General Discussion

gollygee

(22,336 posts) Sat Sep 19, 2015, 08:25 AM Sep 2015

The Guardian: It's not my job to absolve white friends of racism, but it can seem that way

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/sep/18/not-my-job-to-absolve-friends-of-racism

White people seem to have a very interesting relationship with the word “racist”: the mere insinuation of racism sends them into fits of emotions, excuses, searching for alibis to prove otherwise. It causes fights, ends friendships and even sometimes makes them cry, both real and fiber-optic tears. The emotional and seeming psychological responses make me think the word “racist” is like a racial slur to them. I’m certain that most white people think that it’s the worst thing in the world to be called.

Despite this aversion to being termed a racist, it seems to me that many white people are still reluctant to have the kinds of conversations and reckonings that would perhaps give our society a chance – however remote – of starting to address the ongoing racism and inequalities plaguing us. White people are more scared of being perceived as racist than in doing the work to ensure that they actually aren’t.

Any desire to “have the talk” is almost immediately succeeded by some deflection, an effort to derail the conversation or change the discussion and shift attention. #BlackLivesMatter, for instance, is almost immediately denounced by critics who insist #AllLivesMatter without much consideration of the latter proving the necessity of the former.

Rather than addressing our own actions, attitudes and behaviors, we deflect in order to shirk the responsibility that comes with admitting we’ve spoken, thought or acted wrongly at some point – making it all but certain we won’t ever really get to the really important conversations we should be having.