One of my sociology classmates once said, "I don't want to start anything, but this man is a racist." This article, like that statement, is wildly self-contradictory. I'm sorry, ma'am, but them's fightin' words... just like every other time my race is brought up in a public forum, which brings to the subject of "white privilege".
Yes, I used scare quotes, and no, I will not apologize. I saw white privilege for the first time when I turned my gaze to the broader, non-Western world... when I learned about native Asians and Africans bleaching their skin and saw their women openly flirting with me on a scale I had previously thought impossible. *That* was white privilege, or at least something that felt suspiciously like it.
Until that time, I had been accustomed to feeling like every breath I took was stolen property, knowing that I stood a 90% chance of getting shouted down and laughed at whenever I ventured a single word that ran counter to the black-good-white-bad narrative that dominates our textbooks and headlines, and watching my white contemporaries take incredible, sometimes physical pains to pass themselves off as something else. Tanning booths, ghetto dress, rap jive, Asia-philia... anything to avoid being labeled "white".
Whenever my race is brought up in a public setting, it is with intent to remind me (just in case I somehow forgot after 15 years of endless repetition) that my existence is a privileged one, even and especially when it feels like hell. To tell me that it is a privilege to be a white man in America is to tell me that it is a privilege to be everyone's favorite scapegoat. So yeah, rubbing that idea in my face is only going to make me mad. On the subject of race, I tend to agree with Morgan Freeman. When Mike Wallace asked him how we can get rid of racism, this is what he said:
"Stop talking about it. ... I'm going to stop calling you a white man, and I'm going to ask you to stop calling me a black man."
If there is "white privilege", then I'm unaware of it. I'm white, and I come from a family of five, my mom stayed home to keep care of the house (and kids) and my dad was a welder. You try telling me that we had "white privilege". My dad made enough money for our 3 bedroom house (of 7 people altogether) with a little bit of money to go camping every year. Our family wasn't poor poor, but we certainly weren't rich or even middle class. We hardly had any interaction with African Americans in our area, mainly because there was no black people in our area - at least that I knew of. My oldest brother went to college, but not at the expense of my dad. It was paid for by Uncle Sam (brother joined the army right out of high school). My only sister went to college, but took loans out like most other students in the country - white or black. My two other brothers never went to college. I went to a technical college (two years), and was able to get a good paying job after working my way up from the hospital kitchen to janitor to IT. I worked most, if not all, of my adult life, and didn't socialize as much as I could have if my family was middle class. As far as the entertainment industry goes, I know not every black woman is sassy. I know not every black man is a woman-whore thug. I don't completely believe in the stereotypes that Hollywood may want to push on me. I can't control what they do or what people believe. There is a lot of evil in this world, and we need to squash it - both black and white and white and black. This includes Hispanics, Chinese, Japanese, Canadians, Germans, Africans, and all other groups of people on this planet.
I dont think she was trying to bring that message up, white privelledge is more of a society/ media thing, im pretty sure that the author of this knows that some caucasions have their own struggles.
What many people seem to be missing is when I clearly state and even put in BOLD that - "It doesn't mean that you, as a white person, will have a fairytale lifestyle." People seem to keep missing that.
I have had these types of conversations with black people in the past about my personal background or that of the Irish, and frankly, they dont care... It is all about them, they dont give a crap that others go through tough times like irish, jews, polish, italian, mexicans, chinese... They dont want to acknowledge it because if they do then it is obvious that they struggled but so did everyone else.
I come from an Irish background too, and from what I've heard and seen, my family (on my mum's side) went through living hell.
In order to gain "black privileges", blacks need to forget about the crap they've been through and move on in full strength to achieve their goals.
What do you do when someone breaks up with you? Do you fall back onto the past, constantly blaming your ex for things they've done, things you deserve? NO, you forget them, you move on forwards, you build yourself, you become stronger.
Taker... this is a well written article, albeit insensitive and demeaning... if you want to achieve things in life you need to look to the future.
I'd say it's both, but of course I've seen more against whites than against blacks. That's just my experiences though. I'm white, so of course I'll notice it more. I don't think there is "white privilege", rather there is still racism. But honestly, I believe blacks are more privileged, and I hope that I will still get the same respect as I give you for saying my opinion. I know I may be wrong, and I totally admit that I'm white, so maybe I don't see everything you experience. However, there have been many, more than I can count, events in my life where I, or people that I know, were targeted for their skin color (white/Asian) or where the race card was used to take advantage of others. Instances of racism towards blacks, I can count on one hand. But of course, people wouldn't say racial things to me, because I'm the type who would stick up for any race regardless. I don't see things in "black and white" like everyone else does. And this leads me to your point about "BET". See, I think that many African-Americans make their own problems. They say they want to be equal and they don't want people to see them for their skin color, but yet they separate themselves from whites purposely. I've heard so many times "I can't relate to a white woman/man". If we are equal, which I believe we are, then why can't we relate in some way? Now I agree there are stereotypes in movies/shows, so why isn't that the goal to change? I remember wearing a South Pole sweat suit, because it was cute, and I was informed by a black peer "Get that off, that's a black person's brand." I was like "what?" What if I said "you can't wear that, that's a white person's brand." People would flip. I was bullied a lot in school and I'm blind in 1 eye, which is hard enough as it is. A kid told me "stupid white bitch open your F-ing eyes", just randomly. I never even spoke to this kid. Then he went back to his large group of friends (he was only friends with blacks, again, he is separating himself)
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Opinion Owner
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and they all began laughing at his cruel joke. Not only did he target me for my skin color, but also ridiculed my disability. And then the 20 or so other people laughed. When I tried to get help for this bullying, I was told by the principal "if you were black, we could do something." My brother similarly was bullied, called gay, and then molested by a group of boys in a locker room. He was told by the same principal "if you were black or gay, we could do something." So there is black privilege in some instances as well. A cousin of mine, her head was blown off by a black male, because he got her pregnant. The news refused to cover the story, even though he admitted to doing it, and the man got in no trouble. Yet there's news stories about kids who actually did do something wrong getting hurt, without any racial intent proven, and those get on the news easily. Yet that one didn't.
I honestly don't think these recent news stories (and many other cases) are about race. I think it's more about poverty. My family was previously from very poor neighborhoods in southern Cali. And many of my family members were murdered (such as my cousin) by people who admitted to doing it, yet they never got any justice, not even an investigation. Why do you think that is? I think since people in poor neighborhoods can't afford lawyers and there's no money to make out of the case, they don't even bother with it. So there IS a police brutality issue. But it's not just on blacks. It's anyone in poor neighborhoods. Of course, there are many blacks in these poor neighborhoods, they say so themselves, so that's why it seems like a black issue. But trust me, my family is full of injustice. I haven't met a lot of my family, because many of them are dead. And no justice for any of them. So I really think it's a poverty issue. That's just my opinion and I'm sorry if this offended anyone.
Oh, I forgot to add one thing. When I mentioned people using the race card to manipulate. I know there is still racism towards blacks. So I'm not saying every time someone mentions it, they're pulling the race card. But some do use it to manipulate. For example, once my parents were in line for something, and a black lady stormed to the front. When people got after her for cutting in line, she said "That's just like you white people, throw me to the back of the line again." It was so ridiculous and stupid. Again, I just want to point out that the race card does happen.
Finally someone has put my thoughts into words. I go to a high school that's 94% white, 4% black, and the last 2% is Hispanic and Asian. Honestly it's hell going to that school, because nobody seems to understand the work I had to go through just to get into the high school. I have no hate towards any race. None of them believed me when I told them how hard I worked to get into that school. I went to summer classes, after school classes, Saturday classes, and got three scholarships. I'd never be able to afford that school without those scholarships. Then I wake up everymorning at 6 am to take 3 busses for an hour and a half in the morning and then again in the afternoon just to get there and back home again. It's excruciating watching them throw money away on a cup of Starbucks, or getting a ride to school, and sometimes they aren't even grateful for what they have. I've seen a girl curse her mother out over mcnuggets. I'm not saying white people live the perfect fairytale life, but some things are just easier for them. We both are going to the same destination but they get shortcuts. I'm not saying their lives are perfect. However, there are just some things they'd never understand.
