2197: Transrachel

[ImStillToni]

lol i too cringed when she said "like milk." I never thought about it in that way before and thats with me being in long term monogamous relationship with a white guy. More than one actually. I wonder if that's a Black/Latina thing. Because she was right, jizz is jizz. But there is a big ole difference between coffee and milk if you know what i mean

[Enunciated Piffle]

Squick sounds like quick and squid had a dumb word baby.

How much white privilege does it take to have this horrible word removed from the urban dictionary? I'm legit asking

[OnmyojiOmn]

Because fuck communication. Who needs words like squick or trans, anyway?

[txmikey45]

Am I the only one that did not know that Danny has a kid? Boy? Girl? Does he ever see or take care of his kid? That was the most shocking part of this show for me.

[Enunciated Piffle]

I just saw this.

President Obama is on today's WTF podcast.

How fucking cool is that???

[OnmyojiOmn]

It's a really big deal for podcasting. Hopefully shows like KATG will find new demos.

[FingerLakes]

Originally Posted by Kultcher

People who can pass as the default, but may still feel a connection to the black experience because their parents are black? Are they less black? By how much? Who is the arbiter to decide how much "blackness" they can claim?

Alright, my bad. Guess I didn't see your point was about the definition everyone is giving and not about what Rach is doing.
Yeah I don't have anything to argue with ya about there.

[Kultcher]

Originally Posted by ImStillToni

I think that is the additional cement we add that you are speaking of, no?

Not exactly.

What I'm saying is that when we get caught up in defending our "blackness" from usurpers like Dolezal or Chet Hanks or Iggy Izalea, we are just adding legitimacy to the social construct that is race. We are saying, "Yes, we are different from you. You can't have these things, these are black things." We're building walls. We're denying them just like they denied us. How does that help? Where does that get us?

It's all a bullshit illusion, and we continue to buy into it. I feel like people are fighting the wrong fight. We're fighting battles inside the confines of this made-up construct, when we should be looking for ways to move outside of it. We shouldn't be fighting to give our blackness value, we should be fighting to make our blackness (and whiteness and otherness) meaningless.

I think we have a fundamental difference in worldview, Toni. I, too, had my "nigger" moment, but I do not live in fear because of it. Yes, we as a people were made victims, but I don't understand why we embrace that victimhood mindset when we could transcend it. I don't feel judged for being black. 95% of the white people I've interacted with have been fine. If they had prejudices, they did not show them. And that's fine, because we all have prejudices.

Why would I live my life in fear of what the other 5% thinks? You, and Katiuska and Emmy on the show, paint this picture of a world where all these white people are looming over you, judging and sneering. Truth is, most white people probably couldn't give a fuck about you, just like they couldn't give a fuck about every other person who isn't a part of their family/friends/work circle.

I'm legitimately curious: aside from the fear and anxiety you experience, how has your race tangibly affected your life in the last month? I can't even think of the last time. Am I really just that lucky?

Can Rachel say that? That's the struggle of growing up Black. If you can say that, then yes you are probably Black.

So let me pose another hypothetical: my daughter grows up essentially white, later in life decides to connect to her black heritage, starts tanning and wearing her hair different, passing herself off as black. Is that okay? Does however much black DNA is in her makeup entitle her to that?

If the "right" to be black can be boiled down to whether or not you have a certain strand of DNA... don't you see how absurd that is? How ultimately, utterly meaningless?

Yes, the majority has ascribed a meaning to it, and it's a meaning that we resent. Yet here we are defending that meaning. We're enforcing it for them! How does that make sense!?

but it's now to the point when I leave my house and step foot in the world, I really have a moment when I think about if for some reason I was stopped by a cop or get into an argument with someone in a store, I very well may not make it home alive at the hands of the police.

Really? Really really?

I just... I hope you're being hyperbolic. Like, obviously yes the police have unjustifiably killed far too many black people. It's a problem. No argument there. But let's be real. It's not open season on black people.

I got pulled over just last week. Not once did it cross my mind that I might end up dead. I honestly just don't think that's realistic. Matter of fact, I got off with a warning (I was speeding, 68 in a 55). Anecdotal, I know (although for the record I've never had a bad experience in my roughly 10-ish interactions with cops).

