From school to writing, friends to relationships, heck even TV shows to plays, you'll be tuned into anything that pisses me off and perhaps we'll have some common ticks! This is opinion-based book and therefore might be offensive. Read with caution!
So all my PoC out there might have an inkling as to what I mean and it makes be just laugh every time I think about it because I can't even believe it happened. It was like straight out of a Tumblr social justice post, I can't.
I have a short story to tell you guys first. When I was younger, like, I was an elementary school student (primary school). And I remember that this person dropped something in front of me, it was like a pencil or something, and we just both looked at it. Then the person was like, "Well aren't you going to pick it up?" I, of course, asked why I should pick up their pencil. They said, "Because you're darker than me." And it was said in a tone such as 'duuuh you freaking stoop.' I had never been blatantly racially profiled against in my life so I was standing there in shock because I couldn't actually believe it happened. I told my mom that day and this huge fiasco happened. I felt like complete crap in the span of five seconds. I had never in my life felt as low as I did in that small and short moment, until a few weeks ago at school.
So in case no one knows that fetishizing means, it's like when you take something and perverse it and/or turn it into a fantasy. Sort of like a guilty pleasure but not really. PoC can be fetishized because in the Western world we have a history of being treated as either sub-human or 'exotic'. I had read about fellow black people being treated this way but I had never been myself. Let me tell you how it happened:
I was sitting in the hallway of the history department at my school. There's four comfortable chairs in the hall and a little table to use. I was doing stupid things, I think I might've been playing a flipline game or something- anyway that's not important. What's important is that soon this guy comes down the hall and he lingers looking in each room. I notice he's looking for something so finally ask if I can help.
He says something like, "Yeah I'm looking for where the Diversity Club is meeting." (the irony is live)
I tell him I'm not aware of a club meeting. Usually, when clubs meet downstairs in the history department you can hear it because it's such a small and old building. Where the department is located could be considered a basement and the only other room that wasn't a classroom or a faculty office was a place where the music clubs meet and there was no one in there.
"Are you sure it wasn't Hayworth Fine Arts?" I asked, because we were in Hayworth Chaple and he mentioned that the text said the group was in Hayworth.
So he's like "Okay thanks for helping." But he lingers a little and watches me. He stands next to me and leans in to look at what's on my computer screen which was lowkey like
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Then he just walks away to look for the meeting, and I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding lel. Then this guy I know named Jack comes in and we talk briefly and he lets me know he's coming back. After like, maybe 30mins, the guy comes back and sighs before sitting on the couch next to me.
He laments that he can't find the club and he's a little upset by this. I'm like yeah true, because he tells me that no one is giving him a direct answer as to where he's supposed to be. Which honestly isn't fair and kind of sounds like bullying. I decided that I wouldn't mind talking to him because I need more guy friends and I didn't see why we couldn't be friends. So we get to talking and he says something about our current political situation but then brushes it off since it's not polite to talk about politics with someone you just met.
