“Viola Davis On Her Role In ‘The Help’: I Feel Like ‘I Betrayed Myself And My People’ By Paul Bois”I did not bother reading the article and I am not going to turn the meter by clicking on it. At 72 I don’t have time for that kind of stuff. It did bring a few questions to mind though. First, who is Viola Davis? What was “The Help”? In case you are inclined, don’t bother telling me. From the picture of an attractive woman, the title of the play and the phrase “My People” I can assume it is about the servants in a rich household or some variation of that.
The item that bypassed my pacemaker was the term “My People”. I am getting triggered by that term and my safe space is being invaded. How does she define her people? Is it totally a skin color thing? Does she realize that “her people” are killing each other around the world because their definition is not based on skin color but the shape of their head or body type. If she went to the wrong part of Africa would the locals accept her as one of them or knock her over the head so they could send her in a slave convoy to Sudan? I think the latter is more likely.
I don’t believe I have ever heard a white person refer to “my people” based on color of skin. They might use it for people who like the same baseball team or eat sushi, but I have never heard such a stupid thing as “my people” based on skin color.
Let me tell you whom I would accept as “my people”. First, it would include anyone who is serious about Jesus being their Lord. They would not need to agree with me on modes of baptism, frequency of communion, style of worship or translation of the Bible. Second, Americans who believe that we are the city on the hill and that the Constitution gives us the best form of government in history. They would also acknowledge that the government as it is acting is not living up to that standard. After that I would have a lot of little categories that would overlap and exclude depending on the issue. Never would color of skin, texture of hair, shape of eyes or continent of origin come into play.
Viola Davis has my sympathy for her limited, bigoted view of life.
homo unius libri
The world is full of people who separate themselves and then complain because they're separated.
ReplyDeleteI would call to mind the pot's comment to the kettle but that might be considered racist.
DeleteGrace and peace