kick-in-the-pants pride is rare enough these days) but it's always struck
me, personally, as rather silly to be proud (or ashamed for that matter) of
your race.
I mean I can see being proud of your family (they may have done something to
be proud of), I can see being proud of your country (it may have policies
that you can take pride in) or any number of things. I can even see being
prideful of something that you are, if there's a maintenance aspect to it:
you might have great hair or great abs or a great ass and because you care
for them they stay that way - that's something to be proud of, I think.
You might even have pride in your skin and lavish care onto it with lotions
and ointments. but your skin color? I just don't see how pride enters into
it. I mean what can you do with it? I've always seen pride to be a
choice-based thing: some choice we (or an ancestor) made to do or not do
something caused us to have something that was better than average. Then
we've got some pride!
But I just don't understand how you could be really, truly proud to be black
or white or anything. It's like being proud that you've got shoulders - not
that they're large or wide or strong or anything, just that they're there.
Personally I consider the whole concept that there's a "black culture" or a
"white culture" a myth. There's definitely urban cultures (some of which
are dominated by a particular race) and suburban cultures and so forth, but
they've got little to with skin color. An person raised in an suburban
culture, black or white, is just as likely to be uncomfortable or confused
or whatever around somebody raised in an urban culture, black or white.
I'm white, but can think of myself as "American", "Italian" or "Native
American" (depending on which side of the family I'm thinking about at the
time). I've definitely seen no evidence of any organized "white culture"
(although if I'm missing meetings let me know) and every reference I've seen
to "black culture" seems much more appropriately labeled "urban culture".
As for the show however it's actually not extreme in that respect. The
performers are widely multi-cultural although all urban leaning. Tonight's
show actually had a great reading from a half-black, half-white kid
criticizing the concept of racial unity (he asked "if there's a revolution
one which side should I stand?") There was also a great little lighthearted
bit about being raised in mix of Catholicism and Islam.
There's definitely a strong undercurrent of black pride in some of the
pieces (just because I don't understand racial pride doesn't mean I can't
recognize it) but it's definitely not a centerpiece. There's been just as
many pieces on religion, homosexuality, dating and everything else.
Jim Davis
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