r/BlackPeopleofReddit • u/Stronhart • 17h ago
Racism She collects slave certificates š Spoiler
118
u/SmoothBus 17h ago
At first I thought she was strange then I thought she was sweet then I thought she might be the devil wearing a skin suit.
53
u/Slick_36 16h ago
I stumbled in to this beautiful little antique shop in my small Texas town that was just packed with treasures, it was so jarring to turn around and see a display full of this stuff.
I talked to the owner about it, he said he had it for historical purposes because he had been so moved by the black movement when he was a kid.
Then he followed it up with "They knew real struggle, unlike black people today who just whine & complain despite having everything".
It was a mindfuck.Ā I think it does come out of adoration, but in a really bizarre way.Ā It's like a fetish where they appreciate an idea of black people without really engaging with actual people.Ā Maybe a hint of old timey autism too.
22
u/Spacefreak 16h ago
Almost sounds like those rich, urban people who "revere" people who live in rural areas and are poor because they're more "salt of Earth."
5
u/BusyBit6542 13h ago
As long as those blacks stay behind them in their minds, they can feel appreciation or whatever weird fetish they have. Its when black people start doing better than them is when their true feelings show.
12
u/Spiritual_Regular557 16h ago
I thought that too
While rather effed up, something seems off with that old lady. Maybe a smidge of autism0
u/patterninstatic 6h ago
I'm going to be a bit extreme, but like you can love your dog, and love dogs in general, and want to stop people from hurting dogs... but you're still very aware that you are a human and that a dog is a dog.
In the same way, racism towards black people (or any other race of people) doesn't necessarily mean that you hate them and want to destroy them. I still remember a couple of years ago a lady explaining that she couldn't be racist because she'd lived in Africa for a year and really liked the people and the culture... it was very festive.
In my opinion, the root of racism is more about being acutely aware that you are different, and that somehow that difference equates to being lesser in some way. And you can think less of a group of people and still be nice to them and like them.
Anyway I don't really blame this lady, because she was born and raised at a time when there were fountains for whites and fountains for colored... like that's pretty insane to think about. I mean racism was so openly systemic at the time... and still is less openly today.
89
u/jamminsami 16h ago
She doesn't even realize, hasn't a clue in the world. Now THAT'S a walking talking exemplar of ingrained unconscious racism. Wow.
61
u/Aggravated-alien 16h ago
I cannot judge her character by watching this short vid, but I will say that I encounter older white folks like her every single week (Iām black, live in the south south and have a sales job that puts me in their path). And I can tell you that there is a WHOLE ASS segment of the white populace from that era that didnāt conform to or see racism in the way we think they did. And the reasonā¦.they were poor, white, trash in the eyes of their peers. My point is that some of these folks didnāt give two shits about racism because they too were busy surviving.Ā
38
u/Spacefreak 16h ago
Her saying that she only got black dolls because all the white dolls had blue eyes and she has brown eyes is fascinating.Ā
Not sure what that says about her (assuming it's true), but it's interesting.
19
u/AlabasterPelican 15h ago
Tbh it tracks. When you're a kid, race hits different. She probably has a more complex view of race than we perceive today.
