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[LordKasual]

I think we mostly agree in that we both recognize that there is the existence of a double standard in this country in the way society responds to the actions of white people versus black people. I think where we're disagreeing is that you believe simplifying the nuance, reasoning, and terms for why that is somehow gives black people a longer leash to commit heinous acts when that isn't the case at all, just like differentiating between different degrees of murder doesn't mean someone isn't dead. You bring up BLM vs. ALM which I think is actually a more pertinent example to the discussion than you think. Everyone agrees that all lives have some inherent value, but the reality is the black lives mattering needs to be stated and reinforced because American society does not fully value them regardless of the former ideal. Just like there is a need for a movement that specifies that black lives matter, there is a need to have discussions and conversations about the etymology and inner workings of racism and how individuals must navigate these systems due to the way they look and their subsequent experiences without angrily defaulting to "No; all hatred is equal!" when people are having these discussions.

This is kind of complicated to respond to, because i actually agree with everything you're saying...the only thing i disagree with is the method in which we choose to convey what we're talking about right here to those whom the concept isn't obvious.

I feel like the fact that All Lives Matter is even a thing that's taken seriously shows just how bad the issue really is. We're in a situation where people are literally being murdered on camera and people have been conditioned to look the other way and doubt the victim, while attempting to omit racial factors entirely. And if racial factors ARE brought into the conversation, you have one half of people arguing that it's bullshit, some tiny portion arguing that he/she probably did something to deserve it, and the system is slanted so hard that it doesn't even take much to cause this to snowball into something that nobody can agree or compromise on, and still ends in the victim's family basically having to just deal with it. It's ammo for one side, another grievance to the another, and nothing moves anywhere. As a minority, when people talk about racism and the balance of power, the only thing I can really think about is how fucked the situation is. Sociological definitions of words like "racism" are worthless to me if people are adverse to understanding that concept in the first place....not because I believe the definition is worthless, but because I know it's ineffective where it should matter the most.

Thats why I said it's a losing strategy. Calling all white people racist is coming from some truth, but that truth will never cause any penetration where it's needed. Saying all hate isn't equal is a true statement, but that truth will never cause any penetration where it's needed. The atmosphere in which we have racial debates in this country is defensive as fuck, the media is just too good at deflecting and manipulating.

And since we're talking about a difference in power here....I'd just like to point out that that "truth bombs" just do....not....fucking work. Systemic racism has like a 50Lv head start, America is like +255 TruthDef, we immune to that shit now and that counter rate is way too good.


So yeah, my only real problem has to do with how we go about approaching the message. I don't really have any answers of course....but I can see that what we're doing isn't enough. Saying something like "all white people are racist", or "Black people can't commit truly racist crimes"...even if you back it up with logic...it's just going to bounce off most people. It's assuming that all people who hear the message are the type to seek out the truth about something they don't really have to care about. And that assumption is wrong.

 

[Cindi Mayweather]

Damn, whole load of gross generalizations there and it's your opinion not fact. By the way not every white person thinks they're the "hottest shit". I'm sure the white people in this world suffering with depression or any other serious mental health problems don't walk around thinking they are superior.

Your sweeping generalizations are simply extraordinary. I wonder if you use products and services invented/distrubuted by white people. If you do, how can you shamelessly do so while holding such an opinion? It seems like you have a deep-seated hatred for humans who happened to be born white thru no fault of their own.

I don't care if they're "sweeping generalizations." For the most part they prove to be true. Ask any black person. For the most part, white peoole must earn our trust. Also, these are generalizations due to sheer survival. My SO is a tall, big black man. What happens if he gets in a car wreck and needs help and has to ring people's doors for help and someone assume he's trying to rob them, calls the police that a black man is trying to rob them, and he gets 10 shots in his chest? For the sake of practicality it is wise to assume all white peoole are racist. For this same reason, you do not go in stores with hands in pockets or leave without a receipt and bag. Because you must go with the assumption you will always be profiled and thus assume under every shred of doubt that every white person is racist. You cannot read their thoughts and thus they must build rapport and trust with you. Assuming all white people are racist unless proven otherwise is minority survival skill 101. Because we don't wanna be shot. With the rise of Trump and white nationalism this proves to be true. Who knows if it's some white person who lies behind their teeth?

