The very serious function of racism … is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining, over and over again, your reason for being. Somebody says you have no language and so you spend 20 years proving that you do. Somebody says your head isn’t shaped properly so you have scientists working on the fact that it is. Somebody says that you have no art so you dredge that up. Somebody says that you have no kingdoms and so you dredge that up. None of that is necessary.” Toni Morison

I began this post by asking myself, what is my intention behind writing this post? From what I learned from reading Gary Zukav’s book The Seat of the Soul, and how we all act and react with an intention, with what we do, and what we say. This topic has been on my mind for more than three years. I know how sensitive this topic is, I have to be very careful with the way I approach this topic, what I learned from my past with racism, how and when to speak about it, stop for a moment, and think about it with a clear mind, because to accuse someone with racism is dangerous, it could put their lives in danger. 

Though recently, my doubts about invisible racism on so many levels have been confirmed, and I will explain them in full length through this post.

First, I will shortly explain my own story regarding racism, which I already did in so many other posts, but I will explain it again, so you can see where I’m coming from and how I came to my conclusions about this subject and I know that I’m not the only one out there feeling it or had experienced it. In my school years, all I had to be a dark-skinned girl to be the main target of racist kids at school to them they didn’t need to know my background or anything else to call me the N-word, basically in the middle east all you have to be a dark-skinned to be called with the N-word, Every morning a white girl will wait for me in the schoolyard to shower me with the most disgusting slurs I quote her” comparing me to an Oreo mingling with white girls” other days she will say I quote her “ my sweat will leave my color on other girls skin “, and so many other disgusting things, After graduating from high school, I went to a musical reality show when one of the contestants asked me to clean the floor and when I refused to do it he said and i quote him “the dirt will not show on my hands anyway because of my color” at that same time I had new romance in my life and the guy at some point when it started to get serious with him he said I quote him “you know that I will sacrifice a lot because you are a black girl and you know how society always reacts to interracial relationships” some other guy said to me I quote him “you know we can’t get married because you are black and in our society even if we do get married the look on people’s face, is something I don’t want to deal with” In some other incidents one guy from that reality show once said when we were on a bus and it was dark and in front of more than twenty people he said I quote him “don’t worry Shorok can smile and bright the room with her teeth” it’s a popular joke white people make in the middle east that a black person can light the room because the only white part in their body is their teeth so it acts as a light, I know it is disgusting but so you can understand where I am coming from in this post. And the Shorok I know back then never said anything because I was ashamed and feeling weak and never dared to respond. The ShoroK today will say Fuck You. When I was younger I used to think that racism does not exist in western countries, because I considered them “civil nations”. so I don’t to worry about it when I finally move to these countries, and I was confused to hear “Black Lives Matters” thinking that every life matters, right?, until I started following the stories and watching what happens to black people from police brutality to refuges and when I first went to California and me and my dad got into a taxi and his whole demeanor changed, he went on telling us over and over why he can’t take us, he kept insisting on why we should leave the taxi without saying it out loud that we are black, in the 20th century, racism was blunt and direct, in the 20th century and before it was legal and governments would protect the separation between black and white people, but now that racism is illegal and condemned on every level, every racist started to look for different ways to keep black people at the bottom and keep reminding black people that they always have to explain themselves and keep fighting for their rights and jobs. 

What frustrates me the most and so many others about invisible racism is that you can’t point at it. And black celebrities lately are facing it, but they can’t point at it because it’s hidden behind a cause, one of the few celebrities who bravely spoke about it is Trevor Noah on his show about the differences between racism in South Africa and America, that  It comes down to directness,  that in South Africa I quote him “it was more of an acknowledgment of the idea, that it was there in your face and it’s happening to you,  But in America, they hit a period where they started to change things Nixon and oh we got to be silent about this, and it wasn’t blatant anymore, so I always think that it’s a treble thing to do to people because know people have to be their own detective of their own racism” Note: the link for the full will be attached to the end of the post. So every time a black celebrity or black person makes a miner mistake or tells a joke, or creates a song or a movie that a white person can’t get or understand, society and media would go after them as if targeting black people easier than targeting white people because the latter is automatically protected for some unknown reason but don’t get me wrong white people get their fair share of backlash, but the backlash only lasts for days and then back to business, on the other hand, if black artist, comedian or a successful black person does anything that doesn’t suit a white person, the attack only stops if the person’s career is on the line, to keep reminding the black community that they still have a long way to be civil. 

So if it bothers the white community the whole world should be bothered by it, but if it bothers the black community a few would be bothered for a few days, this reminded me of a short standup comedy show I watched where the comedian said: “if the joke I just told was coming from a black comedian that would be the end of their career, it’s called white privilege” Moreover, An incident lately confirmed my doubts even more, when two amazing, kind artists, their influence on music is huge Lizzo is the sweetest, and Beyoncé is one of few who managed to change the music industry, she’s every girl soul sister, both dragged down fiercely to the point where they had to change their lyrics and some of their music out of kindness and sympathy, but that didn’t stop them from going after them, purposely targeting them with a global gaslighting campaign, the same thing keeps happening in other professions.

What I’m trying to explain in this post is that racism is no longer visible, and no longer spoken, it became hidden behind different causes and issues, and some people are using those causes as a shield from being called a racist, if a white person in power or behind a desk at a newspaper, CEO or regular white person, personally hate and couldn’t stand a black person all they have to do is to choose a cause that is related to them so they can attack the black person and get away with it, So as a black person you have to explain yourself and break your focus all the time and walk away from your path to the top or success, always explaining your next step, just like what Toni Morison said “The very serious function of racism … is a distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining, over and over again, your reason for being”

Finally, just to be clear, none of what I’m voicing is to justify someone’s crimes. This post is not an excuse to commit a crime or hurt others on purpose, I am writing about everyday life, and the reason I wrote this post is to put some light on a forgotten issue, a small difference in this world, and to start a healthy conversation. I don’t care about the likes, followers, or attention. What I learned about the ones who changed the world, they are not the loudest, but the ones who choose to change it with wisdom, love, and Art, I used to believe that wars are the only solution to defeat the enemies to bring peace to the world, now after years of reading, self-searching, and witnessing what wars did to the middle east and the world in general, plus following good examples, I realized that to fight evil with wickedness you end up becoming the devil, but with love and true heart to heart conversation is the only way to bring peace to the world and battling with free art and free creativity is the answer.

“It seems to indicate something that I don’t think is quite true, which is that we have erased racism from the country, or the world. Racism will disappear when it’s, (A), no longer profitable and no longer psychologically useful. When that happens, it’ll be gone. But at the moment, people make a lot of money off of it ― pro and con. And also it protects people from a certain kind of pain. If you take racism away from certain people ― I mean vitriolic racists as well as the sort of social racist ― if you take that away, they might have to face something really terrible: misery, self-misery, and deep pain about who they are. It’s just easier to say, ‘That one over there is the cause of all my problems.’” Toni Morison

ShoroK ♥♥

South African Racism vs. American Racism – Between the Scenes | The Daily Show