the same planet We all have hard times, and
we are all oppressed.’ That’s just a cop-out It
isn’t specific events that constitute racism.
There is a continuum of attitude that is always
there.”
E., a Black woman who is active in the
community, commented, “ I think a lot of
people are working on their racism now. Be
fore, they expected us to do it They would
say, Tell us what we are doing wrong,’ and
when you told them you got a two-day defen
siveness trip. Finally women of color have
said, ‘Hey, this is not our job. We didn’t teach
you that shit we don’t have to unteach you.’ If
someone White says it it doesn’t sound so
much like an attack People used to keep
telling me that there was nothing wrong with
them; there was something wrong with me,
and I didn’t know what the fuck I was talking
about Now it’s happening without the person
o f color needing to be there.”
White people have to realize the existence
of racism to modify the behavior of them
selves and others. People of color need to
realize it to prevent erosion of their self
esteem when they are put down without ap
parent reason. E says, “ I went out for the
hockey team in a high school in Detroit, not
being aware of the prejudice. When we were
practicing, all sorts of weird stuff started hap
pening. They kept putting me down, not cal
ling me nigger or anything, just telling me
how incompetent I was. It wasn’t until years
later that I realized they were so hostile be
cause of their racism. They gave me no
chance to compete to place on that team.
Even the teacher was very belligerent’’
Naomi: “ I have a block about a lot of racist
experiences. I don’t remember them because I
did’t have the verbal skills to analyze them at
the time. You get used to being treated in a
certain way. You don’t stop and say, ‘What’s
happening to me is racist,’ because racism is
not something we created; it's something
White people have created. They are the ex
perts. I’ve been refused employment and
housing citing my race, but it’s taken a lot of
teaching myself and learning from other wo
men of color to decipher the subtle things
that gnaw away at your self-esteem.”
Ruprt comments, “ I don’t think the gay
com m unity is any different in its racism from
the com m unity at large. The shame of the
matter is that we gay people could use our
experience as a discriminated minority to un
Just Out January 6-January 20
derstand the plight of other people, but we
don’t To be a gay person you can be closeted,
but not so with Blacks. If people are going to
react to you, they react to you on sight Some
gay people are happy as long as they have
bars to socialize in. TTiey don’t concern
themselves with which political figures sup
port Gay Rights or matters like the threat of
FTC folding. Black people don’t automatically
look at their oppression and understand the
plight of gay people; Jewish people don’t
learn to be less sexist women don’t examine
the way they have been oppressed and un
derstand racism. I don’t think that any of
these things will automatically happen, but I
do think one can analyze the common thread,
it’s all based on how we view ourselves. If a
person is comfortable with who he is, there is
no need to put others down."
Let’s get specific. M., a Black man who
frequents the bar scene, came to me when he
heard through a mutual friend that I was writ
ing an article on racism. M. says, ‘‘I’ve noticed
this group of racists that frequent the bars.
Sometimes they will surround me or come
up to the person I’m dancing with. A couple
of them at the Cell were making a noose out
o f their leather straps. One night I was at the
baths and this guy said to me as I was walking
into my room, ‘KKK.’ Later he took an aerosol
can and sprayed it in his room as if to rid the
room of my odor. I‘ve had my request for
songs ignored at the Zoo until I pressed and
they said they didn’t have it Once when I was
in the parking lot by the Cell one of them
yelled, "Your teeth are so white.’ The barboy at
the Cell picked up my friend’s drink The
bottles were still obviously full.”
Rupert comments further, “ Carding was a
big deal in Chicago. In LA, some bars would
open as a public bar, and then because they
wanted more control over the types of people
com ing in, they would turn it into a private
club. I think it happens in Portland. Someone
at the door can be constantly used to people
just like himself coming in, but when there is
a disruption in the flow, all of a sudden there’s
a Black face, and he remembers he's sup
posed to check people, and it’s easier to
check women and people of color, I can un
derstand tha t but it doesn’t make it less
racist”
"The Continental used to have a policy that
it had the right to refuse anyone if they
weren’t proud of what they looked like. Now
because of AIDS the bathhouses are losing
business and you don’t need membership.
It’s a sign of racial discrimination. People in
the baths can decide who they want to be
with. A bar recently advertised for a GWM
bartender. That’s a sad thing to happen in
Portland.”
