10 ways white people are more racist than they realize

[KamaAina]

http://www.salon.com/2015/03/04/10_ways_white_people_are_more_racist_than_they_realize_partner/

If there’s anything our fraught national dialogue on race has taught us, it’s that there are no racists in this country. (In fact, not only do multiple studies confirm that most white Americans generally believe racism is over — just 16 percent say there’s a lot of racial discrimination — it turns out that many actually believe white people experience more discrimination than black people.) It’s a silly idea, of course, but it’s easy to delude ourselves into thinking that inequality is a result of cultural failures, racial pathology and a convoluted narrative involving black-on-black crime, hoodies, rap music and people wearing their pants too low. To admit that racism is fundamental to who we are, that it imbues our thinking in ways we wouldn’t and couldn’t believe without the application of the scientific method, is infinitely harder. And yet, there’s endless evidence to prove it.

For those who recognize racism is real and pervasive, it’s also comforting to believe that discrimination is something perpetuated by other people, overlooking the ways we are personally complicit in its perpetuation. But fruitful conversations about race require acknowledging that racism sits at the very core of our thinking. By something akin to osmosis, culturally held notions around race mold and shape the prejudices of everyone within the dominant culture. People of color unwittingly internalize these notions as well, despite the fact that doing so contributes to our own marginalization. Most of us know the destructive outcomes systemic racism produces (higher rates of poverty, incarceration, infant mortality, etc.). Accepting that implicit bias is happening at every level makes it awful hard to chalk those issues up to black and brown failure....

3. White people are more likely to have done illegal drugs than blacks or Latinos, but are far less likely to go to to jail for it. A 2011 study from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Data Archive found white people were more likely to use illegal and prescription opiates (heroin, oxycontin), hallucinogens, and cocaine than blacks and Hispanics by significant margins. Black people just edged out white people on marijuana and crack use (which incurred disproportionate sentences for decades). Yet, a 2009 Human Rights Watch study found that each year from 1980 to 2007, blacks were arrested on drug charges at rates 2.2 to 5.5 percent higher than whites.

4. Black men are sentenced to far lengthier prison sentences than white men for the same crimes. A 2012 study by the United States Sentencing Commission found black men were sentenced to prison terms nearly 20 percent longer than white men for similar crimes. To break those numbers down further, from January 2005 to December 2007, sentences for black males were 15.2 percent longer than those of their white counterparts. From December 2007 to September 2011, that number actually increased, with differences in sentencing growing to 19.5 percent.

[BeyondGeography]

1. Some of those are examples of privilege, not racism

Who's the copy editor over there?

[KamaAina]

3. As it was explained to me once, racism = privilege + power

Cops, professors, etc. have power.

[BeyondGeography]

5. The story and the headline don't fit

Take point #3; lots of white people know that. Does that still make them more racist than they realize? The statement that white people are more racist than they realize is perfectly defensible. Some of the examples cited in the artlcle simply don't follow.

[FLPanhandle]

9. I agree

6 of the 10 are about the criminal justice system, which many white people know is racist.

Almost all the remaining are about intelligence.

[1StrongBlackMan]

12. Who makes up the racist criminal justice system? ...

and the remaining is NOT about intelligence; but rather, the racially biased PERCEPTION of intelligence.

[FLPanhandle]

17. You misunderstood my point

If 6 of the 10 are about the criminal justice system, which many white people acknowledge is racist, then the title of the article "..ways white people are more racist than they realize" isn't accurate.

The remaining 4 ways is really just one racist perception that "White people are more intelligent" stated different ways.

So, the title of the article really could be "1 way white people are more racist than they realize".

[1StrongBlackMan]

23. Okay. n/t

[ismnotwasm]

106. I don't see much difference between internalized white privledge and racism

A white person doesn't have to think about it equals not racist? I think not. I believe in social responsibility, and a white trying to overcome inherent racism, has a social responsibility to become aware of privledge. Else what's the difference?

[uponit7771]

13. knowledge and acknowledgment are 2 different things, I don't see a lot of black people ACKNOWLEDGING

... how overtly and cartoonishly racist the justice system in

nor

acknowledging the effect

I don't see cultures outside of people of color being better at the acknowledgement part

[840high]

82. ....

[el_bryanto]

6. That is a definition of it; a racist society for example

Many white people though see racism as a character flaw though as well; they don't necessarily connect it to the larger power structure. I don't know how you get around that - if you tell me I'm racist (I'm white) - than on a gut level I react as if you were telling me I'm a liar or cruel or selfish. I might examine myself to see if I possess that trait, or I might simply react and say "No I'm not."

