I don't understand this really
Jan. 21st, 2009 11:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
james_davis_nicollBut apparently white people whose relatives were progressives back when that was dangerous get full credits for that even if they had no choice in the decisions or actions involved (In my case, because I was not born yet). Yay me! I can claim at least two generations of social liberals on my father's side and while I have never done anything of note in this field [1], at least I have not been an active impediment.
I understand that those people who were denied the basic rights due any human are supposed to be grateful to that handful of oppressors who somehow managed to meet the minimum level of human decency and who worked to mitigate some of the obvious social inequities of the time. Will the oppressed know to bask in the pearly white glow of my good luck in picking my relatives or will I need to hand out cards announcing that that my ancestors weren't the complete assholes most of the rest of their social class were at the time?
What else is covered by this policy? Can I claim to be an important engineer because my father and grandfather made notable (but distinct) contributions to that field?
1: I have voted for politicians who grudgingly did the right thing once the polls made it obvious which way the public leaned and after the courts made it clear they had no real choice in the matter.
I understand that those people who were denied the basic rights due any human are supposed to be grateful to that handful of oppressors who somehow managed to meet the minimum level of human decency and who worked to mitigate some of the obvious social inequities of the time. Will the oppressed know to bask in the pearly white glow of my good luck in picking my relatives or will I need to hand out cards announcing that that my ancestors weren't the complete assholes most of the rest of their social class were at the time?
What else is covered by this policy? Can I claim to be an important engineer because my father and grandfather made notable (but distinct) contributions to that field?
1: I have voted for politicians who grudgingly did the right thing once the polls made it obvious which way the public leaned and after the courts made it clear they had no real choice in the matter.
no subject
Date: 2009-01-24 06:43 am (UTC)It's harder to disassociate oneself from a particular legacy when a.) the genealogies are extensive, b.) one is automatically associated with an Association and its controversies on the basis of being included in those genealogies, c.) that legacy is also deeply intertwined with the past and present of one's country, and d.) wealth can be inherited.
And maybe it's easier to disconnect from a distant ancestor for most people, but families and relatives are definitely affected by the blame or credit assigned to particular people by society. Think of Obama's relatives in Africa, or McCain having a father and a grandfather who served, or the stigma that comes of having a sibling in jail or an alcoholic parent. Think of people in the media who are identified as so-and-so's niece or husband or as a second- or -third generation immigrant. Think of the status that comes of being the twelfth master of a particular craft tradition or family, or the children of activists.
Like race, one's particular relatives are not the whole picture, or even the dominant picture. But they are still part of the picture, however much we might form our identities in opposition to them.