 

[NESpowerhouse]

Some people believe everyone is to some to degree. Might be easier to hear coming from the inside, to address what you believe are your communities issues.

My dad kind of follows this line of thought, but instead of viewing this as a problem, he more or less just accepts it and moves on.

 

[Sunster]

Just by growing up white in America we probably have implicit bias and possibly even racist tendencies that we aren't consciously aware of. We should to live our lives identifying and unlearning those things instead of worrying about being called racist.

 

[Kazuhira]

I knew there was something wrong with me,thanks professor.
Keep adding more fuel to the fire.

 

[Nere]

To make a statement like that which generalizes an entire race is racist on it's own.

 

[Cindi Mayweather]

This is the equivalent of thinking "all blacks are lazy." Nothing will ever be accomplished with your way of thinking. In fact I would say people who think like you really don't care for a world where the color of your skin doesn't matter, but I guess I'll take my Hispanic ass out of here due to not having a dog in this fight.
Because everyone hates the Mexicans

It's the same as saying all black folks are lazy? How?

white people and implicit bias

White fragility

White Americans are nearly as blind to their racism as ever before

White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard to Talk to White People About Racism

Research shows that white Americans overwhelmingly tend to be pretty much tic for tac, to be racist. Link me to studies that prove black people are lazy, please.

This ties into the overall theme. White people refuse to admit they are a part of the problem and come up with cute non-sequiturs like "all people are racist" to deflect rather than unlearn the behavior they contribute to larger institutional racism.

Your comparisons are false equivalences. Saying blacks are lazy for instance is a judgement. I'm not judging white people or saying they're morally bad. I just think they're all racist until an individual proves me otherwise. Racism doesn't mean you're a bad person or a lesser person. It just is. White American's would do well to reflect on undoing their racist baggage than make false equivalences.

 

[Sunster]

It's the same as saying all black folks are lazy? How?

white people and implicit bias

White fragility

White Americans are nearly as blind to their racism as ever before

White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard to Talk to White People About Racism

Research shows that white Americans overwhelmingly tend to be pretty much tic for tac, to be racist. Link me to studies that prove black people are lazy, please.

This ties into the overall theme. White people refuse to admit they are a part of the problem and come up with cute non-sequiturs like "all people are racist" to deflect rather than unlearn the behavior they contribute to larger institutional racism.

but accepting that is haaaaaaaaaaaaaaard.

 

[Audioboxer]

You shouldn't beat yourself up. It;s those damn hoodies.

People with hoodies are scary no matter the race. I can go weeks without seeing anyone black and whenever I pass somebody at night with a hoodie on I get a little nervous.

They even invented whole movie genre called hoodie horror

It's as I said in here already. Learned patterns through evolution that in combination with environmental surroundings (rough areas, or it even just being dark) kick in a response with a hoodie. It can even be a cap. Basically something partially covering the face and/or attributing to it being hard to see/read facial features.

Humans naturally rely a lot on facial cues to quickly interpret situations and if someone is covering their face it can perfect the perfect storm for fight or flight to kick in. Especially if you have said environmental factors also. Think walking under an overpass at night that involves going through a long dark tunnel of sorts and seeing someone with a hoodie. Or even just the idea of a group of people coming towards you.

Statistically on paper it's going to be something daft like you have more of a chance of getting hit by lighting than something happening to you. It's just a learned response due to many reasons and the important thing is to do your best to behave in a reasonable way and not give into your imperfect body and mind over reacting to a situation. Our bodies are shit at doing it. Even just think having to do public speaking. There is no genuine reason to shake, stutter, get clamy, and blush. Fight or flight is not needed to deliver a presentation. We are stuck with it though thanks to our beginnings and being human is all about understanding it and importantly learning to live with it and manage situations reasonably.

