I don't have course hands, so I won't be laying brick. Yea, I'm a fucking coward and a weakling at that. Instead I have an imaginary pedestal, hoping that some ignorant soul stumbles upon my site and reads about the minority's plight through the eyes of a sheltered college student. I am not good enough to be their speakerphone, yet I find myself cringing with every "well intentioned" white girl who wants to announce to the world how amazing Detroit is going to be once gentrification has taken it's full course. Of course they won't be the ones laying the brick for that either. And when I step back I realize how foolish this entire engagement is. Two people, far removed from the very community and people we claim to be advocating for, are indirectly clashing over who has true agency. Neither of us has agency. So I guess if we're going to call me a fraud, then we'll call both of us frauds and I'm ok with that.
Instead I want to hear from my friend Samantha, who has been laying brick since she stepped on this campus. Why not have her write an opinion piece where she talks about the people of Detroit? I don't even know why I ask stupid questions. There is no answer to that question that makes anyone happy. So we'll keep it unanswered and as long as there's a bone thrown every now and then, our newspaper can continue to uphold the Michigan facade of diversity. And just to be clear it has everything to do with race.
We can toss the blame on minorities. Perhaps they have no journalistic drive or interest. A theory I hold is that the journalistic space has always been printed in white and black and minorities don't easily fit within normative culture. We are forced to take rigid spaces and creatively conform to them, while maintaining our out of bent message. Clearly what is produced is akin to watered down soda (or pop), so no one wants to read our writing. Once in awhile, if the stars align and several blue moons and double rainbows fill the sky, a minority is given a soapbox, while a non minority audience gathers around to be moved by a pathetic appeal. If logic and scathing criticism is given, then expect them to be labeled deranged and bitter (as I expect many of you will think of me after this).
Still, the fact remains that Detroit, New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Dallas, Flint, etc are never talked about by their true inhabitants. This is especially true of New York, where you'd have a higher likelihood of finding someone like me rather than a typical New York Michigan student, among a random sample of New York City youth. Does that mean we need to get into a shouting match of the true New York experience? Probably not, but the fact remains that the experience a majority of people live through is kept silent, while I read article after article (and this isn't only in our Newspaper) written from the perspective of a one percenter's offspring (or at least someone trying to be). I'm sick of it.
Ignore me please. Ignore her please. Listen to the people of the city. Let them decide whether they're city moves them. Make them the builders and the architects. And please ignore the prattle given by us.
Instead I want to hear from my friend Samantha, who has been laying brick since she stepped on this campus. Why not have her write an opinion piece where she talks about the people of Detroit? I don't even know why I ask stupid questions. There is no answer to that question that makes anyone happy. So we'll keep it unanswered and as long as there's a bone thrown every now and then, our newspaper can continue to uphold the Michigan facade of diversity. And just to be clear it has everything to do with race.
We can toss the blame on minorities. Perhaps they have no journalistic drive or interest. A theory I hold is that the journalistic space has always been printed in white and black and minorities don't easily fit within normative culture. We are forced to take rigid spaces and creatively conform to them, while maintaining our out of bent message. Clearly what is produced is akin to watered down soda (or pop), so no one wants to read our writing. Once in awhile, if the stars align and several blue moons and double rainbows fill the sky, a minority is given a soapbox, while a non minority audience gathers around to be moved by a pathetic appeal. If logic and scathing criticism is given, then expect them to be labeled deranged and bitter (as I expect many of you will think of me after this).
Still, the fact remains that Detroit, New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Dallas, Flint, etc are never talked about by their true inhabitants. This is especially true of New York, where you'd have a higher likelihood of finding someone like me rather than a typical New York Michigan student, among a random sample of New York City youth. Does that mean we need to get into a shouting match of the true New York experience? Probably not, but the fact remains that the experience a majority of people live through is kept silent, while I read article after article (and this isn't only in our Newspaper) written from the perspective of a one percenter's offspring (or at least someone trying to be). I'm sick of it.
Ignore me please. Ignore her please. Listen to the people of the city. Let them decide whether they're city moves them. Make them the builders and the architects. And please ignore the prattle given by us.
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