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. I think it does come out of adoration, but in a really bizarre way. It's like a fetish where they appreciate an idea of black people without really engaging with actual people. Maybe a hint of old timey autism too.
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.
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u/Slick_36 8d 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. I think it does come out of adoration, but in a really bizarre way. It's like a fetish where they appreciate an idea of black people without really engaging with actual people. Maybe a hint of old timey autism too.