To Eric on courageous conversation about race: always two sides for balance

[Guest guest]

Eric wrote:

 

please don't take offense to any of this, it's only my 2 cents. i

think the "privilege" you speak of is another word for economics.

and most don't even realize the advantages they have...

 

 

Dear Eric ~ you made some excellent points here, and definitely there is an

economic aspect to the issue of "privilege." However, privilege goes beyond

that ... to perception. I was born into a working class family ... we struggled

financially, yet, until my friend informed me I was working class, I felt

that I was part of the "privileged" group. Of course, I did not think of it in

those terms as a child, but my shock at being told my class status reveals

that, for me at least, feeling a part of the dominant group was just something

I took for granted.

 

When, as a grown up, I was doing my work with children in Maryland, I was

shocked when a Native American woman told me that most of the Native American

parents in that area, when they had to register their children for school,

checked the "Black" box instead of the "Native American" box because, in their

perception it was better to be seen as Black than to be NA. This was almost

unbelievable to me. If I hadn't been told b this woman, I never would have

believed this. This has something to do with economics, but it also has to do

with perception. Many Native Americans are by far the most neglected group,

with

the highest ratio of unmet needs, in our country. In a history class I took

in college, the instructor talked about this issue of privilege a bit and

said that people tend to "identify up," which is why we have never had any

major

class uprising in America. "Identify up" means identifying with the class or

group just above you, and you try to secure some of the material goods which

help you believe your own delusion.

 

The neighborhood I grew up in was a modest, lower to middle class

neighborhood. When developers started tearing down all the forests around where

I lived

and building new houses,

I couldn't believe it. I was, of course, older at this point, somewhere in

my teens. I had seen the movie, "A Tale of Two Cities," in which, after the

poor people rose up and threw the aristocracy out of power (chopped off a lot

of

their heads and so on), entire families would move into what had once been a

single rich family's home. This is what these houses look like, and we all

are aware, I think, that this has now, in some ways become the "norm." But my

first impression was shock, and then to realize something like ... these

houses look like castles; they are so big; 3 or 4 families could fit in there.

 

Now, I am sick and poor, and living in a trailer, trying to figure out

whether this insane Medicare prescription drug program is really going to help

me

or hurt me. Believe me, when I took a good look at one of the plans, it

became immediately clear to me why many opponents of the program are saying it

was

set up to benefit drug companies. I feel privileged to be alive, to have the

opportunity to be of service in Mother's wonderful creation (this concept

was given to me when I wrote to Swami Satyananda Saraswati). Yet, despite my

circumstances, I still carry the delusion that I am "middle class." LOL These

delusions run really deep.

 

I'm not exactly sure what I am trying to get at here ... except perhaps that

those who are of the "privileged class," for whatever reason, in many ways,

don't even realize this, would never think of themselves this way, and, for

many, have a whole different mind set about poverty and race. The experience

and "see" these issues differently. And of course, our consumerist culture

doesn't help a whole lot.

 

Mother was born poor, and She understands. Jai Ma

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Eric wrote:

 

>> The education low income inner city people need is on how our system

>> works..how to improve your credit, how to open a bank account, how

>> to partner with others to start a business, how to get a mortgage,

>> etc. This is not racism, but figuring out how to make good decisions

>> and get ahead...

 

>> Also with the crazy atmosphere that inner city kids grow up in:

>> drugs and sexual activity beginning before puberty and a culture

>> that worships phoney music idols and violence and horror. This is

>> the Hollywood MTV anything goes culture. How can a young

>> impressionable kid work his way through this maze of bad influences?

 

Dear Eric ~ all of what you say is so true, yet, and I will only speak for

myself, I went to all all white, middle class suburban school, and I was no

more prepared to live in the real world than any kid in the ghetto. My school

did not prepare me; my parents did not prepare me, and as a result I have made

many incorrect decisions as an adult. Also, I know it is probably worse in

low income communities, but our culture of violence is affecting all of our

children. The middle class and wealthy are not immune.

 

Recently, I watched a Dr. Phil show where the subject was a new "fad" among

teens ~ to get high by strangling themselves to the point of losing

consciousness. If there is a partner, the partner removes the strangulation

device

just after consciousness is lost, and so most of these kids survive (but

God/dess help them for what they are doing to their brain cells). But many are

dying, especially those who do this when they are alone.

