OMG! YAY!!

[seraphcelene]

Inauguration Day 2009

I really wonder if people who are not "of color" really comprehend the magnitude of today for the "others" in the country. There is a great deal of validation and surprise and pride because, honest to god, at 31 (almost 32) I never thought that this would happen before I was way old and gray. Racism is alive and well in this country, but now I find myself questioning my established idea that it isn't something that can be set aside (at least for a little while) in favor of the common good. Not that Obama is the best thing since sliced bread. He's a man and a politician, but, in the end, I think that he may just be what's best for the country right now, in this moment. I am stunned and thrilled and amazed.

One of my co-workers who is a 40-ish white woman (that I think is totally the bee's knees, btw) said way back after November 4th that she wasn't surprised by the election's outcome. She had thought he could win even though she voted for the other guy. It was in that moment that I was struck, very close to home, by the differences in our lived experiences. I mean, I know the differences exist, but I take it for granted that other people know, too. I work very hard (in accumulating life experiences and friends) to make color and race as much of a non-starter as *I* can. It's not something that I can control for other people, but for me it's only a component of my life, but it's also something that I never, ever forget about. Outside of my constructed life it is always the elephant in the room. Or at least I thought it was. Maybe not always. And it's pretty damn cool to think that other people don't think that I'm a second class citizen.

As cliched as it may sound, its also pretty cool to think that young children will be able to look up and say, one day I could be the president of the United States. There's a model, now. It's happened. People will see and they will believe. Now, we just gotta get a woman in there. :)

Comments

[penmage.livejournal.com]

I really wonder if people who are not "of color" really comprehend the magnitude of today for the "others" in the country.

I don't want to start a fight. On today of all day. But I also really don't think this statement is fair.

I'm a white woman. And I am tingly with excitement and joy and disbelief and shock and wonderment that our country has finally gotten to the point where we can see past racism (that still unfortunately exist) to be able to elect a Black man.

I'm just really, really sick and tired of being told that I can't comprehend how people of color feel just because I'm white. Especially because, hello, I'm Jewish, and even though I don't get discriminated against because of the color of my skin, there are a hundred other ways.

But my religion aside, how hard is it to honestly see that in my mind, ALL Americans are my fellow citizens--of all race, color and creed--and it makes me angry and sad that to some people, there's still a distinction?

[seraphcelene]

First of all I said, I WONDER. Being a black woman, I DO NOT KNOW! I don't live your life or see the world from the same perspective that you do, so I DON'T know. I'm sorry if you're offended that I expressed a genuine statement of curiosity. My intention was never to be offensive. I definitely was not telling you that you can't comprehend. I know that people "get" it, but I WONDERED at people's understanding of the magnitude this has very personally for some people of color. I never said that you can't know or that you don't. Again. An expression of curiosity because everyone is different and I can't see the world from behind your eyes.

My lived experience does include discrimination because of the color of my skin and I think that it's totally valid for me to express that its something that's occured. So, now, I am upset. Nowhere in what I wrote did I say anything about other people not being discriminated against. People are discriminated against for a wealth of stupid and incomprehensible reasons. I am expressing *my* joy and *my* experiences. And I referred to ONE person. ONE! The majority of my friends are not black, but I never assume that they don't see me as a person. I never doubt that I am a person first with them. However, being only one of two black people in my building, sometimes I wonder. I've never experienced any racism here (overt or otherwise), but the life that *I* have lived doesn't always encourage me to be relaxed about situations in which I am very obviously the minority.

I'm sorry you're sick and tired, but sometimes I am sick and tired, too.

[penmage.livejournal.com]

I am not offended by your original statement. And I'm sorry you're upset.

But you have to understand--the internet has exploded with "If you're white, you can't possibly comprehend what this means to us."

Which is a statement that really belittles the contributions and emotions of white Americans who care passionately and are truly joyful at this event.

[seraphcelene]

Then I'm sorry for the internet. I've intentionally absented myself from that discussion because I find it incredibly discouraging and frustrating. And I have a very short fuse about some things.

Again, I NEVER said that you can't possibly comprehend. What I said (and if it wasn't clear, I'm sorry ... what I MEANT) is that I wonder if nonPOC can grasp how personal this is; to see someone who looks like me in that position is incredibly powerful. It's not meant as a devaluation of white Americans or anyone else. If you (in the universal sense) are of like mind (regardless of skin color) than I am not talking about or referring to you. This was a personal statement, a personal expression and not a universal one. It was also an acknowledgement of differences in lived experiences. That Sandy could see beyond the racial divide in this country where (on a universal level) I could not, was surprised me and made me re-asses. I value that part of our relationship that allows us to discuss such things without recrimination or fear of hurt feelings or giving offense.

Sandy can never (and we've discussed this) understand fully what this means to me on a personal level, just as I will never understand fully what it means to *her*. We are different people with different experiences. It doesn't make anyone's worldview or perception any more valid than the other. It's simply a statement of fact. My eyes are shadowed by other people's response to my race. It doesn't always or even usually effect my response to other people, but sometimes it does. In the face of man's ability to be kind to one another, regardless of race, color, sex, creed, I am a cynic. I have always been. I am hopeful and gladdend when I am proven wrong. Today I was proved wrong by the entire Nation and for that I am in love with them.

[diachrony.livejournal.com]

It's stunningly, thrillingly, amazingly cool.

Also, I wanted you to see this: A Single Footprint On the Moon (http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2009/01/single-footprint-on-moon.html).

((HUGS))

*with arms full o' dio*

[seraphcelene]

Buttercup!! I loved that essay. That's it. It's exactly what I wanted to say and to know that other people were thinking. Thank you, thank you, thank you for pointing it out.