You forget that their parents and sacrificed for them to get into that school and to build that school, not just with money but with attention to the curriculum and an active PTA. somehow you forget to count that, only your sacrifices are valued. Good job though.
Black men do little to change the world, because they do not choose to be positive world-changers.
Or the ones that were, were too humble to demand that their names be plastered all over history books and that they be immortalized in stone.
Alarmingly, on either side, those who demand the most attention as world changers are those who have the most skeletons in their closets.
Moreover, to say that it's all "white men ruling the world" underscores thousands of years of history in which Middle Brown men ruled the world.
Color is irrelevant. Choices. Ideas and consequences. That is what history should emphasize. Socrates isn't greater to history than Jim-unknown-Kummkwat in Nigeria hiding in the bushes because one is white and the other black.
Socrates is greater to history than Kummkwat in the Bushes because Socrates debated ideas about the purpose of human existence with intelligent men who intended to shape the future of humanity with whatever was decided from these debates. Kummkwat in the Bushes killed a monkey for food and punched his sister with elephant testicles to appease to forest gods. Skin color had nothing to do with it.
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Anonymous
(36-45)
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Of course it's going to be harder to name 3 black inventors than 3 white inventors. America is only about 12% black but is 60%+ white. So if you're going to ask them to name 3 black inventors then you should ask them to name 15-20 white inventors to keep things proportional.
Ask people to name NBA players. Wikipedia says the NBA was 78% black and 17% white. People will say Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Charles Barkley, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James. All Black players. RACISM!!! Oh wait, it's not racism, it's just math.
My best friend growing up, my best friend in High School, and my current best friend are all Black. They tell me that they do occasionally experience racism, like people following them around in a store, but they also agree that Black culture as a whole is screwed up and Black people have mostly themselves to blame. I mean fatherlessness rates in some Black communities are as high as 80%. It's not white people making black people have sex before they're ready to be parents, or white people forcing black fathers to abandon their kids.
Not saying racism doesn't exist, it does, but so many of the claims of racism the news media makes are so laughable that you can't ever take them seriously on the rare occasion something might actually be racist. In any case, in society as a whole, Black culture hurts Blacks way more than anything else, the whole fuss about racism isn't to help Blacks it's just to help Democrats win elections. Blacks aren't better off when there's a Black president because, like most politicians, he just cares about his personal agenda and not the people.
I have a Criminal law justice major, and can tell why your father was treated like that was because police deal with a selected group of people (murders, rapists, violent etc). There is a book called emotional survival for law enforcement with a part explaining how these type of incidents effect the officers view of people. You father got generalized because the officer had seen a man just like him reach for a gun instead of papers. The part also explains the shop owner, if these kids stole from me then a group like them will steal from me again. You want to look at the crimes rates of who commits them and think how violent are these crimes to understand why there are of force used.
Inventors, the same thing can be said about any race, most people don't know these facts, the first ten presidents, where all the countries are, and etc. There isn't a white history month but what I known there are greek month.
Yet, the biggest problem with white privilege is the ideology that it exists for every white person. There is like this explication that all white get benefits and non whites get a disadvantage. I have known people of all race that have to work all the way from the bottom to get where they are at. While others that didn't have to lift a finger and everything came to them.
Do certain races get treated differently by people, yes, of course, but to say everyone will give the same treatment to a white person isn't realistic. Just like how everyone will not treat you the same way if your black, Hispanic, Asian etc. You will have people that treat you better or worst regards of your skin color.
You are never the only that can not relate to people on tv, also you might want to check other channels.
You are right I can never walk in your shoes, but not able to understand what another goes through means there must be more talk to understand one another.
How far how you gone to understand the other side? Because your article had a lot of holes
For black people, the biggest problem about believing in White Privilege is that it is a self-limiting belief. What good does it do you to believe in it? None. Doesn't help improve your situation at all.
But it does become a negative feedback loop causing jealousy and resentment of white people, including distrust--and it also allows a dangerous mentality where you can end up believing "because I'm black, I can't achieve--the obstacles are just too high." Except that's bullshit.
And it also causes resentment on the part of whites, which leads to only further racial tension and racism. I grew up with good relationships and thoughts about black people. But I'll admit, hearing all this "white privilege" shit and other racist nonsense gets on my nerves, and I notice myself building resentment. I don't want to feel that way, and I won't let it take hold. But how is that affecting people who are less self-aware?
Black people are starting to fuel the fire of racial tension on their own. I think most people in my generation are pretty laid back and accepting of other races, but this constant blaming, distancing, and "other-ing" of whites as people "who don't and CAN'T get it" because they are white just isn't helping people come together.
that's been my point all along. People always say it's white privilege that I had free legal help during a case I was involved from a former lawyer I met where we both owned sailboats and lived on them. He become my best friend.
However when I tell him he's a 65 year old ex vietnam vet former Marine who speaks fluent German and is black as a Hershey bar they tend to drop the discussion. lol
I'm sick of people using race as an excuse for everything. Just because something bad happens to a person doesn't automatically mean a person can blame it on their race. That's all people do nowadays. If something doesn't go their way they say it's because of their race. Most of the time they never blame themselves for what happened. If they didn't get hired its because the company won't hire minorities and is racist. They don't think I could have been more qualified to give myself a better chance or some other reason. Or some people think things are handed to them just because of their race. Generally when you look at successful people, they are very qualified and have a desire to achieve greatness. They constantly keep putting themselves out their and eventfully they can achieve something of importance.
People's attitude and effort determine their success in live. These people who are blaming their race for their failures or expecting their race to make them successful are going to be disappointed in life. The media needs to stop making race such a big deal and creating a large issue that just is not anywhere near as prevelant as they state it is, but they won't since they want the attention of as big of an audience base as possible
This is somewhat true. There will be racist people no matter where you go but they are not the majority. Everybody has a sterotype because it has been created by TV shows, movies, and the media. White people are associated with being rich, greedy, and selfish. Black people like chicken and playing sports. Hispanics are border hopping immigrants. ( I am Hispanic) These are all examples of stereotypes.
As for your case with the store owner he is just an ignorant fool. You can tell the difference between a thug and a regular joe and by going off what you have written I'm pretty sure your dad isn't a thug. Now this isn't only black people that experience this though. My dad has been racially profiled by cops and store owners too. (He's white Hispanic also)
As for the white privileged, that only goes for people with money. They are the 1% and most of there is money is passed down generation to generation. They can afford nice things, new toys, etc but that does not make them racist nor do they choose to be privileged.
In my opinion of the Eric Garner case he should have given full cooperation so he does not have to be put in that situation, regardless of what he did or didn't do. That goes for any race, don't put yourself in that situation. If you spend the night in jail whoop-ti-do you'll be out in less than 24 hours. The judge would have laughed at the fact he was selling untaxed cigarettes and would have let him go. Last week 3 undercover cops pulled up in front of my house when my mom and dad had just gotten back home from the gas station. They started asking a bunch of questions for no reason. Nobody had to die, nobody got shot my parents gave their full cooperation and the cops were on their way.
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Anonymous
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I believe that anyone is capable of being racist towards any group, even white people. I also believe that despite how far we all went, humans cannot ever make this world perfect. We are not perfect. Only God is. And lastly, I know that we all struggle in life. Maybe it's not skin colour for some, but everyone is put down for something. I may not be in the same exact situation as you, but lets just say that I come from a country where the brutal past has turned some of my people cold against one country. And I understand how it would seem extremely hard for you to forgive (truly forgive) when the brutality is still present in your life. The truth is that people can change, but this world wouldn't be perfect because people aren't. That being said, what Im trying to tell you is that problems are always going to come in our lives. You canon fight a problem because problems are followed by problems. Race issue has been going on for a while and Even if is changed somehow, there would still be issues relating to it. The only thing you and anyone could do is work on ourselves. Forgiveness may seem hard. Saying the word 'I forgive' doesn't mean it is in the heart. It's more of a mental thing. All we can do is try to forgive and love others so we won't be like the people who hurt us. A certain group of people aren't the problems. It's people in general.
