Or does it matter? On March 8 at 10PM, the FX channel will be debuting a reality show entitled “Black.White” in an attempt to show the subtleties of racism.

In the show, a white family and a black family, with the help of technology will change
races and live as the opposite race. The families are both middle-class, with all adults being college educated.

The idea of this show is an extension of the idea that caused author John Howard Griffin
to change his race in 1959, and experience life as a black man in the south. He later penned the phenomenal book Black Like Me based on his experiences.

I’m not too sure how I feel about this- partially because it’s a reality show, and at this point in television, reality shows seem to reflect everything BUT reality. I also feel that there are other ways to show the subtleties of racism- years ago 20/20 did a show that displayed the subtleties of racism and sexism it by having whites and blacks, men and women, with equal qualifications go into different settings and apply for jobs, attempt to buy cars, and apply for loans.

However, perhaps what this show will get to accomplish is that it will allow the families to understand the different feelings that might come from a different race- from having “white privilege” or from being discriminated against, and it might be those feelings that can cause people to really change their attitudes.

Check out the article about the show…

sometimes you have to give yourself what you wish you could get from somebody else…

for so long i’ve been trying to figure out what i want to be, who i want to become, where i am and what i’m doing. and for so long that has all been done at the subjection of others. perhaps that makes me wack…or maybe it just makes me brutally honest.

i’ve been majorly indecisive about a lot of personal decisions- not so much about what i want to do and how i would go about it. i’ve seemed to have mastered the professional aspect, but have yet to conquer how to truly be decisive about my feelings. sometimes that’s a good thing, but i’m not sure that i am really confident that my indecision has served me well.

i will say that part of my indecision has been rooted in my severe dislike of change. and i know that change is the only thing that is constant. you’d think that after 22 years, i’d have gained a better mechanism to handle change or at least a desire to handle it better. however, i’m still struggling.

at the end of the day, i just want to be happy. but i wonder how much i might have missed because of my reluctancy to change, and my desire to control.

so it stands true- sometimes you have to give yourself what you wish you could get from somebody else. all that acceptance, the looking for other people to make decisions…it’s gotta come from me. and no better day but today…

“everyone sees who you appear to be. few experience what you really are.”
~machiavelli