America, Whose Heritage Is It Anyway?
Volume 2 Number 23
The answer isn’t black and/or white. American heritage is a conglomerate of those who have had an impact on it; including Black, Indigenous, and People of Color and representations of our history should be respectful of the freedom and equality we espouse. Full stop.
I first learned that not everyone lives the same way in the private school where a Latina classmate and I were the only students of color in grades seven through nine. I was exposed to Hispanic, Native American, Polish, Italian, Irish, and Cajun traditions. I rubbed elbows with students of, shall I say, deep southern traditions. Don’t laugh, but this was way back in the day when Orlando was even less of an ethnic melting pot. Until then, my understanding of diversity was Black and white — literally. Fast-forward a few decades later . . . my appreciation for the variety in America’s traditions and cultures has deepened even more.
This week’s articles, while small in number, are huge in impact and touch squarely on acceptance of different ways of living and traditions and the symbols America uses to project its history.
In her fascinating debut OHF article, Savita Iyer writes about colorism, the type of racism in that afford lighter-skinned people — even in the darker tones — preferential treatment). She also shares about its impact on her life as a Brown woman in the U.S. and abroad. Veteran OHF writer Dan Hislop is back and in his article, he points out the need for Americans to parse the unspoken messages of symbols America puts forth and asks whether we will laud the parts of our history that are sacred or those that cause scars.
Plus, the subject of our latest call for submissions is one that everyone will have an opinion about. So definitely give that a read!
Here are this week’s offerings! Enjoy!
New This Week
“Colorism: The Unequal Racism”
by Savita Iyer
I stared at myself in the mirror for a long time the day my classmate in graduate school told me she did not like Black people. I touched the dark hair I’d straightened that morning. I leaned forward to look more closely at my brown skin. I felt sick. I did not know what was worse: That someone white should so openly admit to their dislike — let me actually say hatred, for that is what it was — of one race, or that they should admit that hatred to me, a Person of Color?
I did not know then that that would be my first experience of colorism — a bias through which some people view and treat individuals with lighter skin more favorably than those with darker skin, yet I would experience it many times in my daily life, and each experience further drives home the message that I — a brown-skinned woman of non-African descent — would be given a “pass” for being of-color-but-not-Black.
That “pass” would put me in a separate category, a different kind of space with faux privileges. It is a space that affords me a simulated genteel and courteous treatment that may not be extended to many African-Americans. (continued at Medium.com)
“The Question Is, ‘Remember Whose Heritage?’”
by Dan Hislop
I grew up in the south, amidst Confederate flags, schools named after Robert E. Lee, and statues honoring Southern Civil War soldiers. I didn’t think twice about the symbolism when I, as a young white boy, meticulously glued together a plastic model of the red Dukes of Hazzard car, named “The General Lee,” with the Confederate flag on the roof.
Years later, when a 2017 “Unite the Right” rally at a Confederate memorial in Charlottesville saw protesters converge around a huge statue of Lee in the center of town, it didn’t sit right with me. I began to wonder why such monuments still existed. I dug in to find out if such commemorations were a one-off, a statue or monument erected here and there, depending upon the whim of a locality. The answer: not even close.
As I did my research, I came across this stunning graphic from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) tracking the dedication of Confederate names and monuments, year by year. These monuments began to proliferate almost immediately after the Civil War, and the multiplication of these statues has continued ever since, spiking significantly during times of perceived equality gains for Black Americans. (continued at Medium.com)
Call for Submissions
For possible publication in Our Human Family, send us your words and thoughts (sorry, poets we’re strictly a nonfiction publication) and tell us: Were/Are the Black Live Matter demonstrations a moment or a movement? Was what we’ve seen so far only a respite from months of COVID-induced cabin fever? Or was/is the beginning of societal change? We Black folks have been telling the world of the system lubricated with the blood of Black people for over 400 years. What was so different about this time? We want to know.
For more info, read the complete call for submissions at Medium.com.
Equality and Inclusion: Available Now for Download
The Our Human Family limited-edition inaugural issue of OHF Magazine is a thirty-six-page, stylish journal rooted in the theme unity across differences and is packed with compelling stories and stunning visuals to connect with our readers on visceral and tangible levels. Join the family in bringing equality back (okay, bringing equality to America for the first time) and access your copy now. Stay tuned for our Fall/Winter 2020 edition.
Last Looks
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Love one another.
Clay Rivers
Our Human Family, Founder and Editorial Director
