Racism

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Reading some of the threads lately (and historically) it seems that there are a fair number of people on VJ who subscribe to this opinion:

Is it just VJ that attracts these kind of people, or does this represent a wider opinion among Americans? More than that, what does it mean - I mean, do people really feel that blacks and other minorities receive more latitude when it comes to free speech at the expense of others? Or is it merely that people insist on focussing debates on extreme people and personalities?

Surely, if noone is prepared to discuss an issue involving issues of racism in any depth of detail and insists on sticking doggedly to preconceived ideas and partisan zealotry, then surely no reasonable discussion is possible.

[^_^ 5,021]

Is it just VJ that attracts these kind of people, or does this represent a wider opinion among Americans?

It's not uncommon for white Americans to look at attempts to remove/dismantle existing structures of white privilege and interpret them as anti-white bias.

[Peikko 1,575]

It's not uncommon for white Americans to look at attempts to remove/dismantle existing structures of white privilege and interpret them as anti-white bias.

It's so unfair, what has the rich, white male ever done to deserve this?

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

It's so unfair, what has the rich, white male ever done to deserve this?

Cop Rock, that's one.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

It's not uncommon for white Americans to look at attempts to remove/dismantle existing structures of white privilege and interpret them as anti-white bias.

Is it a "white" thing specifically or is it a class issue?

You don't have to look very far back to when the US was a radically different place than it is now (at least on the surface). Slavery might not be within living memory, but the legacy of black repression certainly was - in segregation.

Certainly there is racism within the black community, but I don't understand the anger in response to it. It's as though they don't want to be reminded that although American society is supposedly "post-racial" (thought I don't think people who say that really believe it) they are obsessed with tearing down any minority figure that makes even the slightest hint of a dodgy comment. I wonder if some of these people are simply not interested in their own country's historical legacy and are either unable or unwilling to recognise that on some level, they have benefitted from an unfair system.

Edited July 20, 2010 by Its a MADHOUSE

[^_^ 5,021]

... either unable or unwilling to recognise that on some level, they have benefitted from an unfair system.

The concept of 'white privilege' is by no means widely understood or accepted among white people.

[Peikko 1,575]

The concept of 'white privilege' is by no means widely understood or accepted among white people.

Ain't that the truth?

[^_^ 5,021]

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

The concept of 'white privilege' is by no means widely understood or accepted among white people.

But why?

Is it because a couple of generations have gone by and noone wants to be reminded of a time when the political system served to advance a white agenda at the expense of minority groups?

I suspect the root lies in this "individualism" stuff (i.e. "I work, I pay taxes, I am not complicit or otherwise responsible, either directly or by association for anything that goes on beyond the walls of my castle").

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

Does that mean you play into the white guilt scenario championed by some?

I see what my dad's family came from, fleeing war in the early years of the 20th century, settling in Texas and living out the American Dream. The grandkids, my generation, are to a person Anglophone by birth, and honky through and through (except for our lovely tans). But at the same time, my immigrant grandparents came at a different time, and under different circumstances than Hispanic immigrants (legal or not) of today. There was a great emphasis on education and bettering oneself, and the neighbourhoods in which my father and his peers lived in Texas were not segregated or economically repressed. I'm conscious that my story is very different from that of other Hispanics, not least because I was raised amongst a bunch of Irish Catholics.

Edited for clarity (though it's still #######).

Edited July 20, 2010 by elmcitymaven

[SMOKE 1,426]

It's not uncommon for white Americans to look at attempts to remove/dismantle existing structures of white privilege and interpret them as anti-white bias.

do you honestly believe that a poor white kid in america has any advantage in life over a poor black, hispanic, asian, or any other race poor kid?

if so, what is it?....& please don't give me that white privilege sh!t. poverty is color blind & poor people don't automatically get privileges because of their race.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Post containing an inappropriate racial slur removed along with post quoting same. Using a racial slur even to describe yourself is still not acceptable on VJ.

[^_^ 5,021]

do you honestly believe that a poor white kid in america has any advantage in life over a poor black, hispanic, asian, or any other race poor kid?

if so, what is it?....& please don't give me that white privilege sh!t. poverty is color blind & poor people don't automatically get privileges because of their race.

This conversation just ended before it started. Your mind is closed to the truth, so why bother?

Read up on it if you're curious.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

do you honestly believe that a poor white kid in america has any advantage in life over a poor black, hispanic, asian, or any other race poor kid?

if so, what is it?....& please don't give me that white privilege sh!t. poverty is color blind & poor people don't automatically get privileges because of their race.

You don't even have to talk about poverty - certainly there's more than enough of it to go around. But on balance of probability are you more or less likely to experience poverty as a white kid, or a black kid?

[SMOKE 1,426]

This conversation just ended before it started. Your mind is closed to the truth, so why bother?

Read up on it if you're curious.

no, your mind is made up. so you said it. list them.