I'm a 54-year-old White guy in the USA and I have to infer that there must have been -- at one time not too long ago -- racist codes for "let the White person go first". I was never taught them, but I have to infer this from a few decades now of observing the following:
When I am standing in a small family-run store checkout line, and elderly Black people are in front of me, if I have a cough or need to clear my throat, something very strange happens. All eyes swivel backwards to look at me, and the elderly Black people in front of me all but fall over themselves to waive me to the FRONT OF THE LINE. Sometimes if I lock eyes with the shop keeper at the register, HE waives me forwards. At this point, there is NO POLITE GETTING OUT OF IT. I can try saying "I'm so sorry, I have a cold", or "you are clearly in front of me, please proceed", and none of it will work. Instead, I am given excuses to help ME feel better about myself. "Oh, no, I'm in no hurry", or "I have not quite decided if I have everything yet", or "the shopkeeper and I were just talking, we will be awhile, so please checkout first".
To be clear, I'm not the one being hurt (they are), but I AM mortified and embarrassed.
I've had to develop special procedures to combat this. I always stand a little further back in line, NEVER make eye contact with anyone, look intently at merchandise while waiting to checkout, and UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES ever clear my throat no matter how much I may need to.
I was reminded of this today when I (with plenty of room) passed an older Black woman in an aisle and merely nodded hello. She said "excuse me" and stepped backwards to give me more space. Huh.
Younger Black people don't do this (happily). Older Black people sometimes seem startled, like they have not encountered a White person coughing behind them in a long time -- but then their automatic training kicks in...
When I think about racism, I usually think about the more egregious examples (lynchings, denial of voting rights) but I have to wonder -- what was it like to just go on a mundane daily shopping trip in 1960?
QUESTION: Older folks reading this. Did/does this cough/throat-clear signal actually exist??
@admin@EqualRightsAdvocates@blackmastodon I’ve never noticed this happening to me, but I’m not sure whether that’s because I’m a woman, or that I’m about a decade younger, if it’s locale dependent. Or some intersection of those identities.
It could be a White Male thing... As I think about it, it's every few years -- but over 30 years that is long enough to pick-up on the pattern... I used to be kind of antsy and lost in my own thoughts, but that does not totally explain it -- who gives up their spot to the guy behind them just because he presents as in a hurry? Don't really know, but it's happened in Washington, DC in my twenties and early 30s; and in the Catonsville area on the Baltimore City/Baltimore County line the last 12 or so years (Frederick Avenue and Route 40). Hmmm... both are areas that used to be wealthy White, now mixed race, with a wealthy White population still living near by... Don't know.
Nothing in this article made this professor's signal accomplishment of writing a non-fiction book, which won the National Book Award, seem illegitimate, or completely a cautionary tale. He, like most professors I suspect, wasn't able to handle the administrative challenges inherent in getting 40+ millions in donations. So his 'reach exceeded his grasp'. He still wrote a seminal book on institutional racism, an accomplishment not now rendered illegitimate.
@venitamathias@blackmastodon He must’ve did something AWFUL in his life to hold over his head, cause you don’t talk like that unless you don’t want it to come out
While figures like Martin Luther King Jr. & Rosa Parks are well-known, there were countless local leaders who galvanized their communities. People like
Fannie Lou Hamer (MS), Ella Baker (VA), and Amelia Boynton (Selma AL), who emphasized the importance of grassroots organizing, were pivotal to the success of the Civil Rights Movement in America.
Image: Amelia Boynton knocked unconscious during Bloody Sunday.
@Deglassco@blackmastodon@BlackMastodon Without grass-root groups. maybe the US Navy would still be bombarding the firing range in the isle of Vieques (Puerto Rico). Now we have to fight against climate crisis thru reforestation and promote green energy. New normal is a misnomer and storms could get worse and more frequent than they are now. The present weather is NOT stable.
When Dangerfield Newby, a member of John Brown’s heroic but ill-fated effort to institute a slave rebellion, was killed and mutilated by vengeful townspeople, the events did not immediately change the fortunes of his wife, Harriet Newby, and her children, and the rest of his family. Their sacrifice , like so many millions of others, was only just beginning.
While history often remembers John Brown’s assault on the Federal Arsenal at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, it forgets 5 Black Americans who joined him, including a man named Dangerfield Newby. Dangerfield Newby’s motivation for joining Brown was rooted in his love for his family,. His story id a powerful reminder of the enduring struggle for freedom by ordinary people. They are worthy of remembering.
