Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Fo' shizzie



Since I have a couple of friends here that have been bitching about the fact that they can't read my bulgarian blog, I decided to make a post in english, make them happy, make them stop bitching. So they can see what the "hype" is all about. I am pretty sure most bulgarian readers here know english already. I hope nobody reading this, thinks that I am trying to show off my knowledge of the english language – its not like that. I know mostly simple words and slang (words like "benevolence" I have to look up in the dictionary).
I don't know if you know, but the word "nigger" is what a white person should never say in the presence of a black one. Unless he likes getting into fights. Since I know what that word entails, I feel bad even writing it and I feel even worse because I know Eric will read this. But I am sure he will forgive me for the sake of explaining this to my bulgarian friends (or he will forgive me after I buy him a couple of Bud Lights). Again Eric - My bad. Anyway, from now on I will refer to that word by saying N (and Ns for plural), just so Eric would be able to finish reading this without exploding with anger.
Well it might not look like it, but Eric here is black. His parents are black, his grandparents are black, his cousins are black. You get the idea - he grew up among black folks. It seems though that he has been struck by a weird gene. if I did not tell you he was black, you probably wouldn't guess it… neither do racist white people with mullets, racist white people at work, racist white people at the bar. I have personally witnessed (more then once) when someone told Eric an N joke not knowing that he is black. It’s painful and funny at the same time. It’s a good thing Eric tries not to pay attention to it as much. Although I am sure he feels like punching them in the face. I have heard what white racist people have to say about blacks. It goes something like this:
"Ns hate us and discriminate against us, so why shouldn't I do the same, right? Plus they get all those benefits such as there have to be an x number of blacks working for a company with x number of employees. That means that even if they are not qualified enough for the job, they will get it. And that's not fair, is it? If one of them moves into your neighborhood the price of the houses in that neighborhood drops and I don't want none of that shit. Why are most crimes committed by blacks and not whites? So that’s it... I am going to discriminate… they deserve it"
I have heard this lecture a few times. I don't know if the lecture looks logical to you. It kind of does sound logical but anything can sound logical depending on how you present it. Ask anyone that works in marketing.
But it would be nice/fair to look at the opposite point of view. How would a black person perceive those arguments? I am not black (you can tell because I don’t have nappy hair), but I will try to present the way I think their point of view is.
First a simple question... Do you think that all blacks are criminals, or lazy, or mean, or not understanding? Answer is obliviously NO. So why generalize and stereotype all of them. So imagine a restaurant owner, or an office manager, or anyone that is in the position of hiring for a position. Now let’s pretend you (the reader) are black and looking for a job. So you go to interview and apply for the job. You try to talk like white people do, just so you can get the job. You have credentials to get the job. But what ends up happening is that the owner is racist (whether you have suspected it or not) and he thinks that probably it isn't worth taking the chance of hiring a black person. You might steal, not work, the other people at work might not like you, and to top it off... the boss just doesn't like black people (just like his dad didn't like them). So you don't get hired because you are black. That's ok... you try another job... you wouldn't want a racist boss anyways. And you keep trying. In order for you to get hired, you have to shine above and beyond all other white applicants or the boss to have the need to fill his quota of black people hired for the company. It sucks. Then sometimes you can tell the boss is only interviewing you, just because he has to post the position (its required by law)… but the fact that he is going to hire his nephew regardless of your skills is a little depressing (this is a good resemblance with Bulgaria). Then you go to the bar and some mulleted-tattooed-drunk-Harley Davidson biker is telling his mulletted-tattooed-drunk biker friends N jokes. And you can’t help but overhear. And then you step on somebody’s foot on accident and he starts saying “N this, N that, fuck you, fuck this”. I know I am exaggerating this story a little bit but almost any black person can tell you a few stories about how he was wrongfully discriminated against. And little by little you start hating white people. They don’t let you get a job, look at you like you are going to steal something any minute, or screw something up. You get tired of it and you say… “Motherfuckers… they are going to treat me this way…shiiiiit, then I will get all they give me… and then I will ask for some more. And if they keep it up… I just may take something… not because I steal… but that’s what they deserve for their attitude”. Things like this add up. Little by little. How many judges are racists, how many cops are racist… quite a few. Ok. You (the reader) can go back to being white again. So what should you do? What should be your attitude
towards blacks? I’ll tell you. White people (you) should become more tolerant. You should get rid of the “if blacks hate me, I should hate them back” – attitude. And if a black person says something discriminative against you – let it go. And if you keep being nice, sooner or later they will they will realize you are not such a bad guy (for white guy ). If you are nice to them, they will be nice back. It only makes sense. It will take some time. And it might not work. But it is the right thing to do – that’s what I think anyways.

5 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well, I have some things to say here:

1) Never, ever, use Word or other inteligent text editor again to create your posts. These smileys get completely @#$@# (see the squares above?)

2) Racism is a bad thing. No matter if its "white" or "black" racism. Yes, we have to be tolerant. And Yes - we have to be equal. But tell me something: let A and B are equally knowlegeable and equally intelligent and equally good for a given job. Except the fact that A is black. So if that's the case, wouldn't it be racism if A is taken over B just because of this racist quota-shit? Or this is the right thing to do and the thing how it should be?

3) I have heard both for "black" and "white" discrimination. And not only in USA, but also in Bulgaria. I am sure you can give plenty of examples, right? If you can't, I shall help you: What will happen if your parents do not pay their electricity bill for this month? And what happens now, when plenty of Roma (ромски, for the Bulgarians here) families do not pay their elecricity bill from August 2004? I am sure you know...

5:26 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

We talked about it on the ICQ last night, but thanks again for this post! Your opinion was very important and useful for me. Honest.

6:58 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I had no idea you were blogging such serious thoughts. For some reason I thought you were writing about silly socks, tacos and the occasional fat lady on a lawn-mower. I was hoping for something funnier. But I guess non-Bulgarians can't be choosers, eh? Thanks for thinking of us Americans, regardless ;)

10:48 AM  
Blogger Сашо skype: akartchinski79 said...

@ Doncho
I will try to answer your questions later today. It might take me a little bit of time because I want to be thorough.

@ Eric "We are hoping for a little lighter subject next time though." - There won't be a next time :)

7:45 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Саше, защо си написал този пост на английски?

10:16 AM  

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