identity is an important aspect to being. in my recent gestalt group, i listened carefully to how others identified themselves, watching for where there may be tension in the future. i myself identified as a jewish bisexual woman who has multiple sclerosis, and that i find it important to bring the untalked about and invisible to the front.
i went to a conference back in'02 on "building an anti-racist society", and found the experience somewhat trying in the difficulty to not counter self-identity with "buts". one example for me was that everytime i identified as jewish, i was bombarded with the term priviledge, which i fully agree with, but there was a revolt, even by other jews, against my discomfort identifying as white just because my skin is pale when i have this entire history behind me, which includes grandparents who survived the holocaust and my own time living in tampa florida (the middle school years), where i was the victim of anti-semitism on a regular basis.
there was this one man in my gestalt group who impressed me greatly, i'll call him bob. bob identified as gay, which i am used to hearing, but he also identified as white and said he felt no remorse for it and did not apologize for his priviledge. it was a strange moment, as i think we are often taught that by verbalizing being caucasion as something to be proud of, it automatically makes you a racist. bob and i of course took a liking to eachother, and plan to work together as we move forward, but knowing him has made me realize i need to seriously consider some things before i run off and commit my life to mental health, check out my options....though i do know i want to have the capacity for professorship...hmmm.
Song of the day: beauty of grey- live
No comments:
Post a Comment