Let me tell you something about Racism.

[Bonobo]

If it was as easy to see in ourselves as some of you pretend it is, it wouldn't exist.

So you can deny you're racist until the cows come home, but let's just say that you may have convinced yourselves and you may have convinced your loved ones, but THAT'S THE PROBLEM! HEL-LO! MACFLY! YOU IN THERE!?

White is the default folks. You need to think long and hard about what that means and how it manifests itself -in your thinking. It is NOT easy to find because it is the ABSENCE of fairness that is Racism, not the ACTIVE PRESENCE OF SOMETHING that can be found.

Among other things, it means:

*When Obama gets 45% of the Black vote, it means he can't "win over the White voters", but when Hillary gets only 10% of the Black vote, it means Obama's "got the black vote sewn" up (wink-wink)

*You can and should ask a Black person if they (still) love America ("even though...")

*You can be linked to radical 60's terrorists because of your color, while White candidates are not asked if they have sympathy for militia-type White terrorists like the ones that did Oklahoma City (one guy!?)

I'm sure my friends here on DU can add many more.

[Jed Dilligan]

1. K/R

[papau]

27. why - this child knows little of others it seems or what shapes their views

[Jed Dilligan]

34. ?????

On second thought, I don't want to know...

[redqueen]

65. ...

:rofl:

[mrreowwr_kittty]

2. Here's one: "Working class" and "blue collar" voters are white.

Because only white people work.

Seriously, I think the problem is that racism has been narrowly defined as the white sheet wearing cross burning kind. White people think if they aren't doing that, they can't be racist. The ever-present casual bigotry that permeates their conversations and interactions goes unnoticed, and the institutional racism that maintains the inequality fades into the background, as us white folks remain blind to our privilege. The scales really fell off my eyes during Katrina, when several of my white coworkers blamed the people trapped in the city for their predicament. They fell off further in this election cycle. :(

[Bonobo]

5. You can say that again. Katrina. Katrina pulled the mask off it -just long enough to look away.

It was too horrible. That shit could not have possibly happened.

White people standing armed on a bridge, not allowing a crowd of clack folks to leave.

Police shooting "looters" (oh, sorry was register 4 open after all!?)

[Withywindle]

11. Excellent point!

I see a lot of the fallacy here of people saying "What I said wasn't racist! I didn't MEAN IT THAT WAY!"

Well, guess what. You don't have to consciously "mean it that way" for racist coded language to carry a history of pain and insult. It's something we all grow up with in this culture, one way or another. Just hearing it. Maybe we know all along what it means, maybe we don't. Maybe we have the luxury of being ignorant about it, maybe we don't.

Same goes for sexism, homophobia, classism, etcetera. We all have very ugly and hurtful things in our psyches that we've picked up from the world around us. Refusing to educate oneself, refusing to apologize, refusing to modify one's behavior in the slightest of ways to avoid causing others pain...now THAT's the ugly face of privilege.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

19. You know it. It's easy to get defensive.

A few years ago I was out at a diner with some friends. While we were waiting for our table, I spotted a pair of African-American co-workers of mine, who were also waiting to be seated. They chatted with us for a few minutes. Later, while we were eating, I made a reference to "those two black guys". One of my friends asked me why I felt the need to add the racial descriptor, and pointed out that I probably wouldn't have described them as "those two white guys" had they been Caucasian. Needless to say, he was right, but in my embarassment I got testy with him.


I've never forgotten it and I try very hard not to mention people's races when it isn't pertinent information. Makes things interesting sometimes. "You never told me so-and-so was black!" Race really does color the American experience.

[terrell9584]

21. Ok, as a Katrina survivor

who actually spent most of my childhood in a city that was leveled by a 35 foot storm surge on a Monday morning, please don't use that hurricane to make a political point unless you have family down here, lived through it yourself, or came down here to help after the storm.

What pissed me off the most was that the media was down here that Monday, when the wind was still blowing reporting, they were down here that Tuesday and Wednesday, two of the hottest days I can ever remember in my life, they were over in New Orleans, filming the city falling apart, filming people at their most desperate, and not once, not once, with their damn helicopters buzzing the radius between Buras and Pensacola, not once did these reporters use their helicopters to bring in food or supplies. They came down here looking for ratings, they didn't give a damn that people were suffering, they faked it for ratings.

Not that FEMA was any help either. The agency that was supposed to deal with disasters is somehow blindsided. I-10 closed in Mississippi, Highway 90 closed in Mississippi. For God's sake, the storm managed to take an oil rig 60 miles out in the Gulf, and take it 90 miles up into a protected harbor where it ended up hitting a bridge. And Bush couldn't be bothered to even arrive on the coast until Thursday.

The neighborhoods that I played in as a child were turned into rubble. The place that I went on my first date to, no longer stands. Everyone suffered in Katrina, from Buras well into Alabama, and the fact that instead of trying to help people, the media just wanted the spectacle of this, to blare on TV. It is unconsiconable. The only people worse than the media were during that entire thing were insurance companies. If there is a hell, there will be special spots reserved in it for every executive at the insurance companies that decided to renege on the policies.

Katrina was not about race. It was about government incompetency at all levels, to a large extent, it was about the fact that no one expected something this bad. It was about the fact that FEMA failed at the one thing they were supposed to do and as a result, people on the coast, even the parts that you could actually reach by road, didn't start recieving adequate assistance till after Bush arrived.

