It all started with Reparations....

Really, though? We had the most ridiculous Pan-Africanism class today. The guest lecturer, a repatriot originally from Arizona, was as old school racist as they get....literally divided us into questioning by the blacks and "oh you people-the white people" and asked about hometowns for the few ambiguous ones. He wanted to know the thoughts of "our" generation, and so instead of teaching like he was paid to do, asked us about what we think about reparations for slavery, materialism, "black issues" like jail and police brutality, and if the Blacks in the room had decided to stay and live in Africa for good. Basically a whole bunch of assumptions rolled up in one. When we replied that our generation doesn't see things so clearly in "black and white" and that there are economic and infrastructure issues that underlie every major "racial" problem, he was honestly suprised. Clearly, there is racism, duh. But you are telling me as a 50-something year old man, your brain is still divided in half, black and white? This was some of the, to quote Tanesha, cooninish shit I've heard in a while. Then after a half hour break he came to the conlusion that, "we are young and don't know the heat of money...and that economics will be the true test of our 'grassroots' efforts." He then badmouthed Barack Obama, saying he's appointed IMF devils into his cabinet, and then asked "you white people" to explain the difference between Ghanaians and American Blacks. And to TOP IT ALL OFF, his friend in the corner turned to Josh and said, "You are Chinese American, no?" Josh said, "No." He then guessed the gamut of Asia before Josh said he was half Korean. To which the friend replied, "Oh, that makes things even more complicated"....

What I've taken away from today's class is that there is so much more to diversity and "issues" than race. There is diversity of thought, socioeconomics, region, religion, gender, sexuality, and AGE. Never before have I seen the generational divide so clear. I am sick of the older generation's conspiracy theories and hardened, bitter attitudes. I understand that they have the life experience to back up their judgements, but today is a new day. And we as a youth have to be the change we want to see in the world, because some of the older people frankly are too jaded.