The problem is that white people, whether they have the specific character flaw of racism or not, are the beneficiaries of a racist system. So much so that they usually aren't aware of it, in the way that Fish don't really think about water that much. That's why I personally think White Privilege is a better term (although many bristle at that as well).

Bryant

[BP2]

10. That's like blaming a fish for being a fish. Likewise, a white baby didn't ask

to be born white.

It's not who you are that matters, it's what you do that matters.

[AverageJoe90]

16. Very true, but I'd go just a little farther.

To say that all white people benefit from institutionalized racism.....is kinda like saying that all Japanese living in say, Osaka or Nagoya benefit from the activities of the Yakuza(who have had a fairly solid track record of infiltrating Japanese industry and commerce in the modern era).

Because when you think about it, at least a large majority of this has to do with corruption.....look at Ferguson, for example, or the many problems that the LAPD had in the Eighties. One cannot honestly say that all white people "benefit" from racism without lacking a true understanding of how things actually are; and until we drop this failure of an ideology like a hot potato, we will continue to shoot ourselves in the foot. Over and over.

[Bjorn Against]

49. Yes you should drop your failure of an ideology like a hot potato

Those who deny privilege like you do are expressing a failed ideology and I am glad to see you acknowledge that you should drop that ideology like a hot potato.

I am sure that is what you were saying because you did use the word "we" and I don't think anyone would use that word to describe the side they disagree with.

[Igel]

60. I think his "we" was inclusive.

Because he considers you and him to be on the same side, as part of the same group.

Not divisively, as though "we" were in enemy camps and the most important thing isn't collective action but victory for one side and defeat for another side.

If "divide and conquer" has any legitimacy, some are already divided and conquered.

(And the funny word game, confusing form for substance and rhetoric for facts, and words for argument just falls flat. It's puerile, in a self-servingly common sort of way, and while it may bear comment to avoid further embarrassment it doesn't merit any attempt at refutation or even engagement.)

[Bjorn Against]

61. There is nothing inclusive about denying reality

AverageJoe has not been a voice of inclusion on racial issues on this site, he has been given temporary bans on this site more than once because of his backwards views on racism. His ideology does need to be dropped like a hot potato.

[AverageJoe90]

68. "backwards views on racism." You've got to be joking.

If I was even a little less charitable, I would suspect you were trying to troll me.

BTW, if you must know, the one justifiable temporary ban I've ever received on here was because I got into a fight with another DUer, a couple of weeks before this last Christmas.....which, admittedly, was not the wisest choice(In my defense, however, he was saying some pretty fucked up stuff). The only other one only happened thanks to enough successful bogus hides initiated by alert stalkers(and there have been quite a few incidences of that in general, enough so that there have actually been several people who have come forward on their own initiative and have informed me of such, though perhaps it would be wise not to name the Good Samaritans here, because I'd rather not see them being attacked for doing what they felt was right).

[cyberswede]

71. You Are Not A Victim. nt

[AverageJoe90]

72. I'm not the one who started the Meta stuff, though. nt

[cyberswede]

75. Yet you never pass up an opportunity

to take a dump in every thread on race that appears on DU. I honestly don't think people are buying your schtick any more. Nobody could be as obtuse as you purport to be.

[AverageJoe90]

78. I have discussed my experiences a couple of times.....

But only where it was appropriate; the only reason I brought it up here was to address a serious allegation that had been made against me. But then again, why bother with facts? In any case, I'm done discussing this, unless you'd like to bring something up in private.

[Number23]

89. The "allegation" against you is as real as the dead earwig lying on the floor next to my chair

(I'll vacuum him up in a bit)

You have been the recipient of multiple hides because of your racially clueless bullshit.

You have been given multiple times out on this site because of your racially clueless bullshit.

You are one of THREE posters on all of DU that have been banned from the AA Group because of your racially clueless bull.

You routinely use pejoratives such as SJW and radfems to describe your adversaries. The fact that you consider people who fight for social justice to be AGAINST you should tell you all that you need to know about your level of participation on this web site.

You come into every single solitary race thread on this web site, despite probably more than twenty posters begging that you cease and desist, with your absolutely idiotic and offensive "perspectives" on issues of race. There was even a mildly serious campaign to give you money if you STOPPED posting in race threads.

So this idea that you are being "targeted" and "alert stalked" by individuals is utter and complete bull. YOU are the one that has no clue what you are talking about and yet you insist on regaling everyone here with your uninformed and unwanted opinions despite being told REPEATEDLY that your participation in race threads is disruptive and offensive.

You can make the choice to shut the hell up, stop and listen and change these behaviors, or you can whine and moan that you are being "targeted" even as you CONTINUE to pollute discussions of race on this web site. It's obvious which one you've chosen, so PLEASE don't come crying when the next time out happens.

