Passive Fairness

1 : pleasing to the eye or mind especially because of fresh, charming, or flawless quality
2 : superficially pleasing : specious she trusted his fair promises
3 a : clean, pure fair sparkling water b : clear, legible
4 : not stormy or foul : fine fair weather
5 : ample a fair estate
6 a : marked by impartiality and honesty : free from self-interest, prejudice, or favoritism a very fair person to do business with b (1) : conforming with the established rules : allowed (2) : consonant with merit or importance : due a fair share c : open to legitimate pursuit, attack, or ridicule fair game
7 a : promising, likely in a fair way to win b : favorable to a ship's course a fair wind
8 archaic : free of obstacles
9 : not dark fair skin
10 a : sufficient but not ample : adequate a fair understanding of the work b : moderately numerous, large, or significant takes a fair amount of time
11 : being such to the utmost : utter a fair treat to watch him

I am around a bunch of the "dominant culture" that have NO clue of the things they say or do. The are VERY quick to skip the bad stuff and act like they are fair and equitable, but NEVER say anything about their errors unless they are told. They think fair is the fact that I am allowed with them and wasn't turned away b/c of my color. I will note that this for the moment is exclusive to a group I am with...

A white group wants to serve "urban" populations which are generally made up of indigent blacks ad mexicans. They have not ONE person of color on their staff, nor has ANY of them brought it up. Furthermore, my colleagues haven't brought it up either.

And THATS my point. Color is NEVER brought up until color enters the room. How can "they" be fair if their concerns are limited by their own skin color? Am I the only one that sees racial and ethnic ignorance to the point of verbalizing it? I am just perplexed at this entire system of privilege.

They are my great white hopes and I am the loud black asking for their help. Now by no means is this a harp on color, but lets be real they just don't pay attention and again think fair is now expressed by a few blacks in the room amongst them.

In a room with 97 people, there was only 5 people of color. That sure as hell isn't 13% now is it? I also find it intriguing how "they" are so intentional, precise, and meticulous in making the impossible happen, but cannot seem to get more people of color around to balance things out.

Oh, I know, I know, people of color (for the most part) just don't seem to meet the bar educationally, business wise or economically. Whew - we have a looooooooooooong way to go.

Man I had to vent this. No one here gets it. To have a convo with a white person about this comes out as the typical black/white convo and how unfair it all is. As a race of privilege the forethought of inclusion and parity is FAR from fair at ALL and whites confessing to the issue is a joke. This is what I call, passive fairness.