Dream with Our Eyes Open

Looking for My Particular Brand of Unicorns
"There are talented actors of Persian or Middle Eastern descent in America. They would really like to play roles that do not involve terrorism. Us Middle Eastern people would like to see them play roles that do not involve terrorism. Why? Because media representation of our people fucking matters ... Because we're the ones who live the day to day reality of facing the ignorant stereotypes perpetuated by the media about our people. Because we're the ones who have to say with gritted teeth, no, I don't know any terrorists, or no, my family aren't fundamentalists, or no, that's a fucking offensive stereotype." - yasaman

Identity and Being a Person of Color
"My identity is based on stories, food, shared experiences, and all the things that make up culture. It's also really *specific*. ... All of that complexity and specificity is hand waved when I talk about the experiences of being a POC. I do think we share a lot of similar experiences, not the least of which is the toxicity of racism. That said, in the nitty gritty, there are differences in how racism is used to hurt us. More and more I'm feeling drawn towards talking to other POC about not just the things we share, but the ways in which it is different." - sparkymonster

Ethical Dating: Racist Interracial Relationships and Colorism
"Occasionally, interracial relationships are based on “exotic fetishism” of the “other.” The person of color becomes the embodiment of the majority person’s fetish. Instead of accepting the equality of the person of color, they become an object of what they desire. This has manifested itself in yellow fever (Asian fetish), the stereotype of the Latin lothario and the priapism of African-American men ... I’ll never forget the Jdate profile of a biracial Jewish (Black/Ashkenaz) male who explicitly stated that if the goal of a woman who persued him was to rebel from her Ashkenazi family, then they should seek a relationship elsewhere. I always wondered, what did he experience to make him state that so directly in his profile?" - A Mixedjewgirl World

Maunderings & Ponderings - My America
"My America is my sister living in a Chattanooga suburb in northwestern Georgia, just like thousands of other Mexicans.
My America is having nephews and nieces who are part Hawaiian, Chinese, Irish, Swedish, and Ashkenazi.
My America is having fewer and fewer people ask if my best friend's husband's family was okay with their marriage (because she's black).
... My America is larger than just one idea of who we should be." - hermetic

Extracts from the IBARW 4 bookmarks at Delicious. Read More ...

It's that time of year ... .

How to participate:
 

1. Announce the week in your blog
    
2. Post about race and/or racism: in media, in life, in the news, personal experiences, writing characters of color, portrayals of race in fiction, review a book on the subject, etc. (Linking back here is highly appreciated!) The optional theme this year is "global."
    
3. Let us know by bookmarking your post on Delicious with "for:ibarw," or comment with a link to your post in one of the link-collecting posts.

If you want to change your default user icon for the week as a way of showing support, and aren't into making user icons, there are plenty of them already available for you to snag.

The IBARW delicious site is here, with current and previous years' entries tagged and organized.

See the IBARW community site for more information.

It's already Tuesday and I haven't posted squat about this. I fail. I have a sort-of article in process, which I hope I will be able to post tomorrow.

If you haven't run into this before: this is a week to use your LJ, blog, or other online journal to consider, talk about, and otherwise air the subject of racism in the world. Real-life experiences, literature, history, current news: it's all grist for the mill.

There is an LJ community for IBARW right here, and it says that if you want to participate, you should:

1. Announce the week in your blog.
2. If you use a blogging system that allows post icons/pictures, switch your default icon to either an official IBARW icon, or one which you feel is appropriate. To get an official IBARW icon, you may modify one of yours yourself or ask someone to do so. Here's a round up of IBARW icons.
3. Post about race and/or racism: in media, in life, in the news, personal experiences, writing characters of color, portrayals of race in fiction, review a book on the subject, etc. (Linking back [to the IBARW community] is highly appreciated!) The optional theme this year is intersectionality.

For more information, you should check out the community, which will tell you about getting your IBARW blog entry included in the IBARW del.icio.us account and on the IBARW round-up posts.

The Scene: An uptown urban street.
The Time: 7:30 p.m. on a hot summer's evening - last night, in fact.
What Happened: A tallish, chunky middle-aged white woman (yours truly) was trudging home from the Metro when a group of half a dozen young African American men appeared across the street, being loud and boisterous. And the Racist in My Head sat up and squawked "Uh oh! Are we in trouble?"