[JustAnotherGen]

101. I'll give to that fund!

Who do I donate to? .

[cyberswede]

124. Exactly...you summed it up perfectly.

Though I think it might all be an intentional act, tbh.

[Number23]

163. Oh, I have no doubt of that. It is very much as deliberate as it is hurtful and unnecessary

The first 20 times people tried to educate this person, there was room for "benefit of the doubt" that maybe he was just clueless.Those benefits have long since worn off and it is beyond obvious what this person is trying to do here.

I'd love to see his ignore list. I bet it is full to overflowing with female and the few remaining black posters here. In other words, the people that will not hesitate to call him out on his purposeless, stupid, time wasting BS.

[AverageJoe90]

69. What?

Because he considers you and him to be on the same side, as part of the same group.

I'm afraid that's not accurate, assuming you're referring to el_bryanto......

"If "divide and conquer" has any legitimacy, some are already divided and conquered."

Which is part of the reason why I'm afraid we need to at least consider dropping the idea of "white privilege". I do realize it started out as a well-intentioned pedagogical tool, but it's become so badly misused over these past few years, both by radicals (although usually without any malintent) who simply didn't understand the full story, and even by some with an axe to grind, that it's become virtually useless.

[ismnotwasm]

110. No it isn't

Just out of curiosity how does one jump from internalized white privledge/racism in America to Yakuza's in Japan?

[Donald Ian Rankin]

19. Yes, but it was "explained" to you by someone who was wrong.

Racism is prejudice or discrimination against people on the grounds of their race.

It's entirely possibly to be powerless, unprivileged, and viciously racist, or privileged, powerful and not racist.

There's a small, and in my view rather stupid, movement attempting to redefine the word, but "I think the word ought to mean" is not the same thing as "the word means".

[Bjorn Against]

64. Racism does involve power

Everyone can be prejudiced but not everyone can be racist. I have a degree in sociology, if you want to go correct every one of my professors and tell them they explained it to me wrong be my guest but I suspect my sociology professors probably have studied racism enough to know the correct definition.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

66. I'll see your unsubstantiated claim about personal experience of the views of a few sociologists,

and raise you easy-to-verify hard evidence of the views of a large majority lexicographers.

Go run through the first 10 dictionaries you find on a google search.

[Bjorn Against]

67. Tell me which dictionary is best known for explaining complex social issues

What other social issues do you learn about by studying the dictionary? I am sure you can guide me to a dictionary that goes into great detail about all the social issues of our day.

[AverageJoe90]

70. "Racism does involve power" Yes, it can, and often does.

But not always, and no one group is immune from some of it's members being guilty of racism on the personal level, be it Palestinians in Israel, or Chechens in Russia, Koreans in Japan, Arabs or Pakistanis in Britain, etc.

I mean, this is hardly *that* complicated.

[uppityperson]

138. why do you never take time to fill out your profile? It would be interesting to learn more about you

[cyberswede]

140. Interesting...like the clap is interesting?

[uppityperson]

142. Who are you, what part of the country, your political persuasion, education, do you like long walks

on the beach? Rather than just blasting through over and over and over and over and over and having all those bigoted posts go poof, why not take the opportunity to let us know about who you are, so forth?

[uppityperson]

145. Aw, still, we can get to know you a bit better. And as long as you are spending so much time here,

might as well be a bit social as well as lecturing on the ills of DU. Is it cold where you are?

[NutmegYankee]

146. Can't be colder anywhere else than his heart...

[cyberswede]

147. Oh poor you. Those mean black people.

Time for you to go poof again.

[uppityperson]

143. What do you think of the vaccine/anti-vaccine controversy going on?

[Wella]

77. You are deeming whites racists for being born white in America

Then racism is a condition of birth, not a moral failing, sort of like being gay.

[AverageJoe90]

79. That's how it comes across, anyway.

As I've pointed out elsewhere, though, I truly believe that this isn't intentional in the majority of cases: many simply don't realize the implications that tend to be assumed, outside their academic associations, and/or circle of friends, etc.

It's kind of a tough pill to swallow, that may be true, but the sooner we learn our mistakes, and do the best we can to address them, the better off we'll be in the long run, even if some of us may still prefer to hang on to "white privilege" personally(which is fine).

[Wella]

80. I agree with you. I think there is a desire to describe an emotional experience but

the logic (or lack thereof) leads to bizarre places.

[uppityperson]

2. Institutionalized racism is a huge problem, being aware of it is just the start

[azmom]

120. We need a 12 step program.

[bravenak]

4. Rec.

I've seen all of this play out.

[REP]

7. Painkillers for abdominal pain are routinely withheld in ERs from everyone

Until the cause of the pain has been diagnosed, or at least the most severe and life-threatening causes have been ruled out, every patient presenting to an ER with acute abdomen receives no analgesia.

