RP1: A Line by Chrystos

“The idea of being nice is more important than the idea of being real.”

I have typed, deleted, typed, deleted, and just decided to walk away from my laptop because there are so many ugly honest feelings that I want to write on this blog, but I’m angry most at the fact that we are being policed from beyond the classroom because I might say something that upsets someone watching.  I chose this quote from Chrystos because I agree with her. People would rather hear a white lie than hear the truth.  Incoherent lessons that we grew up with are lies within themselves such as “always be honest” but the actual lesson should be “Don’t say anything that offends others.”  To let you guys in on one of the honest feelings I have, I will talk about how I feel about race.  I am tired of talking about race on campus.  I read readings from my ANSO classes in which the author writes their opinion about how the term race no longer means what it used to mean in its origin, but I disagree.  To whom does the term no longer mean the same to?  It sure is not everyone, especially not people of color.  I feel that the system in this country is trying to teach us that the term race should remain, but whenever I read that term, I feel that it divides “White/Caucasian” from any people of color.  The term itself (and this is all my opinion) still creates “othering.”  Don’t get this mixed up with the notion of being color-blind.  Moreover, I wish instead of always talking about race, we would (as a campus) move forward from talking about it in the second, third, and fourth years as a student.  By going further, I mean in the 100 level classes, learn about the effects of racism.  Later down the line, learn about each other’s CULTURES!  We come from all different kinds of background on campus, but the system easily categorizes us as “race,” which diminishes our personal experiences.  I think this is as far real as I’ll go for this post.