But when you paint a scenario where every day cops are going out looking for black folks to gun down, it makes it hard to take other points seriously.

[Nettie-poo]

Okay guys, Kultcher never gets riled up over anything, and now he's too riled up to notice how badly I want to fuck him. Which sucks, cause then he could assert his black domination over this white bitch.

kthxbai

[Hennessy]

Originally Posted by Kultcher

Holy shit. I don't think I've ever gotten actually angry listening to a KATG episode, but this one made me livid. The social justice train is going off the fucking rails.

How long have you been listening?? Welcome to the family.

Originally Posted by Kultcher

I have been called nigger more than once. I've gotten askew glances from white people. I'm sure I've been passed over for some opportunities due to my color. But beyond that, I don't identify with the "black experience."

LOLZ. ok I get it. So what you're saying here is that the "black experience" is cultural, based on environment-not necessarily a matter of pigment. Got it. I can go with that.

Originally Posted by Kultcher

I have pretty much zero connection to the black community. Yet, no one will ever question my blackness.

No question here.

Originally Posted by Kultcher

I wonder what it will be like for my daughter. She'll technically be a "woman of color," but she's almost as light-skinned as her mother and has blonde hair. Only her curls give away that she has any black heritage. She'll probably never get called a nigger or face real prejudice. But if she grew up and decided to "claim her heritage," she could with 100% certainty say that her dad was "african-american." Culturally, she will probably grow up as white - if not whiter - than Rachel Dolezal. Yet if she were in Dolezal's position, this wouldn't even be a controversy. No one would bat a fucking eye.

Agree'd. Because if she were to "claim her heritage," she would learn the history of her ancestors, where they came from, where she came from and who that makes her today. Because you can't change history so...yeah. She may not be black. She may not have the experience of being racially excluded or judged for being dark skinned. But she can claim her history, roots and familial journey that makes her who she is, where she is today- where her place is in this cosmos and flash of time here. No argument here!

Originally Posted by Kultcher

Or imagine my situation but in reverse. A white kid gets adopted by black parents, grows up in a black community. Can that kid claim blackness? Which gives us a more legitimate claim to blackness? Our genes, or our culture?

Our color. "Blackness" is made of many races and cultures and genes. Our color gives us a legitimate claim. I might actually have black people in my families heritage. I am not black.
I DO have the "white" experience in an pacific-asian dominated culture. That was not an easy way for me to grow up. And I was immersed in the culture and loved it. Learned fluent Hawaiian, hula, canoeing, history and culture, ate the food, and was reminded every day that I was still not the same as them based on my color. Does that not make me "blacker," by your definition- in comparison to Rachel Dolezal? Again I admit- I am not black. I have the white experience. A different one that the mainland. But that's what it was for me. Now I have a different experience living on the mainland and it still trips me out.
Lol I just thought of what would happen if I ever called myself 'Hawaiian' to a local...

Originally Posted by Kultcher

I'm not even trying to really defend Dolezal here. I don't know what's in her head, maybe she is crazy and manipulative and worthy of all the scorn. Maybe she legitimately means well and legitimately "feels black." Who am I to say?

Do you feel black? You said earlier you don't identify with the black experience. Do you feel white? What does it feel like? I don't feel like a man. I just didn't know I "wasn't a boy" until someone told me otherwise.

Originally Posted by Kultcher

What frustrates me is how quick everyone is to call her out as "wanting to play the victim" when they were doing that very thing all show. "Can't get decent service at Applebee's."

She is a victim of a certain mental disorder caused by something she needs to find out and get help for. Not her race. If anything, she is a victim of herself: sending death threats to herself and nooses, etc.

In general, women, people of color, old folks, intersexed and trans people specifically are all victims of a prejudiced based on their outer physical appearance that they can not help: Melanin content; Which pee-pee they have; Age; Whether they were "blessed" with big tits or are in "need" of a facelift, "else no one will really see them as they truly are;" The good and bad experiences of our life and interactions that lie under the skin. -Experiences and relationships that create our identity.
Experiences that often results in blind disgust in others, unwanted sexual or violent advances and misinterpreted identities and pre-concieved judgements placed upon us based on the way our skin looks.

Originally Posted by Kultcher

Nigga, please.

Weird.

