1) My sister came out last year. My mom asked me if she thought my sister was the woman or man in her relationship. I said "they are both women, that's the point." My mom said "no, I wonder who gonna do the cooking and cleaning." Really mom...all I could do is laugh |
My mom is also an old-fashioned not-a-racist. She thinks that hiring a person of color, having a polite conversation, or admitting that people of color can be hardworking and pleasant, all make her not-a-racist. Of course, she's the one who, as you heard about on a previous thread like this, said "It's so nice to see a black man taking care of his children!" Loudly. In a public enclosed space. As I dragged her away in mortification, she protested "What? I said it was NICE!" Confession: I have very little exposure to black people and thus, most of what I "know" comes from tv, and that one black girl who was my college roommate for 2 months back in '94. So I could see myself thinking/saying something like that. The majority of black people I see are 1. security guards standing outside Marshalls or Ross or outside the bank, 2, black guys unloading boxes of food in the supermarket, who, if I ask if they know where Wheat Thins or something are, won't make eye contact and mumble,or 3 the clump of black kids on the trains talking loudly to each other and cursing a ton. So I'd be thrilled to be exposed to and have the opportunity to become friends with black people who are ... different from those people. Oh wow. I'm not sure I want to be friends with you - I feel a little sorry for you. If that's all you see, you have blinders on. |
Curious, 15:06... where do you live? Where did you grow up?
I ask because I grew up in a small town with very few minorities of any kind. One Jewish family, maybe 3-5% African American, no Hispanics. But then I moved to DC, where there are people of every color everywhere I turn. I have had to put my kid's hair in a dozen ponytails all over her head, with those colored-ball rubber-bands. Because she wanted her hair done like her bestie's hair. It would take some serious effort to avoid getting to know a few black families around here. |
(crazy shit DCUM says in reply to threads)
Wow. |
Confession: I have very little exposure to black people and thus, most of what I "know" comes from tv, and that one black girl who was my college roommate for 2 months back in '94. So I could see myself thinking/saying something like that. The majority of black people I see are 1. security guards standing outside Marshalls or Ross or outside the bank, 2, black guys unloading boxes of food in the supermarket, who, if I ask if they know where Wheat Thins or something are, won't make eye contact and mumble,or 3 the clump of black kids on the trains talking loudly to each other and cursing a ton. So I'd be thrilled to be exposed to and have the opportunity to become friends with black people who are ... different from those people. Oh wow. I'm not sure I want to be friends with you - I feel a little sorry for you. If that's all you see, you have blinders on. Oh, for Christ's sake. Stop hijacking threads and take the discussion elsewhere. |
My mother had two pieces of advice for me which still hold true today, and I intend to pass them onto my daughter:
1. Never shave your legs above the knee or you'll be sorry. 2. If you let a boy touch your breasts you'll go crazy. |
Golden. Love it. My mother used to say, "Your beauty lies between your thighs." |
Well, hey, don't pile on the sheltered PP. Maybe she just arrived in DC last week, from Utah. Because it's impossible that she's been in DC for more than a week and only ever encountered low-wage low-skill black folks.
It's true, there are lots of surly people. If you're on the lookout for surly black people, you're going to see them. So give her a couple of weeks to start her office job and find out that the scary-smart boss's boss is black. And that the funnest mom in her kid's class is black. And that the most friendly helpful neighbor on the block is black. Or whatever. I came from a place where you did NOT see black people at all levels of the socio economic scale, and where they very much kept to themselves. DC is different. Takes a while to suss out just how different. |
My mom is notorious for being ditzy and not making sense sometimes. It's usually hilarious.
Once we were playing Scattergories and it asked for a band that started with T. The put ""T"he Beatles". Once, she said her friend's son had just gotten into college in Pennsylvania and it started with an "R", couldn't remember the name. 30 minutes later, she screams out "VANDERBILT!" as the name of the college she finally remembered. Whenever my husband or I want to jokingly say a completely wrong answer we scream out "VANDERBILT!" now. She once asked me, in all seriousness: "I have a question for you--is Walmart good, or bad?" She had been confused by all the recent news stories and wanted a simple answer. |
My mom's sex talk:
"keep your dress down." That was my entire sex talk. |
My mom is also an old-fashioned not-a-racist. She thinks that hiring a person of color, having a polite conversation, or admitting that people of color can be hardworking and pleasant, all make her not-a-racist. Of course, she's the one who, as you heard about on a previous thread like this, said "It's so nice to see a black man taking care of his children!" Loudly. In a public enclosed space. As I dragged her away in mortification, she protested "What? I said it was NICE!" Confession: I have very little exposure to black people and thus, most of what I "know" comes from tv, and that one black girl who was my college roommate for 2 months back in '94. So I could see myself thinking/saying something like that. The majority of black people I see are 1. security guards standing outside Marshalls or Ross or outside the bank, 2, black guys unloading boxes of food in the supermarket, who, if I ask if they know where Wheat Thins or something are, won't make eye contact and mumble,or 3 the clump of black kids on the trains talking loudly to each other and cursing a ton. So I'd be thrilled to be exposed to and have the opportunity to become friends with black people who are ... different from those people. http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/06/14/us-usa-fathers-idUSN0419185720070614 |
Perfect. My Dad thought he was hilarious, so when I would go out on a date wearing a sweater, he would always say "Don't let him pull the wool over your eyes." My mother would just point at me on my way out. |
No matter how many links and stats you can find, if you can't understand why saying a "nice" thing like that is offensive, then... Hey, you want to hang out with my mom when she comes to visit next week?? |
I was venting to my mother about my infertility woes. To comfort me, she then told me of a woman she knew who had IF, took her friend's child's baby and raised this child as her own, when the child was a teen, the truth started coming out. blah blah. This went on and on.
Finally, I interrupted her and asked who this woman is. She would be my mom's age and I'd be sure to know her, or at least the daughter that was raised without knowing her bio-mom. She tells me its from XYZ soap opera. ![]() |
I'm Asian American, and I find this website hilarious:
http://mymomisafob.com/ |