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Anonymous
(36-45)
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As a white guy, I will admit that I am privileged in a sense, since I'm sure that my interactions with the police over the years would have been far different if I had been black (minor things like riding a bike at night without lights, or riding it with headphones on).
That said, I think that people in the black community really need to step back and take a good look at themselves. White people aren't forcing them to sell drugs or join street gangs or have children with deadbeat fathers. Honestly, I think the breakdown of the stable two-parent family has done more damage to black people than anything else. Young kids without a father figure often grow up to become criminals or raise kids without fathers themselves. It's a vicious cycle.
Rap music has done a lot of damage by glorifying the thug / gangsta lifestyle. Selling drugs, pimping "hoes," drive-by's, street brawls... The list goes on. When a fight breaks out, instead of separating the two men or women, guys whip out their phones to record it while laughing and cheering on the fighters. They also strike poses and give shout outs to world star hip hop and other black media outlets.
A few years ago, Bill Cosby spoke out about this, and he was criticized as being an Uncle Tom.
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Opinion Owner
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Don't even get me started about politics. The Democrats have stabbed the black community in the back by getting them dependant on welfare in exchange for votes. Republicans aren't much better, by the way.
Obama doesn't care about black people. He's a puppet just like all the other presidents in recent history. The last good presidents we had were Eisenhower (who warned us of the military industrial complex) and Kennedy (who stood up to the Federal Reserve and got assassinated for it).
I think the USA is just so toxic. We are only 55 years out of the 400+ years of slavery AND Jim Crow (in America).
I don’t really understand how white people can believe that all of that systematic abuse has just evaporated into the air as if those past ancestral practices could never possibly affect the many generations to come. Yes white privilege is a thing and black people are stuck in this standstill as we are in a very weird place in history as we try to acknowledge and escape the hate that’s been passed down to us.
It is a shame that so many black people only know how to put negativity into the world. And it’s not like the solution is to just return to our “roots” because black Americans have decided to contribute to the chain of white supremacy to rejecting and mocking African immigrants who come to the USA. A lot of us do not know anything about Africa and are not interested in learning because we have adopted the same superiority complex. Even black men and women are at war. Black women are the most educated today. We’ve obviously been trying to make ourselves better. But then we always deal with over sexualization or 100% rejection. We’re too ugly. We’re too masculine. We’re too dark. Our hair is too curly. Black men—always remaining to be be seen as thugs. Partially because they contribute to violence in the ghettos. But who built those ghettos? White people.
And none of this shit is going to stop anytime soon. The solution is loving one another and learning self acceptance and practicing the art of being better for the greater good of the environment we are in.
there is a certain lvl of racism that is healthy. racism is a normal thing. so is classism, etc etc
have u ever seen a person of another color walk into a place where most of the people or all are a cerain color, or class etc? ok normal.
there is a fear of people who are different and this is creating huge division in society today because they dont understand this fea the fear is of the unknown if u r a different race or u look different u r an unknown and u should be suspect. however in terms of WORK, that belong to the GOVERNMENT the government includes ALL races and therefor can hire ANYONE they want. however making a rule that a certain race should be hired is RACIST ITSELF. they should be hired based on ability however is someones color interferes with the group then they have the right to disclude them.
i am making an educated guess here that white government in early times in certain parts of the world including Canada usa WHEREEVER - was done primarily by whomever was in charge and because of that they can hire whoever they want. its THEIR business.
where am i going with this anyway i will just say this go ro africa u will see there is black privilige there SO WHAT its their countrey same way whereever no 1 is entitled to anything they are supposed to earn it.
Some people may have that fear: www.thedailybeast.com/.../...ve-paranoid-mind.html I wasn't afraid in Sudan, not in Mexico, not in Egypt, not in Palestine, not in Turkey. And I wasn't there in a herd of 50 tourists. I was there alone or with my wife.
it is healthy. its normal. its no different than someone you havnt met or someone who appears very different than you. its no different than not wanting a hobo to touch you. these are all the same thing in different forms.
it depends where you go. and what kind of community you were raised in and who raised you. but this racism is normal behaviour. THE PROBLEM IS THE HATE. the hate comes from people for various reasons. but basically it is UNREASONABLE HATRED. so a degree of racism is NORMAL. it is simply: FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN/DIFFERENT in a SPECIFIC FORM. a degree of classism and ALL ELSE is also normal. dont be a hypocrite and tell me you think everyone is equal to you because then i know you're a big fat liar.
dont tell me there isn't black privilge in africa or anywhere else there are black people. r u DELUSIONAL. there is this privilige problem EVERYWHERE. no matter what country/location
its about people and there are people everywhere who are ALL DIFFERENT. go to the "perfect town"
whereever - there will be someone who has different values. good or bad. and there is fear of the unknown everywhere and it comes in varieties like racial hate. we should abolish this term "racism" and classism and stuff this stuff is misleading, people love to shorten things to make them easier to understand and corrupting their meanings cus theyre lazy asses and have dino brains ! the term you want to use is RACIAL HATE.
but u know i could be wrong about the term. i havnt researched the word well. words are always changed in bad ways. i used to disagree with my teachers and professors a lot based on trivial shit like this all the time its really less about the words and more about the understanding, but ur understanding ur choice do what u want
I'm white and was pulled over working for a nonprofit by a black cop in a black neighborhood who thought I was buying drugs. I've lived among white people in poverty most of my life. I've had slumlords, I've spent nights crying because my apt was too cold to sleep in. I've had people assume I was stupid and insult me because of where I grew up. I know people who ended up in jail because of not having car tags. As well as those for more sinister reasons... I've seen cops beat the living hell out of a drunk for annoying them. Etc. All things that black people claim happens exclusively to them.
A lot of the same stuff happens to poor whites as to blacks. Including being killed by police...
What a lot of black people don't get is that some stuff is a class issue, not racial. A lot of poor white people are frustrated because the narrative paints a rosy picture of them that's not true... But it doesn't sell papers & get votes so nobody cares.
I'm not making excuses, just trying to broaden your perspective. A lot of the more aggressive things you'll hear come from whites who don't understand white privledge because their lives suck just as much.
I don't think she was completely ignoring the fact that what happens to blacks happens to other races. It would be ludicrous to.
But the fact that it happens MORE to the black race is a problem. I'm sure there have been white people killed by cops... but significantly less than black men. White men get lesser sentences in prison than black men... though they reportedly do more of the dangerous crimes (yet black men get stuck with the stereotype).
Poverty is as big of factor as skin color. Whites commit more crimes because there are more whites, by the way. No race has the corner on criminality, but poverty creates a direct correlation with a lot of crimes. And people usually aren't out stealing bread, either... though on the flipside, corporate crimes like embezzling or marketing drugs like oxytocin as non addictive often don't get the punishment they deserve.
Unfortunately, there is also a "culture of poverty" that is sometimes counterproductive and often hard to escape. Some of the problems are internal, like not valuing education and some are external, like predatory lending.
The issue is more complex than most people realize, and a lot of it - especially the solutions- are economically charged. Seeing past the race debate is vital to making a change. I'm not saying to ignore it, just realize there are many factors at work.
Clearly there is white privilege. The less educated white people, the white people raised in the good ole boys club and the white people that have suffered discrimination by being the minority in a black neighborhood honestly believe there is no racism in the US. I never recall anyone running for president being threatened like Obama has. You can hear people shouting "shoot him", "kill him" and let's kill the ni##er in the background when he was doing speeches in 2007. Other countries can easily see our racism but we can't? The 12 year old in that park was shot in under 2 seconds and I believe anyone that thinks a white child would be shot as quickly is either ignorant or racist. The black guy that was shot with the bb gun in Wal-Mart is another example but the most amazing thing is the interrogation of the gf. www.dailykos.com/.../-After-Police-Murder-Man-Holding-Toy-Gun-In-Toy-Aisle-They-Harrass-His-Wife-Accuse-Her-of-Crimes
And yet, many of our presidents were actually assassinated. What you "heard" was media hype promoting your reaction to believe that racism plays a role. But no attempt has been made on him. Thus... It's called propaganda.
