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http://www.hipmama.com/features/black-invisibility-and-racism-punk-rock-tasha-fierce > Invisibility is paired with racism. Once I got here, they had insults > waiting. The invisibility manifests in the fact that they don't even > know a black person could like punk. The racism illuminates the > reality that, although I have that one thing in common with them, I am > still an alien being. Maybe it’s because punk hasn't been > infiltrated by blacks for as long as some other forms of music, and > they don't know how to act around a black person who likes anything > other than rap or R&B. Maybe all they know of black people are the > stereotypes they've been force-fed by popular culture. You can't turn > on a TV today and see many black people doing anything but what white > people think they're supposed to. It's like a caricature, and in all > my encounters with people in the "scene," they are operating off of > this caricature - and I don't fit it. They pay lip service to stopping > racism yet it's not racism when they say "a thousand black men at the > bottom of the ocean is a good start" and then laugh. Saying "nigger" > isn't appropriate but nothing is said when I'm called, disparagingly, > a Rastafarian because I have braids. Because we're all fighting for > the same cause, right? We all hate the government and we all love > punk, and what does it matter that I feel isolated because I never see > another black face and you're constantly telling me I'm an aberration? > This isn’t about "fuck punk." It's about fuck you and your racist > attitudes. It's about you waking up and realizing that you're not some > kind of revolutionary while you continue to support this > institutionalized racism that has poisoned even your precious little > punk rock community. > The idea of punk rock as some kind of beacon of open-mindedness is > bullshit. Most white punk rockers like to consider themselves absolved > of their privilege simply because they publicly denounce racism and > don't attend weekly KKK meetings. Let me reiterate: JUST BECAUSE YOU > THINK RACISM IS WRONG DOES NOT MEAN YOU ARE NOT A RACIST. > > Whites will always have that underlying residual racism, and that > applies as much to the punk rocker as it does to the redneck. People > will always have the need to feel superior, and for whites one area > that they have been made to feel is superior about them for so many > years is the color of their skin. This does not change when you start > to like punk rock. Yes, you can recognize that white superiority is > false. Yes, you can work to change it, and yes, you have all made such > wonderful progress. But shreds of memories of being number one, even > if it wasn't in your lifetime, will always haunt you. This is what > causes my invisibility in your punk rock world and this is what causes > you to believe that it is O.K. to say one thing and do another. > I seriously doubt the issue of racism and invisibility in punk will > ever be resolved, much like the issue of racism in society. I just > want it to be known that although punk rock claims to be fighting the > larger war, it must first win its own internal battle before any > progress will be made. These questions are far more important in the world of revolutionary politics than they are in the world of punk. _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