[1StrongBlackMan]

14. That well may be true; but, it doesn't explain ...

in fact, it makes worse, the disparity.

[AngryAmish]

48. I am a personal injury attorney.

(Then again maybe not. This is the internet. I could be David Duke in drag.)

Anyway, I figure I have run across 2000 files in my life. Some simple car crashes. Some complex medical malpractice cases.

The 7 white folks who had "drug seeking behavior" in their files, 3 were made drug addicts by bad doctors, 3 were scumbags, 1 had terrible spinal pain the er doc did not recognize.

I have had about 40 black clients with records that reflected drug seeking behavior. About 6 of them were scumbags looking for drugs. About 12 were made drug addicts by bad doctors. 22 were just black folk who were wrongly labeled. One of these was a school secretary with a crushed foot from a car accident. As a christian, she thought god would heal her. Many times I ask a client to save their pain pill bottles as a potential prop at trial. So, getting ready for trial, I ask her to bring in her bottles. She brought a duffle bag in, filled with pill bottles filled with norco. She never took a pain pill, never even a tylenol because she did not want to be called a junkie. And when she rebroke her foot stepping off a curb the er doc said she was seeking drugs. With a broken calcanius.



(BTW, most of my clients are hispanic nowadays, but that does not reflect the demographics where I live, just an ideosyncracy of my practice).

[ScreamingMeemie]

30. This is an anecdote but in all 5 times I've been hospitalized (for severe abdominal pain),

pain meds were on board almost immediately.

[Spider Jerusalem]

8. That's more "ways society is way more racist than most white people realise" (n/t)

[1StrongBlackMan]

15. People make up "society." n/t

[Spider Jerusalem]

20. Well, yes, but a white person who gets busted for drugs and does community service...

rather than going to prison isn't racist because they've been treated leniently by a racist system that would've sent them to jail if they'd been black (or poor).

[1StrongBlackMan]

21. The beneficiary of the "privilege", i.e., being free from the racism others experience ...

is not who is being described as racist here.

[gollygee]

26. The police and judges and all those other people in the system

Most of them are white people. Disproportionately white people. Everything that is done in the criminal justice system is done by a person, often a white person, and certainly the structures (laws, etc.) were created overwhelmingly by white people.

[flvegan]

88. This is more logic and sense than most here can stand. n/t

[1StrongBlackMan]

11. Posted to for book marking later ...

I am particularly interested in reading "academic response" study at the link, as I know this to be true ... though, until now, only anecdotally.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

18. I'm racist because a "justice" system I don't support does things that make me not support it?

Damn! I never realized what a horrible person I am.

[1StrongBlackMan]

22. That comment reveals a complete misunderstanding ...

or unwillingness to understand what the article was saying.

One of these scenario, I would agree, makes you a horrible person ... the other just makes you an ignorant person.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

36. Well, for starters, the title sucks and that's not my fault.

"10 ways white people are more racist than they realize"

So the default assumption is: I'm racist to start with for no reason than the color of my skin but even if I accept that premise and felt penitent towards it I'm even worse than I imagined so I'm racist AND lacking self-awareness.

And why?

Because I'm white. The evidence arrayed against me is literally skin deep even as the animus cuts to the bone.

Then there is this --

Accepting that implicit bias is happening at every level makes it awful hard to chalk those issues up to black and brown failure...

Now I'm being accused of victim blaming. When have I, Nuclear Unicorn, EVER attributed poverty, incarceration rates, lower education scores, etc. to "black and brown failure."

I save you the Google search and answer -- NEVER. And if someone else made such statement I would find such comments factually wrong and morally repugnant.

I could suss out the rest of the article but I have the sneaking suspicion that any assertion of innocence will be used as proof of guilt.

[1StrongBlackMan]

38. Well ...

the article didn't say ALL white people.

Wait ... that's your point, huh?

[gollygee]

39. #notallwhitepeople

has to come up sooner or later, every thread

[azmom]

42. Can you tell me how to put someone on ignore.

[gollygee]

57. Click on their name and then there's an option to ignore. n/t

[azmom]

111. Thanks

[Nuclear Unicorn]

45. Again, the title says

"10 ways white people are more racist than they realize"

Why not, "10 ways racist people are more racist than they realize"?

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

54. Bless you for trying LOL

[azmom]

40. Awwwwww fuck. I was giving you the benefit of the doubt Unicorn

But hell if you just didn't show me your ass. I was right in alerting about you on the other threat.
Now I know who I'm dealing with. You will be my first on my ignore list. Congratulations.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

44. Tell me where I'm wrong. Like, with facts and stuff.

[GummyBearz]

27. Yes you are

Now apologize for others sins. And no, it wont absolve you, but I like to see whitey grovel. So do it now, racist.

