NOFX, a less-than-famous, punk band that was kinda big in the '90s, had a song called "Don't Call me White." I have a blog called Brand New Day, and I have a friend who I will call J. He is American, but his father is Mexican. And he is angry at me for some comment I made about his ideas toward war, race, and the possibility of change in a world run by a country like the USA. He questioned what use it was to write about change, and discuss change, in such a corrupt and racist country. He questioned me, asking what I could do, being that I am a 'pampered white liberal.'
I am saddened by his diatribe. Yes, I am white, and no I have not ever seen a food stamp up close and personal. I live in Brazil, with the help, sometimes of my wife-s parents' money, and once and while, my parents. They do not have maids, butlers, or even more than one car. But they are white, and middle-class. They have not been run in by the cops for being a person of color, or looking 'suspicious.' I cannot do anything about that. What I hoped I could do was try to move beyond my particular skin pigment, Rutherford, NJ, upbringing and university education (of which J shared, attending the same college.) I hoped that I could do something to make things a little better.
But, alas, i am white. I will never understand, and therefore, I know now, I should give up. My friend, who just wrote me to tell me to "f... my blog," is probably right. what is the purpose of trying to understand the oppressed if I am not one of them.
I will now begin a career at Philip Morris, or maybe JP Morgan. I could be a NJ state trooper. But seriously, why I am posting for a blog that is most likely read by the same people my enlightened multi ethnic friend in Florida despises for their inability to get it? Why care at all. I will never understand. I am hiding in Brazil from the reality that I have no purpose as a white liberal, beside voting in Democrats that do nothing but pretend to give a damn. Maybe I should just stay hiding, and stop pretending that I have a clue about anything wrong with the US.
What do you think, SG?
