Given the demographic of those who read my blog, I'm not going to startle anyone by stating that racism has a low vibrational energy that is dying out in the new paradigm. Nevertheless, I wanted to share about an incident I witnessed on TV today that made me feel good.
I begin my days with exercise, during which I watch some previously recorded show like The Late Show with David Letterman, Charlie Rose (if I'm feeling intellectual) or some other form of entertainment. Today, as I watched Letterman, I was tempted to fast forward through an interview with someone I consider to have an "old paradigm" energy (I won't use her name so as to somewhat avoid a "gossipy" vibe, so I'll refer to her as "the guest"... for context, she is white). Anyhow, I decided to watch the interview since I sometimes find that I change my opinion about someone when I learn some aspect of their personality that I didn't know about previously.
So as I jogged around, carrying my dumbbells, I succumbed to a belabored story about the guest's eyelash extensions, and how the procedure went bad. As she told the story I cringed as she said, "The Asian lady who applied the eyelashes...[etc.]" Letterman listened patiently to the story, and when she finished he said something to the effect of, "How was her being Asian relevant to the story?" I shouted out, "Yes!" and was proud of Dave for bringing this up. The guest's reply didn't make sense to me...it sounded like a nervous rationalization (she said she wanted to give a shout out to the Asian community...and that they invented the eyelash extension process). Sigh...it was sad.
I reflected on how just a generation ago, such a story would be very unlikely to be met by a late night talk show host with an inquiry into the relevance of someone's ethnicity. Consciousness, however, is rising. People are sensing that if ethnicity isn't relevant, it's not worth mentioning. Had the guest's eyelash assistant been white it's very doubtful she would've brought such a detail into the story. Even though there was no judgment implied in mentioning that this person was Asian, it still reflects ethnicity as a "template" through which people are unnecessarily viewed.
A more overt example of racism in the last week or so was ESPN's headline "A Chink in the Armor" in relationship to the Asian NBA player Jeremy Lin of the New York Knicks. Many people were shocked (understandably so, in my opinion) that such a derogative term was able to slip past their internal censorship process and appear publicly (it was soon removed). This incident reflects that while sensitivity to racism is increasing, there is still a need for greater awareness regarding how to use language in a respectful manner.
David Letterman made a bold choice by confronting his guest, and he deserves props for his decision. Letterman still has his own work in this realm as I would prefer he stopped using the word "homosexual" when he could more eloquently use the word "gay" when describing a gay celebrity. I don't sense he's overtly homophobic, but whenever I've heard him say "homosexual" (always awkwardly) to describe someone, it makes me feel uncomfortable since by today's standards it is not the preferred term in the gay community.
We've entered an era in which racism, homophobia, and sexism are more often expressed covertly than overtly, and one way to raise consciousness is to call attention to prejudice when you hear it in those around you. When I used to live in Arizona I was surprised several times by people making racist comments or jokes in front of me, seeming to assume that because I was white I'd get a kick out of it. When we don't "laugh along" out of some vague desire to fit in or be liked, it sends the message that we're not willing to encourage the separation that is enabled by prejudice. (As an aside, I've of course witnessed racism while living in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and my current home of California, as well. It just seemed a bit more common, and unabashed, while in Arizona).
By the way, two interesting synchronicities occurred just prior to writing this blog...
First, as I thought about this topic, I noticed that the song "Every Picture Tells a Story" by Rod Stewart was playing "randomly" in the background. This is a song I like, but within it the protagonist is presumably referring to an Asian woman as a "slit-eyed lady". I'd noticed this line in the past and felt conflicted because I like the song but hated this racist description. Presumably, Stewart wouldn't use the same term if he were writing a song today...but nevertheless, I decided to remove it from my Spotify playlist (I don't like the song that much). I came to a similar decision a year or two ago when I removed Mott the Hoople's song "All the Way from Memphis" because of a guy being referred to as a "spade" (I just discovered on Wikipedia that the term was changed to "dude" in later versions...but I've never heard the "dude" version).
My second synchronicity prior to blogging was that I noticed as I sat down to my computer that on TV was a story about a new Spider-man comic book in which the man behind the suit is half-Black, half-Hispanic. The reporter spoke about how many comic fans are enjoying seeing someone like themselves portrayed as a popular superhero. I heard this and thought, "Okay...the universe is definitely nudging me towards blogging about this particular topic!"
