I was just at a dinner celebrating the achievements of one of the largest charity groups in Toronto, if not in the country. It was a mix of agency workers, corporate representatives, and regular people like me. What I found fascinating was how many of the award presenters, as well as award receivers, were white people. Fascinating, in that this charity's work mainly benefits the ethnic majorities of the city, not the WASPs.
That dynamic has always intrigued me, the balance of the benevolent white folk helping out all the other coloured people, and how this still occurs, even into the 21st century. Of course, it is totally not under your control as to what ethnicity you are born, however, we do know that race plays a huge part into which socio-economic class you will tend to belong to, as well as what your particular prospects in life will be, as well as to how giving (or not) you are to the community at large (rather than just your particular ethnic enclave).
It was an interesting, though brief, discussion we had in the car on the way home about why that dynamic still exists, why people of colour remain the recipents of the generosity of the white people, for the most part, and how we long and dream to see that far, far away day when that dynamic might be reversed, and equalized...
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Have you visited the MLKJ museum in Atlanta? I went there with the Asian staff conference for IV. We had a talk given by a museum curator and a very well respected African American IV staff elder that we call 'the bishop.' It was pointed out to us that for the civil rights movement, you will see in the photos, blacks and whites fighting for the rights of visible minorities and then women. Proof, if you will, of those who stood up & got pummelled for it.
Which then begs the question, 'where are all of the Asians, Latinos, First Nations, etc.?' Sadly, not in the photos. They weren't involved. They were busy minding their own business and getting on with their lives, content to reap the benefits on the backs of African Americans and enlightened whites who spoke up for all and got hosed down for it.
We were reprimanded to get involved. Step up. Speak up. We, as 2nd gen. Asians are not the 'have nots' that perhaps our parents were, but the 'haves' who are priviledged with education, wealth and resources. It's a memory that hasn't been forgotten.
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