“ In a recent issue of the Advocate some
one ran an ad that stated, "except Asians," B.
says, "People have the righ t I suppose, to ask
for what they want but it’s still a racist attitude.
In the gay media there are seldom ads that
are m inority oriented; they usually have the
clone lo o k People ask me if I have ever been
back to China. I am not from China; I am from
the United States. I was bom and raised here.
I do have my Chinese heritage, which I am
proud of, but I’m an American first”
"When I first started working at Old Wives
Tales I thought I would be among enlight
ened women,” Naomi says. "I remember one
night after work we were all sitting around
and someone told a racist joke. It’s typical for
people not to consider other people of color
as sensitive to racism. They think only Black
people are. Since I’m in between I don’t
cou nt I was stunned. Because I reacted,
these people were afraid to come close to me
again. They were defensive instead of chang
ing and wanting to understand how it feels on
the other end. If I had told a sexist joke they
would have got the point The reason it hurts
is because it attacks the core of my being,
something I can’t change, something I don't
want to change.”
What can we do? First of all we can stop
sitting idly by when we hear racist humor.
Rachel Noble and Cindy Cumfer teach work
shops on unlearning racism. Rachel: “Racist
hum or perpetuates oppression and teaches
young people stereotypes about minorities,"
Cindy: “ I always feel it’s better to do some
thing than nothing, even if it’s just to say,
"Please don’t tell those kind of jokes in my
presence.’ " Jim: “ People have to be con
fronted. Otherwise they think that the major
ity thinks like them. If everyone laughs or
doesn ’t object to a joke that means that they
agree with this person’s attitude. If someone
would just say, ‘I don’t like that I’m insulted,’
others would speak up, too.” Rachel: “ One
way I deal with it if they insist on telling the
joke is to wait until they're finished and then
just look puzzled and say, Huh? I don’t get it.
Explain it to me.’ Once they get caught up in
the explanation I say, Do you believe that?’ ”
M: "1 say, Do you know any White jokes?’ ”
Rupert: “ I feel if someone tells me a Jewish
joke, when they talk to a Jew it will probably
be a Black joke."
If we speak out against humor that has a
light-hearted acknowledgement of the
truth of racism, there is an even greater need
to stand up to the real thing. Rupert: “When a
person is confronted with the blatant exam
ple of racism, they should say point-black
that they do not sympathize with the act It is
the responsibility of White people to call ra
cism what it is, and the rsponsibility of Black
people not to be defensive about it For me to
identify what someone did as racist is not
meant as a personal attack. It is a call to
analyze what was done. You may show me
that I was mistaken, but you don’t have to
apologize, you don’t have to promise not to
do it again, and you shouldn’t say. It wasn’t
racism. I don’t care what you say.’ ”
"That’s what happened in the exchange of
letters in the Cascade Voice about the Aunt
Jemima incident There was a haughty,
superior attitude that refused to enter into a
dialog about what racism is. It’s just a matter
of setting your mind to the task of learning.
The letter Black Lesbians and Gays United
wrote did not chastise. It merely stated what
Aunt Jemima has meant to Blacks histori
cally. It did not lay blame or seek an apology.
Our position is that if we see something as
racist we re going to point it o u t I don’t think
that whatever Blacks perceive as racist is al
ways racist but if there is an example of it they ’
probably won’t miss it"
“There has to be a feeling of trust for a
person to say something to you; Rachel says,
"It’s a com plim ent and you should feel good.
Cindy says, "If we want to reach people we
have to be careful not to act condescendingly
towards them, as if we had our act together
more than they do.
Rachel and Cindy are also doing some
thing very positive in their workshops; which
are available to the public. (Cindy is a lawyer
at the offices of English and Metcalf.) They
teach that no one is born a racist and no one
is bom oppressed. Both sides learn this
through socialization, and it can be unlearned.
Cindy, who is White, takes that group and
works away from guilt by helping them anal
yze why they do not interrupt racist acts and
what they can do about it Rachel, who is
Black, takes people of color and helps them
see how they have been conditioned to have
internalized oppression (the feeling that
something must be wrong with you if so
much hatred is directed at you, something
that should be familiar to gay people) and
how to take pride in their background and
culture. We don’t have to have the moral
strength of a Gandhi or a King to effect
change. Individual acts of courage can help
all of us to regain our humanity.
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