the DENIAL of racism

the denial of white privilege

the total fucking misunderstanding of what white privilege is and what it is not.

the disbelief in inequality

the denial that there are realities outside of the white reality in the country

the belief that black people are holding a grudge and everything would be alright if we would just stop, you know, seeing racism in everything.

the belief that black people are making up racism

the belief that it's black people who don't want to move past racism because we keep bringing up that old shit

the belief that slavery happened a long time ago so, you know...whats the deal with that?

the belief that the civil rights movement happened a long time ago, so you know..whats the deal with that?

the belief that Michael Brown's story, whoops, Alton Sterling's story, whoops,...just stop, you know, doing stuff that makes the cops shoot you.

the belief that only criminals get in trouble with police

the belief that calling the police for minor infractions is always an appropriate response

the belief that affirmative action is really about hiring a less skilled, less qualified person and that race is the only driving factor when hiring.




Just, stop pissing on my head and telling me it's rain.

My focus has moved on to building power, resources and infrastructure because I'm convinced the only way we're gonna be whole in this country is to go and make that shit happen for ourselves.

The only time I get angry is when I allow myself to slip a bit and think folks have some semblance of understanding and empathy and then they say some shit like "Well, Zimmerman was defending his life."

Because 90% of white people will never get over the idea that "racist" describes something systemic and isn't just an insult. It's possible to get through, but the majority of THAT work needs to be done by other white people, most of whom won't/can't.

in that a man's brain will just scramble and focus on the wrong shit when a woman is making a point regarding bad behavior in a relationship

once you drop the R word in conversations they get completely confused

I think it's feelings of guilt that trip up constructive talks

>I think it's feelings of guilt that trip up constructive
>talks

And it even happens in white on white conversations about race. My wife and I were patiently explaining this to my mother in law and she immediately tried to turn it around to a "so now you think little white kids with blond hair/blue eyes are evil" (which was at least 3 giant logic leaps form anything my wife said to her) and completely derailed everything. And that's with someone I would describe as normally pretty empathetic.

But I also know that it would have only gone much worse had we been any other color.

it's a fear/threat response...it's the response people have before they even get to guilt, to protect themselves from those feelings.

I guess I was thinking about guilt derailing conversations, but the fear/threat is why they can't usually start in the first place. Especially if the person they're listening to isn't white.

not to discount the very real response that white people have to sharing a space with someone of a different shade that disagrees,

but i also think the ideas themselves elicit a threat response

racism is strong.

I'm white and live in Boston. So in my circle I've got very few outward, blatant racists/Trump supporter types ... what I run into instead is the faux-liberal types who will admit that racism exists and is prevalent ...... but with their next breath wil pontificate about how it's not "here" or inherent in *them*, no no no. Not in the north ! It's over there. It's in the south. It's just the hicks, the bible belt. *Those* are the real racists. *They're* cool, *they* don't see color.

Not only is that wrong on its face, being that Boston has its own history (and present) with racism, and remains one of the more segregated cities in the country. It's also wrong in that we are all complicit in one way or another, and have been. So acknowledging it, then deflecting it like it's only "them over there" and not you and me, and refusing to be an advocate for change does no good and really just continues the cycle.

So to your point below, I spend a lot of time having to combat the inevitable defensiveness that comes from some folks in my circle when discussing the issue of systemic racism, by explaining that racism is sort of inherent in all of us due to white privilege and that unless we are working to actively combat it in one way or another, or many ways, then we are complicit no matter how nice you are to the one black dude you work with, or whatever. So many people refuse to look in the mirror, and the cycle just continues and continues.


>Because 90% of white people will never get over the idea that
>"racist" describes something systemic and isn't just an
>insult. It's possible to get through, but the majority of THAT
>work needs to be done by other white people, most of whom
>won't/can't.

Much needed I'll say. It can be hard to get the straight ish from white folks on racism. I find a lot of white people count themselves as not racists because they don't use the N word freely. However there's a lot more systemic issues that could in all actuality paint them as such.

>Much needed I'll say. It can be hard to get the straight ish
>from white folks on racism. I find a lot of white people count
>themselves as not racists because they don't use the N word
>freely. However there's a lot more systemic issues that could
>in all actuality paint them as such.

I remember watching Kings of Comedy back in high school right when it came out. And DL Hughley's bit always stuck with me, when he was talking about (paraphrasing) "white people love to say shit like 'what ?! I'm not racist ! I've had three black people over my house !' .... mannn, if you know exactly how many black people you've had over your house you racist as fuck. What are you out there counting '1,2,3 THAT'S ENOUGH, SHIT ! THIS IS NOT HARLEM!"

It was funny as hell but I also remember thinking to myself, fuck, that's so damn true. Ha. And not a damn thing's changed, sadly.

Anyway I find it exhausting to try and educate the afore-mentioned faux-liberals as a straight white dude, so I can only imagine how POC and other minority/oppressed groups and communities must feel dealing with these half-assed progressives, in *addition* to the regular old-fashioned outward American racism/bigotry. It's crazy because I know so many of these people have (or at least pretend/think they have) the right intentions but just outright refuse to be at ALL self-critical or even critical of their local communities to try and help improve things. And like I said it seems so fucking obvious to me, all the evidence is laid out in front of us, there are multiple examples of it happening *daily*, (in addition to America's reprehensible history with race) and the majority of people *still* somehow deny that it's there. Blows my mind.

