My first post on the subject: https://steemit.com/life/@drwillwho/steemit-an-old-white-man-s-classroom-for-gaining-wisdom-in-diversity-i-m-at-my-desk-teach-me simply offered the opinion that Steemit, with it's world wide reach, should be a fantastic classroom for getting varied opinions, hopefully directly from those who are most affected by diversity issues.
My second thoughts on cultural appropriation is found at: https://steemit.com/life/@drwillwho/steemit-a-classroom-for-gaining-wisdom-in-diversity-i-m-at-my-desk-teach-me-is-it-appropriation-or-is-it-flattery
(An image of a NC CAP unit marching in a parade... this is not us, but we are CAP)
And while I'd still love input on the idea of appropriation, I had a personal experience, or rather my daughter did, this weekend at a Christmas parade.
We marched as part of the local Civil Air Patrol. We had cadets carrying flags and rifles at the front, and then a squadron of cadets in uniform marching behind them in their uniforms. Us old folk followed and tried to keep up and keep in step.
The cadets were amazing, presenting a professional image of young community and state volunteers and my daughter, who is the commander of our squadron, called cadence to help keep everyone unified. Things went perfectly... despite the cold.
A Junior ROTC group from the local High School got tapped to carry the colors for the whole parade, so they had the first slot. We couldn't see them from our position, but I imagine they did great. Another group with similar goals in providing leadership training for America's youth.
(stock photo)
Their color guard finished the parade, and moved off to the side to let vehicles and floats move off into the parking lot and we turned in and marched up the little hill, and this group of young JROTC cadets were laughing and one of them said "There's a black one!"
Now, my daughter is strong, spirited, poised, very dark with natural hair, and seemed to just let it roll off her back... but WTF! What is that even supposed to mean? "There's a black one." If they were picking on the Civil Air Patrol as a competitive group... what does having black cadets have to do with it. Are they implying that the presence of diversity somehow makes us worse? I happen to know they have black JROTC cadets in their own unit, although none were around, so is this just some embedded prejudice? It disheartened me because I expect adults might still live with the lies that were perpetuated during their youth... but to see young people, who are living in an increasingly diverse world being taught these bigoted behaviors and spreading them is tragic.
(From the Huffington Post)
I feel that we've come a long way as a nation, and I hope we're still making progress. As more and more people share space with people of different backgrounds, it should become clear that things like ethnic background, gender, gender orientation, religious orientation, and other labels that we're quick to segregate people by are not at all a reflection of the person. We have people who look just like us who think and behave very differently and people who look or live differently who think and behave just like us. It really is the epitome of ignorance to think that these traits are somehow affecting the soul of the individual, but yet people still treat others with scorn or contempt.
So many questions. Why did these kids think that was funny, and even more that they needed to announce it where she could hear it? Are they mean? Evil? Suffering from low self esteem where they need to detract from others since they don't feel good about themselves?
What do I do about it? Should I accost a group of strange teenagers for their stupid comment? Should I report it to someone? Or should I just continue to love and pour into my children, teaching them that idiots do and will continue to exist? Is there truth in "Sticks and stones may break your bones but names will never hurt you?" Words do hurt, and can cause unseen scars, but in regard to how to respond to the offense.... what is the best course of action?
I knew that our nation was degenerate and wicked when I adopted my girls, but I have zero regrets and they are 100% my children... just with better genetics than I would have given them. I want them to be capable of dealing with wickedness when confronted with it, and am not clear on what the healthy response should be. I have not been supportive of safety pins and stressing about micro-aggressions. I want them to not be affected by someone else's defect. I would support them if they fought back, but don't know that promoting fighting is effective. I want them to have enough self confidence that when they meet these POS individuals, they look at them with pity and aren't affected by their hate.
I really am not clear on what is best. Would love to hear stories or advice. I know this is a relatively mild issue compared to some of the much more aggressive racism, sexism, etc... that people have endured. I just want it to end, and for that to happen, I believe that zero tolerance is the direction we need to pursue.