Not every human is equal though hence how I said police forces should really only be touching those that in testing have a much higher threshold than the average person. No point in employing someone spooked easily. Then you get trigger fingers, and people being murdered.

But every white person interacts with a society that tells them they're superior. If you have watched tv, watched movies, stepped outside been to school;etc you will be influenced beyond your parents grasp. So you'll have white people who have "black friends" but somehow justify the murder of a 12 year old kid with a toy gun. Because all white peoole are racist. There's no fucking way any white person is going to come away from a lifetime of thinking they're the hottest shit in the world and not come to the conclusion that they're superior. Louis CK put it perfectly. That's not a judgement but a statement of fact. Now, can a white person and I be friends? Sure. If they recognize that they probably have weird ideas on race and are willing to undo a racist white society. Otherwise they can step the fuck off.

I can only stand on the sidelines and think parts of this post are ramped up to 11 due to America's current political situation. If not my best advice is to travel the world and just step outside the American bubble for a bit. I can promise you that one shoe fits all narrative and superiority complex is not something genetically given to a child during birth that is somehow scientifically provable for every single person on planet earth in every country that fits a net that is all encompassing. I really hope you don't truly believe such things as even right now you're setting up fellow gaffer's for your guillotine. So yeah, I can empathise and do think your current political climate is awful but for your own personal mental wellbeing I think you need to look at what good can come out of humanity and life that is not predetermined by skin colour.

 

[UrokeJoe]

Well I knew I was white but now I know I am a racist. I actually feel pretty good with that broad stroke... think I'l just carry on being a racist(in label).

Edit. It's fucking stupid, but I can deal with it.

 

[Cagey]

To make a statement like that which generalizes an entire race is racist on it's own.

Whether the statement is "racist" or not has spawned plenty of arguments, most on semantics, which tends to ignore that it's simply a stupid thing to proclaim.

For those who want to express a point beyond the statement "whites are racist sorry lol" at face value, the pervasive ills of a society that has embedded one race's supremacy over the rest into its very DNA, it's a stupid and clumsily worded means of conveying actual points with nuance in favor of an inaccurate, provocative saying that allows the speaker to defend their position by using "white fragility" as a weaponized buzzphrase equivalent of "lol you mad bro?".

It's a shame. Don't fall prey to the exciting, provocative, inaccurate rhetoric just because you want to indulge in saying it.

 

[darkace]

So no, you can't be racist against a white person. Ever. You can't because racism is an ideology built around the superiority of whites and the inferiority of non-whites.

Don't be ridiculous. Racism is more than an ideology at this point in time.

 

[Cindi Mayweather]

This discussion certainly has nuance. You just disagree with it and have been overly reductionist to the point of mockery.

 

[ThisGuy]

Racism doesn't mean you're a bad person or a lesser person. It just is. White American's would do well to reflect on undoing their racist baggage than make false equivalences.

How can a racist be a good person? This doesnt make sense and your links dont address this.

 

[Cindi Mayweather]

How can a racist be a good person? This doesnt make sense and your links dont address this.

It doesn't make sense to you because your idea of racism is one of someone who thinks all non-whites should die. Your idea of racism is small and everyday rather than the scientific definition. The same is applied to white supremacy. Black peoole and other minorities use these definitions.

Ergo, not all white people think white people are a superior race, but this does not change that white people participate in a culture that says they are superior. Most people are just people. But when pressed as to why it matters that there be more minority representation in the media, white peoole tend to scoff at it and don't get the big idea.

Essentially, racism doesn't inherently mean you are a bad person. It just means you have racist beliefs and preconceptions. Joe White Guy gets off well with me, but assumes I'm from the ghetto just because I'm black. He's a good guy but has a racist preconception that all black people are from the ghetto even though I've got an MK bag because his (white) culture to him all black people are ghetto. In addition, when Katrina was pouring down 11 years ago it was assumed and reported black people looted food, while white people found it. When a white person grows up in a society that repeatedly villianizes people of color they will be influenced unknowingly whether they accept it or not. This has nothing to do with morality.

