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Racism and Sexuality
Mar. 10th, 2009 02:45 pmI feel I have to start this post with a few disclaimers:
1) I am going to be talking pretty much exclusively about myself and race issues as they pertain to hispanic males in this post. This is not because it's the only race issue that exists, but merely a focused topic for this occasion to try and make a clear discussion possible.
2) I am not attempting, in any way, to get gold stars, as![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sophia_helix refers to them, from anything in this post.
3) Please forgive the indulgence of my memoir type narration, it is conveniently lj-cut for those of you who just want to see where I am going.
Now, to get to the topic at hand: I have increasingly realized that, at least for me, my most noticeable journey in race issues is tied heavily into issues of sexuality. ( personal history of this issue in my life )
Anyway, I am now happily in a much more healthy relationship with a man I expect to spend the rest of my life with. He is white as white can be, and sometimes I wonder whether it might not seen like cheating or disavowing, like I had these interesting relationships with men of color, but now I am going to retreat into my safe euro-centric cocoon. This feeds into larger issues I have about myself and career and academia and if maybe I am not domesticating myself too much. But then (on the race front) I think, is this not the same issue that my bi-sexual friends face? Is my committed relationship with a white man, not the same as their committed relationships... in that they don't stop being bi just because they are with a man or a woman indefinitely. My being with a white man, even if it is forever, doesn't mean I am now only into white dudes any more than it makes my married to a man friend not into women anymore. But then I wonder, am I just being overly defensive? Is there more to this than chance? Am I really retreating into the comfort of white privilege after all?
1) I am going to be talking pretty much exclusively about myself and race issues as they pertain to hispanic males in this post. This is not because it's the only race issue that exists, but merely a focused topic for this occasion to try and make a clear discussion possible.
2) I am not attempting, in any way, to get gold stars, as
sophia_helix refers to them, from anything in this post. 3) Please forgive the indulgence of my memoir type narration, it is conveniently lj-cut for those of you who just want to see where I am going.
Now, to get to the topic at hand: I have increasingly realized that, at least for me, my most noticeable journey in race issues is tied heavily into issues of sexuality. ( personal history of this issue in my life )
Anyway, I am now happily in a much more healthy relationship with a man I expect to spend the rest of my life with. He is white as white can be, and sometimes I wonder whether it might not seen like cheating or disavowing, like I had these interesting relationships with men of color, but now I am going to retreat into my safe euro-centric cocoon. This feeds into larger issues I have about myself and career and academia and if maybe I am not domesticating myself too much. But then (on the race front) I think, is this not the same issue that my bi-sexual friends face? Is my committed relationship with a white man, not the same as their committed relationships... in that they don't stop being bi just because they are with a man or a woman indefinitely. My being with a white man, even if it is forever, doesn't mean I am now only into white dudes any more than it makes my married to a man friend not into women anymore. But then I wonder, am I just being overly defensive? Is there more to this than chance? Am I really retreating into the comfort of white privilege after all?
