What kind of card is race?
Some of you have probably seen this essay before, but even in that case, I think it's worth a second look.
What Kind of Card is Race? by Tim WiseI think it's really helpful for the arguments of the "you people just want to inject race into everything!" variety and just really educational in general ( Read more... )
What Kind of Card is Race? by Tim WiseI think it's really helpful for the arguments of the "you people just want to inject race into everything!" variety and just really educational in general ( Read more... )
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It doesn't surprise me to hear that people of color don't speak up very often about being victimized by racism. Too many people are ignorant and don't think racism is still a problem, so I'm sure they feel that if they do speak up, it won't get them anywhere because no one will believe them.
I wish this would all just disappear. Why can't people just accept each other? Who gives a shit how light or dark someone's skin is? We're all human. Who gives a flying fuck?
These are my honest thoughts. (And my icon is a picture of me--so yes, I'm white and not a racist.)
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Very much this.
Really, I wish we could get out of 'White privilege' and move towards 'Privileged Obligation'. By which I mean, if you are better off then someone else, despite skin color, you are OBLIGATED to pay attention to and help those less fortunate, no matter what rave they are. Not give one skin color a favorable bias.
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In short, white people honestly believed that segregation wasn't racist because it treated both races "equally". "They get their water fountain, we get ours; they get their school, we get ours; they get their bus section, we get ours. Everybody's happy!" If it was pointed out that these facilities were unequal, whites could blame the victims for that.
Also, a lot of whites well and truly believed that blacks were inferior to whites. They did not consider that racist (merely factual and true), and did not deem it racist to treat blacks as their inferiors. Blacks didn't have to be treated the same as whites, merely as good as their abilities should allow.
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It's part of White Privilege
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...and people asked me why I didn't want to stay in Savannah, lol
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This line: "White denial has become such a widespread phenomenon nowadays, that most whites are unwilling to entertain even the mildest of suggestions that racism and racial inequity might still be issues." and the following argument especially stuck with me. I find that a problem with racism today is not only the sheer number of people who prepetrate it unthinkingly, but their often complete refusal to entertain discussion or debate on their views, to the point of being offended that I would question why they felt affirmative action was racist against them for being white or that I wouldn't agree with an ignorant comment about an Asian language they don't speak. Thing is, these would usually come from my (overwhelmingly white) friends, most of whom I normally consider decent people. I truly believe that for most if not all like-minded people, these views are so unconscious and ingrained that they think everyone must share them ( ... )
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Incidentally, if anyone wants to read Cartwright's essay on Drapetomania, I've got it here, as well as his lesser-known yet equally-fanciful disease, dysæsthesia æthiopica here. They're both short reads.
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Also followed the links provided.
People want to keep grasping their illusions, even in the 21st Century.
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