Peace,
Chris
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I begin my days with exercise, during which I watch some previously recorded show like The Late Show with David Letterman, Charlie Rose (if I'm feeling intellectual) or some other form of entertainment. Today, as I watched Letterman, I was tempted to fast forward through an interview with someone I consider to have an "old paradigm" energy (I won't use her name so as to somewhat avoid a "gossipy" vibe, so I'll refer to her as "the guest"... for context, she is white). Anyhow, I decided to watch the interview since I sometimes find that I change my opinion about someone when I learn some aspect of their personality that I didn't know about previously.
So as I jogged around, carrying my dumbbells, I succumbed to a belabored story about the guest's eyelash extensions, and how the procedure went bad. As she told the story I cringed as she said, "The Asian lady who applied the eyelashes...[etc.]" Letterman listened patiently to the story, and when she finished he said something to the effect of, "How was her being Asian relevant to the story?" I shouted out, "Yes!" and was proud of Dave for bringing this up. The guest's reply didn't make sense to me...it sounded like a nervous rationalization (she said she wanted to give a shout out to the Asian community...and that they invented the eyelash extension process). Sigh...it was sad.
I reflected on how just a generation ago, such a story would be very unlikely to be met by a late night talk show host with an inquiry into the relevance of someone's ethnicity. Consciousness, however, is rising. People are sensing that if ethnicity isn't relevant, it's not worth mentioning. Had the guest's eyelash assistant been white it's very doubtful she would've brought such a detail into the story. Even though there was no judgment implied in mentioning that this person was Asian, it still reflects ethnicity as a "template" through which people are unnecessarily viewed.
David Letterman made a bold choice by confronting his guest, and he deserves props for his decision. Letterman still has his own work in this realm as I would prefer he stopped using the word "homosexual" when he could more eloquently use the word "gay" when describing a gay celebrity. I don't sense he's overtly homophobic, but whenever I've heard him say "homosexual" (always awkwardly) to describe someone, it makes me feel uncomfortable since by today's standards it is not the preferred term in the gay community.
We've entered an era in which racism, homophobia, and sexism are more often expressed covertly than overtly, and one way to raise consciousness is to call attention to prejudice when you hear it in those around you. When I used to live in Arizona I was surprised several times by people making racist comments or jokes in front of me, seeming to assume that because I was white I'd get a kick out of it. When we don't "laugh along" out of some vague desire to fit in or be liked, it sends the message that we're not willing to encourage the separation that is enabled by prejudice. (As an aside, I've of course witnessed racism while living in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and my current home of California, as well. It just seemed a bit more common, and unabashed, while in Arizona).
By the way, two interesting synchronicities occurred just prior to writing this blog...
First, as I thought about this topic, I noticed that the song "Every Picture Tells a Story" by Rod Stewart was playing "randomly" in the background. This is a song I like, but within it the protagonist is presumably referring to an Asian woman as a "slit-eyed lady". I'd noticed this line in the past and felt conflicted because I like the song but hated this racist description. Presumably, Stewart wouldn't use the same term if he were writing a song today...but nevertheless, I decided to remove it from my Spotify playlist (I don't like the song that much). I came to a similar decision a year or two ago when I removed Mott the Hoople's song "All the Way from Memphis" because of a guy being referred to as a "spade" (I just discovered on Wikipedia that the term was changed to "dude" in later versions...but I've never heard the "dude" version).
My second synchronicity prior to blogging was that I noticed as I sat down to my computer that on TV was a story about a new Spider-man comic book in which the man behind the suit is half-Black, half-Hispanic. The reporter spoke about how many comic fans are enjoying seeing someone like themselves portrayed as a popular superhero. I heard this and thought, "Okay...the universe is definitely nudging me towards blogging about this particular topic!"
Peace,
Chris
Get 5 Free Minutes ~ Live Psychic and Tarot Readings
Get 10 Minutes for $1.99 ~ Live Psychic and Tarot Readers
This blogger is supported by ethical reading sites which offer live online psychic readings, tarot readers and astrology.
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