Question: “Why do some people vilify Black people?”
Answer: “Because they have to!”
That caustic response, to what I assume was a legitimate question, only makes sense from the perspective of an ignorant, impotent, imbecile. Or, more likely, some rancid racist roach.
Believe it or not, this exchange represents one of the less incendiary dialogues you’ll find if you scan one of my favorite websites, ‘Quora Digest.’
I say favorite not because of similarly ridiculous Q&A’s, but because you’ll also find a miscellany of intriguing questions, answered by experts and laymen covering an array of topics. Including race.
Anyone can pose a question on the site, and apparently, anyone can answer. But I generally restrict my focus to those inquiries answered by scholars or individuals with qualifications and creditability. I ignore most hypothetical questions requiring a subjective response.
The website attracts a diverse readership, from radicals to racists, liberals and conservatives, the callous and the corny.
And there is little censorship, which explains why so many racists are allowed to taint the canvas with their rancid commentary disguised as ‘expertise.’
In fact, I was surprised earlier this year when I responded to a question posed by someone who was as ignorant as he or she was xenophobic.
My response, including a sarcastic analysis, was published, inciting a slew of reactions from the left, right, and center.
But that’s not what heightened my interest in the site.
Instead, it was my discovery that many similar racists questions, posed by equally obnoxious White provocateurs could be found in the website’s dark alleys and intersections.
I’m not on a mission to educate the misinformed and prejudicial. Instead, I find it interesting to follow the tentacles of racist propaganda.
If you can gauge the extent and reach of racism and ethnic ignorance in America by the percentage of participants on legitimate websites like Quora you can assess the extent of racial polarization in America, and how far we have yet to travel to realize Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream.
In fact, in some respects, racism is merely a complication of ignorance, a fact you’ll discover when visiting sites like Quora.
Take for example a question posed by a seemingly intelligent White man who asked:
‘Do different colors (races) confer advantages on those who have them?’
I found that question intriguing until the following day when I ran across another question apparently written by a kindergarten dropout who asked: ‘What are some things you can’t do as a Black person?’
Had I felt the impulse to respond, I would have answered with a long list of prohibitions including: drive through a suburban area after dark, speak with authority to a police officer, or jog through an area where vigilantes are waiting to prove their manhood.’
If the site separated the ridiculous from well-intentioned racialized questions, I could more readily navigate the site, visiting one for information and the other for entertainment.
But since you don’t know if an author is serious, ignorant, or stupid, you’re forced to accept paradoxical responses, often with a grain of sarcasm.
For example, how would you respond to the question: ‘Why do many Black people only befriend Black people?’ Or: ‘Who taught you to fear Black people?’
What about: ‘Why do some people hate Black people (solely) because of their color?’
Then there’s ‘why are White people vilified for being white?’
And, one of my favorites: ‘How do Black people discriminate against White people?’
I’ve long hypothesized that ignorance is the absence of knowledge; stupidity is the abuse of it. Insanity is not knowing the difference.
Using that analogy, a lot of the questions are from people who are genuinely ignorant of and about African Americans, apartheid and even the existence of White privilege. Then again, I assume many individuals who submit such inane questions are 50 playing cards short of a full deck.
Then again, millions of Whites have never come in physical contact with ‘a Hueman.’ Their only knowledge of us is through movies, the media, and tainted/ distorted history. Excuse me, make that ‘His-story.’
That’s why I don’t get mad when I read a question like: ‘Is it okay for a White person to call an African American “Black”?’
Or: ‘Why is it so easy to differentiate African Blacks from African American Blacks?’
And then there’s: ‘Why are American Blacks—who are not immigrants from Africa—called African Americans, but American Whites are not called European Americans?’
Would you assume someone who asks, ‘why are Black and Hispanic people the majority of occupants in public housing?’ is ignorant of institutional racism and its contribution to generational poverty?
The site also hosts many dubious questions, those that straddle the fence between legitimate inquiries and duplicity.
For example, on Sunday I had to give pause when I saw the following question: “are television channels (BET) and other ‘things’ (HBCUs) restricted to Black people discriminatory?’
There are several ways to answer that question, or you could just flip the script and ask is the KKK discriminatory because it’s members don’t recruit in the Black community? Also, why is affirmative action necessary in America?
My bonus/bogus question, appropriately asked during the pandemic: ‘Why don’t Black Americans look like Africans?’
Had I chose to, I probably would have answered that question with my usual sarcasm. Or, I could ‘Signify’ by telling the truth: Because our ancestors were brought here to become your human chattel. Your ancestors, including the self-righteous founding fathers, raped our great grandmothers while wearing crosses and hypocritically declaring themselves to be Christians.
Fortunately, much of what you might find on the Quora website is educational and entertaining.
If you like history, there is much to appreciate. There are also theological questions posed by atheists and/or agnostics; questions that challenge your faith, or at least prompt additional biblical research.
There are also many historical questions that provide answers you won’t learn in public schools where you are taught to conform and salute the flag.
I’ve learned a lot about 12th-century hygiene, the reigns of obscure nations, and even about the genetic makeup of Hitler (who would have guessed he had Jewish blood?).
A question about the origins of man led me to research Kemetic antiquity while solidifying my appreciation of the blood that flows through my veins.
But it the racial inquires that usually attract my greatest interest.
Not just because of the diversity of questions, but also because it provides you with a renewed awareness of the general lack of intelligence and education of the folks who elect presidents and support policies.
I learned a long time ago there are more pawns on the civil rights battlefield than knights or bishops. And most of those pawns are blind, dumb, or impotent (or, all three).
Worse still, most pawns don’t know that they are pawns. White privilege has them believing they are kings or queens.
That reality explains why so many people voted for Donald Trump, and continue to defend his lunacy and lies. It also explains why they can ask dumb or naïve questions on the Quora website.
If you learn nothing else navigating the site, its that a whole lot of otherwise observant White folks know so very little about us.
Which explains a lot, including why they continue asking what I can only assume are stupid or rhetorical questions, including: “Why are Black people called “black” and White people called “white” when the skin color of the vast majority of both groups isn’t “black” or “white”?
And my favorite of the year, ‘what would happen in the world if there were only White people?’
Hmmm, gotta think about that one…
Hotep.
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