Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Dear White People


Dear White People (WP) and supporters of WP,

If you were offended by my video, then you should be offended by Justin Simien's title, Dear White People.

I'm sorry for offending you, but that was never my intent at all. My video was intended as satire: Asian people really don't have anything white people don't.

I'm sorry for stereotyping you, but I'm tired of having to clarify and defend myself all the time because when I and millions of angry minorities (E.g. Azealia Banks) say "white people," we're not talking about you personally; we're talking about the white patriarchy. We know all white people aren't the same because we would find it deeply offensive if you thought the same about our people.

Now you're probably thinking: "You didn't use white people in that way in your video," and you're right, I didn't. I used white people as an "other" to Asians, the main subject matter of my video. Like I said in my director's commentary, the title is very misleading. However, I'd still like to address this issue because I feel like white people still don't get it.

Using the term "white people" to describe white patriarchy might not be politically correct, but being politically correct isn't going to end racism in America. Ending racism in America requires white people and yes, all white people, not the just the white patriarchy, to recognize that they have white privilege, inaccessible to millions of non-whites.

White privilege means "whiteness" is the norm. Anything else is different. Thus, while white stereotypes are offensive to the white individual, they aren't racist because racism is "prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior." White people have never been denied anything because of the color of their skin because they have defined themselves as the superior race without any opposition and by setting the norm.

Looking at the latter part of this definition, I can see why people thought I was being racist because it looked like I was saying Asian people were more superior than white people. However, I started the video by saying, "Aside from white privilege..." for a reason. With that opening statement alone, I acknowledged who the true "superior race" is, and like always, white people failed to take notice of that and made it about their feelings instead-now that's what I call a white privilege-and accused me of making a faulty argument when that wasn't even my argument to begin with.

I now realize that it was my own fault for bringing white people to the video in the first place (my point would have gotten through a lot better without the comparison), but I did want people to know about white privilege and without the controversy and anger due to this video, I would have never gotten to speak to you more on this topic, so thank you white people, for actually helping a minority today.

XOXO,
Sassy Girl

Monday, August 17, 2015

21 Thoughts We Had While Watching Season 6 Episode 10 of Pretty Little Liars

  1. BOO THIS OPENING SUCKS
  2. Aria is stupid.
  3. Why is no one questioning Mona? She's got all this intel and no one wants to know where she got it from?
  4. Totally thought that was Rhyss lying on the floor instead of Jason.
  5. What the fuck is going on?
  6. This finale sucks.
  7. Finally Sara is useful.
  8. Sara is Charles.
  9. It's Cece!
  10. I called this transgender plot a month ago. #nailedit
  11. No, not Mrs. Cavanaugh!
  12. Huh? Bethany turned on her?! #bitch
  13. These kids... 
  14. What!? She dated her own brother? #gross
  15. Aww that's cute that Spencer cares for Toby
  16. OH MY GOD THIS SARA PLOT IS PERFECT (in that she serves an actual purpose in the show now instead of being this big character that no body likes)
  17. Emily's the biggest dum dum of them all to be honest.
  18. Seriously, I. Marlene King?! Anothing effing question?!
  19. Why did A even want to end the game anyways? The more I think about it, the more I have problems with this finale.
  20. I CAN'T WITH THIS SHOW
  21. At least we'll get to see Wren again. *heart eyes emoji*

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

New Romper!

www.macys.com
I went into Macy's as a way to kill time before my interview and didn't really expect to find anything until I laid eyes on this romper in the clearance section. I was drawn to it because I thought it was a little black dress and fell in love with it once I realized it was a romper. The mesh at the waist gives it a little edge, and although I'm totally not in love with the back, it was only $12, so I bought it. With an extra 20% off for applying for a credit card, I ended up paying only $10 for a piece that was originally $59! Now that's what I call a deal.