Yes white tea bagger sure. Even though NO president was ever treated this badly it is just a coincidence. I'm sure you have black people in your family tree. You should cut the rope they are starting to emit odor.
It's also amusing the amount of down votes in 5 minutes. White republican racist tea baggers sure love their multiple accounts and their spread of hatred.
Keep the obsessive down votes coming but clearly the people running America right now seem to be nothing more than a bunch of greedy, war-mongering racists relying on trigger-happy policemen to keep the rest of the country down while they spout their extremist, hypocritical religious beliefs.
Another amusing point. Scummy people like Rush Limbaugh spew out crap like "stop Obama". You know why? Hating him and hoping he fails is much more important than helping him and the US. Now that most economic indicators are on the rise he of course will not get any credit. 2 years ago it was easy to blame him for a bad economy. Surely we can place all credit to the republicans that spend 80% of their energy on stopping anything that Obama wants to do. These are the things that other countries see but somehow not ours. It's clear the majority of hard core righties and tea baggers hate black people and will do all they can to discredit Obama. Check out the comments of the shoplifting Elizabeth Lauten. She slams the Obama kids for being trashy. Are they getting fake identifications or doing lines of cocaine? Are they shoplifting like she did? To not see all this hate is to be racist and to participate in it is inhuman and is hurting America.
I would like to make a point about affirmative action. In principle hiring a certain % of people based on minority does seem fair but sadly I don't agree with legislating morality. I also feel it is a store/restaurants right to not serve anyone they do not want to serve. I think it's wrong to not serve black people at a restaurant but legislating it does not cure the ill of hate. Boycotting it and making it a publicly known fact is better in my opinion. Are we not able to police ourselves with goodness and love? I think we can.
Customers who want to buy them have to pick them up and at least carry them to the cash register. I'm sure that had happened countless times before Crawford was murdered, since I doubt Walmart stocks items that don't sell.
So what was the difference in Crawford's case? Why did someone call the cops on him when all he was doing was carrying a Walmart product around a Walmart store? The difference, obviously, is Crawford's race. It makes no sense to try to claim it was something else. Unless you're going to argue that he was the very first Walmart customer ever to pick up one of these things.
Another point to people that think there is no racism. The guy with the BB gun that was assassinated by cops never waived the bb gun at children yet a white guy that lies about serving his country calls 911 to say a menacing man is waiving around an assault rifle. Funny thing is there Ohio has a right to carry arms and a white man carrying a REAL assault rifle is not menacing yet a black man is. Funny huh
Oh my. I'm so sorry all that happened to y'all. I'm white but half my best friends and most of my extended family has a different skin tone. I live in North Carolina and there may be more stress in this conversation in other places but I haven't noticed much discrepancy to blacks, and definitely nothing I can control, I don't think anything different of you. Even the poor parts down town in what 50 years ago was split up between races, now is about half and half. Just know not everyone is riding on one side or the other. I'm tired of people of color accusing me when there is nothing I can do to change it accept what I've already done, which is show everyone the same love, the love like my savior. (Who by the way, was born in the Middle East). The Lord doesn't care about skin tone, he made us each different, and it might get quite boring if we were all the same. I'm in the normal working class. And at one point was on the extremely poor side of it. Neither of my parents had jobs at one point, and do you know how hard it gets to find a job when blacks are being favored and the government requires so many blacks to get into company positions while normal hard working whites are turned down? Because they're white? Yes, this white favoritism used to be a problem and I won't deny that. But i shouldn't be paying for the stupid disisions my ancestors made. I'm well aware of the problem but it's started many others that you failed to go into. Next time I'll just ask to consider both sides of the problem. I don't want it to be a problem, I know you probably don't want this to be a problem. Well then I ask the world, why is it? We are created equal and color or race shouldn't matter. Thanks for listening.
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Anonymous
(30-35)
+1 y
I agree that White privilege exists but then when your nation state was invented by wealthy White people what do you expect? The USA was invented by a group of wealthy White men, your constitution and your laws were written by wealthy White men. So the power, the wealth and the prestige was always going to belong to those select few individuals and even today this remains the case, not just in the US but in lots of other countries too.
So is just a racial issue or one of class too? Every society has social classes and it would come as no surprise to find that the majority of the top 10% of richest people in the US were White men who with their wealth carry a lot of influence.
The problem I find with ethnic minority people is that then seem to think that this privilege is bestowed upon all White people and this is simply not true. I'm a White working class male and I have never been given white privilege ever. I am treated as anyone else who has little money and no influence. Now had I gone to Eaton and been the Son of a billionaire entrepreneur then I would experience white privilege without a shadow of a doubt.
So while I disagree with white people who down play white privilege I do think it's inaccurate for non-white to assume that all white people have this special privilege. If you do not have money in this World, you will have no influence and you will command no privilege, white or non-white, money talks.
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Anonymous
(25-29)
+1 y
Ok first of all African American is not a race. What is a black teen like me called who's not African or American? I've been living here for a few months however and I kinda see your point. Whites are usually served quicker in stores and restaurants. I won't speak on the Michael brown incident bc I don't know all the facts, but your news is filtered by your government anyway. You wouldn't think of your country the same if you saw someone else news. Back to the point. I don't think it's a matter of white privilege but just of ones' initial perception of someone due to dress, aura and other factors. And usually it seems to be white people who carry themselves to the standard of what is acceptable for where they are. African Americans give a bad name to all blacks who come here. I wasn't raised in this culture and I'd act very different from how someone who was would. Back home I could wear my hoodie at night with no problem. Now I'm being stopped and questioned as soon as I step outside. I think it's silly and immature that your country is still stumbling over a long dead leaf like that. Let it go...
You said "whites are usually served quicker in stores or restaurants" Has anyone ever realized that whites also learn how restaurants work and order something that takes shorter to prepare? When 5 cooks put together a meal on the 5 tickets on the table, is it racism that the white people like myself actually order things that are already prepared, or call ahead, or might also place an order, leave, go nextdoor and come back just before the food is ready.
The world runs on money not racism. It's one thing to have a shop owner, but you're talking about Mexican cooks, Hispanic and black wait and order taking staff all being mentally bluetooth connected to a central boss whose racism dictates how they serve people. It's not even physically possible to coordinate EVERYONE to say "ok, let's make sure blacks get served AFTER whites"
There's no racial restaurant triage method in existence.
I read the first couple paragraphs, and then I got tired of reading it. The reason white privilege supposedly exists is because more focus is put on negative things happening to minorities because that's controversy and controversy sells. I'm only familiar with the Zimmerman case, but he's of HISPANIC descent, and even after that was brought out, the media called him a "white-Hispanic," likely to drum up more racial controversy. (Read between the lines: he wasn't black, so people turned against him, which is pretty much racism when that happens to a black person for not being white) What I'm saying here is that "white privilege" is an excuse people pull so that they can complain about how evil the white man is. If you believe that black people are generally criminals/inferior/stupid/whatever, you're racist. If you believe white people are generally blind/racist/superior/whatever, you're also racist. If your excuse for your actions is "It's not racist because they're
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One of my sociology classmates once said, "I don't want to start anything, but this man is a racist." This article, like that statement, is wildly self-contradictory. I'm sorry, ma'am, but them's fightin' words... just like every other time my race is brought up in a public forum, which brings to the subject of "white privilege".
Yes, I used scare quotes, and no, I will not apologize. I saw white privilege for the first time when I turned my gaze to the broader, non-Western world... when I learned about native Asians and Africans bleaching their skin and saw their women openly flirting with me on a scale I had previously thought impossible. *That* was white privilege, or at least something that felt suspiciously like it.