(btw I can say all that as I am 1/16th native american)

[Nuclear Unicorn]

37. "Now apologize for others sins."

I have a hard enough time managing my own sins. I'm not strong enough to carry the sins of others.

[AverageJoe90]

76. "Now apologize for others sins." And that's part of the problem.

Sad truth is, even though it's not usually the intention, most angles of the "white privilege" argument really do end up coming across as if racism were some sort of "original sin" exclusive to white people. And that's just unfortunate, because it's a significant part of the reason why Social Justice has developed such a bad rap in recent years.

[jamzrockz]

24. You cannot believe how much I hate

seeing race baiting threads like this on DU. And I am saying this without reading a word from the article other than the headline. This sort of headlines makes my skin crawl.

[gollygee]

25. "race baiting" ??

That stupid phrase is just a bullshit way of trying to keep people from talking about racism. We talk about racism at DU. Get over it.

[gollygee]

107. It isn't intended as an accusation

#notallwhitepeople

[gollygee]

112. Read #26

It's about structures and systems, created and mainly enforced by white people. It isn't about you individually.

[gollygee]

118. White people as a group do

We as a group overwhelmingly hold the power to create and enforce them, and only us. And even when we don't intentionally do it, we follow it along. It's like the saying "You can't stay still on a moving train." Even if you aren't intentionally moving, if you're sitting on the train, you are indeed moving.

[cyberswede]

136. Your power has nothing to do with it.

White people, as a group, hold the power. You benefit from it whether you like it or not.

(And you're not fooling anyone)

[NutmegYankee]

150. Back so soon?

[Cali_Democrat]

28. If this made your skin crawl, that's a good thing

I'm happy you are unconformable.

It supposed to make people like you uncomfortable.

The bubbles gotta be popped.

[bravenak]

29. Probably not nearly as sick as racist, bigots and phonies make me feel.

I love how you just played the victim. Good job. Btw, your post offends me.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

55. Some white folk simply cant accept that they are, by definition, racist

The question is what do you do about it?

How conscience of it are you?

In my case, I do many things to try and not be a racist, so I am aware of it and care about the issue.

Some are not aware and dont care.

[NaturalHigh]

162. White folks "are, by definition, racist"?

Gee, I learn something new every day.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

171. Are you sure you learn?

[KamaAina]

31. The deadline? When is that?

Midnight?

[jamzrockz]

33. I meant to say title but was thinking headline

But yea, the title ruined it for me. yes I abhor and other forms of bigotry but I have a problem when you write an article with a title so broad that it includes a lot of people who are allies fighting against racism.

In my time in this country, the vast vast majority of the white people I have come in contact with have been very nice to me. Not saying my experience is the same for everybody but I just think creating a divisive title like that makes it that much harder for the 2 sides to come together. Nobody wants to be called a racist or told how racist they are while they are working to create a more tolerant society.

I bet I would be nodding my head in agreement had the author chosen a different title. But we would never know because he/she choose to be edgy.

[upaloopa]

35. A while back that would have been my response too.

I must admit that reading the "privilege" threads and what I learned about life in Ferguson has taught me a lot.
There is a saying that says you don't know what you don't know. The current discussions of racism here at DU has shown me a lot of what I don't know. I am not in total agreement with all that is said but I sure didn't know what I didn't know about 2015 racism. I have been absent from the thoughts about racism because I lived through the civil rights era and I left it at that.
I have been given a new perspective a sort of update to what I thought I knew. A refresher course if you will.

[azmom]

41. Yay. Thank you for that. I needed that today.

[upaloopa]

46. My saddest feeling is that it took the death of

Michael Brown to open my eyes. I don't think I will ever get over that feeling.
I try to imagine being Black in Ferguson and it is such a despairing feeling.
When times were hard for me I could work my way out of them but I imagine living Black in Ferguson has no way out of the suffering on an individual basis because the institutions of authority are the oppressors.

[azmom]

63. Thank you for opening your heart and your mind.

We need more of that.

[AverageJoe90]

73. Michael Brown was a good kid, deep down inside who was trying to make a good life for himself.

And yet, his life was snuffed out, in a flash, simply because a bigoted cop wouldn't keep his trigger finger under control.

[AverageJoe90]

74. To be fair to the author, however, that was probably not intentional.

I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that he probably meant "10 ways American society is more racist than people realize", which isn't quite the same. And he actually did make some decent points, it's just that the flaws can't quite be overlooked, that's all.

[840high]

83. ...^ that

[romanic]

85. ITA

It brings no discussion on racism, just broad brushing and self righteousness.

