minigun wrote:QUOTE (minigun @ Nov 9 2018, 04:20 AM) I'm starting to think P1 is a racist. The way he talks of everyone but himself as being a racist.
He probably is. Most people are as a matter of scientific fact. As hard as it may be to admit it, so am I.
That is the point.
Here is what I think liberals like myself have been getting wrong about racism all this time.
White people have been taught from childhood that racism is wrong and stupid. What we haven't been taught, is how to deal with the xenofobia that pops up in our stupid monkey-brains regardless. So what we are left with is this huge taboo that prevents us from acknowledging this evil gut feeling that resides in all of us (aside: I think a big part of the attraction of the alt-right stems from the adrenaline-rush you get when you break a taboo).
I like to compare xenofobia with jealousy. It's this nasty internal first reaction that, if left unchecked, can lead to actual *#$@head behaviour. And as long as you don't let it, everything is more or less hunky dory. But if you don 't at the very least acknowledge that what your feeling right now is jealousy and therefor stupid and bad, you are liable to make an ass out of yourself. And so it is with xenofobia.
It is important that all of us, particularly liberals, realize, that just because we experience xenofobia, and sometimes screw up because of a xenofobic impulse, that does not make you a nazi or even a garden-variety-$#@!tard. And if you believe you are immune to xenofobia yourself, you are seriously deluding yourself and very much in danger of doing and saying racist @#(! yourself.
And if you think you are in the clear because your social media history proves that you obviously didn't mean it that way, you are missing the point. We judge only ourselves by our intentions, we judge everyone else by the outcome of their actions. Nobody except you cares about your motives. All anyone cares about is what you do and say.
Because - and this is something conservatives desperately need to understand - when hiring people, and you pass over the black guy,
it doesn't matter to him whether you did that because of a vague, unchecked, subconscious xenofobic impulse, or whether you did that because you are a card-carrying Klan member. Nobody cares about your opinions on the equality of man.
He didn't get the $#@!ing job for racist reasons and that is all that matters.
It doesn't matter whether you fly the confederate flag because you feel it's part of your cultural heritage, whether you admire traitors to the United States of America, or whether you want to bring back the enslavement of people of color. A symbol does not get its meaning from intentions but from interpretation - ask anyone who's ever written @#(!ty poetry as a teenager.
Just like it doesn't matter whether you actually cheer when a black kid gets shot by police, or whether you simply don't give a rat's ass. All that matters is the result: a lot of dead black kids and white people allowing the cops to keep their badges and go free.
And if you vote for a racist *#$@head, that was totally a racist move on your part, whether you actually want your fellow Americans of color to suffer humiliation and violence, or whether you are simply
willing to accept that they do because you think something else is more important.
And taken together, all those little racist actions contribute to a society tainted by racial bias which is what activists refer to when they talk about institutional racism. They aren't saying America (or the Netherlands to a slightly lesser extent) is governed by the Klan/Nazi's, they're saying that every part of your country (and mine) is tainted by racism. And the refusal to acknowledge it is causing the US as a whole to make an ass out of itself, allowing racist history to feed back into racist current events, creating even more racist history, as P1 so eloquently described. (A history the Dutch contributed to by transporting kidnapped African people across the ocean to US shores, killing a good number of them, so 'Go Holland' I guess. Also we're gearing up for our yearly 'Black Pete' blackface festivities which most Americas have the good sense to cringe at, so I'm well aware I'm in a glass house here.)
So while you yourself may believe that you believe firmly that people are equal, pointing to your one black acquaintance as evidence, your own actions, and the actions of the institutions you support, are all that matters. And those actions taken together will say you're racist unless you actively work to keep your own xenofobia in check.
So here's what I think would be great if we all did. Call it my five step plan to not being a racist.
First let's stop kidding ourselves. Let's take a deep breath and acknowledge our xenofobia. You can modify it with 'I have racist or xenofobic impulses' if you're a pussy. (You can tell your black friend if you like, but he'll probably give you a 'no @#(!, sherlock' - look.)
Second, Remind yourself that it's okay. (it sure as hell isn't fantastic, but it's not the end of the world either).
Third, think back to all the times you've said and done something, or neglected to do something, at least in part because of xenofobia.
Fourth - Don't bother apologising, nobody gives a @#(! about your apologies. Try to avoid doing and saying those things in future. Move on.
Fifth - Screw up. Yes. You are going to screw up. You are going to do and say stupid @#(! that is going to come off as racist, and it's going to come off that way because it is.
Don't be a $#@!ing baby about it.. Examine your behaviour, acknowledge that whatever your intentions, you were being racist, modify accordingly and
move the $#@! on..
And liberals, next time you point out someone's racism, be ready to freely admit that you have done and said racist @#(! also. You may actually want to lead with it. As a bonus, you have defanged the notorious hypocrisy comeback.
edit:
phoenix1 wrote:QUOTE (phoenix1 @ Nov 9 2018, 11:46 AM) *she
apologies: *she.