Until that time, I had been accustomed to feeling like every breath I took was stolen property, knowing that I stood a 90% chance of getting shouted down and laughed at whenever I ventured a single word that ran counter to the black-good-white-bad narrative that dominates our textbooks and headlines, and watching my white contemporaries take incredible, sometimes physical pains to pass themselves off as something else. Tanning booths, ghetto dress, rap jive, Asia-philia... anything to avoid being labeled "white".
Whenever my race is brought up in a public setting, it is with intent to remind me (just in case I somehow forgot after 15 years of endless repetition) that my existence is a privileged one, even and especially when it feels like hell. To tell me that it is a privilege to be a white man in America is to tell me that it is a privilege to be everyone's favorite scapegoat. So yeah, rubbing that idea in my face is only going to make me mad. On the subject of race, I tend to agree with Morgan Freeman. When Mike Wallace asked him how we can get rid of racism, this is what he said:
"Stop talking about it. ... I'm going to stop calling you a white man, and I'm going to ask you to stop calling me a black man."
If there is "white privilege", then I'm unaware of it. I'm white, and I come from a family of five, my mom stayed home to keep care of the house (and kids) and my dad was a welder. You try telling me that we had "white privilege". My dad made enough money for our 3 bedroom house (of 7 people altogether) with a little bit of money to go camping every year. Our family wasn't poor poor, but we certainly weren't rich or even middle class. We hardly had any interaction with African Americans in our area, mainly because there was no black people in our area - at least that I knew of. My oldest brother went to college, but not at the expense of my dad. It was paid for by Uncle Sam (brother joined the army right out of high school). My only sister went to college, but took loans out like most other students in the country - white or black. My two other brothers never went to college. I went to a technical college (two years), and was able to get a good paying job after working my way up from the hospital kitchen to janitor to IT. I worked most, if not all, of my adult life, and didn't socialize as much as I could have if my family was middle class.
As far as the entertainment industry goes, I know not every black woman is sassy. I know not every black man is a woman-whore thug. I don't completely believe in the stereotypes that Hollywood may want to push on me. I can't control what they do or what people believe. There is a lot of evil in this world, and we need to squash it - both black and white and white and black. This includes Hispanics, Chinese, Japanese, Canadians, Germans, Africans, and all other groups of people on this planet.
I dont think she was trying to bring that message up, white privelledge is more of a society/ media thing, im pretty sure that the author of this knows that some caucasions have their own struggles.
Thank you @SakuraChii
What many people seem to be missing is when I clearly state and even put in BOLD that - "It doesn't mean that you, as a white person, will have a fairytale lifestyle." People seem to keep missing that.
I have had these types of conversations with black people in the past about my personal background or that of the Irish, and frankly, they dont care... It is all about them, they dont give a crap that others go through tough times like irish, jews, polish, italian, mexicans, chinese... They dont want to acknowledge it because if they do then it is obvious that they struggled but so did everyone else.
I come from an Irish background too, and from what I've heard and seen, my family (on my mum's side) went through living hell.
In order to gain "black privileges", blacks need to forget about the crap they've been through and move on in full strength to achieve their goals.
What do you do when someone breaks up with you? Do you fall back onto the past, constantly blaming your ex for things they've done, things you deserve? NO, you forget them, you move on forwards, you build yourself, you become stronger.
Taker... this is a well written article, albeit insensitive and demeaning... if you want to achieve things in life you need to look to the future.
Sorry if I missed that. I just wanted to put my two cents in of my background.
I'd say it's both, but of course I've seen more against whites than against blacks. That's just my experiences though. I'm white, so of course I'll notice it more. I don't think there is "white privilege", rather there is still racism. But honestly, I believe blacks are more privileged, and I hope that I will still get the same respect as I give you for saying my opinion. I know I may be wrong, and I totally admit that I'm white, so maybe I don't see everything you experience. However, there have been many, more than I can count, events in my life where I, or people that I know, were targeted for their skin color (white/Asian) or where the race card was used to take advantage of others. Instances of racism towards blacks, I can count on one hand. But of course, people wouldn't say racial things to me, because I'm the type who would stick up for any race regardless. I don't see things in "black and white" like everyone else does. And this leads me to your point about "BET".
See, I think that many African-Americans make their own problems. They say they want to be equal and they don't want people to see them for their skin color, but yet they separate themselves from whites purposely. I've heard so many times "I can't relate to a white woman/man". If we are equal, which I believe we are, then why can't we relate in some way? Now I agree there are stereotypes in movies/shows, so why isn't that the goal to change? I remember wearing a South Pole sweat suit, because it was cute, and I was informed by a black peer "Get that off, that's a black person's brand." I was like "what?" What if I said "you can't wear that, that's a white person's brand." People would flip. I was bullied a lot in school and I'm blind in 1 eye, which is hard enough as it is. A kid told me "stupid white bitch open your F-ing eyes", just randomly. I never even spoke to this kid. Then he went back to his large group of friends (he was only friends with blacks, again, he is separating himself)
and they all began laughing at his cruel joke. Not only did he target me for my skin color, but also ridiculed my disability. And then the 20 or so other people laughed. When I tried to get help for this bullying, I was told by the principal "if you were black, we could do something." My brother similarly was bullied, called gay, and then molested by a group of boys in a locker room. He was told by the same principal "if you were black or gay, we could do something." So there is black privilege in some instances as well.
A cousin of mine, her head was blown off by a black male, because he got her pregnant. The news refused to cover the story, even though he admitted to doing it, and the man got in no trouble. Yet there's news stories about kids who actually did do something wrong getting hurt, without any racial intent proven, and those get on the news easily. Yet that one didn't.
I honestly don't think these recent news stories (and many other cases) are about race. I think it's more about poverty. My family was previously from very poor neighborhoods in southern Cali. And many of my family members were murdered (such as my cousin) by people who admitted to doing it, yet they never got any justice, not even an investigation. Why do you think that is? I think since people in poor neighborhoods can't afford lawyers and there's no money to make out of the case, they don't even bother with it. So there IS a police brutality issue. But it's not just on blacks. It's anyone in poor neighborhoods. Of course, there are many blacks in these poor neighborhoods, they say so themselves, so that's why it seems like a black issue. But trust me, my family is full of injustice. I haven't met a lot of my family, because many of them are dead. And no justice for any of them. So I really think it's a poverty issue. That's just my opinion and I'm sorry if this offended anyone.
Oh, I forgot to add one thing. When I mentioned people using the race card to manipulate. I know there is still racism towards blacks. So I'm not saying every time someone mentions it, they're pulling the race card. But some do use it to manipulate. For example, once my parents were in line for something, and a black lady stormed to the front. When people got after her for cutting in line, she said "That's just like you white people, throw me to the back of the line again." It was so ridiculous and stupid. Again, I just want to point out that the race card does happen.
Finally someone has put my thoughts into words. I go to a high school that's 94% white, 4% black, and the last 2% is Hispanic and Asian. Honestly it's hell going to that school, because nobody seems to understand the work I had to go through just to get into the high school. I have no hate towards any race. None of them believed me when I told them how hard I worked to get into that school. I went to summer classes, after school classes, Saturday classes, and got three scholarships. I'd never be able to afford that school without those scholarships. Then I wake up everymorning at 6 am to take 3 busses for an hour and a half in the morning and then again in the afternoon just to get there and back home again. It's excruciating watching them throw money away on a cup of Starbucks, or getting a ride to school, and sometimes they aren't even grateful for what they have. I've seen a girl curse her mother out over mcnuggets. I'm not saying white people live the perfect fairytale life, but some things are just easier for them. We both are going to the same destination but they get shortcuts. I'm not saying their lives are perfect. However, there are just some things they'd never understand.
You forget that their parents and sacrificed for them to get into that school and to build that school, not just with money but with attention to the curriculum and an active PTA. somehow you forget to count that, only your sacrifices are valued. Good job though.
