I really hope you only mean that in wherever-you're-from context on a macro level, otherwise that's a pretty pathetic post.
White people can't experience racism?
- Thread starter Choke on the Magic
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I really hope you only mean that in wherever-you're-from context on a macro level, otherwise that's a pretty pathetic post.
Shikamaru Ninja
任天å ã® å¿è
Of course they can. Remember Eminem? Remember Eminem? On a more serious answer, of course they can.
I see what you're saying, but I don't think a huge percentage of people see the word 'tolerance' in this context as a begrudging tolerance, ya know?
That whites do experience racism.Sorry, but what part?
Your dodging my comment as well. I keep asking what other form of racism towards whites in America is there that can be taken seriously by everyone. Because I can't think of any. Obviously middle eastern, black, Hispanics, etc experience some serious racism in america, but I have never seen any towards whites that people would even give a shit about.
Well, the quotes in the OP tells me a different story!
Might have been posts that weren't very well thought-out though...
Tinkleberry
Banned
if youre a white kid who's a major minority in the ghetto, i feel for you... otherwise, tough shit.
Yup, racism isn't going away anytime soon.
This whole 'racism isn't a big deal in some cases' attitude gets us NOWHERE and too many people feel this way.
I'm literally shaking my head in dismay right now.
teruterubozu
Member
There's definitely some discrimination against whites in Hawaii. Being "haole" has its disadvantages there.
grap3fruitman
Banned
I'm white and I was bullied and beat up for it growing up.
Tinkleberry
Banned
racism will NEVER go away. It's a way for weak people to cope with their shortcomings.
Shamrock7r
Member
This kind of sums it up for me. Still, racism against white people should be taken just as seriously when it does occur.
stufte
Member
You sound like those cackling women on that talk show lol'ing about a man getting his penis cut off and shoved into the garbage disposal. They thought it was funny because it happened to a man. You think racism towards whites isn't something people should give a shit about. Just because it happens less doesn't mean it shouldn't be taken seriously.
No man, you're missing my point by miles.
Racism OF ANY KIND should be seen as a problem.
Prejudice OF ANY KIND, more to the point, should be seen as a problem.
What you're saying is basically that racism is socially acceptable so long as it doesn't get too bad. It completely avoids the root issue that causes racism in the first place and it solves nothing in terms of our prevalent attitude towards people that are different than us.
PastorOfMuppets
Banned
If we're going to have an honest discussion about this, we also have to stop pretending that there is an equivalence between what white people experience and black people (or others experience). The other minorities know this between themselves.
For instance, if Trayvon Martin was a Chinese kid named Richard Li, he'd still be alive. George Zimmerman wouldn't have followed an Asian kid around in a neighbourhood, he'd probably think he was an honour roll student because he was Asian and leave him alone. That doesn't mean that Asians don't face racism - we just experience differently and we generally don't get killed for it.
A lot of what white people complain about when it comes to racism is honestly micro level shit and the reason people don't take it seriously is because it's situational and specific.
For instance, if Trayvon Martin was a Chinese kid named Richard Li, he'd still be alive. George Zimmerman wouldn't have followed an Asian kid around in a neighbourhood, he'd probably think he was an honour roll student because he was Asian and leave him alone. That doesn't mean that Asians don't face racism - we just experience differently and we generally don't get killed for it.
A lot of what white people complain about when it comes to racism is honestly micro level shit and the reason people don't take it seriously is because it's situational and specific.
I don't think has anything to do with it.
Racism occurs because we, as humans, have a part of us that inherently distrusts and mislikes people that are different than us. If people 'like us' become the majority, then the minority, different, people get oppressed.
This happens for all kinds of things, not just race.
Addressing this is what we need to do. Trying to shrug off certain forms of prejudice just because you don't think its a big deal completely misses the point of why racism exists in the first place.
I didn't say people shouldn't give a a shit about it, am saying point me to a real issue of racism that white people face in America, because so far no one can give me an answer.
What's funny is, is that some of you get offended when I say there isn't any serious racial issues towards whites in America. Than you start talking about racism in a general form and say all racism is bad when in reality your just trying to say white people go threw racism just like every other ethnicity. Which is true in some places maybe but what am saying is in America, its a non-issue.
Rubbish King
The gift that keeps on giving
Sure as shit they can, when I was visiting a friends he told me we couldnt go a certain way home as the street we had to go through... you would get beaten up for being white
I dont think beliebers can
I dont think beliebers can
I'm getting offended because you're literally trying to justify racism so long as its not against minorities.
That's horseshit.
I went to a Karaoke bar once and all the staff just looked at us. We asked how much it was and they said it was $30 an hour with a $60 minimum spend on booze each. We left, caught up with our Chinese friend and told her the story and she called bullshit. We went up there with her and they were willing to let us do it for $10 an hour with no minimum spend.
I went to a Karaoke bar once and all the staff just looked at us. We asked how much it was and they said it was $30 an hour with a $60 minimum spend on booze each. We left, caught up with our Chinese friend and told her the story and she called bullshit. We went up there with her and they were willing to let us do it for $10 an hour with no minimum spend.
Comparing the kind of rudeness and hostility that a white person in America might experience as racism with the institutionalized racism that a non-white person experiences just isn't remotely a balanced comparison, though, and surely we all know this.
Being rude and hostile to other people is actually never acceptable. You don't have to call it reverse racism or racism against white people or whatever to say that coming up to a stranger and getting in their face for no good reason is wrong. Shouting "cracker" at someone on the street is wrong not because it's racist so much as because shouting anything hostile at a stranger on the street is wrong. It really isn't about whether or not white people experience any kind of racism. It's about whether or not human beings should be less dickish to each other.
Really the issue is that this kind of bullshit is something you are aware of. These are prejudices that are obvious. The really insidious shit that no white person in America is likely to ever experience is the institutionalized racism that can occur at an almost subconscious level. It's the people who don't even think of themselves as racist. The people who would never be rude to someone's face, but will still make assumptions or pass them over for a job. That is the really, really damaging stuff that is hard to root out, and it is not something that white people are likely to experience in western countries.
So when people are discussing the really horrible, awful damage that racism has done to our society, bringing up the white experience feels like it's kind of missing the point. Yes, all prejudice sucks. But some prejudice infects so much of the American experience that it becomes a problem that extends well beyond "people shouldn't be deliberately awful to other people," which almost any instance of racism or prejudice directed against a white person would boil down to.
Choke on the Magic
Banned
Not only is this a terrible analogy, but it's basically a dismissal by you of something you admit is wrong. You might as well have posted a deal with it gif.
I stand by what I said.
Prejudice in general is the problem. Its what created this racist problem in the first place. It extends to many other parts of the world and goes well beyond just racism.
To dismiss 'minor' forms of racism as 'no big deal' just because its not a widespread problem completely defends the notion of racism itself. You said that a black person yelling 'cracker' at a white person isn't bad because its racist, but because its somebody being a dick. Why? Why do they get a pass for their racism? That's totally justifying racism. And its painful to read people do it.
Tinkleberry
Banned
that was sorta the point. do you honestly not see how the real world is? You think white people suffer the same level of oppression as every other race?
Zen_Arcade
Banned
Pretty much this. Unless you travel to a place where white people are the minority and don't run the institutions of course.
stufte
Member
I don't think anyone is saying that. But racism against white people exists and isn't any less horrid just because it doesn't happen often.
Soft-core denial is a very quick, easy, and insidious tool.
Tinkleberry
Banned
It's not just the frequency of which it happens, it's the level of racism. Many other people have already made the point, so no point in trying to state what others have said many times over.
Liberty4all
Banned
I was the only white person in my high school and I sure as fuck experienced racism. Everything from being physically assaulted, belittled due to race, ostracized from social events ....
to be fair the big difference is that I never experienced it from figures of authority, mostly my own peer group. It sucked.
That's exactly what he's saying, though. Racism against whites isn't a big deal and we should 'deal with it'.
Goes to show that being a victim of persecution often teaches people nothing. They are only worried about the effects, not the causes, which is very short-sighted and accomplishes nothing.
Because compared to what most minorities face in america, racism towards whites is minuscule. Racism towards minoriies can effect there entire life while racism towards whites might effect your afternoon or day. And no ones justifying anything Jesus Christ, am not saying I support racism towards whites, I just feel like its a non-issue.
Shikamaru Ninja
任天å ã® å¿è
Some of what you said can be debated. Although, even I as a person of color strongly disagree with some of your assesments. The bolded statement is not debatable in my opinion as something you can even remotely argue. What divinity grants you the authority to deem any subjective word that conciously differentiates a person because of their race as not "racist" but just "hostile". That is just ignoring the very definition of those words.
There is no denying the majority population and much of the construct is a manifestation of White Anglo Saxons. That is changing every year. Slowly but surely. Undeniably. But that doesn't mean a White man can't be the victim of a hateful assault or murder. Maybe it isn't a big deal to you, but it sure might be to his loved ones.
reelbigtink
Member
I don't think any rational person would say racism against white people isn't a bad thing. It's just that cultural inherent racism against minorities, oppression on a mass scale because of someone's skin color, is a gigantic problem that should be addressed first and foremost. Things like affirmative action are necessary evils in order to try and change the perception that a lot of people have about minorities in America.
I wish there was a more positive sounding term than "necessary evil" I could use, as I don't see it as evil at all. Any suggestions?
Read what I said. Nowhere did I say it's justified. I didn't say it's minor. I didn't say it's not a big deal. The symptom of an illness might not be what's causing you to get sick, but it can still ache. It can still hurt.
But bringing it up in discussions of racism is taking the attention away from a more severe problem and diverting it to something that is not solvable. "Someone was an asshole to me on the street today," is not a problem anyone can solve. If every single person on the planet was the same color, someone on the street would still be an asshole to someone else because a lot of people are angry assholes who go out of their way to be hurtful to other people.
But I can 100% guarantee you that if institutionalized racism were less of an issue, you'd have a lot fewer angry black people resenting random white strangers on the street and calling them names. Racism against white people is a symptom of institutionalized racism against non-white people. It's a by product of privilege and the resentment that breeds. Privilege and racism against non-white people remains the real issue worth talking about because it will largely solve your issue.
Racial slurs against non-white people are largely about Othering and treating them as sub-human. The only "racial slur" that exists for white people is the one that suggests that they think are superior. Think that over for a moment. The way you stop people from shouting cracker is by eventually removing the societal imbalance. You remove the disease to stop the symptom.
Blacks, Hispanics, muslims, whoever are all equally capable of being just as racist as the worst white racists. You're basically making it sound like white people are inherently more racist than other races, which is nonsense and pretty racist in and of itself.
You really think that if blacks were the majority and whites were the minority, things would be any better?
Liberty4all
Banned
that was me. Well a mixture of black Chinese and indian. One guy even told me it was "my turn"
SlackAdjuster
Member
Mr. B Natural
Member
My wife was the only white kid in her school. If you don't think she was oppressed and discriminated against on a systematic level (the teachers more than the students sadly), then please, stay in your bubble and never ever come out.
She was 6 btw. moved out of that impoverished neighborhood at 8 or 9, I think.
Ultimately, looking at her compared to the rest of her family, she's a stronger person. She dealt with things, has an well tuned empathetic heart, because she was placed in a position most white people are never placed. I know I never was.
I, on the other hand, went to a teeny tiny high school with only one black kid and he was a totally creepy dork...use to pop pimples in front of girls and stuff. He used to boast about winning a magic the gathering tourney all the time. I told him, man, we heard you the first time, nobody cares and you're kinda asking to be bullied when you say things like that. If I did I knew I would. But, thinking about it now, maybe he turned out to be a dork because he didn't feel like he belonged. I never actually saw him getting picked on for the color of his skin, but I'm not gonna deny the chances that the trash I went to school with didn't do the exact same shit that my wife had to deal with.
I was picked on for having brown nipples, my school was that white, so I know he had to deal with a lot.
She was 6 btw. moved out of that impoverished neighborhood at 8 or 9, I think.
Ultimately, looking at her compared to the rest of her family, she's a stronger person. She dealt with things, has an well tuned empathetic heart, because she was placed in a position most white people are never placed. I know I never was.
I, on the other hand, went to a teeny tiny high school with only one black kid and he was a totally creepy dork...use to pop pimples in front of girls and stuff. He used to boast about winning a magic the gathering tourney all the time. I told him, man, we heard you the first time, nobody cares and you're kinda asking to be bullied when you say things like that. If I did I knew I would. But, thinking about it now, maybe he turned out to be a dork because he didn't feel like he belonged. I never actually saw him getting picked on for the color of his skin, but I'm not gonna deny the chances that the trash I went to school with didn't do the exact same shit that my wife had to deal with.
I was picked on for having brown nipples, my school was that white, so I know he had to deal with a lot.
I don't think there are any non-white countries in America.
PastorOfMuppets
Banned
Actually it is.
You know why? Because racism against white people rarely to manifests itself at a beyond a micro level and is often very situational.
Look at one of the examples that people are citing here:
If a white person goes to Japan, he'll be seen as a foreigner. Well, I have news for you, I simply have to walk outside for people to see me as a foreigner and I was born and raised in Canada. You have to actually be a foreigner and go to a land that's literally thousands of miles away for a comparable experience. I simply have to wake up.
If you're talking about KKK style bogeymen racists, than yes, anyone can be a victim. If you're talking about being called racial slurs while walking down the street, than yes, anyone can be a victim.
But do not mistake your experiences in these situational context as a society wide problem like the disparity in prison sentences or the pay gap.
stufte
Member
I can go 20 minutes away from where I live to a predominantly black neighborhood. Racism is racism.
Angelus Errare
Banned
As for the bolded, it depends. In this scenario was the nation still founded on slavery and discrimination?
Tinkleberry
Banned
no, im not saying white people are inherently more racist. But the judicial system in America was founded by, and continues to be a majority white run system... That is slowly changing now, but it's very tough to change whats been ingrained in the cultural history of this country.
If blacks were the majority, no things wouldn't be any better. But a leveled system would be, and that will take lots of time.
So when people bring up the issue of racism against whites, they're not helping, in the grand scheme of things... I know this will probably be taken as "look he doesn't care about white people problems" but you'd be missing the point. Look at things from an outer perspective.
reelbigtink
Member
It sucks that your wife had to deal with that but that's a personal case and not indicative of what black people have to go through on the broadly social level in America.
Liberty4all
Banned
I only had to wake up too. In the 90s in north Toronto there were two worlds. One was the older white boomer world. The other was the massively expanding immigrant youth ... I wasn't part of the white boomer world aside from white privilege when getting part time jobs from boomer managers in retail. From a social perspective (people my age)however I was a lone white guy in a world that hated me for everything the boomers had done. They were relentless in letting me know why I sucked, was pathetic racially ....
PastorOfMuppets
Banned
First, that's likely bullshit because while you feel uncomfortable, I doubt you're made to be a foreign invader.
Yut you realize you have to go out of your way and into that predominantly black neighbourhood though right? I wake up, I turn on the TV, hell, I just go on NeoGaf and I see it with my ethnicity all the time.
If you seek it out OF COURSE YOU'LL FIND IT. That's the issue that people of colour face that white people take for granted. We have to go out of our way to avoid this shit, not to find it. I don't watch a lot Hollywood films that involve my ethnicity because it usually reduces me down to an insulting caricature.
Racism is racism but not all experiences are equal and if white people were intellectually honest on that front, people would take you guys more seriously.
Mammoth Jones
Member
White people absolutely can experience racism.
White people in America, however, don't typically experience the systemic racism that doesn't just hurt feelings but destroys families and communities. That type of systemic racism has in the past prevented economic self sufficiency and social mobility.
White people in America, however, don't typically experience the systemic racism that doesn't just hurt feelings but destroys families and communities. That type of systemic racism has in the past prevented economic self sufficiency and social mobility.
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