for a minute and try not being a slave to your upbringing and education. Let yourself be free of what you're afraid of.

Aliantha , I would not for a minute stop my children from falling in love with anyone .

I am just trying to be honest about all the mental luggage a child of the ex British Empire carries around .

[Aliantha]

I'm a child of the same empire but I don't have the same thoughts. I just don't think racism can be blamed soley on ones heritage. Doesn't there come a time when everyone gets to choose which is wheat and which is chaff?

[Aliantha]

btw...my apologies for misinterpreting what you meant.

I think that I try to get rid of that luggage more than most people with a similar heritage to mine do .

Whoops , our messages are crossed .

[Aliantha]

Well that's good for you. Maybe in time more people will do the same. The pity of it all is that I don't believe there's that much time left. Some people tell me I'm a pesimist, but when you see all the hate in the world, it doesn't leave much room for hope.

But it does not matter . I think we are beginning to understand each other .