As part of the Cville One Book project, Angie Thomas Skyped with an audience at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center. Here is intern Lexie's thoughtful reporting. I attended Angie Thomas’s Skype session with Charlottesville about her debut novel and instant success: The Hate You Give. Angie was up on a screen and the crowd below had the opportunity to ask her questions.
First, though, Angie commended Charlottesville for being an example for the nation as how to properly combat hate with love. She answered countless questions, but one thing she said really stood out to me. A woman asked what Angie thought about white people taking charge of black rights movements, like Black Lives Matter. At first I thought to myself: Well, anyone of any color should be able to work for racial justice. You shouldn’t have to be black to do that. Angie paused for a second. Then she told the crowd about the black woman who climbed up a flagpole to remove the confederate flag, and how the police were going to send an electric shock through it to force her down. Then a white man stepped in and hugged the pole; if she got shocked, he would get shocked, too. The police relented. She explained that the people who have faced discrimination should have their voices heard and projected by the support of those with privilege. Angie also connected this with the Chris, Starr’s white boyfriend in The Hate You Give. Chris assisted Starr in her protest, while also allowing her voice to be fully heard. This concept helps me a lot when thinking What can I do? Angie also talked a lot about code-switching: changing the way you talk, act, even think to match expectations. She said that everyone code switches; you talk differently with your friends than you do with your teachers or bosses. This hits an extreme for Starr, who has to switch from her “black” mode in the rough neighborhood where she lives to her “white” mode in her preppy private school. People shouldn’t have to code switch - especially when it’s because one culture is more widely accepted over the other. Angie said she didn’t believe in color blindness, either. You can be blind to the skin difference of someone, but that’s being blind to their culture and heritage, too. Everyone is beautiful, everyone is equal, but yes: everyone is different. After Angie’s inspiring seminar, there was a student panel. Two of the students were biracial, and they said they struggled with being seen as only black or only white, too black or too white. People need to stop using cookie-cutters when trying to place others in specific categories. There is no way to “act black” or “act white” or “act purple,” for that matter. Those are colors. Not actions. You are what you are, and that’s not an act. - Lexie Farris
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
February 2019
Categories |