Black men do little to change the world, because they do not choose to be positive world-changers.
Or the ones that were, were too humble to demand that their names be plastered all over history books and that they be immortalized in stone.
Alarmingly, on either side, those who demand the most attention as world changers are those who have the most skeletons in their closets.
Moreover, to say that it's all "white men ruling the world" underscores thousands of years of history in which Middle Brown men ruled the world.
Color is irrelevant. Choices. Ideas and consequences. That is what history should emphasize. Socrates isn't greater to history than Jim-unknown-Kummkwat in Nigeria hiding in the bushes because one is white and the other black.
Socrates is greater to history than Kummkwat in the Bushes because Socrates debated ideas about the purpose of human existence with intelligent men who intended to shape the future of humanity with whatever was decided from these debates. Kummkwat in the Bushes killed a monkey for food and punched his sister with elephant testicles to appease to forest gods. Skin color had nothing to do with it.
Of course it's going to be harder to name 3 black inventors than 3 white inventors. America is only about 12% black but is 60%+ white. So if you're going to ask them to name 3 black inventors then you should ask them to name 15-20 white inventors to keep things proportional.
Ask people to name NBA players. Wikipedia says the NBA was 78% black and 17% white. People will say Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Charles Barkley, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James. All Black players. RACISM!!! Oh wait, it's not racism, it's just math.
My best friend growing up, my best friend in High School, and my current best friend are all Black. They tell me that they do occasionally experience racism, like people following them around in a store, but they also agree that Black culture as a whole is screwed up and Black people have mostly themselves to blame. I mean fatherlessness rates in some Black communities are as high as 80%. It's not white people making black people have sex before they're ready to be parents, or white people forcing black fathers to abandon their kids.
Not saying racism doesn't exist, it does, but so many of the claims of racism the news media makes are so laughable that you can't ever take them seriously on the rare occasion something might actually be racist. In any case, in society as a whole, Black culture hurts Blacks way more than anything else, the whole fuss about racism isn't to help Blacks it's just to help Democrats win elections. Blacks aren't better off when there's a Black president because, like most politicians, he just cares about his personal agenda and not the people.
I have a Criminal law justice major, and can tell why your father was treated like that was because police deal with a selected group of people (murders, rapists, violent etc). There is a book called emotional survival for law enforcement with a part explaining how these type of incidents effect the officers view of people. You father got generalized because the officer had seen a man just like him reach for a gun instead of papers. The part also explains the shop owner, if these kids stole from me then a group like them will steal from me again. You want to look at the crimes rates of who commits them and think how violent are these crimes to understand why there are of force used.
Inventors, the same thing can be said about any race, most people don't know these facts, the first ten presidents, where all the countries are, and etc. There isn't a white history month but what I known there are greek month.
Yet, the biggest problem with white privilege is the ideology that it exists for every white person. There is like this explication that all white get benefits and non whites get a disadvantage. I have known people of all race that have to work all the way from the bottom to get where they are at. While others that didn't have to lift a finger and everything came to them.
Do certain races get treated differently by people, yes, of course, but to say everyone will give the same treatment to a white person isn't realistic. Just like how everyone will not treat you the same way if your black, Hispanic, Asian etc. You will have people that treat you better or worst regards of your skin color.
You are never the only that can not relate to people on tv, also you might want to check other channels.
You are right I can never walk in your shoes, but not able to understand what another goes through means there must be more talk to understand one another.
How far how you gone to understand the other side? Because your article had a lot of holes
Copy/pasting from another thread:
www.girlsaskguys.com/.../q1263190-to-those-who-believe-in-white-privilege-as-a-white-person-i-am
For black people, the biggest problem about believing in White Privilege is that it is a self-limiting belief. What good does it do you to believe in it? None. Doesn't help improve your situation at all.
But it does become a negative feedback loop causing jealousy and resentment of white people, including distrust--and it also allows a dangerous mentality where you can end up believing "because I'm black, I can't achieve--the obstacles are just too high." Except that's bullshit.
And it also causes resentment on the part of whites, which leads to only further racial tension and racism. I grew up with good relationships and thoughts about black people. But I'll admit, hearing all this "white privilege" shit and other racist nonsense gets on my nerves, and I notice myself building resentment. I don't want to feel that way, and I won't let it take hold. But how is that affecting people who are less self-aware?
Black people are starting to fuel the fire of racial tension on their own. I think most people in my generation are pretty laid back and accepting of other races, but this constant blaming, distancing, and "other-ing" of whites as people "who don't and CAN'T get it" because they are white just isn't helping people come together.
that's been my point all along. People always say it's white privilege that I had free legal help during a case I was involved from a former lawyer I met where we both owned sailboats and lived on them. He become my best friend.
However when I tell him he's a 65 year old ex vietnam vet former Marine who speaks fluent German and is black as a Hershey bar they tend to drop the discussion. lol
I'm sick of people using race as an excuse for everything. Just because something bad happens to a person doesn't automatically mean a person can blame it on their race. That's all people do nowadays. If something doesn't go their way they say it's because of their race. Most of the time they never blame themselves for what happened. If they didn't get hired its because the company won't hire minorities and is racist. They don't think I could have been more qualified to give myself a better chance or some other reason.
Or some people think things are handed to them just because of their race. Generally when you look at successful people, they are very qualified and have a desire to achieve greatness. They constantly keep putting themselves out their and eventfully they can achieve something of importance.
People's attitude and effort determine their success in live. These people who are blaming their race for their failures or expecting their race to make them successful are going to be disappointed in life. The media needs to stop making race such a big deal and creating a large issue that just is not anywhere near as prevelant as they state it is, but they won't since they want the attention of as big of an audience base as possible
This is somewhat true. There will be racist people no matter where you go but they are not the majority. Everybody has a sterotype because it has been created by TV shows, movies, and the media. White people are associated with being rich, greedy, and selfish. Black people like chicken and playing sports. Hispanics are border hopping immigrants. ( I am Hispanic) These are all examples of stereotypes.
As for your case with the store owner he is just an ignorant fool. You can tell the difference between a thug and a regular joe and by going off what you have written I'm pretty sure your dad isn't a thug. Now this isn't only black people that experience this though. My dad has been racially profiled by cops and store owners too. (He's white Hispanic also)
As for the white privileged, that only goes for people with money. They are the 1% and most of there is money is passed down generation to generation.
They can afford nice things, new toys, etc but that does not make them racist nor do they choose to be privileged.
In my opinion of the Eric Garner case he should have given full cooperation so he does not have to be put in that situation, regardless of what he did or didn't do. That goes for any race, don't put yourself in that situation. If you spend the night in jail whoop-ti-do you'll be out in less than 24 hours. The judge would have laughed at the fact he was selling untaxed cigarettes and would have let him go. Last week 3 undercover cops pulled up in front of my house when my mom and dad had just gotten back home from the gas station. They started asking a bunch of questions for no reason. Nobody had to die, nobody got shot my parents gave their full cooperation and the cops were on their way.
I believe that anyone is capable of being racist towards any group, even white people. I also believe that despite how far we all went, humans cannot ever make this world perfect. We are not perfect. Only God is. And lastly, I know that we all struggle in life. Maybe it's not skin colour for some, but everyone is put down for something. I may not be in the same exact situation as you, but lets just say that I come from a country where the brutal past has turned some of my people cold against one country. And I understand how it would seem extremely hard for you to forgive (truly forgive) when the brutality is still present in your life. The truth is that people can change, but this world wouldn't be perfect because people aren't. That being said, what Im trying to tell you is that problems are always going to come in our lives. You canon fight a problem because problems are followed by problems. Race issue has been going on for a while and Even if is changed somehow, there would still be issues relating to it. The only thing you and anyone could do is work on ourselves. Forgiveness may seem hard. Saying the word 'I forgive' doesn't mean it is in the heart. It's more of a mental thing. All we can do is try to forgive and love others so we won't be like the people who hurt us. A certain group of people aren't the problems. It's people in general.
