African American
Related: About this forumWHY “WELL-MEANING” WHITE PEOPLE LIKE WTAE-TV’S WENDY BELL...
Damon Young, 3/23/16
Wendy Bell is a lead anchor for WTAE-TV, Pittsburghs ABC affiliate. Ive never met her in person before, but I know many people who have. And shes generally regarded as a pleasant, kind, and professional woman.
And, like many otherwise pleasant, kind, and professional White people, Wendy Bell is utterly clueless about race, White privilege, and how her privilege contributes to her tone deaf myopia in regards to race. This was made clear earlier this week, when the anchor took to Facebook to share her thoughts about the massacre in Wilkinsburg.
Now, before I continue, I want to note that what Im doing today isnt coming from a place of outrage. I am more exhausted and sobered by this than angry or offended. I do not wish for Bell to be fired. Plus, if possessing White privilege and existing unaware of that possession was just cause for termination, the White unemployment rate would be 394%. America has a unique talent for mass producing Wendy Bells like they were sheet metals or hot dog buns. Instead, Im just using her words to articulate how virulent (and damn annoying) this particular strain of back-pattingly well-meaning Whiteness can be.
***Also, after receiving criticism for her post, Bell edited it. What exists on her Facebook page now is not what was initially published. This piece, however, will reference the original.***
http://verysmartbrothas.com/why-well-meaning-white-people-like-wtae-tvs-wendy-bell-the-white-privilege-turducken-are-the-worst/
Response to MrScorpio (Original post)
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xfundy
(5,105 posts)The relation between people like that and manufactured hot dog buns is right on. Also, a remark about how they're made is similar to how hot dogs are made is probably apropos.
(Cow dicks and assholes. Shhh, don't tell anyone.)
mdbl
(4,973 posts)Right-wing blowhards on radio and tv have ensured we stay stuck in the 50's.
SusanCalvin
(6,592 posts)As I read the paragraph that started out "But there is HOPE," my jaw literally dropped. I always thought that was a figure of speech......
Jackie Wilson Said
(4,176 posts)I dont know how to respond anymore.
They are beyond embarrassment anymore, someone on the radio said that, rings true.
Does she even know she needs to be embarrassed, is what I wonder?
SusanCalvin
(6,592 posts)I bet she only changed it because she was told she should, without understanding why.
wildeyed
(11,243 posts)So apparently she does know some shame. Or at least that it was hurting her career
blackspade
(10,056 posts)When Joe paid the bill, I asked to see the manager. He came over to our table apprehensively and I told him that that young man was the best thing his restaurant had going. The manager beamed and agreed that his young employee was special. As the boys and we put on our coats and started walking out I saw the manager put his arm around that childs shoulder and pat him on the back in congratulation. It will be some time before I forget the smile that beamed across that young workers face or the look in his eyes as we caught each others gaze. I wonder how long it had been since someone told him he was special.
Holy hell. What a clueless fucking idiot. Life is all roses when this woman lavishes her praise on the 'Black help'.
What is this the fucking '50s? Never mind, it never changed.
Number23
(24,544 posts)Is that if you were to say to her exactly what you typed, even though every single, solitary word you typed is the God's own truth, you want to know how she'd respond??
"STOP RACE BAITING ME!!! I'm not racist!! I don't have a racist bone in my body!!11 People like YOU are why racism still exists!!1 You are too damned SENSITIVE! STOP RACE BAITING MEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!111111one11eleven"
I bet you five dollars that's EXACTLY how that shit would go down. Please trust me on this.
blackspade
(10,056 posts)It's a 'benevolent' type of racism.
In some ways it's the worst sort coming from people that are so steeped in their own privilege that they think that any gesture that they make toward the AA community should be rewarded with beaming smiles and high fives.
This clueless entitlement makes 'in your face racism' refreshing because at least you can easily spot those that are out to do you harm of one sort or another.
SusanCalvin
(6,592 posts)And it's very annoying to those of us who try not to do that. (And try to listen if we're told we're not succeeding.)
SusanCalvin
(6,592 posts)Look at all the people here who don't, won't, or can't just listen.
OneGrassRoot
(22,920 posts)wildeyed
(11,243 posts)where a bunch of privileged white kids got their panties in a twist because someone told them is was rude to dress in blackface for Halloween? Reading the things that actual adults in charge wrote before it all blew up in the press was what convinced me that good intentions are no longer enough. The first was some mealy-mouthed BS every so gently warning the sensitive flowers that if they did things that were incredibly rude and insensitive, people might actually be offended. And I am sorry, but if the parents haven't already stepped up and made that clear, then other responsible adults should, in no uncertain terms, be prepared to do it. And then another person, actually considered smart and competent enough to be employed at Yale, chimed in about how the white kids should have the freedom of expression to explore racist stereotypes. You know what? She is probably a nice person, and she meant well, I am sure. But that is not enough. She has a professional obligation to know better. Same with this news anchor. She should just know better. But I bet she is off nursing her wound, whinging about "racially divisive" and "PC"
There should be an expectation for white people, at least those in charge of things like the media and education at elite institutions, to know better.
DashOneBravo
(2,679 posts)Holy shit. She still has a job?
Starry Messenger
(32,342 posts)OneGrassRoot
(22,920 posts)got nauseated.
I want to write something that I'll attribute to some "liberal" journalist, and basically flip everything she wrote but have it stereotyping white people. I need to list everything that would get on a typical Trump supporter's nerves: talk about the likely murderers growing up in a household where they're "clinging to their guns," parents thumpin' on the Bible while having affairs not really knowing paternity, going to monster truck pulls and watching Nascar instead of getting a job, getting hooked on meth and/or heroine after getting hooked on their parents' opioids they were stealing to use at pill parties...
What else?