The March on Washington was the product of a long and arduous journey. Each moment built upon the previous one, generating momentum and solidarity among civil rights activists. By the time the march occurred in 1963, it stood on the shoulders of decades of activism, struggle, and resilience.
Rev Bishop Barber is working for a new movement much like this, the poor people’s march, 3rd reformation.
It is a movement to join up with. everyone. especially in the face of a rising tide of billionaires moving to seize control of the nation (project 2025). They are now speaking publicly that all billionaire organizations will work in unison to take control of the US if a republican gains the WH. Expect they will move state wise as well.
The March on Washington did not happen, spontaneously. It grew out of decades of interconnected efforts by myriad civil rights stakeholders. Among these were the founding of the NAACP, the flowering of the movement known as the Harlem Renaissance, and the monumental court case, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka,
60 years ago this week, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, delivered “I Had a Dream” at a seminal event in American history. The idea of a march of thousands of people united in the search for justice, equality, and equal opportunity percolated in the minds of organizers for decades. Years before Black Americans had been thinking and strategizing.
@Deglassco@blackmastodon@BlackMastodon Thank you for sharing the history of Black Americans desire for #CivilRights#BlackMastodon. I am thankful for all who were involved in bringing us closer to a more equal, just country. #MLK was pivotal. Although legislation was passed guaranteeing equal rights, we still have a long way to go as some, GOP, are trying to take rights away. And there isn’t equal treatment under the law still. Horrible!
Rodney King suffered a fractured skull and cheekbone after being beaten by 4 Los Angeles, CA police officers, who were charged with a number of offenses. Many Angelenos felt certain of a conviction. After all, there was irrefutable proof in the form of a video captured by George Holliday, then, blasted across the airwaves. Wrong! Not guilty!
@Deglassco@blackmastodon@BlackMastodon
There are those in our country who don’t want racial tensions discussed or taught in schools because some imaginary white kid might feel guilty about the way white cops treated a black man. Nor do they want cops to feel ashamed of their racist treatment of non-whites.
These people are called fools.
I lived in Idaho at the time but was a San Diego native. My hometown saw a bit of violence as well.
@Deglassco@blackmastodon@BlackMastodon the missing part is about the girl Tasha who was shot in the bacc by an Asian store owner which ignited the riots in @losangelas
Although sparked by the acquittal of 4 white police officers who beat Rodney King, the roots of the 1992 Los Angeles riots can be traced back through decades of racial, economic, & political tensions. Therefore, to understand the magnitude & depth of anger that fueled the riots, one must consider the historical context that set the stage for this tumultuous event.
@Deglassco@blackmastodon@BlackMastodon what’s always weird to me as a GenX miamian is that 12 years earlier, Miami went through the same thing except no citizens’ video, the cops beat Arthur McDuffie to death, yet almost everyone from outside Miami either never heard about it or forgot it.
A city ripped itself apart and no one remembers or cares.
@Deglassco@blackmastodon@BlackMastodon TWW:
Great without measure or small and fragile, fierce with strength or timid and quiet as a thought are God’s messengers.
*Thank you for your clear and concise writing. The Watts riots we’re in monochrome on an old tv but changed the direction of civil progress. Rodney King and his trial was prime time. Such a long road. Stay strong. Regards to All. OWOP
Would it be more accurate to substitute "dehumanization" or "tribalism" for "discrimination"? There's now an unreasonable stigma associated with "discrimination" because of its use for generations to describe the former two. Discriminating is not itself an unethical thing; done well it's critical thought and a useful survival trait, yet now it's only viewed as negative.
Dehumanization and tribalism are the issue, right?
On July 15, 1944, in Bristol England, the "Park Street Riot" occurred as 400 Black soldiers confronted 120 MPs over pub access. Observers later recounted that locals rooted for the Black troops. Like the Battle of Bamber Bridge a year earlier, this event underscored the racism Black troops faced as well as the disconnect between how they were treated overseas vs in their own country.
very sound. the UK had racism, but not racist laws by and large. As a Bristol schoolboy we were taught nothing of this but 'folk memory' is that we were grateful for the black soldiers but the more honest old people said interracial relationhips caused issues. Some pubs famously barred white soldiers when told to discriminate. i'm grateful for this expansion of my home city's history