Comments on: What Would You Do?

By: Yo

Yo — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 16:59:01 +0000

On two separate occasions while waiting for an elevator, Iâ€™ve had white males say to me the elevator was full. I can not imagine this would have happened if I were with my spouse or if I were male. It felt very disrespectful and racists. Both times I was staying at a hotel on business and traveling alone. There seemed to be something behind this other than a crowded elevator. It may seem trivial but to me it was a way of putting a young professional female of color in her place.

By: Prada3721

Prada3721 — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 16:30:50 +0000

Its tough to deal with the overt racism, which I was confronted with often as a child — but the support of my parents and their willingness to fight Has always made me hold my head high.

But it is the subtle racisms and the folks that want to act like black folks are just overly sensitive that kill me. They just don’t see it and I wish there was a way to bring it to light.

By: Afrodite

Afrodite — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 20:27:38 +0000

Never dealt with racism to that blunt of a degree. It’s more subtle in these parts (California). I’ve got the: “You speak so well!” and since I’ve gone natural, white people can’t seem to keep thier hands out of my hair and are so damn curious about it.

By: summer

summer — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 18:29:17 +0000

Miss Mckinzie Says: November 27th, 2007 at 2:14 pm
When i was in elementary school one of my white classmates attempted to call me the â€˜Nâ€™ word ,but she only got the nig out before i slapped the ger back down her throat.

Bwahahaha! I don’t advocate violence, but that was damn funny.

I grew up in small-town NE Arkansas. Too many N-word and racist stories to recount. Plus, that would take away my good energy. To the racists? F*ck ‘em. They can’t steal my shine.

By: jamie

jamie — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 21:00:55 +0000

This just makes me so angry. maybe I’m naive because I’m young and maybe because I’m white, but I have never been able to understand the mindset of racists. I have never had the urge to call anyone a nigger, and can not understand how anyone could want to. Are they trying to hurt that person or make themselves feel better? I just think that nigger can be such a hurtful word, I can’t imagine reacting the way that Jill did is someone call me a guinea (I’m Italian). I don’t understand how people can hate so blindly.

By: Aurie

Aurie — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 20:56:59 +0000

Omgosh!! Jill is my Gurrrrl!! Ever since I saw her live at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, NJ back in 2005, I’ve been in some seriously serioud “Love” with the woman’s talents & abilities. Beautiful Black Woman.

By: B!

B! — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 16:27:41 +0000

I have been called a nigger about five times in my life. It happened not in Kentucky or Missouri or Texas or Ohio or North Florida visiting relatives, but in my hometown of Miami, FL and right here in Brooklyn, where I now live.
Each time I was stunned and rendered speechless. Each time all I saw were my fists hitting mouth, eyes, throat, jaws… whatever. My spit flying from my mouth and landing in the offender’s eyes. I’m grateful I was always in the company of someone who could keep me moving, keep me walking away.
I am one of those people what can never be comfortable with that word, that will always feel anger and hurt each time it is aimed at me or at someone I know. I know who I am, but I am angered that others do not know who they are, and that they seek themselves by attacking people on the grounds of their identity.

By: J.Brown

J.Brown — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 03:43:59 +0000

I hope she made him feel like an idiot.

By: Cherie

Cherie — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 23:24:07 +0000

“Hate on me” – thank you Ms. Scott for putting it out there, should be the Black woman’s, or at least Oprah’s, anthem. Love you always, what would we do without you.

Oddly enough, I don’t think that laughing in the face of racism in this form is all that difficult – relatively speaking. The more difficult stance for us as black women, or at least for me, would be laughing or somehow confronting the overtly misogynistic words that come out of the mouths of our “brothers” each and every day. When we attack racisms, somehow it feels like everyone is on the same page, and you know that the “community” has your back. When we fight misogyny, which we see more often(how many of us have not been called a bitch in a malicious tone?) and are also more likely to see the accompanying hate crime (who hasn’t been or doesn’t know someone who’s been the victim of rape or abuse), it is more difficult to muster the same courage to fight it out loud. Why is that?

By: Liz

Liz — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 19:34:29 +0000

Correction: “it shouldn’t be my job…”