Baltimore (AKA, civil unrest continues in USA)

[formerly33]

 

I don't fault him for realizing that tendency exists.

 

What I do fault him for is being brazen about it and making zero effort to overcome what is an obviously biased view of race.

 

We're all racists to an extent. I found that after not having been around black people for many months while living in Michigan, I became slightly on-edge when immersed into a predominantly black neighborhood again. Upon realizing this had happened to me, I became extremely embarrassed and started actively working on changing my perception of the world around me. I still have flaws based around race. As I uncover them, I work to stop my bad behavior and change how I think about things. It's a never-ending process. As old bad traits fade away, new ones replace them and the cycle continues.

 

And that's why I'm no longer friends with that person. We all have flaws but I have no time for someone who is so disinterested in realizing those flaws and overcoming them. Doubly so for a person whose job has such an impact on the daily lives of people of color. I find it disgusting, really.

I understand your point. I used to be awkward and embarrassed around colored people, afraid that I'd do/say the wrong thing, but I didn't really realize it until I got into baseball and noticed that I could finally look at/talk to colored people without thinking about the fact that they were colored. The only thing I would notice was whether they were male or female. Maybe I should stop that, too.  But I wouldn't call that racist. I was even proud of Obama, democrat as he is. I was just awkward.

 

But then again, I have struggled with my feelings towards blacks recently. I have to remind myself not to get mad at blacks when I'm listening to others complain about "The blacks this" and "The blacks that." And then I get angry with myself because why would I ever stereotype a group of people? Especially a race. It's one thing to stereotype NY Jets fans. Though I learned in the past year not to stereotype Packers fans, and that falls into the same category. You learn something new every day.

 

But I'm getting off of here now. I'm not changing my views, and obviously you aren't. We'll just have to agree to disagree.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Please use "black", not "colored". I haven't heard a black person refer to themselves as colored in my lifetime.

 

Really, I'm not trying to harass you or make you feel bad about it, just trying to point out that it's pretty insulting to some black people to refer to them as colored.

 

And there's nothing wrong with admitting that you recognize race. It's impossible not to acknowledge someone's race unless you're blind. What's important is that you don't act or treat them differently because of it. My black friends see me as white and I see them as black. That's just how it is because none of us are blind and we all see the color of each others' skin.

[Shane Wahl]

This is worth the read:

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/good-men-project/why-its-so-hard-to-talk-to-white-people-about-racism_b_7183710.html

 

 

[Shane Wahl]

In philosopher speak, riots are usually a necessary condition but never a sufficient one in bringing about radical change when radical change is needed.

[Brock Beauchamp]

Great article, Shane. It voices many of the ideas that have been bouncing around in my head for years in a much more eloquent manner than I can formulate. This part is particularly note-worthy IMO:

 

Most whites live, grow, play, learn, love, work and die primarily in social and geographic racial segregation. Yet, our society does not teach us to see this as a loss. Pause for a moment and consider the magnitude of this message: We lose nothing of value by having no cross-racial relationships. In fact, the whiter our schools and neighborhoods are, the more likely they are to be seen as "good." The implicit message is that there is no inherent value in the presence or perspectives of people of Color. This is an example of the relentless messages of white superiority that circulate all around us, shaping our identities and worldviews.

 

As I've mentioned to Carole before, I remember the first time I was in a room and I was the only white person. I was really uncomfortable and couldn't pin down why. Later, a flood of realizations came to me, the greatest of which was "society has trained me to be scared of these people for no good reason and in my wordview, the default person is white, everyone else is slightly alien to me". It was a really disturbing realization and it permanently altered how I think about race.

 

As I mentioned earlier, we're all racists to an extent. It has been ingrained into white Americans on such a deep level that it's impossible to root it out completely.

[Mike Sixel]

In philosopher speak, riots are usually a necessary condition but never a sufficient one in bringing about radical change when radical change is needed.

Agreed. And I would say inevitable too. And often does not work, because it is not sufficient.

[Shane Wahl]

 

Great article, Shane. It voices many of the ideas that have been bouncing around in my head for years in a much more eloquent manner than I can formulate. This part is particularly note-worthy IMO:

 

 

As I've mentioned to Carole before, I remember the first time I was in a room and I was the only white person. I was really uncomfortable and couldn't pin down why. Later, a flood of realizations came to me, the greatest of which was "society has trained me to be scared of these people for no good reason and in my wordview, the default person is white, everyone else is slightly alien to me". It was a really disturbing realization and it permanently altered how I think about race.

 

As I mentioned earlier, we're all racists to an extent. It has been ingrained into white Americans on such a deep level that it's impossible to root it out completely.

 

Yeah, that article should be mandatory reading for everyone in this country. It was pretty thorough and laid it all out pretty clearly. 

 

I have written and presented a paper ridiculing the notion of tolerance as a liberal value that is actually somewhat disastrous. Taken for its definition it means that we are to "tolerate" others. I argue that this is just a "play nice" attitude that buries a lot of other things that remain hidden from public discourse. And it is totally different than accepting and embracing diversity for the value that different people and cultures offer to actually improve oneself. 

I have an example of that too. When I came to Purdue as a grad student, I was coming to West Lafayette without ever setting foot there before (I was poor, lived in Bemidji, 21, etc. and didn't think about doing it differently), so I did the easiest thing instead of apt. hunting--I moved into the grad dorms (for one year only, dear god). Now, it turns out that dorms 500 or so occupants where about 52% white, 35% East Asian, 10% Indian, and a smattering making up "other." But I swear I thought--just with the number of Asian people--that I was in a small minority of white people. This situation was exacerbated by language barriers that probably further distorted my perceptions. I laugh at it now, especially given how wrong I was about the population breakdown, but I was very uncomfortable in that situation. And I still use that example for people in my classes today.
 

[Shane Wahl]

 

Agreed. And I would say inevitable too. And often does not work, because it is not sufficient.

 

If one looked me up, one would see that I have co-edited one book on anarchism, and another book entitled Revolutionary Hope, so I guess I can be clear about my suspicion of "leaders" organizing movements. Occupy still has some effect without leaders, even while facing pressure to "come up with legislation" and to organize into an actual political party (!). For every MLK Jr., there are dozens of damn Bolsheviks.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

Now, it turns out that dorms 500 or so occupants where about 52% white, 35% East Asian, 10% Indian, and a smattering making up "other." But I swear I thought--just with the number of Asian people--that I was in a small minority of white people. This situation was exacerbated by language barriers that probably further distorted my perceptions.

Hah, I had a similar experience when I moved to San Diego as a teenager. I walked into high school and went "OMG, this entire school is Mexican!"

 

The school was about one-third Hispanic. I felt like a minority, even though slightly over 50% of the school was white.

[Willihammer]

This is worth the read:

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/good-men-project/why-its-so-hard-to-talk-to-white-people-about-racism_b_7183710.html

That is well written and gives a lot to chew on. One thing I think people struggle with is the point about being presented with information about other racial groups. Particularly when that information is overwhelmingly negative. On one extreme are whites who seem to process that information without empathy or considering that their perspective is limited. On the other extreme are people who seem unable or unwilling to confront the negative information and even seem to take the blame for it. IMO neither viewpoint is very helpful.

[Craig Arko]

Completely unrelated, except you gotta take small human rights victories when and where you can.

 

http://mashable.com/2015/05/05/kiss-cam-gay-couple/