Comments on: Racism in my building http://essin-em.com/2008/10/racism-in-my-building/ Tue, 02 Aug 2011 03:39:07 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.2 By: Kimberly http://essin-em.com/2008/10/racism-in-my-building/comment-page-1/#comment-2577 Kimberly Wed, 22 Oct 2008 18:07:45 +0000 http://essin-em.com/?p=1142#comment-2577 Grrrr! this post just highlights what i go through and see every single day. I'm a 24-year-old, Black female law student, and I find it totally insulting for anyone to call me, Barak Obama, Colin Powell, or any other educated person of color "articulate." The problem is the same as with the notice on your bulletin board. The expectation is that Black people generally (especially Black men) are uneducated, intimidating, and dangerous. I'm sooo glad you noticed the implicit racism of "Damien is in the house!" Black people don't need to hear Ebonics (or be associated with it) to be comfortable. It's condescending and infuriorating. Thanks for putting this on your blog, and please tell your Caucasian friends to treat Black people like all other human beings. We aren't alien life forms, and a Black guy with dredlocks on the janitorial staff is not a cause for concern worthy of a bulletin board notice. Grrrr! this post just highlights what i go through and see every single day. I’m a 24-year-old, Black female law student, and I find it totally insulting for anyone to call me, Barak Obama, Colin Powell, or any other educated person of color “articulate.” The problem is the same as with the notice on your bulletin board. The expectation is that Black people generally (especially Black men) are uneducated, intimidating, and dangerous. I’m sooo glad you noticed the implicit racism of “Damien is in the house!” Black people don’t need to hear Ebonics (or be associated with it) to be comfortable. It’s condescending and infuriorating. Thanks for putting this on your blog, and please tell your Caucasian friends to treat Black people like all other human beings. We aren’t alien life forms, and a Black guy with dredlocks on the janitorial staff is not a cause for concern worthy of a bulletin board notice.

]]> By: Roland Hulme http://essin-em.com/2008/10/racism-in-my-building/comment-page-1/#comment-2576 Roland Hulme Wed, 22 Oct 2008 13:20:49 +0000 http://essin-em.com/?p=1142#comment-2576 From a purely practical point of view, I can totally understand them letting their residents know that the new janitor is an enormous black chap - but I honestly do think it's the 'chap' part rather than the color. What if, hypothetically, the new janitor was a 6'5", 250lb white man with a shaved head, tattoos and a ginger goatee? I think the residents would still appreciate a head's up. Possibly not such a cryptic one. From a purely practical point of view, I can totally understand them letting their residents know that the new janitor is an enormous black chap – but I honestly do think it’s the ‘chap’ part rather than the color. What if, hypothetically, the new janitor was a 6’5″, 250lb white man with a shaved head, tattoos and a ginger goatee? I think the residents would still appreciate a head’s up.

Possibly not such a cryptic one.

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