mamculuna | (no subject)

I think the journey from racism is a long slow one. Partly it requires big public efforts, but it also requires a lot of individual work--getting to know people, learning to understand them, listening to them. And most of all I think the work is inner. I think all of us have racist elements inside us, and we need to learn to look honestly at those elements, not pretend to ourselves that because we outwardly agree that racism is bad we can easily cut out all racism in our own thought patterns and assumptions. So that's the direction I work in right now. But that doesn't mean I can't confront racism when it comes from others, and I've tried, when I teach literature and composition courses, to help my students begin to see the problems with their assumptions.

However, today is a very hard day for me, because it's the anniversary of the Tibetan uprising against the Chinese occupation. And when I've encountered Chinese nationalism on this topic in the more extreme form, I've heard echoes of my own people (white US southerners) in the Civil Rights days. I know I have no right to tell Chinese what to think, but at the same time, I know how the Tibetans have suffered and will suffer (note: I rely not just on what I hear from the Tibetans I know in the US and India, but also what I've heard from people I know well who've been there). So I have to take a stand.

Today, I remember the hundreds who died, disappeared or were imprisoned in last year's protests, and I remember the millions who have met the same fate or been exiled in the last 50 years.

At the same time, I know, love, respect, and admire many, many Chinese both in the US and in China. I hope that their voices will eventually outweigh those who currently guide the Chinese occupation and the destruction of the ancient culture of Tibet. I hope that all Chinese, and all sentient beings, will find a way to live in harmony and compassion, and I hope I can learn to find a better way, myself.

no subject

I think the compassion has gone missing from a lot of these recent conversations - often with good reason I know - so it's heartening to see it in your post.

Date: 2009-03-10 08:24 pm (UTC)

mamculuna.livejournal.com

Thanks. It's always hard to summon it up, especially when it seems that other people are so Wrong.

Date: 2009-03-10 05:22 pm (UTC)

missprune.livejournal.com

I find it difficult not to feel anger towards the CHinese who have inflicted so much cruelty on the Tibetans. Even the Dalai Lama is sounding a bit... irritated. I like what you wrote about acknowledging one's racist insides...

Date: 2009-03-10 08:21 pm (UTC)

It's hard but necessary to remember that not all Chinese like what their government does, and also that they get a lot of propaganda and many are convinced that they are helping the Tibetans....

Thanks. I grew up in an extremely racist culture, so I know I'll always have to keep an eye on myself.

Date: 2009-03-10 08:05 pm (UTC)

rebekahroxanna.livejournal.com

And so, I was in a hospital to visit a parishioner. An African American man was standing by the elevators with an expensive car seat in his hand. I immediately wondered where he had gotten it. Then another African American man, dressed in scrubs came up and began talking to him about his wife who had just had a child. I was taken aback. And I think I'm enlightened when it comes to race.

I must say, I don't much like Chinese culture or social norms. And I don't like the Chinese government particularly its position with respect to minorities in China.

Date: 2009-03-10 08:23 pm (UTC)

Always good to get those mirrors to ourselves! I had one big one while sharing a taxi in Africa. A woman said she worked at the hotel where I was staying, and from her traditional dress I assumed she was in housekeeping. She was the manager.

I like a lot of things about Chinese culture, but, like here, it definitely depends on which Chinese.