Sociologists agree.

 

[ThisGuy]

It doesn't make sense to you because your idea of racism is one of someone who thinks all non-whites should die. Your idea of racism is small and everyday rather than the scientific definition. The same is applied to white supremacy. Black peoole and other minorities use these definitions.

Ergo, not all white people think white people are a superior race, but this does not change that white people participate in a culture that says they are superior. Most people are just people. But when pressed as to why it matters that there be more minority representation in the media, white peoole tend to scoff at it and don't get the big idea.

Essentially, racism doesn't inherently mean you are a bad person. It just means you have racist beliefs and preconceptions. Joe White Guy gets off well with me, but assumes I'm from the ghetto just because I'm black. He's a good guy but has a racist preconception that all black people are from the ghetto even though I've got an MK bag because his (white) culture to him all black people are ghetto. In addition, when Katrina was pouring down 11 years ago it was assumed and reported black people looted food, while white people found it. When a white person grows up in a society that repeatedly villianizes people of color they will be influenced unknowingly whether they accept it or not. This has nothing to do with morality.

Sociologists agree.

No I understand your definition of racism just fine, mines not far from it, or at least I view this as part of the systemic version. We just disagree that they're not bad people. But thanks for taking the time to elaborate, appreciated.

And you've never met a white person that doesn't believe all that garbage? I'm guessing it comes in varying degree's, but never decent white person huh? That's saddening.

 

[Cindi Mayweather]

No I understand your definition of racism just fine, mines not far from it, or at least I view this as part of the systemic version. We just disagree that they're not bad people. But thanks for taking the time to elaborate, appreciated.

And you've never met a white person that doesn't believe all that garbage? I'm guessing it comes in varying degree's, but never decent white person huh? That's saddening.

In my lifetime I have experienced racism from whites across the political spectrum. Liberals are probably the worst at it. With conservative racists you know what you're gonna get. But liberals will befriend you, and while drunk tell you how you're different from the "others" or how much they don't like Mexicans and want you to join in on their racist shit talk. My cousin is light skinned and white passing and the stuff she hears when people assume or forget she's black is scary. Unfortunately, "decent" white peoole tend to be liberals whose definition of racist is a confederate flag waving person with a KKK robe who want to have sexual conquest with Asian women because of their "passivity." Talk of racism depends entirely on the feelings of white people who refuse to admit they contribute to racism because of their claim of being "decent people." The reaction to this thread being a fantastic example.

 

[Azzanadra]

So being born to certain attributes defines you a certain way by which the precedent was set by humans who happened to share those physical characteristics?

Can't say I can take this guy seriously. That's as loaded a statement as saying I am a terrorist just because I was born brown.

 

[Cindi Mayweather]

More readings.

On why people do not trust white people

On why people do not trust white people 2

Read them and consider if you choose. Both factor into this.

 

[Nepenthe]

So being born to certain attributes defines you a certain way by which the precedent was set by humans who happened to share those physical characteristics?

Yes. We all live in a society that subsists on and espouses the belief that certain physical attributes are more desirable than others, and this belief was established by people who naturally had the desirable characteristics way back when. It's not a biological argument; it's a social one.

 

[FortuneFaded]

I don't care if they're "sweeping generalizations." For the most part they prove to be true. Ask any black person. For the most part, white peoole must earn our trust. Also, these are generalizations due to sheer survival. My SO is a tall, big black man. What happens if he gets in a car wreck and needs help and has to ring people's doors for help and someone assume he's trying to rob them, calls the police that a black man is trying to rob them, and he gets 10 shots in his chest? For the sake of practicality it is wise to assume all white peoole are racist. For this same reason, you do not go in stores with hands in pockets or leave without a receipt and bag. Because you must go with the assumption you will always be profiled and thus assume under every shred of doubt that every white person is racist. You cannot read their thoughts and thus they must build rapport and trust with you. Assuming all white people are racist unless proven otherwise is minority survival skill 101. Because we don't wanna be shot. With the rise of Trump and white nationalism this proves to be true. Who knows if it's some white person who lies behind their teeth?

In this paragraph, you both condemn people who mistrust solely based on race and support people mistrusting solely based on race.

 

[rjinaz]

Just by growing up white in America we probably have implicit bias and possibly even racist tendencies that we aren't consciously aware of. We should to live our lives identifying and unlearning those things instead of worrying about being called racist.

Well said.

 

[Chmpocalypse]

It's not factually anything. It's an opinion, same as yours.

It really isn't. You may wish it were, but the fact is that laws, punishment, opportunity and a number of other aspects of a white supremacist society - one in which being white has historically imbued people of that color with the society's power in aggregate - benefit whites first. That is privilege, and every person of the same in-group gains advantages because of it. Even if some are poorer than other members of that group in power, and even if such advantages are not desired (as I and presumably you do not want to receive).

 

[Tonedeff]

White Supremacy and racism aren't the same thing. They overlap, but they are distinct from each other I feel.

 

[Cindi Mayweather]

In this paragraph, you both condemn people who mistrust solely based on race and support people mistrusting solely based on race.

It's a different level.

Mistrust of whites is through history, experience, and realism. Often, in the case of white people they just use generic stereotyping. It's rarely based on anything pertaining to reality. Such as Mexicans taking their jobs or evading taxes. It's generally grounded in a misdirected sense of fear without actual interaction with those races. It is being a realist however, to keep white people at arms length because they tend to talk to you condescendingly without knowing it, in an act to appear nice, which about any PoC can say they've experienced. White people barely interact with other races in a real way and this has them rely upon stereotypes. People of color cannot ignore white people and have a lifetime of experience dealing with them and learning how they'll generally treat you so our mistrust is based in reality and experience.

 

[Netherscourge]

"To be white is to be racist, period."

-that is a 100% racist comment.

 

[Banana Aeon]

White Supremacy and racism aren't the same thing. They overlap, but they are distinct from each other I feel.

People refuse to believe this because they don't want to view themselves as racist. But it's 100% truth.

 

[FortuneFaded]

Mistrust of whites is through history, experience, and realism. Often, in the case of white people they just use generic stereotyping. It's rarely based on anything pertaining to reality. Such as Mexicans taking their jobs or evading taxes. It's generally grounded in a misdirected sense of fear without actual interaction with those races. It is being a realist however, to keep white people at arms length because they tend to talk to you condescendingly without knowing it, in an act to appear nice, which about any PoC can say they've experienced. White people barely interact with other races in a real way and this has them rely upon stereotypes. People of color cannot ignore white people and have a lifetime of experience dealing with them and learning how they'll generally treat you so our mistrust is based in reality and experience.

I agree, stereotyping is wrong.

 

[Oppo]

It's a different level.

Mistrust of whites is through history, experience, and realism. Often, in the case of white people they just use generic stereotyping. It's rarely based on anything pertaining to reality. Such as Mexicans taking their jobs or evading taxes. It's generally grounded in a misdirected sense of fear without actual interaction with those races. It is being a realist however, to keep white people at arms length because they tend to talk to you condescendingly without knowing it, in an act to appear nice, which about any PoC can say they've experienced. White people barely interact with other races in a real way and this has them rely upon stereotypes. People of color cannot ignore white people and have a lifetime of experience dealing with them and learning how they'll generally treat you so our mistrust is based in reality and experience.

you are painting with a very, very broad brush here.

 

[Netherscourge]

It's a different level.

