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When is white history month?

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Byakuya769 said:
Morgan Freeman - "We can get rid of racism by not talking about it."

Get the fuck out of here.
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No? As long as we distinguish between people along racial lines, there will always be racism. If we all decided that there were more important things to worry about it WOULD disappear, or fade to the point of irrelevance at least.

Sadly, we're nowhere near that.
 
Petrichor said:
No? As long as we distinguish between people along racial lines, there will always be racism. If we all decided that there were more important things to worry about it WOULD disappear, or fade to the point of irrelevance at least.

Sadly, we're nowhere near that.
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If racist people stopped being racist, racism would go away. Got ya. Otherwise, you're assuming people with socially repugnant views will be affected by the benign ignoring of their views.
 
Let's get this straight white people. You will never EVER know what its like to be a black person or any other race. So stop acting like you do. I had a girl start rnning because I was walking behind her at night after getting off the bus. We live on the same freakin street.
 
Byakuya769 said:
If racist people stopped being racist, racism would go away. Got ya. Otherwise, you're assuming people with socially repugnant views will be affected by the benign ignoring of their views.
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If we didn't divide people into "races", there wouldn't be racists as the colour of someones skin would be as trivial as the colour of their eyes, their height, or their shoe size. There are always going to be ignorant and stupid people, that's something we can't really avoid. But things like affirmative action, "black history month" etc only serve to reinforce racial differences between people, and as long as we treat people from different races in different ways, ignorant people are going to cry "double standards" and form views that would be deemed racist.

I appreciate it's something that's probably a little idealistic, but I'm sure you can at least agree that forgetting about the whole issue would be a good thing... if it were ever possible.
 
npfpof said:
Let's get this straight white people. You will never EVER know what its like to be a black person or any other race. So stop acting like you do. I had a girl start rnning because I was walking behind her at night after getting off the bus. We live on the same freakin street.
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Did you speak to her about that?
 
How about instead of "forgetting" the issue - which should be a non-starter considering the 500 years of slavery, discrimination, racism and related things that literally BUILT the New World/American colonies/America - we have a real dialogue about it that discusses it openly.

We always seem to talk about it - but then it gets into ancillary topics that miss the point, "oppression Olympics" stuff and things that take issue with symptoms of these things rather than the root problem. The problem with the honest discussion about it is that it leads to some rather unsavory conclusions about one side of the argument...and that one side isn't interested in facing those things.

The thing is - those unsavory things are reality.

We can only advance past it if we deal in that reality.
 
npfpof said:
Let's get this straight white people. You will never EVER know what its like to be a black person or any other race. So stop acting like you do. I had a girl start rnning because I was walking behind her at night after getting off the bus. We live on the same freakin street.
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lol

This happens to white men, too.
 
If a thought is idealistic and thus not practical, why even discuss/entertain it as if it were realistic? No one is going to just forget race exists and thus end racism.
 
Good Job Bob said:
What's white people's equivalent of Soul Food? McDonalds?
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food.jpg
 
Petrichor said:
If we didn't divide people into "races", there wouldn't be racists as the colour of someones skin would be as trivial as the colour of their eyes, their height, or their shoe size. There are always going to be ignorant and stupid people, that's something we can't really avoid. But things like affirmative action, "black history month" etc only serve to reinforce racial differences between people, and as long as we treat people from different races in different ways, ignorant people are going to cry "double standards" and form views that would be deemed racist.

I appreciate it's something that's probably a little idealistic, but I'm sure you can at least agree that forgetting about the whole issue would be a good thing... if it were ever possible.
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I lol'd
 
Imm0rt4l said:
If an idea is idealistic and thus not practical, why even discuss/entertain the thought.
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If you're referring to the idea I presented in my post, it isn't impractical. In fact amongst the youth in the area I grew up in, it's mostly a reality. Racism is for all intents and purposes a historical problem that has been dragged forward into this century by a small handful of ignorant sociopaths, but also by older people who won't let the issue die and tell their kids to watch out for those nasty white people. As long as we keep going on about things like slavery (which, may I add, no-one alive today was responsible for or was a victim of.) the issue is going to persist for far longer than it needs to. An appreciation of the past is important but lets not over-egg it here.

npfpof said:
Let's get this straight white people. You will never EVER know what its like to be a black person or any other race. So stop acting like you do. I had a girl start rnning because I was walking behind her at night after getting off the bus. We live on the same freakin street.
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And this is part of the problem. Unless the girl turned around to you, said "oh no a black person" and then ran away (if this is the case, ignore the rest of this post obviously), you're just assuming that she ran away from you because (I would imagine) she's white and therefore is likely to be racist (which in itself is a racist assumption). How do you know she hadn't just remembered something she had to rush home for, or found your presence intimidating, but not because of the colour of your skin?