>I remember watching Kings of Comedy back in high school right
>when it came out. And DL Hughley's bit always stuck with me,
>when he was talking about (paraphrasing) "white people love to
>say shit like 'what ?! I'm not racist ! I've had three black
>people over my house !' .... mannn, if you know exactly how
>many black people you've had over your house you racist as
>fuck. What are you out there counting '1,2,3 THAT'S ENOUGH,
>SHIT ! THIS IS NOT HARLEM!"
>
>It was funny as hell but I also remember thinking to myself,
>fuck, that's so damn true. Ha. And not a damn thing's changed,
>sadly.

Because at the time I worked with a dude who literally did that. Would tell people exactly how many black people (Asian/Latino too) had been in his house and would update people (who did not ask him for this) when that number would change. He also had a big coke problem.

>Because at the time I worked with a dude who literally did
>that. Would tell people exactly how many black people
>(Asian/Latino too) had been in his house and would update
>people (who did not ask him for this) when that number would
>change. He also had a big coke problem.

... and points to the roots of the exact passive mindstate we're discussing right now. Poor and middle class whites inexplicably seeing more of themselves in the rich landowners than they do in their fellow poor and middle class minorities, and as a result aligning themselves with the very people oppressing them despite all the indisputable evidence that they're being fucked too, flying directly in their faces multiple times per day for centuries. It's so disheartening how strategically these seeds were planted by the people in power.

https://medium.com/@timjwise/whiteness-is-the-longest-con-6c424b4c91d5

really sits back and says 'Wow....this is really a hard concept for white people to grasp; centuries upon centuries of taking shit from people'


my wheat side

really thinks white people are inherently unfixable; what on G-d's green earth makes you think ANY of this shit was EVER cool. If blk ppl have this 'athletic gene' bullshit....then yt ppl have an empty space where most people have a conscience.

for getting upset over their denial

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvzwmoZaNHQ

hmmmmm

It’s usually the ones whom don’t have any interactions with black folks.

especially the ones with older kids

is how they can have this dual-mindedness about the narrative and the history.

parents having their kids read about emmett till and the autobiography of malcolm x, and i'm not even sure how they'll react when i bring up trayvon.

people wanting their kids to see the example of john lewis in his 20s and but won't fuck with john lewis in his 70s

but think kaepernick should choose a more appropriate method of protest.

edit: and i doubt they remember anything he did or said in his last 3 decades other than parkinson's, olympics, reagan/bush photo ops.

as a direct response to the lack of love he got for shitting on the Eagles players.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=gLYTObRhcSY

And they know all of one quote from MLK

https://www.theroot.com/go-back-to-your-own-country-elderly-mexican-man-beaten-1827442698

Updated Wednesday, July 11 at 10:49 a.m. EDT: The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department has arrested a black woman who allegedly beat a 92-year-old Mexican man for bumping into her daughter.

The Los Angeles Times reports Laquisha Jones, 30, was charged on Tuesday with assault with a deadly weapon for beating Rodolfo Rodriguez with a cement block. The attack, which took place July 4 as Rodriguez took his regular walk around his Los Angeles neighborhood, was sparked because Rodriguez accidentally bumped into Jones’ toddler, according to a witness.

After allegedly being shoved and beaten on the ground by Jones, four more men attacked Rodriguez while he was down, witnesses say.

The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department say they have no motive yet for the attack, and are still investigating whether others were involved. Jones’ bail has been set for $200,000.

Earlier:

The evening of July 4, Rodolfo Rodriguez did what he does on most evenings: take a stroll around his neighborhood. Instead, after allegedly bumping into a small child on his walk, the 92-year-old Mexican man was beaten with a brick and jumped by a group of attackers, all while being told to “go back to own country.”

As KTLA reports, Rodriguez was on his regular 8 p.m. walk around his Los Angeles neighborhood when he bumped into a toddler while trying to pass her on the sidewalk, according to Rodriguez’s family.

In response, police say, the child’s mother shoved Rodriguez to the ground and began beating him with a brick.

KCBS spoke to a witness who stopped to call the police and recorded the beating. According to her, four more men joined the toddler’s mother in beating Rodriguez, kicking him him and breaking his ribs.

“When I the picture, she said, ‘Oh, he tried to touch my girl,’” said the witness. “I saw everything. This a lie.”

According to the passerby, as Rodriguez was being beaten, the mother shouted “Go back to your country, why are you here?” at the elderly man.

Rodriguez is a legal U.S. citizen. However, he doesn’t speak English, the Sacramento Bee writes, so he still has no idea why he was attacked.

A GoFundMe account has been started to cover Rodriguez’s $15,000 in medical costs, which include broken ribs, a broken cheekbones, and bruising throughout his body. As of Monday morning, the drive has raised nearlty $30,000.

The Los Angeles Sheriff’s department says it’s reviewing video of the incident and are looking for five suspects in connection with Rodriguez’s beating.

https://heavyeditorial.files.wordpress.com/2018/07/pjimage29.jpg?quality=65&strip=all&w=780

Something like this was bound to happen in her timeline, sooner or later.


Edit: Before y'all say I'm being a dick, I grabbed this photo from "heavy.com." That's why it says that, lol.