I read a very interesting article today on the “fear of a black president” by a white writer. I like his honesty especially for someone who identifies as a liberal. That identification to me is important as I remember a conversation with a white “liberal” co-worker telling him some of my experiences being black in the USA. What lead to the conversation was a “humorous email” he circulated making fun of me that many of my white colleagues viewed as racist (Some were extremely angry). I never saw the email as racist because I knew him. As a Black Jamaican I think my filters are somewhat very different from a Black American growing up in the US. In many cases I would not call the “race card” first when I am slighted. It has to be blatant racism before I see it. This is why I did not see his email as racist. Well management and many others did. Eventually I saw how it could be perceived as racist.
Back to the conversation. I was shocked at how “shocked” he was when we discussed racism and some of my experiences. As a liberal he was surprising naive about how someone may react to some of his jokes. He kept leaning on “friends from other cultures”…