 

White kids want to pretend they are black by taking on black clothing fads

and the language of the "hood." This is much bigger than where a kid goes to

school, and I am really glad to hear that your church has chosen to deal with

this issue straight on.

 

Jai Ma ~ Linda

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Eric wrote:

 

>> I believe it is important to be balanced when discussing these

>> issues and not rely on emotionalism and stereotypes..to suggest that

>> the prison system is a conspiracy agaisnt black people is not fair

>> minded.

 

>> People go to prison because they are caught doing crimes, multiple

>> times. Could the criminal justice system be better? yes. Could the

>> the prison terms for drug dealing be less? yes. Could there be

>> better ways of dealing with young folks than throwing them in jail?

>> yes. These are battles we should all take up if it is our dharma...

 

 

Dear Eric ~ I agree with much of what you had to say here, however, there is

injustice in our criminal justice system; black people are more likely to be

given jail time, or more jail time, than others. They are more likely to be

targeted when a community is inflamed over a criminal act and tried and

jailed, regardless of the evidence. DNA testing that has shown that a good

number

of people (black and white) in jail did not commit the crime for which they've

been imprisoned. This is not emotionalism. These are facts based on

research. To point out these facts is also not to suggest there is a

conspiracy. I

think that is enough for now. This is obviously a topic that people do have

strong feelings about and experiences of. What

would Amma do? What does She do? She goes into villages or communities where

there are poor and creates better living conditions for them, but She also

creates schools and colleges and ways for them to learn a skill that will help

lift them out of poverty. She recognizes injustice, but without judgement,

and then does everything She can to make a difference.

We can't make a difference if we don't first recognize there is a problem.

Jai Ma ~ Linda

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Unfortunately, public school curriculums do not teach much that is

practical. There are some work/study programs,

but I don't know how successful they are. For a kid not going to

college, they are left quite ill-prepared to function

in the world.

Unfortunately, many kids graduate from high school not even knowing how

to read well enough to function.

If a kid is lucky and gets into special ed, he/she has a better chance

of learning basic skills.

 

nierika wrote:

> Eric wrote:

>

> >> The education low income inner city people need is on how our system

> >> works..how to improve your credit, how to open a bank account, how

> >> to partner with others to start a business, how to get a mortgage,

> >> etc. This is not racism, but figuring out how to make good decisions

> >> and get ahead...

>

> >> Also with the crazy atmosphere that inner city kids grow up in:

> >> drugs and sexual activity beginning before puberty and a culture

> >> that worships phoney music idols and violence and horror. This is

> >> the Hollywood MTV anything goes culture. How can a young

> >> impressionable kid work his way through this maze of bad influences?

>

> Dear Eric ~ all of what you say is so true, yet, and I will only speak

> for

> myself, I went to all all white, middle class suburban school, and I

> was no

> more prepared to live in the real world than any kid in the ghetto. My

> school

> did not prepare me; my parents did not prepare me, and as a result I

> have made

> many incorrect decisions as an adult. Also, I know it is probably

> worse in

> low income communities, but our culture of violence is affecting all

> of our

> children. The middle class and wealthy are not immune.

>

> Recently, I watched a Dr. Phil show where the subject was a new "fad"

> among

> teens ~ to get high by strangling themselves to the point of losing

> consciousness. If there is a partner, the partner removes the

> strangulation device

> just after consciousness is lost, and so most of these kids survive (but

> God/dess help them for what they are doing to their brain cells). But

> many are

> dying, especially those who do this when they are alone.

>

> White kids want to pretend they are black by taking on black clothing

> fads

> and the language of the "hood." This is much bigger than where a kid

> goes to

> school, and I am really glad to hear that your church has chosen to

> deal with

> this issue straight on.

>

> Jai Ma ~ Linda

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> Aum Amriteswarayai Namaha!

>

>

> ------

>

>

> * Visit your group "Ammachi

> <Ammachi>" on the web.

> *

> Ammachi

> <Ammachi?subject=Un>

> * Terms of

> Service <>.

>

>

> ------

>