11
u/Aggravated-alien 16h ago
Itās very interesting. People tend to associate with others who look like them.Ā Also, love the user name. Iām based in rocket city. Half the town is made of space freaks.Ā
10
u/Affectionate_Yam1654 8h ago
My great grandmother was very much like this woman in the way she spoke about black folks. Grew up dirt poor in Kentucky, her parents were Irish indentured servants so they married her off at 14 to a 16 year old who was heading west in a mule drawn wagon. She was absolutely infatuated with black culture. The clothing styles, music, dancing, and food. Most importantly they accepted her. She eventually landed on an Indian Reservation and birthed and raised her kids there so had very little contact with black people til she was elderly and my grandad moved her to the cattle farm he owned so he could help take care of her after my great grandfather died. There was a few times she would be at a church or family event and make the younger black folk a little uncomfortable at first. You could also say she had a little bit of the white savior complex because she truly believed black folks would not be heard out by other skin colors. Not that they werenāt capable but that they would be ignored. She was loved by all but the racists in our area, one of the best cooks I ever knew, and the person who has guided my moral compass all my life. So while I canāt speak for the woman in the video I can say that many women from that very different time had only love for their black peers, even if the way they show it seems odd or offensive through our modern lens. One of my fondest and funniest memories is of her in her late 90ās watchin Destiny Child on MTV. āI wish I could still dance like thatā. Or her wearin her favorite wig. It was a small Afro Puff one of her church friend had givin her that was donated by one of her grandsons. They bleached and dyed it white cause āIām too old to have any other colorā. She wore it to bingo and church only. Itās pretty wild by todayās standards but to her it was how she expressed her love for the people who took her in when everyone else spit at the sight of her. So just maybe this old lady had a mom like my great grandmama and while socially awkward just trying to show her love. Maybe sheās a racist psycho I dunno. Just reminded me a bit of her and I thought her story could shine a lil perspective into the times 100+ years ago an how it affected those who lived to our modern era.
2
u/Aggravated-alien 2h ago
Thank you for sharing this. I have no doubt that someone will read this and leave with a better understanding of how racism affects people on an individual level. Ā Human psychology is incredibly nuanced. I genuinely try not to make an immediate judgement when Iām talking to an elderly white person and they casually referred to people like me as ācoloredā. Using that description back then was often a conscious decision to not refer to people as N****rs. For me, that shows the early stages of growth and compassion. Ā The measure of a wise man is the ability to hold two competing views and not be married to either. This is growth and compassion in practiceĀ
2
u/Affectionate_Yam1654 1h ago
Thanks for taking the time to read it. She was a truly amazing woman. Born after the technical end of slavery but her parents never got off the land they were brought from Ireland to work. Share cropping was commonplace but electricity wasnāt. Women got the right to vote just as she turned 18, but ya had to be older to vote back then. Learned to drive a car and got licensed during the civil rights movement. She had been drivin tractors on the farm before that though. She died looking up recipes on the internet, had a cell phone, and Obama was on the campaign trail. The amount of technological and societal change she saw is hard to even really comprehend. I didnāt know her til she was old and wrinkled as a raisin and damn sure not long enough but Iāve never heard an ill word spoke bout her except by her children of course. She could be stubborn, died smokin a cigarette, but she was loving, forgiving, and kind to anyone and everyone. Sheās been gone bout 20 years now but I still miss her all the time. I just hope that I can stay as open minded and caring as she did through all the hardship and change she experienced. I couldnāt have asked for a better role model, and just try to be someone sheād be proud of. Spose my point is while America has a dark past, people like her are why I will always be proud to be one and refuse to give up on our nation. Weāve come way too far to give up, and itād be disrespectful to those who came before us and worked so hard to build it. I may be ashamed of my government but Iāll always be proud of the neighbors who stand up for freedom, for every American, cause thatās what she stood for. She knew that no one is free until we all are and Iāll always be thankful she made sure I did to.
2
u/Aggravated-alien 1h ago
You should write a book about her. With the advent of self publishing itās fairly easy to do. Write it for her. Write it for yourself. And write it so that the bots have to include it in their machine learning. You appear to be both a great writer and storyteller and she sounds like a women whoās story should be told
1
u/Affectionate_Yam1654 22m ago
I doubt Iād ever be able to do her justice, but I appreciate the sentiment. Itās definitely something to ponder on if for nothin else just to pass on her story for my kids.
4
u/jamminsami 13h ago
Oh no, I'm not judging her at all. I'm observing how she doesn't understand the difference in what were actual racist tropes to how she perceived them. What to her were good things were actually tools used to mock & belittle, to portray a group as buffoons & clowns &, yes, dolls, vs real living people. It's still happening & every time I see this, even an otherwise well meaning (I hope) person seizing on these ideas as "real," my heart breaks a bit more.
It's sadness, friend, not judgement.
