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...and while we are on the subject of white privilege


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While I was at the Mississippi Book Festival, I attended a panel of booksellers.  One of the panelists ran a bookstore in what he described as a resort town in Florida, so I looked it up and saw that it was not far out of my way back home.  The store, Sundog Books, is located in Seaside, Florida which is in the middle of the Florida panhandle.  It is a fine bookstore.

 

The beach in Seaside was the nicest beach I'd ever seen in the continental US -- the entire area was pristine. The water varied in color from deep blue to light green.  The sand was cool and fine, almost like power -- simply beautiful.

 

Seaside, FL was also almost exclusively white. I saw one other Black man who was older than I, with a white woman. I did not see any Black women. 

 

I was not made to feel uncomfortable, I'm sure a lone negro posted no immediate threat -- though I was asked more than once where I was from, but it is a resort town and not an unusual question.

 

I could not help but think, man these folks have really kept this place all to themselves.  There is no place that Black people can go to that is nearly as nice and be surrounded by other Black folks.  Martha's Vineyard comes to mind, but the beaches there are terrible in comparison.

 

There is a mural that tells the whole story:

 

secret.jpg

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i had a taste of white entitlement this week-end when my kids surprised me with a surprise party on August 18th, my 85th birthday.  in addition to my children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, all of the guests were friends of my kids because all of my old pals are dead or living out of the state.  I jokingly likened the lively  affair to a "wake" and a last chance for everybody to view my body because i don't want a funeral when i croak, just cremation.

 

Anyhoo, among the guests was a friend of my granddaughter's who is white, in her 60s, and crippled with no close family members.  She considers herself to be my granddaughter's god mother because she was an old friend of her mother's, and she has latched on to my granddaughter and her daughter big time, expecting to be included in all of their activities, inviting herself to all of our family events, unaware of how she comes across as wanting to be treated like a privileged character.  She considers herself to be a liberal, hates Trump and racism, all the while exhibiting a know-it-all attitude, and take-charge behavior. She is OK in small doses but rather annoying during other occasions.

 

So, according to my daughter, this pest almost spoiled the surprise. She arrived late and because she is crippled, took forever to make her way to the house because she had to park far away, all of this causing my granddaughter to have to ride around and make up excuses to me as to why she was taking so long to  go by my daughter's house to pick her up so we could supposedly all go to dinner. Once things got under way, this woman took on the role of being the choreographer of how things should go, who should speak first during the testimonial lies about me being a good mother, about who should sit where, who should be in what pictures, naturally creating a place of honor for herself.  After a while us niggas got tired of this white Miz Ann and started to roll our eyes at her, eventually just ignoring her, something that seem to puzzle and hurt her feelings. While the rest of us were partying and singing along with a marathon of Aretha songs, she just kinda pouted obviously miffed because, among other things,  she couldn't hold my great granddaughter on her lap and monopolize her.  And, of course, she insisted that her gift to me be opened first.     

 

Of course, this kind of behavior isn't exclusive to white people in the company of blacks, but it never seemed to occur to her that she was the problem, not us and i really do think she would've been much less assertive had she been among a room full of her white peers.

 

Whatever. i was totally surprised, and a good time was had by all.  Well, almost all.  

 

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On 8/21/2018 at 1:58 PM, Troy said:

I could not help but think, man these folks have really kept this place all to themselves.

 

@TroyThis is the real American Dream... that seems to be out of reach for many people! I have gotten that feeling too, when I visited other places, not only in Florida, but in certain spots all over America. 

 

On 8/21/2018 at 4:42 PM, Cynique said:

i had a taste of white entitlement this week-end when my kids surprised me with a surprise party on August 18th, my 85th birthday

 

@CyniqueWOW! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! CYNIQUE! 

 

On 8/21/2018 at 4:42 PM, Cynique said:

I jokingly likened the lively  affair to a "wake" and a last chance for everybody to view my body because i don't want a funeral when i croak, just cremation.

 

LOL! You are too much! You don't seem 85 years old but, 85 years young. My uncles got you beat though, one of them is 97 years old this August and he seems as though he is in his thirties when he talks and converses. One of my maternal aunts is 99 and she is doing fine. And one of my aunts is 82 and I have to hold my breath around her because, she loves all of her neices, nephews and kids, but she is a pistol... 

On 8/21/2018 at 4:42 PM, Cynique said:

So, according to my daughter, this pest almost spoiled the surprise

 

Oh no. And you say, she wanted her gift opened first!? LOL. I've been in that predicament many times. 

 

 

 

 

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Cynique

Happy belated birthday!

Since you like posing in lingere for jokes and dares why don't you do another pose for your 85th birthday, put the picture in a thread and do an opinion poll on it????





Chev


You are too much! You don't seem 85 years old but, 85 years young. My uncles got you beat though, one of them is 97 years old this August and he seems as though he is in his thirties when he talks and converses


Maybe you should try to hook them up!
Lol, maybe Cynique will post a picture of herself flopped down all over a couch and you can send him a picture of her and see what he thinks.


97 years old is impressive.

Does he drink or smoke?
Does he still walk or how active is he?

I LOVE talking to people who are of an advanced age but still in their right mind.
I love getting history DIRECTLY from the source from those who were actually around to experience and observe it....as opposed to getting it from books or old news sources.

People who are old enough to see and experience things often give a far more detailed report than anything you'll read in a book.

I've heard people who actually lived down south during segregation tell me things that I still have yet to read in a book.

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