News Why It's So Hard To Talk To White People About Racism

[joeylittle]

@OrganicRobot - just checking, since you refer to the above as an article - is it your (original) content?

 

[OrganicRobot]

@OrganicRobot - just checking, since you refer to the above as an article - is i...

I've been editing my post for quite a bit before posting, but re-edited pretty quickly a moment ago to:

"I modified the article's title to reflect and portray the content that I perceived I was reading. But with that said, if one was to scale the article up to a global and or full historical scale this article could apply to almost any culture at any point in time."

Obviously the title of the article is not my original content; however, I modified the article's title to point to the fact such a title is an opinion and not an all encompassing statement. Then I go forward explaining why it is not an all encompassing statement. The article and the content therein is the basis for this thread so I'm not sure what the issue exactly is. Other then the fact from certain viewpoint adding to or omitting parts of someone work may be taken as a personal attack according to this forum? If so I will willingly comply and remove the statement.

I'm also not sure if you are asking if my whole post is an article or my original content? If so, my post is completely original sans the modification of the article's title this thread is based off of.

 

[joeylittle]

The article and the content therein is the basis for this thread so I'm not sure what the issue exactly is. Other then the fact from certain viewpoint adding to or omitting parts of someone work may be taken as a personal attack according to this forum? If so I will willingly comply and remove the statement.

Oh no, not at all. I was simply unclear as to whether the main body of your post was your own, or a continuation of an annotated version of the original article, or something else entirely. I'm clear now - it's all fine. Sorry for my denseness.

 

[OrganicRobot]

Oh no, not at all. I was simply unclear as to whether the main body of your post was your own, or a...

No problem. I understand you have to keep a close watch on this thread considering the content. I hope everyone can continue with rational discourse and be respectful of each other. As well as be open to each others experiences and points of view.

 

[Freedomfighter]

I have just written a 2000 word essay on my Whiteness and the construction of my White identity. I found...

I think our culture here has so many more problems than the problems with race. People are predisposed about many different things and I have made many experiences that show that certain groups of people have certain problems more so than others. I would expect bad behavior from anyone, regardless of their genetic or ethnic makeup.

In my opinion, to every 100 people on our streets, you may meet one normal one, or is it to every 1000 people on our streets, you may meet one normal one?

 

[ms spock]

What you talking about is not what thread about @gizmo. I started this thread to discuss White racism, and why it is difficult to get White people to engage with their racism.

You welcome to start your own thread if want to, I am sick of this thread getting derailed.

 

[ms spock]

Royce Mann, Age 14, "White Boy Privilege", Slam Poem

This is an interesting one. Looking back over this thread I really wish I had jumped on it when people came and asked for proof of stuff when it had all been provided really early on in the thread. I needed to have said "Read the Thread - it is all in the beginning of this thread!"

 

[lostforgottensoul]

Royce Mann, Age 14, "White Boy Privilege", Slam Poem

Wow! I have no words other then that was amazing!

I honestly didnt think of "white previledge" this way.

 

[Fadeaway]

I live in a neighborhood where my germanic heritage makes me the minority. Yes, it is one of the poorest neighborhoods in town. What really stands out to me is the amount of money or should I say lack of money that is spent in my neighborhood fixing potholes, cracked sidewalks, parks that are overgrown with weeds and trash, and just the general state of disrepair all the shop buildings are in.

Yet you go over to the other side of town, the houses might be the same size as the ones in my neighborhood, but are more expensive due to location. They have the fancy parks and bike trails, perfectly maintained streets, someone from the city comes to plant flowers and trim trees. That subconsciously tells people a lot about their worth.

 

[lostforgottensoul]

That subconsciously tells people a lot about their worth.

It does! Ive felt in my whole life as I grew up poor in poor neighborhoods and im still poor trying to live on a single income inside of a double income society and live straddling the line of the "ghetto" (oh i mean poor crime ridden area) inside of an expensive (in my opinion) but crappy apartment complex surrounded by drugs.

I grew up feeling like if you dont make a lot of money you arent worth anything and today still feel that.

Damn, if the city doesnt want to spend the money then gather volunteers or even make prisoners work to clean it up. Something. Doing nothing is making crime worse as those kids; a lot of them later end up commiting crimes. Its not helping, thats for sure.

If every big city cleaned up their "ghetto", do you know how big that would be?

 

[Klo]

I'm gonna be frank here.

I think I tend to be dismissive of racial issues mostly because I feel that I have my own crap to deal with, which I don't perceive society to be helping me with in any way, and then when people of color bring up racism, it just feels like someone is trying to get me to be concerned with their problems when I am barely able to tend to my own.

This gets especially interesting in exchanges like.. where I as a white woman, am being confronted in some way about racism by a black man. A big part of me is like.. would you also like to discuss sexism while we are discussing racism? Because I am guessing that no, no you would not be interested in that. Or when I am having a horrendous time trying to find and afford adequate mental health treatment and dealing with stigma regarding mental illness, and I don't see any major fuss over media outlets constantly and only bringing up "mental illness" every time someone shoots up a school, but if someone says some low-key racist thing on the media, they are really gonna be in for it.

I'm not saying that this way of thinking is right, but I'm just being honest in that those are the sorts of thoughts and feelings that tend to secretly run through my head. It might possibly be related to being heavily parentified in emotionally abusive ways while I was growing up, not 100% sure, but I just know that I often already feel overwhelmed with my own struggles, and when I perceive that people are coming at me like "you should really care about this problem that I face" my gut reaction is essentially JESUS #### OFF.

Like there is no denying cultural racism and such in my eyes. I have witnessed it up close and personal. Like when I was homeless, I had a small group of other homeless people I would cluster with at night for safety in numbers. One of them was a younger black guy. One night the cops (all white) bust us in the park where we were trying to sleep, and the way they regarded me and the other white homeless people was waaaaay different from how they regarded the black guy. It wasn't until I said it crystal clear that "he's with me" and more or less vouched for him that the cops stopped acting so aggressive and like massive dicks towards him. That shit is messed up to say the least and there was no denying what was going on there.

But like when it comes up in discussions I just have this.. ugh, horrible narcissistic sort of gut feeling, like I described. Like I have almost no empathy left in me anymore to give to others outside of one-on-one, specific situations. But when it's like "we need to get rid of institutionalized racism" I feel like they might as well be telling me "we need to get rid of child poverty". Like yeah that would be damned great, good luck with that.