Race: Too Sensitive? Not Sensitive Enough?

November 5, 2009
Written by Danielle Douglas in
Stereotypes & Labels
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hallway between cubicles

Midway through a rousing rendition of En Vogue’s “Never Gonna Get It,” Cilka and I, singing into “microphones” fashioned out of highlighters, burst out laughing.


Over the past two years, this scene, usually performed before a captive audience of co-workers, has become a fixture in our workday. We’ve mastered the art of breaking up the monotony of corporate life with everything from musings on past episodes of “Family Guy” to reminiscing about old college boyfriends.


In spite of our vastly different ethnic backgrounds — Cilka is Slovenian and I’m Afro-Caribbean — we find common ground in our humanity. We’re the same age, come from the same working class strata, listen to much of the same music, hold similar political perspectives and are both first-generation Americans. All of those commonalities make for intriguing conversations and a pleasant work environment. However, when we introduce issues of race into the equation, everything changes. Despite our liberal leanings, we have internalized our experiences of race in immensely different ways, deeply influencing our understanding of society.


Take the controversy surrounding Lebron James’ Vogue cover for instance. After scanning the headlines about the infamous photo one morning, Cilka turned to me and cautiously opined that the situation was being blown out of proportion. She questioned whether this was one of those times when folks were being hypersensitive to race. After all, she said, a lot of black people are quick to call everything racism.


Magazine and book coversWanting to maintain our camaraderie and cognizant of being in a work environment, I took a moment before responding to her assertion. I explained to her that given the basketball player’s size, the pose in which he was placed, its historical context, and its allusion to vintage posters for the movie “King Kong,” there was nothing at all hypersensitive about the backlash. This country has a long and sordid history of using media — images and words — to manipulate perceptions of ethnicity and race, often resulting in violence. Being compared to “apes” or “coons” can easily remain in one’s subconscious, so naturally a depiction that references that imagery can be offensive.


Though Cilka nodded her head as a gesture of empathy, I could sense the unwillingness to accept my perspective. I shook my head and told her that I didn’t really expect her to understand. Without a moment’s hesitation, she replied that none of her black friends saw the matter as a big deal either.


In case my disgusted look wasn’t enough of an indication of my disapproval of that wildly ignorant statement, I made sure to clarify. Neither I, nor her two black friends were elected mouthpieces for our race. When I don’t agree with something she’s said, I certainly don’t use likeminded whites to validate my argument.


Both visibly heated, we stood at an impasse. No amount of silly songs or stories could detract from the fact that, at that moment, we were strangers. She fulfilled every preconceived notion that I held about white liberals — too sophisticated not to know about racial injustice, but too ensconced in skin privilege to care. And I’m almost certain that I fulfilled her notions of black militants — harboring centuries of ancient hurts and quick to anger.


Such is life when you live in a world more concerned with disingenuous hamony than honest discourse.

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Stereotypes & Labels