a thoughtful web.
Good ideas and conversation. No ads, no tracking.   Login or Take a Tour!
comment by user-inactivated
user-inactivated  ·  3456 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Ask 8bit ----------- Don't Go  ·  

I was raised by white supremacists. I spent my adult life thinking that I left it and them behind because COLLEGE then WEST COAST and LIBERAL. I thought that if I don't like my family that I somehow escaped their ideological clutches.

I didn't. I am an old, angry, miserable broken man. I am trying to break my ignorance of the world as it is for others. I like seeing the world through how 8bit creates it on hubski.

But I hope that 8bitsamurai can feel how his being here helped people that need and want it. If he isn't coming back I would like to get a chance to write it here.

So now there is a giant crater left behind. And I don't know what is going to fill it.





user-inactivated  ·  3455 days ago  ·  link  ·  

it's not his job to educate us. it's our job to educate ourselves. all of this stuff is out there and available. all of these arguments have been had a billion times, and a thousand times by 8bit himself.

we don't need to force him to explain racism every time one of us assholes tries to talk about our "opinions". but there are old assholes around here that don't understand this, and there are new assholes showing up every day and they all just wanna have a calm and reasonable discussion, man, why are you so angry?

he already deals with this shit every day of his life. don't ask him to come here and deal with more. it's tiring.

thenewgreen  ·  3455 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I can't speak for psulli, but I read his comment as more of a "thank you" and not as a "you have an obligation to inform me."

That said, I agree that it's not 8bit or anyone else's job to educate us on any topic. Period. However, I am grateful for the times 8bit chose to share a snapshot of what it was like to be him, in the same way as I appreciate hearing honest and candid writings and tellings from any number of people on Hubski with any myriad of life challenges. -is this an obligation that any of us have? No. Is it nice to gain perspective from others? Yes.

I grew up in a town right next to Howell Michigan. When I was a kid the grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan lived in Howell. In my entire school, I was one of two Hispanic kids. The rest were all white with the exception of the Wu family. The other Hispanic kid was my little brother. Socially, it was rough for a while but I can't even imagine what it would have been like to be the black kid named Josh that moved to our school in the third grade. That kid had it rough. Think police discriminate? Try middle-aged white school teachers and soccer moms.

Anyways, I digress. Point is, I'm grateful for those that share their perspectives and first hand experiences, though in no-way-is-it-their-obligation and I agree that it must be very tiring.