It makes me wonder what she thinks is happening in Zimbabwe, for example. - Edit 1
Before modification by Rebekah at 01/02/2012 11:14:41 AM
Which was basically insult on her part, and condenscending comments because I am a White Woman and cannot possibly understand racism.
I fully understand that there are angles to racism that I cannot understand (not the way she can). However, I find the attitude and position she exhibited completely ridiculous, and it bothers me because it is wrong. I distinctly hate being treated as though I'm simply getting upset because I've got some latent racist guilt. Or color-jealousy?
Exactly.
The thing is that I come from a country where there's a separate electoral role based on race, there are separate electorates based on race, there is a national representative rugby team based on race, and a political party based on race. You can CHOOSE to be on all of these if you are Maori - i.e. not White, or Chinese, or Japanese, etc - or you can choose not to be. It's a priviledge that is only extended to one race in that country. And that race isn't the all-powerful White "race".
And when I was going to university there were scholarships that I, as a poor citizen of my country, could not apply for because my skin wasn't the right colour.
It seems that she thinks the whole world is the same, and everyone is the same across all countries.
Basically, she finds it difficult to distinguish between personal and ... "corporate" racism.