As a white guy, I will admit that I am privileged in a sense, since I'm sure that my interactions with the police over the years would have been far different if I had been black (minor things like riding a bike at night without lights, or riding it with headphones on).
That said, I think that people in the black community really need to step back and take a good look at themselves. White people aren't forcing them to sell drugs or join street gangs or have children with deadbeat fathers. Honestly, I think the breakdown of the stable two-parent family has done more damage to black people than anything else. Young kids without a father figure often grow up to become criminals or raise kids without fathers themselves. It's a vicious cycle.
Rap music has done a lot of damage by glorifying the thug / gangsta lifestyle. Selling drugs, pimping "hoes," drive-by's, street brawls... The list goes on. When a fight breaks out, instead of separating the two men or women, guys whip out their phones to record it while laughing and cheering on the fighters. They also strike poses and give shout outs to world star hip hop and other black media outlets.
A few years ago, Bill Cosby spoke out about this, and he was criticized as being an Uncle Tom.
Don't even get me started about politics. The Democrats have stabbed the black community in the back by getting them dependant on welfare in exchange for votes. Republicans aren't much better, by the way.
Obama doesn't care about black people. He's a puppet just like all the other presidents in recent history. The last good presidents we had were Eisenhower (who warned us of the military industrial complex) and Kennedy (who stood up to the Federal Reserve and got assassinated for it).
Really nice take.
I think the USA is just so toxic.
We are only 55 years out of the 400+ years of slavery AND Jim Crow (in America).
I don’t really understand how white people can believe that all of that systematic abuse has just evaporated into the air as if those past ancestral practices could never possibly affect the many generations to come.
Yes white privilege is a thing and black people are stuck in this standstill as we are in a very weird place in history as we try to acknowledge and escape the hate that’s been passed down to us.
It is a shame that so many black people only know how to put negativity into the world. And it’s not like the solution is to just return to our “roots” because black Americans have decided to contribute to the chain of white supremacy to rejecting and mocking African immigrants who come to the USA. A lot of us do not know anything about Africa and are not interested in learning because we have adopted the same superiority complex. Even black men and women are at war. Black women are the most educated today. We’ve obviously been trying to make ourselves better. But then we always deal with over sexualization or 100% rejection. We’re too ugly. We’re too masculine. We’re too dark. Our hair is too curly. Black men—always remaining to be be seen as thugs. Partially because they contribute to violence in the ghettos. But who built those ghettos? White people.
And none of this shit is going to stop anytime soon. The solution is loving one another and learning self acceptance and practicing the art of being better for the greater good of the environment we are in.
there is a certain lvl of racism that is healthy. racism is a normal thing. so is classism, etc etc
have u ever seen a person of another color walk into a place where most of the people or all are a cerain color, or class etc? ok normal.
there is a fear of people who are different and this is creating huge division in society today because they dont understand this fea the fear is of the unknown if u r a different race or u look different u r an unknown and u should be suspect. however in terms of WORK, that belong to the GOVERNMENT the government includes ALL races and therefor can hire ANYONE they want. however making a rule that a certain race should be hired is RACIST ITSELF. they should be hired based on ability however is someones color interferes with the group then they have the right to disclude them.
i am making an educated guess here that white government in early times in certain parts of the world including Canada usa WHEREEVER - was done primarily by whomever was in charge and because of that they can hire whoever they want. its THEIR business.
where am i going with this anyway i will just say this go ro africa u will see there is black privilige there SO WHAT its their countrey same way whereever no 1 is entitled to anything they are supposed to earn it.
Some people may have that fear: www.thedailybeast.com/.../...ve-paranoid-mind.html
I wasn't afraid in Sudan, not in Mexico, not in Egypt, not in Palestine, not in Turkey.
And I wasn't there in a herd of 50 tourists. I was there alone or with my wife.
There isn't "black privilege" in Africa. Especially in the South. You are ignorant... lol. There is no amount of prejudice that is healthy.
it is healthy. its normal. its no different than someone you havnt met or someone who appears very different than you. its no different than not wanting a hobo to touch you. these are all the same thing in different forms.
it depends where you go. and what kind of community you were raised in and who raised you. but this racism is normal behaviour. THE PROBLEM IS THE HATE. the hate comes from people for various reasons. but basically it is UNREASONABLE HATRED. so a degree of racism is NORMAL. it is simply: FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN/DIFFERENT in a SPECIFIC FORM. a degree of classism and ALL ELSE is also normal. dont be a hypocrite and tell me you think everyone is equal to you because then i know you're a big fat liar.
dont tell me there isn't black privilge in africa or anywhere else there are black people. r u DELUSIONAL. there is this privilige problem EVERYWHERE. no matter what country/location
its about people and there are people everywhere who are ALL DIFFERENT. go to the "perfect town"
whereever - there will be someone who has different values. good or bad. and there is fear of the unknown everywhere and it comes in varieties like racial hate. we should abolish this term "racism" and classism and stuff this stuff is misleading, people love to shorten things to make them easier to understand and corrupting their meanings cus theyre lazy asses and have dino brains ! the term you want to use is RACIAL HATE.
i will give you a good example for you ppl:
i am white (caucasian and asian)
i know its a bad idea to go into some dominantly or all BLACK neighbourhoods
i ALSO know its a bad idea to go into an area dominated by the VIETNAMESE mafia or the ITALIAN mafia etc or go whatever related to examples like that.
these are RACIAL DISCRIMINATIONS in other words RACISM.
but these examples are: NOT, RACIAL HATRED.
do u understand? i know u do
but u know i could be wrong about the term. i havnt researched the word well. words are always changed in bad ways. i used to disagree with my teachers and professors a lot based on trivial shit like this all the time its really less about the words and more about the understanding, but ur understanding ur choice do what u want
I'm white and was pulled over working for a nonprofit by a black cop in a black neighborhood who thought I was buying drugs. I've lived among white people in poverty most of my life. I've had slumlords, I've spent nights crying because my apt was too cold to sleep in. I've had people assume I was stupid and insult me because of where I grew up. I know people who ended up in jail because of not having car tags. As well as those for more sinister reasons... I've seen cops beat the living hell out of a drunk for annoying them. Etc. All things that black people claim happens exclusively to them.
A lot of the same stuff happens to poor whites as to blacks. Including being killed by police...
What a lot of black people don't get is that some stuff is a class issue, not racial. A lot of poor white people are frustrated because the narrative paints a rosy picture of them that's not true... But it doesn't sell papers & get votes so nobody cares.
I'm not making excuses, just trying to broaden your perspective. A lot of the more aggressive things you'll hear come from whites who don't understand white privledge because their lives suck just as much.
I don't think she was completely ignoring the fact that what happens to blacks happens to other races. It would be ludicrous to.
But the fact that it happens MORE to the black race is a problem. I'm sure there have been white people killed by cops... but significantly less than black men. White men get lesser sentences in prison than black men... though they reportedly do more of the dangerous crimes (yet black men get stuck with the stereotype).
Poverty is as big of factor as skin color. Whites commit more crimes because there are more whites, by the way. No race has the corner on criminality, but poverty creates a direct correlation with a lot of crimes. And people usually aren't out stealing bread, either... though on the flipside, corporate crimes like embezzling or marketing drugs like oxytocin as non addictive often don't get the punishment they deserve.
Unfortunately, there is also a "culture of poverty" that is sometimes counterproductive and often hard to escape. Some of the problems are internal, like not valuing education and some are external, like predatory lending.
The issue is more complex than most people realize, and a lot of it - especially the solutions- are economically charged. Seeing past the race debate is vital to making a change. I'm not saying to ignore it, just realize there are many factors at work.