I'm not denying that there are still idiots in the world who hold racist views, and I appreciate it's not something that is pleasant to deal with (this answers Byakuya769's question, yes I'm white, and I've experienced racism, being the only white kid that went to a school where people were predominately of nigerian or ghanain descent, so I have some idea of how it can feel to be racially isolated.). But residual race issues are only exacerbated by dividing people among racial lines and going on about the issue. If people on all sides just chilled the fuck out about it things would be a lot easier.
 
npfpof said:
Let's get this straight white people. You will never EVER know what its like to be a black person or any other race. So stop acting like you do. I had a girl start rnning because I was walking behind her at night after getting off the bus. We live on the same freakin street.
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racism-just-in-case.bmp
 
Petrichor said:
(this answers Byakuya769's question, yes I'm white, and I've experienced racism, being the only white kid that went to a school where people were predominately of nigerian or ghanain descent, so I have some idea of how it can feel to be racially isolated.)
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Pretty much explains everything about you and your worldview. Have fun pretending racism doesn't exist anymore. (Hey, maybe we can try the same tactic for getting rid of cancer!)
 
Roger Danish said:
The stupidity of this argument is that it's not like the bolded was the status quo before big, bad BHM came about and pigeon-holed black history into one month. Of course, I'm not saying that BHM alone will get us to the bolded, but as an intermediate step, I have yet to see any better proposals in this thread.
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lol, I never treated BHM as being "big and bad".

All I'm stating is that the longer we continue with BMH, the longer that it will be just a step; the longer that we will never get to the point in which Black history isn't treated as being different.

How is that a stupid thing to believe?
 
Petrichor said:
If you're referring to the idea I presented in my post, it isn't impractical. In fact amongst the youth in the area I grew up in, it's mostly a reality. Racism is for all intents and purposes a historical problem that has been dragged forward into this century by a small handful of ignorant sociopaths, but also by older people who won't let the issue die and tell their kids to watch out for those nasty white people. As long as we keep going on about things like slavery (which, may I add, no-one alive today was responsible for or was a victim of.) the issue is going to persist for far longer than it needs to. An appreciation of the past is important but lets not over-egg it here.



And this is part of the problem. Unless the girl turned around to you, said "oh no a black person" and then ran away (if this is the case, ignore the rest of this post obviously), you're just assuming that she ran away from you because (I would imagine) she's white and therefore is likely to be racist (which in itself is a racist assumption). How do you know she hadn't just remembered something she had to rush home for, or found your presence intimidating, but not because of the colour of your skin?

I'm not denying that there are still idiots in the world who hold racist views, and I appreciate it's not something that is pleasant to deal with (this answers Byakuya769's question, yes I'm white, and I've experienced racism, being the only white kid that went to a school where people were predominately of nigerian or ghanain descent, so I have some idea of how it can feel to be racially isolated.). But residual race issues are only exacerbated by dividing people among racial lines and going on about the issue. If people on all sides just chilled the fuck out about it things would be a lot easier.
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I'm glad that you live in such a nice place.

Maybe one day... some day... I, too, can chill the fuck out.
 
Bgamer90 said:
lol, I never treated BHM as being "big and bad".
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I can't remember if I was responding to you with that jab. Regardless, there were certainly other posters who painted BHM as a boogeyman of sorts, somehow responsible for the racist attitudes exhibited by people like those in the OP.

Bgamer90 said:
All I'm stating is that the longer we continue with BMH, the longer that it will be just a step; the longer that we will never get to the point in which Black history isn't treated as being different.

How is that a stupid thing to believe?
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The crutch argument. I get it. But what I'm asking is: what are the alternatives?

By the way, black history is different. The history of an oppressed people is inherently unique from that of the oppressors. It will stop being "different" when black people are no longer oppressed. Arguing the inverse ("black people will stop being oppressed when we stop treating their history as special or in any way different from white history") is absurd and problematic for the very reason that it ignores the fact that minority accomplishments would automatically be lost in some sort of historical melting pot (and also because it presumes that we live in a Petrichor-esque fantasy world).
 
