That's a great way of phrasing it. I view it from a Native American (I prefer American Indian) perspective. Half my family are "assimilated". We have jobs, went to college, owe a mortgage. The other half still live on the Rez. The Rez cousins see themselves as victims, as if the culture is working against them, but they denigrate education and live too far from jobs to actually be employed. They won't leave the Rez -- where you don't own your own home. So is that them being victimized or them not taking advantage of the opportunities that exist elsewhere? I feel sympathy for their plight but because I took another road, I don't feel victimized. I walk in the "white" world as comfortably as I walk in the Indian world and I almost never experience racism. I'm sure it exists and I would see it if I looked for it, but because I'm not looking for it, I don't experience it. Because I don't approach people with a chip on my shoulder expecting they'll misbehave, thinking I can read their minds, I mostly have comfortable interactions with people who aren't Native American. I actually encounter way more racism from my Rez cousins than I do from any other ethnic group. And, whites -- well, I live in Alaska which is the third most-diverse state in the union and Alaska Natives corporations own the biggest private businesses, so if the whites around me are racists, they've learned to keep it to themselves because they like making incomes.
Wow, I really appreciate you offering such a different perspective (never been to Alaska!). I have some Navaho relatives on and off reservations in the Southwest, so I'm somewhat familiar with the dynamic your talking about specifically, but, yes, generally, you get what you're looking for in life. Maybe similar to you, I walk as comfortably in the black world as the white and the most important thing, to me, is to assume the best about people, until proven otherwise. I've been rewarded 1000 times over with that perspective, and never hurt by it, so far as I know.
That's a great way of phrasing it. I view it from a Native American (I prefer American Indian) perspective. Half my family are "assimilated". We have jobs, went to college, owe a mortgage. The other half still live on the Rez. The Rez cousins see themselves as victims, as if the culture is working against them, but they denigrate education and live too far from jobs to actually be employed. They won't leave the Rez -- where you don't own your own home. So is that them being victimized or them not taking advantage of the opportunities that exist elsewhere? I feel sympathy for their plight but because I took another road, I don't feel victimized. I walk in the "white" world as comfortably as I walk in the Indian world and I almost never experience racism. I'm sure it exists and I would see it if I looked for it, but because I'm not looking for it, I don't experience it. Because I don't approach people with a chip on my shoulder expecting they'll misbehave, thinking I can read their minds, I mostly have comfortable interactions with people who aren't Native American. I actually encounter way more racism from my Rez cousins than I do from any other ethnic group. And, whites -- well, I live in Alaska which is the third most-diverse state in the union and Alaska Natives corporations own the biggest private businesses, so if the whites around me are racists, they've learned to keep it to themselves because they like making incomes.
What you say makes perfect sense to me - I knew it, but then you put it into words - sensible, experienced, thoughtful words. Glad you shared it.
Wow, I really appreciate you offering such a different perspective (never been to Alaska!). I have some Navaho relatives on and off reservations in the Southwest, so I'm somewhat familiar with the dynamic your talking about specifically, but, yes, generally, you get what you're looking for in life. Maybe similar to you, I walk as comfortably in the black world as the white and the most important thing, to me, is to assume the best about people, until proven otherwise. I've been rewarded 1000 times over with that perspective, and never hurt by it, so far as I know.