[jamzrockz]

86. Also alienates

a lot of people who are in the fight against racism. The author probably went with the headline to draw readers in but I still don't like it. It makes no attempt to differentiate the racist white from the non racist ones

[Doctor_J]

87. They have gotten more prevalent lately

"You ARE a racist, and if you're not, then you are a BIGGER racist because you say you're not". Nothing but divisive flame bait.

[AverageJoe90]

93. Yep. Yep.

"You ARE a racist, and if you're not, then you are a BIGGER racist because you say you're not". Nothing but divisive flame bait.

OMFG, just this.

[DustyJoe]

32. white people are more racist

meh

[jamzrockz]

34. That is what I said

and stopped reading.

[Albertoo]

43. Everyone is more racist than they realize

Lots of University studies have shown all ethnic groups unconscioulsy discriminate against the other ethnic groups. Latest study even with a sample selected among people who showed in questionaire results having no conscious biases.

Case in point:

a Brigham Young University economics professor showed that white NBA referees call more fouls on black players, and black referees call more fouls on white players.

All I'm trying to say is that it's racism in general that should be targeted, not whites.
The 'always-blame-the-white-guy' game gets tiring after a while.

(for all it's worth, I am in a bi-racial couple)

[KamaAina]

47. So they could speed up the game by hiring more black refs

since most of the players are black.

[Albertoo]

50. Basketball deserves all the misery it can get

I am short and was forced to play basketball in school for two years.

That sport must be made to pay for my past misery in all possible ways.

[KamaAina]

51. Albertoo, meet Ty "Muggsy" Bogues

One of the best point guards in NBA history. At 5'3".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muggsy_Bogues

Tyrone Curtis "Muggsy" Bogues (born January 9, 1965) is a retired American professional basketball player and current head coach of the United Faith Christian Academy boys' basketball team. The shortest player ever to play in the NBA, the 5 ft 3 in (1.60 m) Bogues played point guard for four teams during his 14-season career in the National Basketball Association. Best known for his time with the Charlotte Hornets, he also played for the Washington Bullets, the Golden State Warriors, and the Toronto Raptors, and later served as head coach of the now-defunct WNBA team Charlotte Sting.

[Albertoo]

52. He must have cheated

It's impossible to play basketball if you're short.

I know. I tried. And failed. Ergo, it's proof.

[KamaAina]

53. His opponents probably thought so

his ball-handling skills were like magic.

[Albertoo]

56. Time for a racist comment.

The only reason he could be a good player is that he was black.

The only reason I couldn't be a good player is that I am white.

It can't have been because I have the physical agility of a teapot.

Right?

[KamaAina]

58. I did not mention that he is black

although it is obvious from the pic.

Nor did I know that you are white.

[Albertoo]

59. you guessed because teapots often are white

Except in Japan, where they are black

[CreekDog]

62. K&R (and I'm white)

[azmom]

152. I'm brown

[loyalsister]

65. I just saw a prime example play out

A local city council member proposed banning alcohol in a park that is in an area where many minorities live in my community. When the inevitable outrage ensued, we got a "some of my best friends are black" style response. Clueless defensiveness followed inspiring more outrage that is entirely legitimate. After a successful recall petition was received, council member indignantly resigned. I can tolerate ignorance when someone is willing to learn.

It is the casual racism we saw in our community and the defense of it that are increasingly running rampant. I think it is much more damaging because it is so readily legitimized and the unexpected defenders take it so personally that they are unwilling to learn. Admitting those mistakes is an admission of participation in racism. Not many white people who believe we are living in a post- racial society and that we have made real progress are willing to do so.

Electing pres. Obama does not wash away past or present injustices.

[Number23]

91. Great post. The pattern you mentioned is on full display in this thread as well.

Clueless defensiveness followed inspiring more outrage that is entirely legitimate.

And the last bit was just truth with a capital T.


I think it is much more damaging because it is so readily legitimized and the unexpected defenders take it so personally that they are unwilling to learn. Admitting those mistakes is an admission of participation in racism. Not many white people who believe we are living in a post- racial society and that we have made real progress are willing to do so.

[ND-Dem]

96. was it the only park in your city, or were there other parks and only that one was proposed as

an alcohol free zone?

[loyalsister]

97. Initially only that one was proposed

Then the council member noted that two other parks have been designated alcohol free. Those are residential parks that sit on the premises of housing. The park that was suggested is a park where many people gather for barbecues, parties, etc.

When that wasn't enough to calm the opposition, there was a revision to ban alcohol in all parks. There are quite a few here. The initial proposal and defense was revealing enough for constituents to abandon someone who was elected with nearly 70% of the vote. Malicious or not, there was no way to back peddle enough to suppress that dog whistle. Particularly when there was no willingness to comprehend why the obvious disproportionate target for citations, fines, and police encounters would be racist.

7. White people are more likely to support the criminal justice system, including the death penalty, when they think it’s disproportionately punitive toward black people.

I think this applies to this situation. There is no doubt that that council member knew on some level that such a policy would be disproportionately punitive. I think it was not originally malicious but it was an effort to add another layer of institutional racism to our criminal justice system. Refusal to consider the consequences came a little closer to maliciousness.

[ND-Dem]

102. thanks.

[azmom]

116. I agree casual racism is very damaging.

[mythology]

81. Several of these aren't actually evidence that specifically white people are racist

Mostly they fail because they assume that either all of the people involved are white or that the cause is because of skin color.

Take the first example where professors are less likely to respond to perceived minorities. There are reasons that people would be less likely to respond to Asian emailers who are blind emailing that is utterly unrelated to skin color. Working in IT we have had multiple incidents where somebody will send us a resume that is in perfectly understandable English but once you actually talk to them on the phone or via a video conference, it's clear that the emailer wasn't the same person as we were talking to. As a result, we generally go by personal referrals rather than resumes because so much time has been lost on people who were clearly trying to scam us.

The second example, the study on which patients get pain meds points out that the research shows that black patients were less likely to describe pain or to describe the pain's intensity. Shocking that if you don't tell a doctor that something hurts or how much it hurts you don't get drugs. As for the length of time a patient is in the emergency room, that is also influenced by how much pain you're in, and frankly I'd be dumbfounded if it didn't correlate with who has insurance and who doesn't as well as the disparity in the hospitals closest to people. A major metropolitan hospital is going to have longer waits than a suburban hospital. I tried to follow the link on the ABC website to see if the study accounted for that, but the link goes to a completely different article.

Also in the second example the study purporting to show that whites are less empathic to blacks experiencing pain points out that the scholarly evidence is based on the premise that ingroup pain is more closely felt than outgroup pain. But the study is only focused on whites looking at pain felt by various ethnic groups. It specifically doesn't look if the same problem occurs when the situation is reversed.

For the examples dealing with the criminal justice system, I agree that it's institutional racism, but again it doesn't present any evidence that it matters if the judge/prosecuting attorney/police were white as opposed to a minority race makes any difference. So it really can't be used to present an argument that white people are racist unless you can prove that the problem is the race of the person doing the arresting/prosecuting/sentencing. All you can prove is that the system as a whole is racist.

The examples that people remembered lighter skinned blacks as more intelligent is utterly undermined by the fact that the study itself found that the problem exists across races of viewers. So not just whites, but blacks and latinos also had the same problem. It's again not a case of individuals being racist because they are white, but that we have an cultural/institutional racism problem.

It seems like the headline was written before the article as the example really don't support the thesis. Cherry-picking or flat out misrepresenting evidence isn't good work.

[bhikkhu]

84. All true - as I white person, I receive generally fair treatment

recognizing that, I try to be fair to everyone regardless of race. People of all kinds behave well for white folks, so we know that they know how, they just need to do it for everyone equally.

[AverageJoe90]

92. One of the most levelheaded responses I've seen on this thread. nt

[Number23]

90. You should have included the subheading. Even without it, the good folks here are already in full

whine mode.

'10 ways white people are more racist than they realize'
Progressives like to believe that they're enlightened, but they're no less vulnerable to their implicit biases

[romanic]

94. White privilege

Does exist, no doubt. White privilege allows whites to be treated with more lenient treatment by systems such as police and government. And yes thete are whites that take that privilege and morph it into oppression (aka 99.9 percent of republicans) for gain and power.

Yet the claim that every single white is a dormant racist and are only capable of racial discrimination just baffles me as a POC. For one the point seems so US/Western centric to the point that it ignores racial strife in other parts of the world. Another point, it makes the term "prejudice" seem lesser than "racist" and almost makes prejudice from say - an Asian person towards a black person "not as bad" because "Asians aren't as privileged as whites so its not actual racism" (yes I've heard someone say this in a sociology class, the groans could be heard all throughout the campus :/). I also don't take the academic definition of racism to heart because it always seems to change in the name of "intersectionality" and disregards an actual person's account on racism.

Articles like these don't encourage open discussion, it just strokes the fires between race groups for site clicks and ad revenue.

[ND-Dem]

95. "it just strokes the fires between race groups" & not just for site clicks. the PTB *want* to

stoke hatred and maintain division.

and yeah, one of the reasons people can say things like the idiot you mention in your soc class is because of lack of experience outside the US.

