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Miche posted this link through FB this morning - I shared it then there was an earthquake and it promptly got buried.
http://whatever.scalzi.com/2010/10/18/things-i-dont-have-to-think-about-today/
Among the comments was a link to this pdf about the invisibility of cultural privilege/advantage to those who have it, which is also worth thinking about and may have a followup post.
http://www.nymbp.org/reference/WhitePrivilege.pdf
And when you're done with those, grab a handful of tissues and go read this one
http://whatever.scalzi.com/2005/09/03/being-poor/
(I broke down when I clicked to the author's mother's comment)
This will resonate more directly with some of my friends than with me. But it brings to mind occasional comments my parents have made, so I need to have a discussion with them about what the money situation was really like when I was a kid, and what it was for them growing up (especially my mother. Nana's depression-era habits were mentioned at her funeral).
~~~
Today I have accomplished - laundry, reading ~1000 comments, groceries, insurance, sod all work despite initial intentions, a dinnertime taxi-ing to the After Hours clinic (I have yet to mange dinner, working on it), this blog post.
I did not manage to call the council to find out what to do about my chimney now that the aftershocks have beaten the EQC assessor to it, but I did look up the number to call. (It's still upright but now definitely needs dis-assembled in short order. And there's a storm coming over tonight so there's probably going to be a bit of water get into the chimney, but that should be OK as long as the wind isn't strong enough to knock it over.)
http://whatever.scalzi.com/2010/10/18/things-i-dont-have-to-think-about-today/
Among the comments was a link to this pdf about the invisibility of cultural privilege/advantage to those who have it, which is also worth thinking about and may have a followup post.
http://www.nymbp.org/reference/WhitePrivilege.pdf
And when you're done with those, grab a handful of tissues and go read this one
http://whatever.scalzi.com/2005/09/03/being-poor/
(I broke down when I clicked to the author's mother's comment)
This will resonate more directly with some of my friends than with me. But it brings to mind occasional comments my parents have made, so I need to have a discussion with them about what the money situation was really like when I was a kid, and what it was for them growing up (especially my mother. Nana's depression-era habits were mentioned at her funeral).
~~~
Today I have accomplished - laundry, reading ~1000 comments, groceries, insurance, sod all work despite initial intentions, a dinnertime taxi-ing to the After Hours clinic (I have yet to mange dinner, working on it), this blog post.
I did not manage to call the council to find out what to do about my chimney now that the aftershocks have beaten the EQC assessor to it, but I did look up the number to call. (It's still upright but now definitely needs dis-assembled in short order. And there's a storm coming over tonight so there's probably going to be a bit of water get into the chimney, but that should be OK as long as the wind isn't strong enough to knock it over.)
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no subject
Date: 2010-10-19 09:06 am (UTC)From:7. I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race.
Despite being true, in New Zealand, you are not allowed to be proud of these things. Or maybe that was just West Auckland. But at no point in my schooling was I allowed to be proud of being a white English/German.
16. I can remain oblivious of the language and customs of persons of color who constitute the world’s majority without feeling in my culture any penalty for such oblivion.
Again, does not work in NZ (WA) You are constantly reminded when you are offending someone else's culture, but if they offend white culture, very few will argue with them.
As for safety, I think that sometimes it was safer for me to walk down the street and be mistaken for a Samoan or a Maori, than it was for my blonde haired blue eyed sister.
I think in NZ we have a balance of Brown Privilege and White Privilege that can balance each other out. I honestly think that the reason that Maori and Islanders don't do well in Capitalism is because their values are more family and community based than earnings and nuclear family based. It's not worse than the capitalism, just different, and screws the statistics over because it's hard to quantify a contentment within your family.
BTW, my views may be because I've encountered racism from both sides of the fence, having been called both a dumb Maori who can't even count to 10, and an evil white supressor.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-19 07:17 pm (UTC)From:Something which I think is mostly invisible to NZers (and certainly to me because I have absolutely no outside frame of reference, not even less-white parts of NZ than Chch) is how the influence of Maori culture (and their fight for recognition) has had on the "white" culture in NZ, as compared to say Australia or the US. I see it mentioned in articles from time to time, but I have no grasp of it.
I've often thought the same about the differential in success (as measured in our capitalistic society), and wished a bit more of the community approach had made it's way in.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-20 03:59 am (UTC)From:I definitely think that article doesn't apply very much anymore, especially where I grew up. I'm mostly waiting for everyone to lose their little chips on their shoulders, and that includes me!
no subject
Date: 2010-10-20 07:34 am (UTC)From: