Why is it hard for "white people" to acknowledge racism from other white people?

[gnomon]

Got your attention right?

This perennial question has been on my mind considering my co-workers and I tend to discuss socio-political issues. What is common outside the internet is, when white nationalists do things terrible towards people of color, and when we (we as people of color) draw attention to the issue of racism brought against us, thr comment automatically deflects "what about black on black crime?"

(Again there is no such thing as black on black crime, there is only crime, criminals of African-American origin do not attack other African-Americans based on race fyi).

Or as a reader of news articles and unfortunately a reader of yahoo articles, the comment section is filled with racism. I notice a lot of my fellow co-workers tend to ask stupid questions like "why do a lot of blacks complain about racism so much?"

I usually give off the sarcastic response stating that Jim Crow was only in the 1940's. I am 35, so the residual effects of racism are still there however I notice fellow white Americans don't want to discuss it in the sense of acknowledging the grievances of people of color.

Fast Forward to Trump's election

Charlottesville, and now recent the young African-American soldier who died and whose wife is speaking out, I am reading online and hearing some offline comments, about blaming Antifa and more recently online at least, the recently deceased soldiers wife.

I am curious as a 35 year old black man who has had to answer for what other blacks do, and who call out what other blacks do, why aren't white Americans doing the same? It seems like a pot calling the kettle black type situation.

You could have had something intelligent going until you said Trump's election.

That statement tells me you and your coworkers have paid any attention at all.

Go learn something. Truly. Seriously. It's far more than you could imagine based upon what you are offering up but unfortunately.......it's not just about African Americans. You might actually learn that white Americans marched along Martin Luther King, Jr. You might learn about many cultures.

You just might learn something other than listening to your coworkers and Yahoo comments.......for ****'s sake.

edit: Either way......I get where you are coming from. I'm a white privileged male who has been through the ringer of jail and treatment but watched others of a minority status not receive the same treatment even though I was of an equivalent economic status. But there is so much more going on and your post shows you have not really researched it. But I'm done. To be honest I feel like I wasted twelve years on this forum discussing this issue.

 

[Eliab ben Benjamin]

Looks in mirror, yep guess i am considered white, racist ?? umm perhaps, not that keen on the Arian race that ****tlegruber tried to promote whilst he had Semites in camps and ovens,
was also not that keen on the school bullies that made life hard for this nerdy, know it all scull cap wearing ... so perhaps i get a little negative against fellow whities .. and i find i frown on the indigenous
race for their belief they are not racist against whites... -> " we cant be racist b'cause we a minority "

 

[Stevicus]

Carlin was a comedian
his job as such.....to demonstrate a juxtaposition

and the quote you point at is not the topic you chose

try responding to the posts I made......all of them

I think what he was trying to point out is that a lot of people simply don't care. I think that cuts to the heart of what the OP is trying to say, that too many people simply don't care about the plight of others. That's what Carlin was getting at. He was talking about a group of people who have been spoiled all their lives, had everything handed to them, yet acting all self-righteous when it suits them: "Get a life," "No pain, no gain" (as if most of them know anything about pain).

 

[Thief]

I think what he was trying to point out is that a lot of people simply don't care. I think that cuts to the heart of what the OP is trying to say, that too many people simply don't care about the plight of others. That's what Carlin was getting at. He was talking about a group of people who have been spoiled all their lives, had everything handed to them, yet acting all self-righteous when it suits them: "Get a life," "No pain, no gain" (as if most of them know anything about pain).

well ok.....

as for me....I don't fit that line

as a toolmaker in a large plant I work with ALL KINDS of misfit
omg
and I don't mind one bit

I nod and wave to any and all

this thread is too generous with the 'white wash'
this is not a picket fence discussion
I am not on one side of ANY fence

 

[Revoltingest]

well ok.....

as for me....I don't fit that line

as a toolmaker in a large plant I work with ALL KINDS of misfit
omg
and I don't mind one bit

I nod and wave to any and all

this thread is too generous with the 'white wash'
this is not a picket fence discussion
I am not on one side of ANY fence

Here's what all the white bashing leads to....
NYPD: Man Makes Anti-White Remark, Throws Liquid At 13-Year-Old Girl's Face In Queens

And this one is a real hoot (the racism of math)....
White privilege bolstered by teaching math, university professor says

Focus upon problem solving....not blaming races.

 

[Thief]

Here's what all the white bashing leads to....
NYPD: Man Makes Anti-White Remark, Throws Liquid At 13-Year-Old Girl's Face In Queens

Focus upon problem solving....not blaming races.

my son had a friend who would spend some time in the east end of town

that guy got his face blown off with a shot gun

was it racial?........don't know for sure

but the color scheme was there
and even though Thief is Ninja!
I don't wander in that direction......the east end has my little town listed (a list of one hundred)
right next to Chicago for crime problems!

 

[Revoltingest]

my son had a friend who would spend some time in the east end of town

that guy got his face blown off with a shot gun

was it racial?........don't know for sure

but the color scheme was there
and even though Thief is Ninja!
I don't wander in that direction......the east end has my little town listed (a list of one hundred)
right next to Chicago for crime problems!

Ninjas avoid doing needlessly dangerous things, eh.

 

[Stevicus]

well ok.....

as for me....I don't fit that line

as a toolmaker in a large plant I work with ALL KINDS of misfit
omg
and I don't mind one bit

I nod and wave to any and all

this thread is too generous with the 'white wash'
this is not a picket fence discussion
I am not on one side of ANY fence

I understand. I also think it's easy (at least for me) to understand that most people don't react well to bad treatment. It's human nature to not want to be treated like dirt, and for someone to be told that their pain is invalid or not so bad, then that's almost like adding salt to the wound. It's not necessarily about white people or black people, but just people.

I think that's what Carlin was getting at - some people are just a--holes. Some people are just malicious and want to make others feel like crap. When this phenomenon comes up in political discussions, that's when people pick sides and put up the "fence" you're talking about.

 

[Epic Beard Man]

Carlin was a comedian
his job as such.....to demonstrate a juxtaposition

and the quote you point at is not the topic you chose

try responding to the posts I made......all of them

This discussion thread is about other people in the Caucasian demographic who does not subscribe to the tenants of racism but observe other whites that do and say nothing.

The above comment was in reference to your post in #93

well if they would pull up their pants
and stop walking as if one of their shoes is missing a heel.......

Sagging pants ought to have no effect how one treats you. Similarly if you look feminine as a man, does not warrant me mistreating you on the outward appearence. Even with a suit and tie a person of color is still nevatively labeled so in relation to racial perception there is no correlation between dress and race.

your op presents a discussion......an argument
you and your coworkers discuss the matter
and now you have brought the matter ....here

I've been blind.....seven days

and I have an above average iq

I just wear sunglasses because I like to

My co-workers and I discuss a lot of things however my white counterparts tend to bring up race a lot (some even jokingly mock latinos and asian patients on how they stereotypically speak) especially in recent events. I am severely fearful of discussing racism with some whites considering how opinionated I am (because I live it). For example, we (my co-workers and I) would talk about my view on Trump. I will reply to the like of "well Trump is an idiot and sexist and racist. He settled out of court for housing discrimination practices, his dad was associated with the KKK which I believe has an effect on Trump and his relation to minorities."

Somehow that conversation will go from discussing Trump to me explaining so called "black-on-black" crime as if discussing the racism in Trump or racism period makes them feel uncomfortable. This is the blindness, the ones who refuse to be cognizant that there are members from within their own demographic who exercise their privilege use systemic racism to oppress other people of color. I think whites in academia to a larger extent get it because we as students are exposed to cultural pluralism.

As far as your IQ I highly doubt that and even it was true it has no bearing on whether you can read and articulate complex points of view.

 

[Stevicus]

Here's what all the white bashing leads to....
NYPD: Man Makes Anti-White Remark, Throws Liquid At 13-Year-Old Girl's Face In Queens

And this one is a real hoot (the racism of math)....
White privilege bolstered by teaching math, university professor says

Focus upon problem solving....not blaming races.

I agree, although a large part of the problem is that the whole "racial" argument has been structured and organized in such a way that there really can't be any other result. I think it goes back to what I said earlier in that this country was never completely honest on how it dealt with the issues of racial injustice in the past.

 

[Epic Beard Man]

Apparently it's not there or what is there is different than what I expected to see.

Most racial crime is cause by people unaffiliated with a specific white nationalist group. This idea of systemic racism is vague and there is no specific target for this accusation.

Without being able to specifically identity the actual cause of the problem you can't come up with a workable solution.

These individual who commit these terrible crimes, they are caught and dealt with. What else do you want?

It's like you're experiencing a terrible in you back and rightly are complaining about it. However until you identify the knife stuck in your back, you don't have a solution for fixing the problem.

So we need to identify the specific source of this racism. Until that happens, there's nothing anybody is going to be able to do about it.

You purported that racial crimes that happen are done by those that are unaffiliated correct? Then that is something you have to show me since I may overlook that. With regards to systemic racism I posted a pdf link which Super Universe failed to read. The problem is if I present research and it's a long read, people wont read it.

 

[Epic Beard Man]

You could have had something intelligent going until you said Trump's election.

That statement tells me you and your coworkers have paid any attention at all.

Go learn something. Truly. Seriously. It's far more than you could imagine based upon what you are offering up but unfortunately.......it's not just about African Americans. You might actually learn that white Americans marched along Martin Luther King, Jr. You might learn about many cultures.

You just might learn something other than listening to your coworkers and Yahoo comments.......for ****'s sake.

edit: Either way......I get where you are coming from. I'm a white privileged male who has been through the ringer of jail and treatment but watched others of a minority status not receive the same treatment even though I was of an equivalent economic status. But there is so much more going on and your post shows you have not really researched it. But I'm done. To be honest I feel like I wasted twelve years on this forum discussing this issue.

Whatever you say.

 

[Epic Beard Man]

[QUO s black fafsdfsdfsdfdfdf

I see plenty of acknowledgement by white folk (including older ones).
Perhaps you just want to see more than there is?

As for Antifa....those violent jerks are just a flash in the pan...acting out
of anger, with no useful function in the world. They make the Tea Party
look downright angelic.

You see plenty? Where? Aside from BLM which is multiethnic I, from my vantage point only see those in academia.

 

[Epic Beard Man]

Demeaning racial comments by anyone, regardless of skin color, are totally unacceptable and totally uncalled for.

I don't put up with it. I don't have very many co-workers that do it but whenever I hear one do it I let them have it, regardless of what color they are and regardless of what color they are demeaning.

No one in my family does it. None of my friends do it, at least not around me.

In my church we have a Hispanic priest, a white priest and a black priest comes here from Kenya every other summer. They're all awesome. The black priest just got promoted to Monsignor and I can't wait to congratulate him next summer. We pay for him to come here, we pay for anything he needs because he's awesome and we love Him. He teaches us Swahili and Swahili customs.

So your point is what exactly? You have a multiethnic church? Great! But racism is still an issue. Individual accounts does not mean it is collectively true although that is great.

 

[DavidFirth]

So your point is what exactly? You have a multiethnic church? Great! But racism is still an issue. Individual accounts does not mean it is collectively true although that is great.

Sure it's an issue. It shouldn't be, though. To hate or prefer a person based solely on skin color is irrational and stupid.

 

[Epic Beard Man]

Your arguments and statements are all over the place. I just respond to the part of your quote I show in my reply.

Can you succinctly tell me what we are supposed to be discussing exactly?

I am all over the place because I am discussing with like 4 other people.

We are discussing issues concerning why some whites don't acknowledge the racism of other whites. Cue the word "some." The reason why I presented this is because when we discuss white supremacy, the conversation tends to talk about black on black crime. My issue is what is the problem discussing white supremacy why does the conversation shift to talking about issues with white supremacy and white nationalism to what blacks do.

It appears in discussing this some whites do not want to acknowledge and discuss the problem hence my comment on deflection.

 

[Epic Beard Man]

Sure it's an issue. It shouldn't be, though. To hate or prefer a person based solely on skin color is irrational and stupid.

I concur. But millions of Americans are still blinded unfortunately.

 

[DavidFirth]

I concur. But millions of Americans are still blinded unfortunately.

Yes, they are. If we put blindfolds on everybody skin color discrimination would go away.

 

[Revoltingest]

You see plenty? Where? Aside from BLM which is multiethnic I, from my vantage point only see those in academia.

Where?
All over the place, including here.

Want some fun?
Search youtube for "hillary white people".
She's all over our "privilege" & racism.

The least effective thing anyone can do to combat racism is to sound like Hillary.

 

[Thief]

This discussion thread is about other people in the Caucasian demographic who does not subscribe to the tenants of racism but observe other whites that do and say nothing.

The above comment was in reference to your post in #93



Sagging pants ought to have no effect how one treats you. Similarly if you look feminine as a man, does not warrant me mistreating you on the outward appearence. Even with a suit and tie a person of color is still nevatively labeled so in relation to racial perception there is no correlation between dress and race.



My co-workers and I discuss a lot of things however my white counterparts tend to bring up race a lot (some even jokingly mock latinos and asian patients on how they stereotypically speak) especially in recent events. I am severely fearful of discussing racism with some whites considering how opinionated I am (because I live it). For example, we (my co-workers and I) would talk about my view on Trump. I will reply to the like of "well Trump is an idiot and sexist and racist. He settled out of court for housing discrimination practices, his dad was associated with the KKK which I believe has an effect on Trump and his relation to minorities."

Somehow that conversation will go from discussing Trump to me explaining so called "black-on-black" crime as if discussing the racism in Trump or racism period makes them feel uncomfortable. This is the blindness, the ones who refuse to be cognizant that there are members from within their own demographic who exercise their privilege use systemic racism to oppress other people of color. I think whites in academia to a larger extent get it because we as students are exposed to cultural pluralism.

As far as your IQ I highly doubt that and even it was true it has no bearing on whether you can read and articulate complex points of view.

you were doing so well.....and then you dropped the ball

if you want an intelligent conversation......
check your motivations and reservations

and yeah......people that can't wear their pants.....like pants.....
omg
but that doesn't make me a racist...does it?

how about fashion critic?

and you can have your politics....all you want
if you keep it to politics

I voted for Obama
I voted for Trump

won't vote for you