The Ultimate Privilege: The Ability to Forget [When Convenient]
It must truly be delightful to live in a realm of selective memory and care. There are far too many of us within the BIPOC community that do NOT have that ability...that privilege if you will. We are reminded daily of the trauma inflicted upon our ancestors to the point that our DNA has been forever altered; as well as the trauma that is inflicted upon our collective daily. We CAN NOT simply hold on to JUST:
We are riddled with the memories (and even flashbacks and PTSD) from:
The above is a mere sampling of events that have caused an inherent caution and lack of trust in the BIPOC community. History has been cruel to non-white people within this nation while [simultaneously] creating systems, excuses, and unwavering privilege for the tyrannical villains of US history...colonizers.
Descendents of colonizers are afforded the privilege of ignoring the intersectionality of history, rewriting it (for their comfort and the comfort of their lineage), and [most notably] forgetting that most portions of history ever existed. This is why (far too often) we are told to "get over it" or that "it was so long ago" and the overly utilized "I didn't do it, why should I pay for it?". The latter translates to, "It didn't affect me or my family negatively then and it doesn't affect me now, why should I care?"
It can prove DEADLY for us to be selective in what we acknowledge historically. We are also tasked with the daunting assignment of fervently working to ensure that most of it do NOT repeat itself. We understand that when it is NOT learned or acknowledged, history tends to become the ultimate "groundhog's day" with marginalized people receiving the brunt of its oppression and casualty count.
This is in direct opposition to the genetic mutations that decided that they are the top tier of the racial hierarchy taking the audacious approach of formulating history to be a fairytale of white saviorism. Hence White Nationalists indelibly believe that they are the creators and builders of all things. They have also gifted themselves with the ability to brag about and be prideful regarding their IMMIGRANT grandparents/parents, while also condemning current immigrants as well as black and brown people.
Additionally, these are the collection of humans that continuously move the goal post [racially] when it comes to who they will deem white. This is their primary tactic to protect their hierarchy placement and recruitment tactic for the condemnation of melanated peoples. Hence the perpetuation of the "Model Minority" trope, the [willful] misunderstanding of the difference between ethnicity and race.
Yet... they proclaim that lack of financial independence or the existence of classism absolves them from overall privilege. It misses their craniums that the FACT that they can ignore what does not directly affect their lives is PRIVILEGE. When hardship or tyranny does knock upon their doors, this privilege is what drives them to categorize it as new.
It is simply new to you...not new to those of us that have lived with the [actual] terms and conditions of the US for generations.
Comments
Post a Comment