Mistrust of whites is through history, experience, and realism. Often, in the case of white people they just use generic stereotyping. It's rarely based on anything pertaining to reality. Such as Mexicans taking their jobs or evading taxes. It's generally grounded in a misdirected sense of fear without actual interaction with those races. It is being a realist however, to keep white people at arms length because they tend to talk to you condescendingly without knowing it, in an act to appear nice, which about any PoC can say they've experienced. White people barely interact with other races in a real way and this has them rely upon stereotypes. People of color cannot ignore white people and have a lifetime of experience dealing with them and learning how they'll generally treat you so our mistrust is based in reality and experience.

???

 

[Cindi Mayweather]

you are painting with a very, very broad brush here.

Am I? Why was I told to not put my hands in my pockets when in a store or to always get a bag and a receipt? You can trust yourself, but you cannot trust white peoples perception of you. This broad brush you speak of is bitter truth

You're even doing it. You tell me I'm applying a broad brush but ask any other black person. They'll tell you. You'll probably say that's speaking too broadly as well.

 

[Netherscourge]

Am I? Why was I told to not put my hands in my pockets when in a store or to always get a bag and a receipt? You can trust yourself, but you cannot trust white peoples perception of you. This broad brush you speak of is bitter truth

Your truth is not everyone else's truth.

You're making the same exact assumptions you're accusing other people of making.

 

[Cindi Mayweather]

Your truth is not everyone else's truth.

You're making the same exact assumptions you're accusing other people of making.

Nope. You're just not willing to understand the nuance.

 

[Fine Ham Abounds]

I dunno, I grew up being raised by two white people who didn't want a kid to grow up around the racist attitudes prolific in their families. I'm also aware of my privilege as a white male because living in the South I've broken down in areas where I knew I could go find help at the gas station without worrying I might instead end up dead in a ditch.

I do think we could all stand to be less presumtuous and listen more, pretty much every step through life.

 

[neojubei]

It's a different level.

Mistrust of whites is through history, experience, and realism. Often, in the case of white people they just use generic stereotyping. It's rarely based on anything pertaining to reality. Such as Mexicans taking their jobs or evading taxes. It's generally grounded in a misdirected sense of fear without actual interaction with those races. It is being a realist however, to keep white people at arms length because they tend to talk to you condescendingly without knowing it, in an act to appear nice, which about any PoC can say they've experienced. White people barely interact with other races in a real way and this has them rely upon stereotypes. People of color cannot ignore white people and have a lifetime of experience dealing with them and learning how they'll generally treat you so our mistrust is based in reality and experience.

So much truth here.

 

[depths20XX]

White people barely interact with other races in a real way and this has them rely upon stereotypes.

While I do agree that white people generally interact with other races less than their own on the basic idea of demographics, I don't see how this then leads to the stereotyping. People are still capable of understanding stereotypes and also understanding "yeah this is wrong and has no basis in fact."

Also, what do you mean by "a real way"?

 

[kame-sennin]

Since this is a relatively fringe definition of "racist" prone to strong repudiation nobody would understand it on that level, so I'd argue that this would generally not be a good way to use it and would almost certainly create communication difficulties.

Racism as the ideological form of white supremacy is not a fringe definition. It was the default definition until the Nixon era. The idea that racism is simply 'hating someone because of their skin color' is new and was created as a co-option technique by the right once being openly racist was deemed unacceptable.

Why did this revisionist definition catch on so fast? Because it doesn't make white people feel uncomfortable.

 

[ScientificPizza]

White Supremacy and racism aren't the same thing. They overlap, but they are distinct from each other I feel.

Yep

This professor guy is right

 

[jordan0386]

Being a 30 year old black american, I would have to say most white people are still very racist towards blacks.

If they werent we would have equal everything.

Since we dont its gotta be the racism.

No other honest way to explain it.

 

[Mesousa]

I dunno, I grew up being raised by two white people who didn't want a kid to grow up around the racist attitudes prolific in their families. I'm also aware of my privilege as a white male because living in the South I've broken down in areas where I knew I could go find help at the gas station without worrying I might instead end up dead in a ditch.

I do think we could all stand to be less presumtuous and listen more, pretty much every step through life.