[kwassa]

155. The white privilege discussion is really about this phenomenon in the United States.

There is indeed racism around the world; it doesn't play out in exactly the same way that it has historically here. In a general way, though, whites, or light-skinned people are privileged in many of the world's societies.

[Oktober]

98. Are we to the point now where words just mean whatever the author feels like?

[McCamy Taylor]

99. If I smoke weed, I'm being racist? That one does not make sense.

You mean the criminal justice system that looks the other way when a white person smokes weed is racist, don't you? The pothead is just getting high.

[AverageJoe90]

100. Probably just a really poor turn of phrase on the author's part.

[99Forever]

103. Please explain to me how...

Last edited Sat Mar 7, 2015, 12:58 PM - Edit history (1)

... unjust laws and unfair application of them that I have never had a hand in crafting NOR have I EVER voiced the minimum of support for, make ME "more racist than they (I) realize."

I guess I'm just so freakin' ignorant and stupid that I'm incapable of "getting it."

[99Forever]

148. Apparently...

... this OP has no explanation to offer. I wonder if the OP has any comprehension of just how offensive this broadbrush attack on an entire race actually is? I guess not enough to defend it.

[kwassa]

154. Want me to 'splain it to you?

... unjust laws and unfair application of them that I have never had a hand in crafting NOR have I EVER voiced the minimum of support for, make ME "more racist than they (I) realize."

You, as a white person, benefit from the unequal application of laws, regardless of your support or lack of support for such laws. It is a benefit of whiteness, better known as white privilege.

Got it, or do want some more 'splainin'?

[99Forever]

157. That "splains" nothing.

Condescending drivel noted.

About what I expected, a pisspoor attempt to generate white guilt and a failure.

[kwassa]

159. If you don't listen to people, you will never understand.

Despite epic threads about white privilege on DU, you have apparently read none of them, and if you have, you haven't understood them.

Point blank: do you believe in the theory of white privilege?

[99Forever]

160. How does that answer my question?

If you just plain can't or won't fine, say so.

I'm listening just fine, clearly YOU aren't.

[kwassa]

161. Actually, no, you are not, but nonetheless ..

... unjust laws and unfair application of them that I have never had a hand in crafting NOR have I EVER voiced the minimum of support for, make ME "more racist than they (I) realize."

[/blockquote

You, as a white person, benefit from the unjust application of these laws.

If you deny that this is true, then yes, you are more racist than you realize.

[99Forever]

164. You can't or won't give an honest answer.

But seem vested in laying an unearned guilt trip on me. No sale.

[kwassa]

165. What part of your question have I not answered?

re-state it, if you think that I have missed it.

[99Forever]

167. All of it.

I'm done with your foolishness.

[kwassa]

168. Well, I guess you have nothing, then.

I am not surprised, somehow.

[99Forever]

170. I have nothing?

I'm not the one insulting all members of a race by calling them racists and then coming up empty when asked to make their case.

[Matariki]

172. What you are saying is true

The sad thing is that being treated justly should not be a 'privilege', it should be the norm for everyone.

[TheKentuckian]

113. I call bullshit, white people are significantly both aware and comfortable with all 10

Last edited Sat Mar 7, 2015, 03:44 PM - Edit history (1)

Not all by any stretch but a great many, possibly a majority. Particularly, the comfortable piece whether intellectual cognizant exactly or not.

In fact, I guess where there is a lack of awareness on the conscious level it is fueled by the comfort with the arrangements.

[azmom]

123. I think you are right. If I was a white person

I would be too.

[AverageJoe90]

158. Speaking as an actual "white" person.....I'm *not*. nt

[YoungDemCA]

114. #NotAllWhitePeople

needed, unfortunately.

[ismnotwasm]

125. Are you serious?

Oh my God

[ismnotwasm]

127. Keep digging

[ismnotwasm]

130. You? no way

[ismnotwasm]

134. I'm sure you are a perfect gentleman

I'm assuming male. Just no one To talk race relations with

[ismnotwasm]

121. Race fail Bingo

[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]


Source

http://dysprositos.livejournal.com/976.html

[ismnotwasm]

132. bwahahahahaha

[libodem]

122. But. but, but,

My one black friend says.....

[luke102938]

139. Defining 99% of white peope as racist removes all meaning from the word.

Real racists will hide among the masses and will be less marginalized.

[AverageJoe90]

156. Re: "Real racists will hide among the masses and will be less marginalized."

Unfortunately, that's another good point.

[shaayecanaan]

166. I am not sure that it removes all meaning from the word

but it certainly decreases the stigma that is attached to the word. It is possible, after all, for 99% of white people to be racist, but if they were, then no one could be singled out as racist and therefore there would be no negative stigma attached to being racist.

In other words, if you expand the target area, you diminish the impact.