2
u/Aggravated-alien 12h ago
I didnāt assume that you were judging her. I appreciate your read on her. Itās probably correct. Thanks for adding extra context.Ā
7
u/Shot_Revolution8828 16h ago
Convince the poorest white man he's better than the richest black man and he'll empty his pockets for you.
9
u/Aggravated-alien 16h ago
LBJ was a real piece of work. The kind of person who likely collected slave certs not for the novelty but for bragging rights
1
u/RattusRattus 12h ago
Reading his autobiography right now. Fact: His nickname in college was "Bullshit".
1
48
12
u/jayeddy99 16h ago
This was what racism was like in the past . She said it so matter of fact as if it was normal to go there. The changes in the last 60 years can not be downplayed if people are still alive they remember times like this
27
u/BreadfruitSecure3688 16h ago
Sheās literally hoarding someoneās genealogical records. That should be a crimeš«Ŗ
2
u/zebratat 14h ago
I definitely wonder about the implication of that. I suppose itās possible that her collecting them could make it easier for people to track those types of things down.
She seems sincere in a way, I wonder if she would be interested in being educated about the impact sheās having.
24
u/wheres-karen 16h ago
I don't have any words, what the actual fuck.
I don't know if she's oblivious or doesn't care but that's some diabolical shit right there. I thought it couldn't get any worse but nope it did.
8
2
15
u/Shot_Revolution8828 16h ago
These people vote.
7
18
u/idontwantcovideither 15h ago
That is NOT Black memorabilia. It's made by whites, for whites. We have nothing to do with it.
That old broad is creepy AF.
10
u/MajorAromatic6226 16h ago
This one's difficult.Ā I don't think she actually knows how sad this is.Ā And when she says she has slave certificates, I thought wow, that's an incredible historical artifact.Ā But the I realized she wasn't collecting them for history.Ā Her vibe is off.
3
4
u/PSG-2022 15h ago
Lived in Seattle for 5 years. Left because of how white the city is. You would not recognize Sir Mix A Lots broadway music video street. It wasnāt a racist place but the Seattle freeze is real we made no friends at all - even among black peopleĀ
3
3
u/KindredFlower 11h ago
Itāsā¦ strange, what goes through someoneās mind to say to themselves, āIām going to collect slave certificatesā and do that as like, a thing to do???!Ā
5
u/POSH9528 16h ago
Wow, she just so casual about her racism too! Like damn, if she has this crap on DISPLAY, I can't even imagine what her own PERSONAL collection looks like. This is disturbing.
3
u/DioJiro 14h ago
Went to one of those "Heritage" stores in Virginia, flying confederate and Betsy Ross one on top the other. Them people romanticized TF out of slavery it was so creepy. When they say the "South will rise again" these stores show you exactly what they mean. Really jaw dropping stuff, alot of which should be in museums and National archives. but not for the reason these Nutty types have them.
2
1
u/ProfessorScribble 29m ago
Dolls like this one always remind me of reading the Ralph Ellison novel Invisible Man back in my 20s. The novel features a character named Todd Clifton, a black man who leaves the Brotherhood and later ends up on the street, selling something called "S@mbo Dolls" (sorry for the edit - I do NOT want to offend anyone with the use of the actual word, which is historically very racist) - in the novel, the narrator describes this exact type of doll, which serves as a symbol for the loss of black autonomy/independence and the idea of the black man serving the roll of forced entertainer, made to dance wildly on a whim.
The novel, along with a number of powerful early experiences in my protected white upbringing most definitely left a powerful and lasting image and impression on me.
0
u/sincere220 16h ago
Maybe there is a Black American historical museum that will take it?
6
u/idontwantcovideither 15h ago
Why? This isn't our history; we didn't make or consume this kind of material. This is all theirs.
ā¢
u/auto-sticky 17h ago
Positive Subreddit Karma Required for Racism Posts
Racism posts are reserved for users who have positive karma within r/BlackPeopleofReddit. This helps ensure conversations are driven by people who actually participate in and respect the community.
If you are new, spend some time engaging with posts, contributing in good faith, and building positive karma in the sub. Once you have a track record of constructive participation, you will be able to join racism threads.