Yo. I have no idea how to write a blog post without feeling like a self absorbed douche. Really, why else would anyone write down their thoughts about the world for everyone else to read? Regardless, I'm going to do it and face that weird feeling of self awareness for the sake of getting thoughts out on the table that, I guess, I think are important or valuable to other humans. Sue me.
This Sunday I had two conversations about racism and both were exclusively with white people. The first was with some friends at Church talking about a local high school sports mascot, the Boise Braves (I played Hockey [badly] for the Braves, actually). They told me of an argument they recently had with a mutual friend of ours (also white) who insisted that the mascot's name should be changed. She argued it was making fun of someone else's culture. The present company never said their full opinion, but by the way they were talking I'm guessing they would firmly argue the name pays respect to Native Americans, calling them tough, strong, etc.
Now, this conversation is ongoing, as it is with all Native American themed sports mascots and I don't think I have a solid answer or opinion on this case in particular. Maybe that's lame, but I also don't really find it to be my place to say as I'm not the one being marginalized here, and despite hearing of differing opinions from actual Native Americans on the issue, I've never even spoken to one about it (not that anecdotal opinions speak for the whole issue anyway, but it still offers a perspective I don't have).
Regardless, I don't think I would have taken this middle-of-the-road approach even three years ago. I went to a private Christian high school that was highly Republican/"conservative", as well as almost completely white. Looking back, most of the people I grew up with at this school were totally ignorant to modern day racism. Comedian Bill Burr put it best on his podcast when he said white people don't understand racism because it doesn't affect them. He used the example of affirmative action, and how a good chunk of white people think of it as racism against themselves because they don't understand the history behind it. I can totally confirm that, and if I'm being honest it's only something I've started to understand within the last year.
The second conversation I had was with two of my old band mates. Considering that the three of us, upon meeting five years ago, were fairly "conservative" still, it was pretty surprising to hear us taking some fairly "progressive" or "liberal" stances on some hot button issues. We talked about mass incarceration, police brutality, white privilege - like I said, hot button issues right now. I found that each of us has independently come to similar conclusions from just learning more about these issues. We're all from painfully white Idaho, but in this technology age, it's not hard to hear outside perspectives, opinions, and (most importantly) experiences. Not only that, but we have a plethora of data and information on these topics at our fingertips (see: Google). So getting a bigger picture is a lot more feasible than it would have been twenty years ago... when the people who taught us to be ignorant were learning and forming their own opinions.
Now, this is something I'm going to be learning about, changing my opinion on, and being humbled by for the rest of my life, and it would be silly to not acknowledge my own points of ignorance and racial biases, even if I'm not always aware of what they are. But my point, besides that you should listen to outside perspectives, is that there is hope for change in everyone's future. Nobody is above reproach and nobody is incapable of learning, and while it usually takes a while for people to change, a lot of them are thankfully still changing.
Granted, that doesn't excuse someone's hurtful actions or words. I am so sorry it took so long to get here. But I'm here now, and I hope that those affected by ignorance can forgive me for holding on to it for as long as I did. This morning, I find myself listening to a song by Atom and His Package entitled "If You Own the Washington Redskins, You're a Cock". Growing up, I never understood Atom and His Package. People called it punk music but it sounded a lot like 80's Fez to me. Punk was supposed to sound like NOFX or Less Than Jake. What's more, I was still in my isolated Christian School/Idaho bubble and the world was still very black and white to me (no pun intended). I'm not sure if I ever heard this song in particular, but I know if I had that I would have written it off as garbage, musically and lyrically.
But I've changed my mind on Atom and His Package - he rocks - as well as the Redskins - change your name. Thank God people change.