Roger Danish said:
I can't remember if I was responding to you with that jab. Regardless, there were certainly other posters who painted BHM as a boogeyman of sorts, somehow responsible for the racist attitudes exhibited by people like those in the OP.



The crutch argument. I get it. But what I'm asking is: what are the alternatives?

By the way, black history is different. The history of an oppressed people is inherently unique from that of the oppressors. It will stop being "different" when black people are no longer oppressed. Arguing the inverse ("black people will stop being oppressed when we stop treating their history as special or in any way different from white history") is absurd and problematic for the very reason that it ignores the fact that minority accomplishments would automatically be lost in some sort of historical melting pot (and also because it presumes that we live in a Petrichor-esque fantasy world).
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They could just add it to normal USA history and not try to make it appear as side history.
 
there is no "white history" month because white people of irish, german, italian, or whatever background have little interest in a pan european celebration of themselves. the ones that do are typically skinheads and white supremacists. it's not black people's fault that the british and the irish, the germans and the french or the russians and the poles have centuries old history of casual or severe antagonism towards each other's cultures. I'm sure if white folks actually wanted a dedicated pan European history month, they would have it by now.
 
theignoramus said:
there is no "white history" month because white people of irish, german, italian, or whatever background have little interest in a pan european celebration of themselves. the ones that do are typically skinheads and white supremacists. it's not black people's fault that the british and the irish, the germans and the french or the russians and the poles have centuries old history of casual or severe antagonism towards each other's cultures. I'm sure if white folks actually wanted a dedicated pan European history month, they would have it by now.
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You would make a good point except that Black History Month has NOTHING to do with black culture "before" they hit american shores. That's what makes this month insulting and the people who don't understand why this month was even needed... even more insulting. The stuff taught in BHM should be apart of regular curriculum period. All the inventions and advancements made by minorities (all minorities) should be discussed and celebrated. The reason there is no WHM is because there isn't a "need" for one. Most history classes teach American history that is sometimes suspiciously absent of any noteworthy mention of minority involvement over the years.
 
staticneuron said:
You would make a good point except that Black History Month has NOTHING to do with black culture "before" they hit american shores. That's what makes this month insulting and the people who don't understand why this month was even needed... even more insulting. The stuff taught in BHM should be apart of regular curriculum period. All the inventions and advancements made by minorities (all minorities) should be discussed and celebrated. The reason there is no WHM is because there isn't a "need" for one. Most history classes teach American history that is sometimes suspiciously absent of any noteworthy mention of minority involvement over the years.
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In the south, they've removed mention of race when talking about black WW soldiers, and they want to remove mention of slavery whenever possible.

But ya, "history" class is a very Western European focused.
 
nemss said:
I have no problems whatsoever with celebrating Black History Month. But, I do have a problem with the racial double standard.

If I released "Caucasian" Magazine tomorrow, it would be labeled racist.

Why is that?
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OMFG XD

Tell the prosecutor this when he/she cross-examines you.

EDIT: I am sorry for necro bump. I clicked on the quote from another thread. :(
 
I don't know OP, I was hoping it was to a youtube clip of an ignorant youth, but a tumblr page? I'm curious know why this needed 13 pages of discussion to about 8-10 entries of random people on the internet.

EDIT: discussion started in 2012... so who bumped it?
 
Steve Youngblood said:
I sometimes wonder if, when presented, people ask this question and think it's a very poignant question that nobody has considered in regards to double standards. Or is it just used as a stock, throwaway observation?

I'm just picturing people sitting around acting as though the shallow observation of potential hypocrisy has been ignored by everyone but the brave minds who are willing to ask the tough questions.

Next up: why do women claim that they want equality, and yet at dinner I'm always expected to pick up the check? Am I right bros!?

Alternatively, where's my heterosexual pride parade!?
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This effect transgender minority politics. Think of all the people who point out that the sun goes through warming/cooling periods, as if the entire community of climtalogical experts had simply overlooked this blazingly obvious point when doing their decades of research. Evolution deniers who think they've found some fatal flaw in evolution just by casually observing the general proposition without knowing any of the specifics.

Broadly, these can be attributed to the Dunning-Kruger effect.
 
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