The term "turning tricks" is derived from a move, during a game of Hearts. It is a metaphor for laying all your cards on the table, in matters of the heart. In male psychology, this is synonymous with prostitution.
As I said before, some biracial women participated in Civil Rights Movement demonstrations in the North. Most biracial people are emotionally involved with whites, in some way. They did not understand that the movement was impersonal. Figuratively speaking, these activists were turning tricks. They gave way too much personal information away to their enemies. They should have stayed home.
By the way, I am African-American. If I were white, I would simply keep my mouth shut, and allow blacks to shoot themselves in the foot. I thought a little constructive criticism might help.
Constructive criticism is one thing, but labeling an entire people an enemy is a bit much. No disrepect intended. During the Civil Rights movement, before, and sadly even today, the problem was one group or another not only saw, but placed an inequity between people for superficial reasons. This barrier was also put up due to ignorance, fear of the unknown, and the primal instinct to fight for superiority. The fact of the matter is, the Civil rights movement needed as much support as it could muster and people from all communities needed to then, and need to now embrace the differences between us in culture both past and present. Labels such as bi-racial, black, white, African American, Hispanic American, what have you, do nothing but stabilize the barriers between us. There's no enemy between us other than the essential machine of intolerance that we as a people put there.
Myself, I've got Irish and Apache heritage, but American blood in my veins. More than any of that, I'm a human, and I treat everyone with the same respect. As long as we believe as a collective body, that there's a reason to seperate ourselves from each other, there will always be issues with racism and inequity. Some claim that people voluntarily keep to their own kind, but the reality is we're all drawn to people who we can relate with, not by skin tone, but by experiences and environments.
The perfect example of that is the military. In the Marine Corps, for the most part, there are no segregating lines of color. Sadly the seperating line of sex is highly prevalent, but just as the racial barriers are fading so are they.
I was fortunate to grow up in a diverse area and have friends and relationships that helped me to learn about differing cultures and realize that there's no difference between us on a human and personal level. I suggest everyone give it a shot.
So, whoredom? Not really. Acceptance and humility it seems to me. Had I been alive at the time, I would have marched with them, knowing full well what I would have had to suffer through for my efforts.
Staying at home and keeping your mouth shut should not be on any of our agendas when it comes to anything worthy of attention, least of all, issue such as this.
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.
10-05-2007 02:53 AM
