Sometimes I question whether I have a right to even discuss
racial issues; after all, I am obviously Caucasian. What do I know about racial prejudice? I do know about being Jewish, Yankee, female,
being of a lower socioeconomic status and having unpopular political beliefs
(at varying times and places). But I don’t
know how it feels to be Black, Latino or Asian.
But wait—apparently that doesn’t matter anymore! In fact, you now you can choose your sex and
your race. No matter how you came into
this world biologically, you can make decisions at any point in your life to
become something different.
Transgender people use medication and surgery to make the
change; changing your race requires
liberal use of tanning lotions and doing strange things to your hair. This is all well and good, I suppose, and
basically none of my concern. If I have
no relationship to a person who does these things I certainly agree. I respect an individual’s right to live as
they choose and will call them whatever they choose to be called.
However, I can have an opinion. I can speculate how I would feel if my
mother, father, son, daughter, sister, brother, employer, co-worker, et al
would make those changes. I once had a
co-worker whose brother-in-law had previously been her husband’s sister. From what she said, this fact was known by
everyone in the family—except the man’s wife and children. The children, of course, were adopted; the story
was that he had some kind of injury to his reproductive system. In addition, he had changed his surname and
religion (although I don’t know what that had to do with his gender). I couldn’t help but wonder about the
awkwardness of family gatherings. I
guess they didn’t share old photo albums.
Also had to wonder about what happens when his children do find out the
truth—because you know they will someday.
I can see that you can deal when you know it’s happening; it’s
a logical progression. When someone in
your family is uncomfortable in their skin and talks about it, it’s not a shock
when they actually make the change. However,
that is a far different issue than the current media hurricane surrounding
Rachael Dolezal. The general summary is
that her parents “outed” her and depending on your viewpoint this is either a
natural occurrence or a travesty infringing on her rights.
Just thinking logically here, how would I feel if a child of
mine acted to the world as if they were not biologically connected to me? If said child had actually been adopted and
was biologically of a different race, I can see no problem with identifying as
one race or the other. Dark skinned
children of mixed parentage do tend to identify with the darker race. Society identifies them with the darker race. But a fair-skinned, blond, freckled
biological child deciding in mid-life to identify as another race and
completely deny their actual heritage?
Yeah, I’d have a problem with that.
There is speculation that her family was dysfunctional and that is why
she disconnected from them. Only she
knows—and she ain’t saying.
Honestly, the thing I have the most trouble with, really, is
dishonesty. Dishonesty to your family,
your peers, the world at large is not admirable not matter how wonderful the
actions that follow. Culturally we seem to
be sending mixed messages these days.
Dishonest politicians—bad.
Dishonest bankers and businessman—bad.
Liberals believe that being proud of your race is good—if you’re Black,
Hispanic, Asian or Native American. The Tea Party faction believes it is ok to be proud
of being white. So, is it bad to be
liberal and proud to be white? Can you
see why I’m confused? Is it not okay to
fight for the rights of all people even if you don’t look like them? Can you not be comfortable with a group of people
that look different from you and still be proud of who you are?
I am proud of my eastern European heritage but I count
African-American people among my friends.
I am comfortable in groups of people that accept me and respect me for
who I am. If I have to pretend to be
someone else or look like someone else to feel that level of comfort, then it’s
all a sham.
So—why does Caitlyn Jenner have to be a sexy cover girl to
be okay as a woman—and why does Rachael Dolezal have to be black to be an advocate
for black people? Anyone have any good
answers to those questions? I shudder to
think what will happen when we have A.I.* beings to deal with.
*Artificial Intelligent
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