matrixtraining | 1.2
Matrix Training 1.2
The difficulty of trying to bring Friends and Allies into the dojo and offer this training is that it can be hard for them to see a role for themselves and create the demand for resources like this. At the same time, to take the time and put in the energy to try and supply a demand you don’t know exists is difficult because I have no idea how many people this applies to.
Because of desegregation, it was inevitable that people designated as white and black were bound to mix. However, in this mixture, there are still a lot of segments of both populations that rarely touch and when they do it’s often like little kids afraid of contracting the dreaded “cooties”.
This is one of the manifestations of our “Fear of the Unknown”. We’re not sure how each other thinks or what each other likes or doesn’t like, including whether or not they will like us. And so before we get and have to feel the sting of rejection we respond by making ourselves scarce. But the strongest justification for this is that black people don’t know who is racist so it is easier and safer to assume all are until otherwise corrected. The problem with that is that it is fundamentally prejudicial and for many of the same reasons black people experience prejudice from whites. The more fear is on one side against the other, the more that fear has a chance to mutate into hate.
Those who focus on love and who are trying to get to a more colorblind society are on the right path and yet we have to acknowledge the fear and hate so that we can identify it, prepare for it, and get around it. Some only learn the extent of racism when they have biracial children and have to face the social issues that confront their child in the process of trying to give them the best life possible.
At this time, please refer back to our definition of “Whites” before continuing. If the "shoe doesn't fit" then nothing on this site is directed at you. However, often when people who are usually referred to as "White" to the point they are used to it and accept it as their identity, it's very possible for them to get offended when hearing "white people" being discussed. I call this "friendly fire" because by being offended you are moving into the "line of fire" and therefore taking hits meant for those who are much more deserving. Friendly fire can often derail movements and progress because we need each other to change the world but we can't even tell "White people" what we need and what the solutions are without discribing the symptoms and how "White People" fit into and feed into the underlying problem of racism, globally.
Muhammad Ali made a famous comment about snakes. It is imperative to listen with an open mind, understanding the mentality of fear this speaks to; a fear that was, especially then, well-earned. To say that Muhammad Ali was afraid of white people needs serious context. For any one white person to step inside a boxing ring with Ali in his prime, put on boxing gloves, and adhere to the rules of boxing, Ali wasn’t afraid of anyone. But this isn’t how black people knew whites to fight. They would go one-on-one in games and contests but when it was a question of survival they ganged up for the same reasons minorities create gangs; strength in numbers. That's why one of the ways you can identify racism is when it is suggested that black people shouldn't be doing something that historically white people have have also done. Because if both groups have done it then why should be spoken of within the context of race?
The argument Ali made here was so real and truthful and made so much sense to the audience that they laughed, not at him but with him. Not only did he make the same point with other countries that America, at one time, considered enemies and threats, but let me add one more for those who consider the bible to be instructive. For Sodom and Gomorrah, when Abraham (Genesis 18:24-32) negotiated to spare the entire city, this exchange exemplifies this same human sampling that we’ve been doing forever. In another video interview, Ali uses nature as examples of social segregation.
To a certain extent Ali is correct. Culture. However, what we are engaged in now, strictly speaking, is a culture war because the reality is that different animals in nature do have a culture but also have their own territory. When there is a shared territory it would only make sense for the culture within and belonging to that territory, to be shared. Black Culture in the US is also part of American culture because it is local to America. Americans pick up aspects of white culture by default because it’s dominant and expected. But Americans also have access to other cultures within these borders and that cultural exchange shows us the value of each other’s culture and each other through the presentation of that culture. And that gives us fewer reasons to fear that culture and fewer reasons to bomb it out of existence.
So this is where integration actually offers greater protection than closing the door on all and seeing all as snakes. Seeing the person on the other side of the door as a snake makes it more likely they wont get to know you either and won’t know that you’re not a snake too because whether someone is or isn’t a snake and not about nature; but nurture. But we’re reacting out of fear and that is a weakness.
When my sister recently showed me a picture of a snake on her property I told her she should get a pet mongoose. One of my uncles in Jamaica once told us about how the mongoose had driven away all or most of the snake population on the island. I sent her a video of a mongoose fighting a snake but this video shows something else.
What certain political operatives do very well is point out little facts while distorting them to their advantage. Are there bad people in the world? Yes or no? (So should you be afraid of people?) Are there bad people who are black? Yes or no? (Obviously, this is true since black people are also people). This is where those people might introduce crime statistics or question a victim in a police shooting about what their criminal history may have been. The purpose is to create a racial argument, effectively adding to the label of a color as if the “snake” is silent. While it is only because “White Supremacy” has done this that many black people, like Ali, respond in kind. But that doesn’t make it right and it makes it harder to find friends and allies to cooperate and work with us against a common threat.
So, what should you do? First, until we see that Friends and Allies are the norm instead of the exception, you should continue working mainly within your own sphere of influence. I’m going to give you tools and methods you can use to fight against The System. Some will be harder than others but some will be so super simple and easy that you will wonder why more people aren’t doing it. But do not get discouraged if you are not seen as a Friend or Ally. The goal isn’t to be worshiped or revered as a Christ figure, but the more your actions are felt, not seen, the more your actions will be appreciated.