Comments | alexandraerin: Is this what people mean when they say they don't see skin color?

alexandraerin

Is this what people mean when they say they don't see skin color?

Dec 21, 2009 14:21

karnythia recently linked to a news article about people studying the effects of television on racial biases. There was an old bit on SNL's Weekend Update when I was growing up, where Norm Macdonald would read a headline about a recent medical study and then announce that it and other news could be read in the pages of the medical journal "DUH!As others ( Read more... )

throat-punching machine, don't make me regret posting this, racefail, computer problems

Comments 40

potato v potaato vox_vocis_causa December 22 2009, 04:46:51 UTC

First and foremost, the versions of this camera I have seen are finicky or essentially non-functional for people of any skin color, although it did seem to work ok in the video, so maybe it's just me ( ... )

Re: potato v potaato alexandraerin December 22 2009, 15:52:31 UTC

For this to have been racist on HP's part there had to have been a decision at some point that people of color were not an important demographic to market to. I'm not saying that didn't happen...

I know you're not saying that. Have you noticed that I am saying that? I'll say it more explicitly: it didn't happen. Nobody at HP made a decision to exclude people based on color.

I'm open to the possibility of being wrong, because I've seen worse and more shocking displays of blatantly overt racism, but it's incredibly unlikely to me that the company said "This is a white people's camera and it doesn't need to work for anyone else.", to the point that I'm comfortable saying this:

It didn't happen.

Which is why it's a great example of systemic racism. Racism that's inherent in a system. Think about the implications of that. Our society is so fucked when it comes to race (and other things) that discrimination can happen without a single individual person deciding "I'm going to fuck over people based on the circumstances they were born ( ... )

andy9306 December 22 2009, 10:42:06 UTC

I generally agree ( ... )

alexandraerin December 22 2009, 16:07:15 UTC

Listen, I'm mostly with you. I sympathize, as I am white and I grew up presenting male. Believe me when I say that I know exactly how it feels to be the "weird loner kid ( ... )

andy9306 December 23 2009, 05:18:28 UTC

yeah, I'm not really sure what I was thinking when I made the claim that I'm totally isolated from society. Weird. Knew it was wrong as soon as I posted it... I need to write more often.

Anyway, I guess my (attempted) point was that in the same way that I can fall into the trap of saying, "Absolutely nothing I do or have ever done has ever supported society's unconscious judgements of people based on their race," other people seem to fall into the trap of saying, "Because you are of the visibly dominant race and gender, you are more responsible for the continuation of society's unconscious judgements of people based on their race." Which is ridiculous and hurtful. Even the people suffering from these labels can have a hand in them, and not just for "fitting" them, believing them too.

I always feel so silly posting ideas or concepts that I know my audience already aware of.

addiejd December 22 2009, 17:13:10 UTC

1. I'm quoting you on ""Society" is a shoutocracy: loudest voice frequently wins ( ... )

alexandraerin December 22 2009, 18:28:04 UTC

4. I can't think if I've seen any of his movies.

addiejd December 22 2009, 18:31:45 UTC

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000243/

He's the first (and only) black actor to win an Academy Award for best actor since Sidney Poitier in the 60s.

alexandraerin December 22 2009, 18:35:33 UTC

Oh, yeah, I know who he is and I don't deny he's a big star... I just don't happen to have seen any of his movies, so he's not one of the people who popped into my head when thinking of the "exceptions" people might be likely to throw out as a counterpoint.

Thread 7

pyrtolin December 23 2009, 03:05:14 UTC

"If a character with a different skin tone is cast white in an adaptation to broaden the appeal, it's a main character"

Reading that reawakened old frustration I have about the lousy treatment that Sci-Fi gave to Le Guin's Earthsea books, which numbered that among the atrocities it committed.

alexandraerin December 23 2009, 04:14:19 UTC

Oh, come on... don't you think a megalomaniacal supervillain stroking his pet monkey was a brilliant way of adapting the whole concept of the inner struggle that drove the first book?

pyrtolin December 23 2009, 03:24:25 UTC

On the more general subject, another thing that's always struck me as problematic is that the better ideals are usually expressed in negative terms- it's about removing privileged states rather than about promoting everyone to the point that they equally enjoy such.

And while people well versed in the subject understand what it means, most folks don't share that understanding, which makes the negative phrasing sound to those that enjoy such a position like an attack on them rather than an attempt to properly equalize an unbalanced system.