I’m getting a little fed up with the comments that the
Irish, the Germans, the Italians etc. ad nauseum had adapted to the majority
culture in the US so why can’t _______ I don’t think you’ll have to think too
hard to fill in the blank.
Well for starters many of those minorities are white or at
least rather tan in complexion. Lose the accent, alter your name, move to the
other side of the country and you can pretend to be just about anything you
want to be. If anyone is curious enough to ask, that is. Even the Italians. For
every immigrant’s son who looks like Antonin Scalia, there’s a blue eyed blond
from the north of the country that was settled by the Germanic tribes. Change
your name from Bellini to Bell
and nobody will ask any questions.
As for the minorities from the orient, they faced some very
extreme prejudice in the early years. And let’s face it. I didn’t take the time
to run the numbers but there just aren’t that many Chinese, Japanese, Korean,
Asian Americans in this country. I suspect that there are parts of the country
where the good citizens can go for years and not see an Asian face outside of
the TV or movies.
African Americans have been the quintessential other from
the beginning. Were they persons or property? The constitution came down on the
side of what? They were persons but only 3/5 of a person and only so they could
be counted for census purposes. Called “black” even though most African
Americans are varying shades of brown it conjures up all those images of
darkness.
The dangers of night. Going over to the “dark side.” Thanks
George we really needed that and Darth Vader in his midnight black get up to
let us know he wasn’t one of the good guys. The psy cops in the Babylon 5 universe with
their SS wannabe’s black uniforms. The black sheep of the family. The black
market. All the negative images conjured up by “black.”
You can change your name. You can get an education that lets
you speak like a BBC presenter. You can get a good job and dress the part. Even
buy a decent car. There are still areas where the real estate agents will try
to steer you away from. You can still be arrested for buying belt considered
too nice for somebody like you. You and that nice care can still be pulled over
for “infractions” that probably wouldn’t be noticed in a European American
driver.
You can be stopped and questioned for walking while black
with your hands in your pockets. (true story. Apparently a store owner had
called because an African American with his hands in his pockets had been
passing back and forth in front of the store and he was afraid he was going to
be robbed. No matter that the man who was actually stopped was nowhere near the
store. He was walking the mile between the house of a friend and his place
about a mile away)
You can still be called every vile name in the book because, unlike other hyphenated
Americans, you can’t change the color of your skin. From the day you’re born
until the day you die too many people will only look at skin color and no
further. And from the comments I’ve been reading on too many stories too many
people aren’t interested in doing things any different.
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