Black and White

      I find myself in an odd sort of position that I cannot really say started at any one time in my life. For some reason, I dislike and often oppose the majority simply because it is the majority. A sort of analogy would be that of a video game where your team is either losing, or crushing, the enemy team. I wouldn't want to be on either side because it isn't a “good game (or round)” at that point, however, I would prefer to be on the team that is losing to try to even the table. It is for this reason that when I come across what I feel to be the majority view, I feel the desire, and often act upon it, to rebel against the majority; and so I will play the devil's advocate despite the danger it might cause.
      Now, if we were to look at a poll of Americans and how they felt about this race or that, it would likely largely say that we are for equal rights, however, some of my opinions are also based upon the world relative to myself. Take, for example, our classroom. The vast majority agrees that racism is a massive issue, and while I agree and am sure it is to some extent, I feel the need to tip the scale. Not because I necessarily agree or disagree, but to see the other side. All too often we find ourselves in a situation such as this, and the people who shout about equality, open mindedness, and critical thinking, will, ironically, look at it in a black and white scenario and not even consider possibilities.
      For example, if I jump off skyscraper and land on the cement below, will I die? The majority would probably say “yes” and a few people would say “no,” but only the smartest would say “probably.” Every prior instant, and all of our current knowledge point to a splatter on the cement, but we cannot actually know what happens until it happens, even if all prior knowledge points to this conclusion. In this hypothetical scenario, unless somebody out there can see the future, there is an objectively correct answer, and it is the “probably” category.
      Data, on the other hand, is not objective. It is subjective to the person interpreting the data. Look at this map. Here we have the percentage of black people (African Americans can be white; I'm pretty sure they mean black people by this graph) in the Chicagoland area, and look at how segregated it is. But what is the underlying assumption here in saying that... “all of these places should have a completely equal representation of every racial group...” Why should they? Well, because it would be a more diverse community, or perhaps for monetary concerns such as taxes. But is a mixed community really better? Again, why? Does anybody even bother asking?

      The example of China town as being the most segregated place in Chicago came up and most people were probably thinking, “wow, look how racist that is... (though perhaps with kinder wording).” But there is another underlying truth that isn't stated, that should be so obvious to everybody that it should not need to be stated out loud, but in reality, wasn't even considered. People probably, more often than not, prefer their own race! And that isn't in any way wrong. Why should it be? We are born from parents of our race and may well be raised around people of our own race, or perhaps a slight mix, medium mix, or high mix. What does it matter?

      It's no different from patriotism; who from another country would say, yeah, but I really like America more than my own country – who doesn't think their country is best (looking at first world countries). Further still, if they do, given the funds, ability, etc. they can move there. Why isn't race the same? Who cares if the people in China town prefer their own race? The only real response somebody could give is that they are “missing out” on the other races, but who are we to say such a thing, and so what if they are provided they are happy.
      But sometimes forces do stop people from moving to the place they want, and sometimes they are, undoubtedly, racist forces. However, the primary force that does or does not determine most of this is money. We brought up the example of Oakland, Chicago, in class and how a literal (probably useless – I haven't seen it) border ran across it demarcating the zones of white and black. And we had a good laugh at this, but if we didn't know which neighborhood had which race, would we laugh? No, it wouldn't be funny, if it was just a richer and a poorer neighborhood we would look at and maybe have a laugh at how they separate them, but the separation would be entirely monetary. And in this case, the fence is no longer a racial border, but a (again, probably ineffectively) placed border to stop criminals from coming over, because poor people commit more crime!
    We can find a part of the answer through America's history. We used black people as slaves so we didn't pay them, and we destroyed their links to family. Though they may have been freed those people didn't have money, nor the advantage of a prior family with money as others did. It isn't surprising that this flowed over until the present day, especially since segregation lasted so long after this.
      When I (a white, male) was about nineteen I had just lost a person whom is very important to me. After losing her I let my hair grow without care and it soon reached my shoulders at it's longest points, and it had no style aside from drooping downwards. I was asked to pick up my then eight year old brother from a school party. I arrived at that person's house and when I asked for my brother, the woman asked if I was his brother, I said yes, and she responded with, “I'm going to check.” And I remember clearly thinking, “Ah, that's good, she's being safe...” And it didn't occur to me until I had left the house and driven about ten minutes away with my brother that I realized, she was checking based on my look... and it hurt. It was a mixture of anger and sadness, but the prevailing emotion was definitely anger.
      I don't use it as an example to claim that I, too, have experienced some kind of discrimination, but rather, I take that event as a learning experience so that I might empathize with all other people whom are discriminated against. What I experienced was probably only a fraction of what other people experience when they face discrimination. I cannot imagine the weight that some people carry on their shoulders because of this, and what I will never forget were the feelings associated with it. I'm not saying that racism isn't a thing, but rather, that we should be mindful of other factors before we declare something as an (undeniable) issue of race.