Okay, so a bit aggressive for a title I know... bare with me. (￣ε(￣) This month is important, and requires contemplation.
The subject matter itself I am all too familiar with, so it’s challenging to title it without sounding somewhat abrupt. Approaching this topic is significant considering my vocation and innate need to express myself, lest my innards devour me whole. So for preventative reasons, I felt it is necessary to broach this tender area with as much grace and gentleness as I can muster.
Be prepared, blatant finger pointing may ensue.
Racism:
Why indeed... you may ask, this doesn’t have to be talked about, most of us rather go through life like it doesn’t exist... Well, those who don’t need to navigate it on a regular basis of course. Truth is we all could do without the bigotry, and this brand of hatred is old AF, yet still a thing since some folx can't seem to wrap their head around genetics, environmental effects or the fundamental nature of existence. So instead of me going off like some embittered Bill Nye, let’s instead speak to its effects in other regards. But first, some background.
For those new to my blog:
(￣▽￣) My names Lester, I’m a blended Canadian, a bit obsessed with music, sex and culture. Queer, non binary, twin spirited, whatever label you may need to digest my current meat encasing. Nice to meet ya.
(´ ε ` )♡
Anywho now that were besties...
Being queer wasn’t hard enough, so nature felt it also necessary to spawn me 8 generations deep in cultural mulligatawny. My parents found with ancestory.com, that the bulk of my genetics comes from various indigenous people of Kanata, Trinidadian, African American, Dutch and Irish. Apparently theres a freckle of Chinese somewhere in my dad’s fore-bearers, my grandmother swore, but she was also a pathological liar...
Anywho, 8 generations of heritage soup and growing up in the 90’s was wild.
I honestly don’t know how my predecessors dealt with the backlash of being some of the firsts when it came to dating outside of your community. In this turn of the century it still is weird to some. I wasn’t ‘black’ enough, because even in the black community, there is also racism. With my blended skin, I was perceived to have privilege that I had not truly benefited from, yet, I still wasn’t a colonizer... so where did I fit in? |*￣ー￣|
Nowhere really, I had to make my own space.
It is a sad awareness at a young age, and I still deal with the psychological imprints of this truth. So, I must speak towards this, in hopes to help, help those who may have the same realities in their own life, or those who are challenged with understanding and seek it. The point is, we need to talk about this clinically, because it is a social parasite that needs to be tackled accordingly, not just a construct like taught.
Parasite: an organism that lives in or on an organism of another species (it's host) and benefits by deriving nutrients at the other's expense.
Construct: an idea or theory containing various conceptual elements, typically one considered to be subjective and not based on empirical evidence.
As a wordsmith, a vocab geek.. words are very important. The word construct suggests that racism cannot be proven, or more to the point, is based on subject matter that is subjective. This understanding does not illustrate the severity in which racist ideals and beliefs exist, or how impactful it is. Added with the understanding of fundamental metaphysics: Where positive and negative energies have great significance, more so within speech. Racism is holding humanity back from healing from it's own inflicted wounds, and is in fact, showing signs of a parasitic nature.
But Lester, racism is not an organism, you may argue.
And to that I say No?（￢з￢）You sure about that Jim?
An organism according to the Websters dictionary: A complex structure of interdependent and subordinate elements whose relations and properties are largely determined by their function in the whole.
If we recognize humanity and the constructs of civility as the interdependent and subordinate elements to racism, we can also see how it leans towards parasitic. Since we are all essentially the same, just born and raised in different environments; It is madness to believe one section of us received more intellect than the other, that one deserves more care, love and support than the other, that one knows more than the other. That simply we only learned different states of being, of becoming, of surviving and thriving. It is not natural for one to thrive at the expense of so many others. Maybe in feudal days this worked, but now... With our current worldwide populace, it's connectivity and the state of our planet, all perspectives need to weigh in, since it affects us all.
Safe to say that colonization, in itself, is THE parasite borne from racism. One that feeds back into itself, as it destroys the host and it's surroundings. That consumerism and the depletion of our planet continues, simply because of the belief we are different. It allows for the masters to line their pockets, as the rest of us clamour for survival. It is THE after effects of colonization has put our world in it's current environmental state. Taking materials without plans for resupply, without the integration of sustainability. (like most indigenous cultures have implemented in their own daily lives) We would be in a completely different place in evolution, if the Spanish simply respected the caretakers of the land they were invading. If Christopher Columbus recognized an equal, where would we be today?
Travelling space?
Curing cancer?
Utopia?
(─‿‿─)
If we want better, we need to be better. It is vital we identify how similar we ALL are, so that we may function as a whole. That by recognizing the benefits and negatives from each way of being, of becoming. We can help heal our home, allowing us to become better neighbours, so that we ALL may thrive.
Is that so wild a notion?
Or is the colour of our skin so important, that it is worth the destruction of humanity?
Worth the destruction of our only home?
Asking for a friend.