I'm not white, live in the south, and have NEVER worried about the bolded.

What kind of stereotypes have you been hearing man?

 

[Infinite]

I'm not white, live in the south, and have NEVER worried about the bolded.

What kind of stereotypes have you been hearing man?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Renisha_McBride

 

[The Artisan]

I have to admit as a man of color, sometimes I feel like society has indoctrinated me

 

[Mesousa]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Renisha_McBride

In the good old north.

There is a reason why folks are moving down here.

 

[Fine Ham Abounds]

I'm not white, live in the south, and have NEVER worried about the bolded.

What kind of stereotypes have you been hearing man?

Man I hope to god you never break down in parts of rural Louisiana or Mississippi

They ain't stereotypes man, I'm related to whole counties of these people, I've heard how they really talk at parties

 

[Charles Brandon]

It really isn't. You may wish it were, but the fact is that laws, punishment, opportunity and a number of other aspects of a white supremacist society - one in which being white has historically imbued people of that color with the society's power in aggregate - benefit whites first. That is privilege, and every person of the same in-group gains advantages because of it. Even if some are poorer than other members of that group in power, and even if such advantages are not desired (as I and presumably you do not want to receive).

It's still just an opinion.

 

[Funyarinpa]

Can white people act merely prejudiced in your opinion? Or if they say or think something racially discriminatory, are they only racist?

 

[KO Traveling Hobo]

I've seen 'anti-blackness' thrown around as the go-to word for precisely that reason.

If the idea is to separate racism from being a Bad Person, then 'anti-black' is even worse. It also has a connotation of active behavior which is contradictory to its intended use of describing passive/subconscious racism.

 

[Golden_Pigeon]

I think that the main issue is that you have different definition of racism.

If you think racism as a moral issue and that being racist consist in having an open racist discourse about that race being inferior, so yes it's doesn't make any sense to say that all "white are racists". So reducing racism as "bad action".

But if you think racism as a set of practices and culturales norms that are part of the american culture as philadelphia cheese, so yes you could definitely say that it's the case that all "whites are racists". You cannot escape it. It's like being put at the top and pretending that you won't see people from above.

The main issue is the de-politicization of racism to make it a moral issue that could be solved by hugging a black person.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Don't be ridiculous. Racism is more than an ideology at this point in time.

No. You can be prejudiced against a certain group of people, and that's stupid, but oppression is part of racism.

The intro paragraph in the Wikipedia article should give you a good idea.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism

Too many people use the term to simply mean "not liking members of a specific ethnicity."

Absolutely not all white people hold prejudices against non-whites. White people, and especially white men, in America, absolutely benefit and feed back into the systemic racism ingrained in this country, though.

 

[KingV]

It's a different level.

Mistrust of whites is through history, experience, and realism. Often, in the case of white people they just use generic stereotyping. It's rarely based on anything pertaining to reality. Such as Mexicans taking their jobs or evading taxes. It's generally grounded in a misdirected sense of fear without actual interaction with those races. It is being a realist however, to keep white people at arms length because they tend to talk to you condescendingly without knowing it, in an act to appear nice, which about any PoC can say they've experienced. White people barely interact with other races in a real way and this has them rely upon stereotypes. People of color cannot ignore white people and have a lifetime of experience dealing with them and learning how they'll generally treat you so our mistrust is based in reality and experience.

I really don't understand how this is any different. Basically you are just arguing that your stereotype is more "correct" than white stereotypes. All stereotypes have some kernel of fact that makes people that hold those stereotypes think they are justified. The issue is that people take that factoid and misappropriate and misapply it broadly. Then when they do see someone acting in a stereotypical way, it's just a for confirmation bias, even if that way of acting is relatively rare.

If you approach every interaction with white people assuming they are racist, you are going to find racism everywhere. Just like if somebody walks around thinking a certain group does certain things or acts in a certain way, when they see things that fit their narrative it's confirmation if their biases, and they'll ignore things that don't fit their worldview.