Blog archive
March 2024
Addressing The Needs of Older Adults Through Pasadena Village
03/25/2024
Coming Soon: More Resources for Older Americans, Online and in Person
03/25/2024
Community Building Locally and Nationally
03/25/2024
Preparing for the Future with Ready or Not
03/25/2024
Volunteering is at The Heart of the Village
03/25/2024
Women's Liberation: Then and Now
03/25/2024
Writing Memoirs Together
03/25/2024
Current Views on Current Events
03/20/2024
Unchained
03/18/2024
Rumr of Humor issue # 2409
03/10/2024
Blacks Portrayed by European Artists
03/03/2024
Rumor of Humor #2408
03/03/2024
February 2024
Caring for Ourselves and Each Other
02/27/2024
Doug Colliflower Honored
02/27/2024
Great Decisions Connects Us to the Worldwide Community
02/27/2024
Letter from the President
02/27/2024
Pasadena Village's Impact
02/27/2024
The Power of Touch
02/27/2024
Villages as a New Approach to Aging
02/27/2024
Addressing Gang Violence in Pasadena-Altadena
02/21/2024
Rumor of Humor Issue 2407
02/19/2024
Thank You For Caring.
02/12/2024
Rumor of Humor 2405
02/11/2024
Curve Balls
02/10/2024
Sylvan Lane
02/10/2024
Rumor of Humor 2404
02/09/2024
Larry Duplechan, Blacks in Film
02/03/2024
January 2024
Pasadena Village Joins Community Partners in Vaccination Campaign
01/29/2024
Rumor of Humor #2403
01/28/2024
Pasadena Village Joins Two Healthy Aging Resource Projects
01/25/2024
Decluttering: Do It Now
01/24/2024
Village Volunteers Contribute to the Huntington Magic
01/24/2024
Villagers Creating Community
01/24/2024
Villagers Reflect on Black History Month
01/24/2024
Walk With Ease, 2024
01/24/2024
Wide Ranging Discussion on Current Issues
01/22/2024
Wide Ranging Discussion on Current Issues
01/22/2024
Rumor of Humor # 2402
01/21/2024
Rumor of Humor # 2401
01/15/2024
Re- Entry Programs, a Personal Experience
01/08/2024
What makes someone a racist?
By John TuitePosted: 08/04/2020
But I grew up in Chicago “in a white neighborhood”. I was early aware of where Black people lived and it was called “the slums”. They weren’t “supposed" to live in my neighborhood. I was a Catholic, and, as far as I knew, only white people were Catholics. I went to an elite high school and there was only one Black student in my four years, and he was a friend, but considered an exception. And my family was poor and immigrant, but we were white. And that made a difference. That made us superior to black people in our eyes and the eyes of our neighbors. I grew up racist! My parents were immigrants from Ireland and didn’t know what to make of this new world. They didn’t want to “fight over the bottom rung”, so we didn’t use the n-word and we kept our thoughts to ourselves. But our little world was racist. I was “trained” to be a racist.
A definition of racism I found calls it a combination of systems, institutions and factors that advantage white people and cause widespread harm to people of color and disadvantages in access and opportunity. It is grounded in the history of our laws and institutions which were created on a foundation of white supremacy. I have been part of the systems, belonged to the institutions, and enjoyed those factors for 87 years. I’ve enjoyed the fruits of racism.
I have two dearest African grandchildren who were adopted from Sierra Leone, now in their early twenties, and trying to cope with their transition from a childhood in a friendly white suburb to an adulthood in a confusing and contentious racist urban world that they have to learn to navigate on their own. And I have Black friends whom I love who have never confronted me with belonging to the enemy camp.
And I have been running hard all my adult life to keep ahead of this strange reality that has been my racist life.
How about yourself?
- John Tuite -