>>>Are you white?
>>Yes I am white
>
>I'm glad you know that you
>are. Otherwise, we would have
>had some serious problems.
>
>>>Because I think you are white.
>>>You sound white. And even,
>>>that was a very white
>>>response.
>>Meaning my response to what racism
>>is? Ive heard blacks
>>use this too, are you
>>saying then they have been
>>assimilated?
>
>Read what I have said elsewhere
>(and probably in this topic)
>-- in America, people confuse
>racism, bigotry, and prejudice and
>we are not exempt from
>this. However, without the power
>analysis, you have either race
>prejudice or bigotry -- not
>racism. People of color can
>have prejudice, can be bigotted,
>but they cannot, I repeat,
>cannot be racist.
>Your opinion, we have different feelings on what racism is in lots of aspects, I respect your opinion, and hope you can respect min.
>>>What I mean is this, you
>>>don't have to think about
>>>the power piece because it
>>>is part of your privilege
>>>as a white person.
>>Yes, I do realize that there
>>is a definate advantage of
>>being white, I do realize
>>that when driving I am
>>not going to be glared
>>at by cops, in stores
>>I know I will not
>>be followed. Its like
>>a man riding is bike
>>up a hill, being white,
>>Ive got the wind pushing
>>up my back helping up.
>> If I were black,
>> that wind would be
>>at my front.
>
>And this is a good beginning,
>but you are speaking metaphorically,
>not about realities.
Actually, I have seen this as a reality before. Being in stores with black friends, and being followed by 3 different employees in manner of 5 minutes, go in the store by myself, nothing like that happened. I've also seen heads bug out before when walking into a restaurant in a group of blacks(3) and whites (2), or at my friends graduation when about 4 white kids meet 4 blacks and show nothing but love(fellow crew members)
It isn't
>simply an "advantage" to be
>white, it is a privilege.
>To say that it is
>an advantage is to say
>that, for some reason, you
>deserve this extra edge. But
>it isn't an advantage, is
>it? You aren't better than
>other white people or people
>of color, are you? It
>is a privilege, something you
>expect and you wouldn't know
>what to do without it.
No, its not an advantage(excuse my term) it is a privilage, I dont pick words as carefully as I should sometimes. No, Im not better than others, I dont know why you are asking this question to begin with. And what exactly do you mean I wouldnt know what to do without it? my "whiteness"?
>
>> You
>>>don't have to think, see,
>>>hear, or feel anything YOU
>>>don't want to. It isn't
>>>going to change or shift
>>>your life in any way,
>>>sense, form, or idea.
>>Well, I dont have to, but
>>I choose to see these
>>things going on in the
>>world, and I feel they
>>should be changed.
>
>Ah, but your thinking isn't changed.
How?
>You took a step, but
>it is time to take
>another. You are still choosing
>to see what you want
>to see. And that's ok.
>Maybe the totality of it,
>and how you fit into
>it, would be too much
>for you to withstand at
>this point in your journey
>of recovering... But we are
>not really talking about "the
>world" or at least I
>am not.
Sorry not really what I meant (america)
I don't know
>about the world. I know
>about America. And assuming that
>you are an American, you
>do, too, so let's stop
>universalizing and talk about America.
>Home. Where you eat, shit,
>fuck, and sleep.
>
>> Yes,
>>it does shift my life,
>>b/c it pisses me off
>>to see anyone treated this
>>way.
>
>It pisses you off. But it
>doesn't take bread from your
>table.
True.
How often do you
>use that unearned privilege of
>yours to aid people of
>color?
Meaning why do I not intervene when I see these things going on?
*leans head to the
>side* You know, you aren't
>the first white person to
>stick his head outside of
>the European matrix...
Thanks for stating the obvious
and I
>tend to think we know
>what they look like and
>they tend to know that
>they could do more and
>we hold them accountable because
>it is easy to grow
>comfortable with your unearned privilege.
>
>
>> Or the fact
>>that I have an advantage
>>to being white.
>>Yes, there are white folk
>>who dont like having this
>>advantage.
>
>But there are more white folk
>who know that they have
>this privilege and feel guilty
>about it and yet do
>NOTHING. White guilt ain't gone
>help people like me and
>your Black friends.
True. there are things I need to better in my life-Im at that point where Im really starting to look at myself and see what I can do that I know to be right, and try to make things right b/w black/whites/asians/hispanics, which was one of the very reason why I love hip-hop so much and the culture, b/c I see it truly as a way to break barries b/w races and unite us and make things better. I go to a punk show, and I see whites, they stand for many of the same things I do, and what Ive been saying, but like myself arent reaching out the way they sould be doing. When Ive thrown hip-hop shows, people of types show up, we got rich kids, black kids, white kids, asian kids. You get my point (I hope) but Im rambling... again
>>>Being white means that you want
>>>us (read: people of color)
>>>to see you as being
>>>an individual. But if you
>>>are so individual, why do
>>>you have this privilege?
>>Did I ask for this privilege?
>>No, it just happened that
>>way.
>
>Honey, it didn't "just happen" that
>way.
I know it didnt just happen that way. Like I said maybe I can choose words and what not in a better way. More like it ended up to be like that.
Your privilege as a
>white person was built on
>the backs of my ancestors
>and was then perpetuated by
>people like you... and unlike
>you. White people who brought
>into it and furthered it.
>White people who felt guilty,
>but did not allow their
>guilt to do anything other
>than make them feel bad.
>White people who started to
>look into racism and found
>their mirrored image staring back
>at them. Look at your
>history. Look at yourself. Listen
>to what people of color
>have to say. You didn't
>"just happen" to have unearned
>privilege. It was passed down
>to you like a family
>heirloom. And all of you
>got it. Regardless of whether
>you were a woman, gay,
>really irish or italian or
>jewish, because you can become
>white. It is a legacy,
>this unearned privilege.
>
>>And
>>>why is this privilege spread
>>>to other people who look
>>>like you (or who became
>>>white) collectively?
>> b/c we look like the
>>ones who were/are the oppressers.
>
>No. Because they walked into this
>country being whoever they were.
>And then they got a
>taste of America. They understood
>what it was like to
>be an "other" and first
>chance they got, because, after
>all, their skin _was_ the
>right color, they assimulated into
>"white". They joined the dominant
>culture, the oppressors. And now,
>they are the oppressors themselves.
>
>
>Peace,
>
>Q
>
>
>^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^*********^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
>"americans are gross!" -utamaroho
>
>Uplifting thoughts:
>
>"We are the end result of
>our ancestors prayers as they
>died. We you are the
>sum total of their answered
>prayers."
>
>"I am because we are; we
>are because I am."
>
>"falling in love with somebody's soul...their
>essence their personality their walk
>their talk the way they
>speak and smile...no matter what
>the physical outer body is..male
>or female...is a temptation i
>hope i am never foolish
>enough to resist." - Hot
>Damali