When Whites Just Don’t Get It

[cali]

WHEN I write about racial inequality in America, one common response from whites is eye-rolling and an emphatic: It’s time to move on.

“As whites, are we doomed to an eternity of apology?” Neil tweeted at me. “When does individual responsibility kick in?”

Terry asked on my Facebook page: “Why are we still being held to actions that took place long ago?”

<snip>

This is the fourth installment in a series of columns I’ve written this year, “When Whites Just Don’t Get It,” and plenty of white readers have responded with anger and frustration at what they see as the “blame game” on race. They acknowledge a horrific history of racial discrimination but also say that we should look forward, not backward. The Supreme Court seems to share this view as it dismantles civil-rights-era rulings on voting rights.

As Dina puts it: “I am tired of the race conversation. It has exasperated me. Just stop. In so many industries, the racial ceiling has been shattered. Our president is black. From that moment on, there were no more excuses.”

<snip>

But we in white society should be equally ready to shoulder responsibility. In past articles in this series, I’ve looked at black/white economic inequality that is greater in America today than it was in apartheid South Africa, at ongoing discrimination against African-Americans in the labor market and at systematic bias in law enforcement. But these conversations run into a wall: the presumption on the part of so many well-meaning white Americans that racism is a historical artifact. They don’t appreciate the overwhelming evidence that centuries of racial subjugation still shape inequity in the 21st century.

<snip>

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/16/opinion/sunday/when-whites-just-dont-get-it-part-4.html?_r=0

[cali]

1. powerful, eloquent piece.

[bluestateguy]

2. Where are the white leaders?

Why won't the white "leaders" speak out?

[Nye Bevan]

5. Joe Biden is the most senior white person in the United States.

Perhaps he should start a regular series of speeches addressing "white privilege" and apologizing for historical and current racism perpetrated by white people.

Thanks to DU I know how important it is to check my privilege on a regular basis (several times per week). But there are a lot of people out there who don't read DU.

[TeeYiYi]

3. Anyone who still believes...

...that blacks and whites are living the same experience in this country have not been paying attention.

TYY

[2naSalit]

4. Thanks for posting... K&R

I am proud to announce that, after spending a week with a niece and a nephew recently, one of the topics of discussion that came up early in our visit was about white privilege. And these two, in their 30s, are concerned since their SOs are of nonwhite ethnicity, from other continents. I met their SOs and they are very intelligent and caring individuals. The main complaint from my relatives was that the white privilege thing has to end because they see it as hypocrisy at best and something much darker at worst.

I have hope and faith in the generations that come after mine, many seem to be very aware of what they need to do when they are the ones in power. Now if the elderly who are trapped in ideological mire will just step aside, maybe we, as a nation, can make some progress in our quest against inequality and move toward peace.