now ever since i can remember
i've been poppin' my collar,
poppin', poppin' my collar,
poppin', poppin' my collar

i'm from the ghetto, homey
i was rasied on bread and baloney

black white on FX, very interesting show.

two things:

1. the black family was explaining to the white family how to act black, and they went on for a while.  then the white family asked if they were supposed to coach the black family.  at that point, the show cuts to the black woman's 'confessional' time, and she was talking about how she doesn't need to be coached how to act white.  she's surrounded by whites and black people always have to know how to act white in interviews, at shopping malls, etc.  which is true, all minorities have to know how to act white because white people are always in power and we have to step into their world all the time if we want to succeed and move up.  white people don't ever have to step into a minority world.  they can live in their white world all they want and still get on and be successful.  chinese people can chill in chinatown their whole life and only speak cantonese, but they probably won't get much higher than the best bakery in their little nook.

2. the white man says that the black man doesn't really experience as much racism as he thinks, and that he's really just looking out for, seeking, racism.  the black guy just thinks the white guy is just brushing things off and not analyzing those little things that are truly racism.  i  would side more with the white man's interpretation of things.  i think part of it is growing up like pork, the other white meat (haha, i just made that up).  asians are like the other white with similar sucesses, and seen by other races as similar, although to a lot lower level of success.  but also i think this black guy in particular, is just looking out for people to jack him, so he'll approach every little action as a slight towards him being black.

the other white meat comment reminds me of this show i saw about teenagers.  black teens, white teens, asian teens, and latino teens gathered for a focus group on race.  at one point, each race was asked to rank the other groups (success, value, power, etc).  whites ranked #1 in every race's ranking, their own included.  asians ranked #2 in all groups except their one (asian humbleness).  blacks were third except when they were #2 on the asians' ranking.  and the latinos were ranked last by everyone, to which many of them started crying at being seen as the worse by everyone.  i must've watched that thing about 10 years ago, but still remember that, i think because it seemed so true back then, just never put so succinctly.  today, i think those rankings would probably hold, for better or worse.