The Truth About Tolerance

The funny thing is, I went to this conference in Madrid about "Tolerance." I was the only Black person there. I found it odd that we constantly used a word which connotes the dominant culture's need to "put up with" the presence of other cultures. I couldn't help but feel, as I sat there and heard every one debate the use of the word (translation: in other words, the dialogue never went beyond that) that not one person there thought about how much other cultures have to "tolerate" us: the Native Americans who have to "tolerate" the continual presence of "others" on what is rightfully their land, the local Hawaiians who have to "tolerate" all the tourists crowding up their space, the Harlemnites who have to "tolerate" the influx of new monied folk, the immigrants here in Denmark who have to "tolerate" the exploitative stares and continual degradation in the media, the millions of South Africans who h...