22 thoughts on “Friday, August 12, 2022”

  1. If you’re talking about my comments yesterday, Xicano, I wasn’t threatening so much as saying, I’ve seen groups break down when they can reach a state of harmony. People simply go away. If people go away, then there’s no group.

    I’m sensitive to racism and bigotry and sexism and I haven’t experienced it here. Sometimes I’ve felt overlooked because I’ve posed a question to the group, but that’s my problem, not the group’s problem, not any one individual’s problem.

    I was gone for a while so maybe I missed whatever was said or done that reeked of racism.

    I said “perceived slights” because sometimes a person feels slighted because of something going on in them more than because of something someone did to them.

    Should OTP be all light and fuzzy? I don’t want that. I don’t think anyone wants that (do they?). But just as you misinterpreted what I was saying yesterday, words without a live person saying them, without the actual tone of the words being said, can be wildly misinterpreted. Maybe you disagree.

    1. Hi Barbara, I read a reply by you to the subject recently asking “what happened” and “what did I miss.” I do not know if it was answered so I went ahead and wrote a page today of what happened- at least regarding my experience since contributing to OTP. I think my first ever submission was in late June. Nothing was wildly interpreted by me yet I cannot speak for the other party. I will take care of myself and keep typing!

  2. Hi, Claire.
    Thanks again for putting up the pages this month.
    I sent a Plan-Guide Repertoire des rues page yesterday (page 46)but it didn’t appear today. Did you not receive it? In which case, I will send it again. Thanks.

    1. I got it… But it was before the separation between yesterday and today. I’ll post it tomorrow!

  4. I see what your saying. On the other hand sometimes a slight is a slight and not because of what’s going on with them. I know you don’t mean to but it almost sounds like blaming the person being affected by racism rather than the racist. Or giving the benefit of the doubt to the accused racist over the person’s he has affected because he insist he is not a racist. White privilege is crazy. But this is exhausting and again I know what I know. I guess we can agree to disagree. However if he continues with questioning contributers when they identify as people of color and speak of race or politics and white writers on the same subjects are not targeted by him then I will probably speak up again. And that perhaps is why it’s not a big deal except to the abuser and the abused. And maybe those who believe he is the abused. Who knows.

    1. I should proofread better. The above should have said, “I’ve seen groups break down when they CANNOT reach a state of harmony.”

      I’m not blaming the person feeling slighted. I’m saying sometimes it happens, how we interpret, esp. online without the person across from us.

      And you’re right, this is exhausting.

  5. Barbara, I do understand the feeling overlooked feeling here. But that does not bother me. I just keep typing imagining the world is reading lol. I know others have I think stopped submitting pages because no one comments or acknowledges them but that is not a hang up I have.

    1. Not a peep today from the person who needs to read your suggestion. Maybe it should be emailed directly to who it’s intended for.

    2. Barbara, Racism is more subtle than this piece might suggest.

      Yes, it is Roger from Cabot Arkansas, who proudly is self-described as “full of piss and vinegar.” He has the tendency to criticize writers of color on OTP (or is it just a coincidence?) I don’t think the criticism is random. I have been critiqued, and I have in my own OTP pages and comments I have taken him to task for trying to bully me and other writers of color. He tends to apologize – kind of – should I say he is disingenuous, belittling and sometimes patronizing in his comments. Once could be a misinterpretation of tone. Twice could be a joke. Thrice is when you call a duck a duck. An insult.

      A few days ago in the comments (Monday 8/1/2022) Roger said “being critical of what a person of color writes or says does not of itself make one a racist. People of color are not exempt from criticism.” And you agreed with his statement. That gave Roger a “Get out of jail card” AND he got to pass “GO” and collect $200 as in the game of Monopoly. He admitted to the disparaging comments he has made such as “snooty” and “motivated by hate.”

      What gives Roger the authority to be the arbiter of writing, reasoning, good taste, and creativity? His education? Scholarly knowledge? A career as a journalist? Being well read? Age and wisdom? His background as a southern gentlemen? None of the above. His _perceived_ authority comes from his white privilege and his ignorance and FEAR of people of other cultures and backgrounds.

      Pointing out to a white man that he is racist or has racist tendencies, or made a racist remark, is like telling him he has erectile dysfunction. That is what the concept of “white fragility” is all about. We have little blue pills for ER. But white male privilege has it’s advantages of disregarding the history of oppression and slavery in the USA and globally, and dismissing, even erasing stories and histories of peoples that deserve a place in world literature. We do not have a pill for that hegemony that is so precious. White whining fragility.

      Race is a tough subject. The ratio of men/women on OTP is about 8:2. People of color 10:3. I write about race every day – even when you think I am just writing about tea cups. If any thing we would be okay with more conservative viewpoints. Brendan is outnumbered in that area — maybe 12:1.

  8. Pages from two different poems got mixed up in today’s entry.

    Also, my comments don’t show up unless I log into a defunct WordPress account that I never use.

    Is that one of the terms of service here, you cannot comment unless you have a WordPress account?

    This is starting to make Blogger look good!

    1. It’s weird Joe. I had to set up an account a few years back so I could like and reply. I follow some of the blogs on WP. To comment I have to read OTP through WordPress.

    2. If we “don’t know” who we are referring to then this is all a worthless waste. But please stop assuming someone “must” be misinterpreting things when racist behavior is continuously exhibited by the same individual. It did not start recently. It has been occurring whether acknowledged or not since he(Roger, if one truly does not know who he is) strated posting. Now I understand folks not agreeing with my take on the state of America but if one is not just bs-ing and wants to see the behavior (ridicule and the demeaning of others due to their not being white that to a blind person was obvious) take the time to go back to pages and comments from way back. It’s a lot of work to read the entire stretch, it was not just one day. If one is not willing to do the work then this should probably be dropped as a false concern and we should all move forward whether typers of color, racists or of the ordinary type.

  10. I need to take another break from OTP. A few of you have my email address and my mailing address. I hope you’ll keep in touch. I love your letters.

  11. You may want to skip my submission mañana. I may be told to stop with the personal attacks. That would be funny to me since the individual who attacks typers who are not white and express their concerns about racist America has never been told to cease and desist. But again this is nothing new to me. I know how white supremacy rots reality and keeps us in “our place”.

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