Originally Posted by Kultcher

I live literally four doors down from a family that flies a confederate flag on their house. I guarantee I run into more racist white people than you do.

....Not sure...what...you're..... shrug. I dunno what to say to this. Cool. I guess.

Originally Posted by Kultcher

I live in upstate NY. ...The service at Applebees is just fine.

Humble braaaaaaaag.

Originally Posted by Kultcher

You go around assuming that every white person is looking at you like "what's this nigger doing here", and guess what you're doing? You're prejudging them. You're painting them as ignorant and hateful when they've done nothing but look at you. Even if they look at you with a frown, I dunno, maybe they're just having a bad fucking day! White people have shit going on too.

I think it was made clear that this was a personal fear Kati has based on her actual experiences actual racism and paranoid reactions from people, based on her being brown. Which is why I then shared my insecurities about my white-ness and how that reaches over into a self-hatred that actually does nothing, rather than making a difference. I work on that by trying to turn my experiences to empathise with an array of people and hopefully make some connections in minds that will lead to a positive change and de-generalization of gender and race, that came from being who I am in the skin and gender I had no choice in. Not all people of color listen to hip-hop, have nooses sent to them, or even curly hair. And trans-people are not part of the rainbow of generalization that includes drag-performers, gays, lesbians, bi's and questioning (which is all based on who you like to fuck, not what gender you are).
And since we, as guests of a podcast were asked to come on the show to speak about our experiences in comparison to Rachel Dolezal's...situation, that's probably what we'll end up talking about.

Originally Posted by Kultcher

On the show, it was mentioned multiple times how race is a social construct. Well, when you go around making declarative statements about who or what is or isn't black, you're just reinforcing that construct. For fuck's sake!

Yes but we still have to live in this world. I see your point and I agree you accept for the fact that most people in this country are still asleep and ignorant regarding these topics- and so we have to speak about them until we're beating a dead horse and then it's not so controversial anymore and we can move on to more important things like the ozone layer or making Mtv good again. America tried to ignore the holocaust before they couldn't ignore the pictures anymore. We can placate eachother for a time but so long as a majority of the minority is still having these experiences, conversations like these still have to happen.

Originally Posted by Kultcher

And not to call Lauren out specifically...

Oh okay phew!

Originally Posted by Kultcher

...but it just baffles me how hard-line he was on this. As someone who has no doubt faced prejudice, and no doubt struggled with identity, I don't understand how he can be so quick to pass judgement.

Why do you think I was "judging her?" She has some mental issues- you don't have to be frothing with swirly cartoon eyes to have mental illness. It can be quiet. It isn't on purpose. It tricks the person with it. I have mental illness. I take medication and see doctors for it. I'm not judging her.

I'M "passing judgement" on the people allowing her serious mental-illness actual credibility and voice, playing devil's advocate for her and her self tanner quicker than ANY of us trans-folk could have wished for.
Merely a week after Caitlin Jenner's big reveal, it couldn't come at a better time, I suppose. Pardon my frustrations that this sick person's racism, health issues and bad choices pulls focus and diminishes credibility and progression from actual people struggling through real hate and ignorance, trying to prove how "normal" and real we are... "despite the color or shape of our skin, we promise!" - A struggle and movement we never wanted to be part of to begin with.

Originally Posted by Kultcher

Tone down the white guilt, man. I forgive you.

Originally Posted by Kultcher

Again, I'm not trying to defend or condemn Dolezal. It's just, as a person who has struggled with my own identity, I'm sad that people aren't looking at this with more nuance. I basically "feel white" but I know I'll always be defined by my "blackness," which literally starts and ends with the color of my skin (oh, and my huge dick).

See, we even generalize ourselves. Now, I as a "female-bodied" dude have to explain to women why you had to say that last part and make them get it. You're welcome.
You, on the other hand, have to tell me what "feeling white" feels like. ...I feel tiger.

Originally Posted by Kultcher

Granted, Dolezal got to "choose" to be black, but that doesn't make any discrimination she faced while "passing" any less real...

LOLZ. You silly.

Originally Posted by Kultcher

My "whiteness" doesn't disqualify me from being black, despite having no connection to the black community. Why should hers?

You're neighbors with a confederate sympathizer. They don't give a fuck how you identify.