white wash

i live in the vortex of white wash.

there is no racial diversity. NONE. there is not one black, asian, or latin person (except for the folks who work at the mexican restaurant on the interstate) for miles and miles around. the only "out" gay folks that live in the same county as us are close friends. maybe i'm missing people (i certainly might be), but according to the census, there is no diversity to be found.

it makes me wonder. would my neighbors that are so freaking nice to me, giving me chickens, pork, deer, working on my truck for hours for free or for beer, would they be as nice to me if i were a person of color or if we were a family of color? an "out" queer person or queer family? a foreign family?

do they only like us because we're straight, white, and don't talk out about being anti-racist, anti-homophobic, and anti-patriarchy? if we started speaking out about our anti-white-supremacism, as they do about their racism, would they stop being our friends?

on the other hand, should we avoid creating community with them because they are racist and homophobic? becuase they sometimes speak disrespectfully to their wives and children?

they generally don't speak disrespectfully to us. they speak their minds, offer (force) budweiser on a regular basis, keep giving us things like some we're in some fantastic neo-potlatch economy, occasionally let a racial slur slide slippery, lubed with corn liquor from their glass pint jar.

and i bite my tongue. or take a swig.