Clearly there is white privilege. The less educated white people, the white people raised in the good ole boys club and the white people that have suffered discrimination by being the minority in a black neighborhood honestly believe there is no racism in the US. I never recall anyone running for president being threatened like Obama has. You can hear people shouting "shoot him", "kill him" and let's kill the ni##er in the background when he was doing speeches in 2007. Other countries can easily see our racism but we can't? The 12 year old in that park was shot in under 2 seconds and I believe anyone that thinks a white child would be shot as quickly is either ignorant or racist. The black guy that was shot with the bb gun in Wal-Mart is another example but the most amazing thing is the interrogation of the gf. www.dailykos.com/.../-After-Police-Murder-Man-Holding-Toy-Gun-In-Toy-Aisle-They-Harrass-His-Wife-Accuse-Her-of-Crimes
And yet, many of our presidents were actually assassinated. What you "heard" was media hype promoting your reaction to believe that racism plays a role. But no attempt has been made on him. Thus... It's called propaganda.
Yes white tea bagger sure. Even though NO president was ever treated this badly it is just a coincidence. I'm sure you have black people in your family tree. You should cut the rope they are starting to emit odor.
It's also amusing the amount of down votes in 5 minutes. White republican racist tea baggers sure love their multiple accounts and their spread of hatred.
Keep the obsessive down votes coming but clearly the people running America right now seem to be nothing more than a bunch of greedy, war-mongering racists relying on trigger-happy policemen to keep the rest of the country down while they spout their extremist, hypocritical religious beliefs.
To the 4 people with 3 accounts each why not paint yourself black, go to Wal-Mart and shop for a bb gun and see what happens.
Another amusing point. Scummy people like Rush Limbaugh spew out crap like "stop Obama". You know why? Hating him and hoping he fails is much more important than helping him and the US. Now that most economic indicators are on the rise he of course will not get any credit. 2 years ago it was easy to blame him for a bad economy. Surely we can place all credit to the republicans that spend 80% of their energy on stopping anything that Obama wants to do. These are the things that other countries see but somehow not ours. It's clear the majority of hard core righties and tea baggers hate black people and will do all they can to discredit Obama. Check out the comments of the shoplifting Elizabeth Lauten. She slams the Obama kids for being trashy. Are they getting fake identifications or doing lines of cocaine? Are they shoplifting like she did? To not see all this hate is to be racist and to participate in it is inhuman and is hurting America.
I would like to make a point about affirmative action. In principle hiring a certain % of people based on minority does seem fair but sadly I don't agree with legislating morality. I also feel it is a store/restaurants right to not serve anyone they do not want to serve. I think it's wrong to not serve black people at a restaurant but legislating it does not cure the ill of hate. Boycotting it and making it a publicly known fact is better in my opinion. Are we not able to police ourselves with goodness and love? I think we can.
Customers who want to buy them have to pick them up and at least carry them to the cash register. I'm sure that had happened countless times before Crawford was murdered, since I doubt Walmart stocks items that don't sell.
So what was the difference in Crawford's case? Why did someone call the cops on him when all he was doing was carrying a Walmart product around a Walmart store? The difference, obviously, is Crawford's race. It makes no sense to try to claim it was something else. Unless you're going to argue that he was the very first Walmart customer ever to pick up one of these things.
Snippet from a previous conversation about race and racial profiling yet people want to dispute the truth.
Another point to people that think there is no racism. The guy with the BB gun that was assassinated by cops never waived the bb gun at children yet a white guy that lies about serving his country calls 911 to say a menacing man is waiving around an assault rifle. Funny thing is there Ohio has a right to carry arms and a white man carrying a REAL assault rifle is not menacing yet a black man is. Funny huh
Oh my. I'm so sorry all that happened to y'all. I'm white but half my best friends and most of my extended family has a different skin tone. I live in North Carolina and there may be more stress in this conversation in other places but I haven't noticed much discrepancy to blacks, and definitely nothing I can control, I don't think anything different of you. Even the poor parts down town in what 50 years ago was split up between races, now is about half and half. Just know not everyone is riding on one side or the other. I'm tired of people of color accusing me when there is nothing I can do to change it accept what I've already done, which is show everyone the same love, the love like my savior. (Who by the way, was born in the Middle East). The Lord doesn't care about skin tone, he made us each different, and it might get quite boring if we were all the same. I'm in the normal working class. And at one point was on the extremely poor side of it. Neither of my parents had jobs at one point, and do you know how hard it gets to find a job when blacks are being favored and the government requires so many blacks to get into company positions while normal hard working whites are turned down? Because they're white? Yes, this white favoritism used to be a problem and I won't deny that. But i shouldn't be paying for the stupid disisions my ancestors made. I'm well aware of the problem but it's started many others that you failed to go into. Next time I'll just ask to consider both sides of the problem. I don't want it to be a problem, I know you probably don't want this to be a problem. Well then I ask the world, why is it? We are created equal and color or race shouldn't matter. Thanks for listening.
I agree that White privilege exists but then when your nation state was invented by wealthy White people what do you expect? The USA was invented by a group of wealthy White men, your constitution and your laws were written by wealthy White men. So the power, the wealth and the prestige was always going to belong to those select few individuals and even today this remains the case, not just in the US but in lots of other countries too.
So is just a racial issue or one of class too? Every society has social classes and it would come as no surprise to find that the majority of the top 10% of richest people in the US were White men who with their wealth carry a lot of influence.
The problem I find with ethnic minority people is that then seem to think that this privilege is bestowed upon all White people and this is simply not true. I'm a White working class male and I have never been given white privilege ever. I am treated as anyone else who has little money and no influence. Now had I gone to Eaton and been the Son of a billionaire entrepreneur then I would experience white privilege without a shadow of a doubt.
So while I disagree with white people who down play white privilege I do think it's inaccurate for non-white to assume that all white people have this special privilege. If you do not have money in this World, you will have no influence and you will command no privilege, white or non-white, money talks.
Ok first of all African American is not a race. What is a black teen like me called who's not African or American? I've been living here for a few months however and I kinda see your point. Whites are usually served quicker in stores and restaurants. I won't speak on the Michael brown incident bc I don't know all the facts, but your news is filtered by your government anyway. You wouldn't think of your country the same if you saw someone else news.
Back to the point. I don't think it's a matter of white privilege but just of ones' initial perception of someone due to dress, aura and other factors. And usually it seems to be white people who carry themselves to the standard of what is acceptable for where they are. African Americans give a bad name to all blacks who come here. I wasn't raised in this culture and I'd act very different from how someone who was would. Back home I could wear my hoodie at night with no problem. Now I'm being stopped and questioned as soon as I step outside.
I think it's silly and immature that your country is still stumbling over a long dead leaf like that. Let it go...
You said "whites are usually served quicker in stores or restaurants" Has anyone ever realized that whites also learn how restaurants work and order something that takes shorter to prepare? When 5 cooks put together a meal on the 5 tickets on the table, is it racism that the white people like myself actually order things that are already prepared, or call ahead, or might also place an order, leave, go nextdoor and come back just before the food is ready.
The world runs on money not racism. It's one thing to have a shop owner, but you're talking about Mexican cooks, Hispanic and black wait and order taking staff all being mentally bluetooth connected to a central boss whose racism dictates how they serve people. It's not even physically possible to coordinate EVERYONE to say "ok, let's make sure blacks get served AFTER whites"
There's no racial restaurant triage method in existence.
I read the first couple paragraphs, and then I got tired of reading it. The reason white privilege supposedly exists is because more focus is put on negative things happening to minorities because that's controversy and controversy sells. I'm only familiar with the Zimmerman case, but he's of HISPANIC descent, and even after that was brought out, the media called him a "white-Hispanic," likely to drum up more racial controversy. (Read between the lines: he wasn't black, so people turned against him, which is pretty much racism when that happens to a black person for not being white) What I'm saying here is that "white privilege" is an excuse people pull so that they can complain about how evil the white man is. If you believe that black people are generally criminals/inferior/stupid/whatever, you're racist. If you believe white people are generally blind/racist/superior/whatever, you're also racist. If your excuse for your actions is "It's not racist because they're
You can be a White Hispanic. Being Latino is something different.