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

22 Thoughts I Had While Watching Season 6 Episode 9 of Pretty Little Liars

Only 22 today because I was alone.
  1. Wow - some actual parenting going on!
  2. It could be worse:you could be dead.
  3. #FireTravis
  4. "You need a sandwich." lmao Does Ella think Aria is hangry or something? A sandwich ain't gonna get rid of A.
  5. This is the most I've ever seen the PLL moms.
  6. Why is Clark not answering?
  7. Aren't adults supposed to be nice? So, why is this teacher being a bitch? Oh hey, an actual teacher.
  8. Drunk Veronica is the best.
  9. "I'm not leaving my fingerprints on that."
  10. These moms are way smarter than their children. 
  11. What the fuck is Rhys doing at the DiLaurentis house?!  
  12. After reading a post on the Pretty Little Liars subreddit, I see where Ali is coming from.
  13. And you show up at this hour? #suspicious
  14. I wasn't allowed to make out with my date at prom...then again I went with a girl...but not Emily-style though.
  15. Aw that's sweet, Spencer.
  16. Why didn't anyone bring a phone? I take what I said about them being smarter
  17. Why does Clark have a gun?
  18. Oh he's an undercover cop. It makes sense now. Who would've thunk that one of the worst plot lines would turn out to be one of the best?
  19. Now what's Sara's purpose?
  20. Duh Aria he literally said it's a layover to Thailand just a second ago. What a dum dum
  21. I hate this show so much.
  22. Yet, I can't wait for next week. 

My Farewell Letter to Martinsville

There are murmurs of hope for the future, but right now, it is not enough for the creative young to stay and give back: their motivations lie elsewhere, just like mine.

A year later, this statement still rings true.

The newly renovated Henry Hotel, which serve as apartments now.
While uptown, I overheard one of the storeowners mention to a customer how things have improved in recent years, but have they really?

Because once again, I was at an uptown event aimed at bringing customers in and saw no one in sight (There was technically people at the Farmer's Market but not at the sidewalk sale).

I didn’t want to go to this event, but my sister had this big smile on her face when she very sweetly asked me to go with her, a rarity for her, so I said yes.

I hadn’t left the house in more than a week, and I’d been waking up at 2:00 p.m., so I thought it’d be nice to walk around uptown and create a follow up essay to the one I wrote last year. I almost decided not to go when I struggled to wake up at 10: 30 a.m., but I wanted to be a good sister, which I would fail at later any ways, so I went.

In Charlottesville, you can find crab cakes, tacos, Cuban food, Filipino food, 
etc. at the farmer's market. At the Martinsville farmer's market, they give 
you a frickin' cucumber. At least it was free.
When we arrived to the Farmer’s Market uptown, we learned that the scavenger hunt was simply going to every open vendor and asking the vendor about his/her stand. Sounds like a good idea, right? Except, the vendors didn’t even wait for us to ask them about their merchandise. They just started giving us the charms—the scavenger hunt booty—and most of them didn’t even know what was going on or why they were giving charms away.

It quickly became awkward, and my sister and I just started asking if the vendor was part of the scavenger hunt to get the charm.

After we circled the block and my sister realized that I wasn’t having it, we returned to our starting point for our prize (My sister actually thought they would run out of gift bags when we got there—like people were actually going to participate—LOL).  We had actually missed three spots, but I wasn't going to continue walking anymore, so we lied when the ladies running the stand asked us if we had gone to all the spots—a little white lie that most of the participants probably told, but we were UVa. students, so it hurt my soul to tell that lie (So in addition to being in a horrible mood, I had also broken the honor code—although I did admit—albeit quietly—later that we had missed three spots. I am George Washington; I cannot tell a lie).

Like the city of Martinsville, we were hoping the Uptown Sidewalk Sale and Scavenger Hunt could revitalize us.

Instead, it made us even more depressed and look for a way out because in addition to my motivations, my life force now also lies elsewhere.

antique (adj.) - belonging to ancient times