Afshine Emrani
Years ago I had a patient bleeding to death from a stabbing in a street fight and he refused to receive the blood I hung for him because it was “too dark” and looked like it came from Black person (he used a more derogatory term). For a second I was tempted to let him go. It wasn’t the first time I had encountered pure hatred even in face of certain death. I had been yelled at by KKK members who did not want a Jew or an Arab treating them. Hate makes people blind. Hate makes people stupid. Not even chemical laboratory analysis can tell the difference between Black and White blood. The pigmentation of our epidermis has nothing to do with our circulating red cells. As Heschel so acutely said, racism is a disease of the eye. The beauty of medicine is that it trains the eye to look at all life with love, respect and sanctity.
I love people who say it like it is. That is the only way we can really learn about each other, is by being real, taking time to listen to another perspective. We are all right in our world, the magic happens when you enter the world of another, fully, truly, and openly.
The beautiful woman inside and out that writes the following posts represents power, truth, and giving us all a glimpse into how it really is.
Fionna Wright
Believe it or not, when conversing with your Black counterparts, it is NOT a requirement to outline for us, all of your Black friends and/or compare our different skin tones. As a matter of fact, not only is it NOT a requirement, it’s extraordinarily awkward and deeply offensive.
We know what color we are, and we don’t need you to remind us. We also don’t care to know the various hues of black and brown that each one of your Black friends is. We don’t need to see pictures of your Black, Brown and bi-racial friends and their kids just because they are Black or mixed with Black. And, quite frankly, we feel embarrassed for you upon discovering that you are unable to hold a conversation with us without mentioning our obvious skin color differences. If you find it challenging to converse with us without bringing up the topic of skin color, may I suggest reading a few new books, acquiring some hobbies and/or traveling to new places and adding those experiences to your list of acceptable discussion topics.
Can you imagine if, during mid-convo, I blurted out to you “Yeah, I have a white friend. But, she’s not as pale as you, she’s more olive. Let me show you pictures of her. Oh! And I have a friend who IS as pale as you but she married a more olive white person and they made beautiful babies! Let me show you pictures of them all”… AWKWARD much?
Here’s a helpful tip for you moving forward: If you wouldn’t say the same thing to your white friends, don’t say it to us.
Thank you for your time.
*twirls away*
“Color-blind mixed girl, what color are you?”
Desperate attempt to label in a race-conscious world so they can stereotype accordingly.
“What pretty skin tone you have little mixed girl. Not too dark, not too light.”
Societal complexes placed onto her, creating a painful awareness of the color hierarchy.
Color-blind to race, and accepting of all.
Only seeing beauty in the differences, thrilled to be equally a part of the rainbow of life.
Blind to the corruption, anger and hatred being blamed on color.
“Little mixed girl, why are you crying?”
“Because people have ruined the beauty of color. Color is vibrant, bright, and adds love to life. Without color, life would be empty and boring and sad. But people have turned color into something bad. The colors make one rainbow, rainbows inspire and give hope. How could we possibly be so misguided, resulting in a world so divided? These tears I cry are because of the beauty we’ve lost, the blindness to hope, which we’ve caused.”
Little mixed girl carries the weight of a broken world in her heart.
A broken heart that never leaves, a broken heart always seeking.
Little mixed girl dreaming of a rainbow, the rainbow of people united as one.
Liberated from the small-minded thinking, freed from the chains of ignorance-fueled hate.
Little mixed girl, keep dreaming that dream so grand.
For as long as you dream it, there is hope, and where there’s hope, there’s a way and a chance.
“Color-blind mixed girl, what do you see?”
“I’m not color blind. Color breathes life into me. Colors show me all the endless possibilities. The world is blind, I am not. A people so torn, a gleaming rainbow that we forgot. Massacres and blood shed…” little mixed girl said.
Until we destroy racial barriers we’ve been taught, we’ll continue to compromise the beauty in the human race. #onelove
🌈
Now I want to share something that is my truth, and this guy just says exactly how I feel. It is not enough to jump onto a political bandwagon Jewish people, yes we stand up for others, but please do not think that all sides will stand up for you.
“Condemning Nazis is easy and painless, if not beneficial. It is a sure fire way to win political points without having to make real sacrifices, nor does it carry any risk of social alienation. Challenging anti-Zionism is another story, as that entails a willingness on the part of gentiles – especially white people and Arab-Muslims – to engage in introspection and actually listen to Jews.”
Shabbat Shalom to all,
Coach Yulia