[Jessica]

As a white American, let me tell you my general responses when I see African art in someone's place of dwelling, be it home or office. My first response is, 'Wow, that's beautiful.' My second is, 'Oh, God, here we go, affirming African identity as a means to cast off the oppressive and hateful dominant white culture.' My third reaction is, 'You're (talking to myself) a f***ing racist, you know that?' My fourth reaction is, 'God, I'm a horrible person for having these thoughts and feelings.' My fifth reaction is, 'Well, what should I expect? I'm white. I'm supposed to be like this, right? That's what everyone's been telling me from the time I was nine.' My sixth reaction is, 'Well, it IS beautiful art. And it IS perfectly fine that a person would want to display it to assert his or her identity. And I AM just being a sensitive ninny by assuming that the display of the artwork is really the person trying to say, 'F*** you, you white b****.'

The bottom line is that white people in general are threatened by it - and the kicker is that most of us don't even realize it. For those of us who want to consider ourselves tolerant and open to people of all backgrounds, the very suggestion that you ('you' being the generalized) would want to stand up and say, 'Look, I am not like you. I have my own heritage that is different from yours,' especially from the African-American perspective, is like saying, 'We've struggled for equality, now we want disassociation.' (Which, by the way, is perfectly normal, reasonable and justifiable.) I suppose this is a direct reflection of the unconscious mentality that black people are just white people with darker skin. I suppose that's how I've always viewed black people. It may not be right (well, OK, it ISN'T right), but I believe this is the explanation for your friends' behavior. They are probably seeing your artwork and finding themselves stuck on how they should respond to it. More often than not I find myself tripping over myself, trying to decide what is the appropriate response and what will get me lambasted for either being patronizing or racist, when I really should just be myself.

User Detail :  

Name : Jessica, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White and Arab, Religion : Christian, Age : 24, City : San Diego, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : student, lifeguard, swim instructor, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,