Please, don't use Katrina to make a political point, because there are still people who are suffering from that storm and so it is a sensitive subject, especially when brought up by an outsider. And while on it, the fact that the nation has completely forgotten about it, life still hasn't returned to the way it was before the storm, and the nation no longer cares.

The last thing I am going to say, if you are concerned about the plight that people still have in this region, please contribute money to one of the relief funds, because relief and rebuilding is still going on. The only area in the Katrina zone that is not suffering is the area where only half of the city flooded, and even then, that half of the city remains depressed while the rest of said area is in a boom.

If it had been New York, Philadelphia and Connecticut to be hit by this storm rather than Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, FEMA would have been here the first day, aid would have been forth coming, and you certainly wouldn't have had news crews filming people wailing and suffering without offering them any help whatsoever. As you can see, this is a sore point for me.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

24. I understand, but this is a thread about racism

And the comments my coworkers were making were racist.

[Tatiana]

28. Terrell, my heart goes out to you.

And yes, I do have family from that region - both Louisiana and Mississippi. I have a cousin who trudged through swampland in the dark during that awful time and refused to return to school at Southern because he was so traumatized by what happened. It is also a sore point with me. However, I would ask you to look at your words:

Katrina was not about race. It was about government incompetency at all levels, to a large extent, it was about the fact that no one expected something this bad. It was about the fact that FEMA failed at the one thing they were supposed to do and as a result, people on the coast, even the parts that you could actually reach by road, didn't start receiving adequate assistance till after Bush arrived.

But then you end with this:

If it had been New York, Philadelphia and Connecticut to be hit by this storm rather than Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, FEMA would have been here the first day, aid would have been forth coming, and you certainly wouldn't have had news crews filming people wailing and suffering without offering them any help whatsoever. As you can see, this is a sore point for me.

You say that Katrina was about government incompetency, yet also indicate that if this had been New York, Philadelphia or (anyplace, I assume, in) Connecticut, FEMA would have been there the first day.

What's the difference between Louisiana and Connecticut?

[terrell9584]

33. Connecticut is a bunch of rich people

Half of whom are probably related to Bush and Louisiana is a poor state, always has been, which only still holds on because of oil. Biloxi had almost died before they legalized gambling (and it had been there illegally ever since they opened the canneries).

I know you are going to say that Louisiana is diverse, but that's why I included New York. I honestly think no one was caring because it was the South, and not just the South, but, if you have ever studied the history of the coast, a part of the South that is not held in high regard by other parts of the South (including parts of the region within the same states. Mississippi only began to appreciate having the coast when they realized how much tax money the casinos were bringing in, and yet the Evangelicals voted out Mabus because he legalized gambling.)

The unique thing was that that period of 2004-2005, you had every part of the country that celebrates Mardi Gras as a legal holiday, every place from Beaumont to Panama City under some kind of disaster area because a major hurricane had come in, and each disaster zone managed to overlap others. Rita overlapped Katrina which overlapped Ivan which overlapped Dennis. This is actually something that happened in the past, but back in that time, the coast was a hell of a lot less populated than it is now.

And the reason this gets me is because, I know hurricane history, you learn it when you grow up here, we are now in one of those active periods (as opposed to the 70s and 80s which, while they had bad storms, were relatively quiet) and we can honestly expect more of this. In fact based on the return period from this decade, I can guarantee that somewhere on the Gulf will be hit with a hurricane. 1995, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005 (I don't include Bret because that was far S. Texas), so looking at the gaps, we're at the 3 year gap of no storms, and the last two years were real quiet. I don't look at our luck holding up this time. It will hit, just don't know where.

That being said, I will say that the loss of life was as much cultural as anything else. Having ties here, you're probably aware that for many people, the first hurricane serves as a right of passage. Evacuation only became possible in the 50s and by then, people were so used to riding the things out, relying on their barometer, and just cleaning up after. Evacuation is still something that it is hard to get people who have roots on the coast to do, because to them, riding out storms is just another family tradition. This said, no one expected what happened to happen, and in the case of New Orleans, it was an entirely man made disaster. They were on the westside of the hurricane and while the 9th ward levee went in the hurricane, the 17th street one went after it had passed, as in, people had already started returning to the city to find out water was creeping in.

It'll take another generation for people on the coast to accept evacuation as something more than cowardice. (My father takes pride in the fact that he rode out Camille in Biloxi)

[lastliberalintexas]

42. Great post terrell

That period of 2005 was just surreal, starting with me and my coworkers taking up donations for Katrina hit areas by telling people it could just as easily have been us- and then it was. Katrina, Rita and Wilma hit very quickly after one another with no real time for recovery. And Wilma hit parts of Florida that had already been hit and were still suffering from 2 (I think) years prior.

You're right too, unless you're from the poor Gulf Coast, you really don't understand the culture and society down here. We are mostly a very poor people who might have made some money over the years because of oil and gas, but we are still not accepted by the Connecticut or Rhode Island elite. South Louisiana especially is like a completely different country, and for most of my life has been treated deridingly in US media, long before Katrina.

None of us would have even recognized FEMA's response if a storm had hit Newport instead.

[not_too_L8]

69. Connecticut is not just a bunch of rich people

It's a common misconception that television land likes to portray that everyone from CT is rich.

I live here and I can tell you that in 98% of the towns and cities in CT there are poor people that like in many other states, don't know how their going to afford food or clothing for their kids or how they will pay their rent at the end of the month or heat their place in the winter. and elderly that have to choose between buying food or medicine, and believe it or not we have homeless people too!

[Bonobo]

73. I have always wanted to ask this about CT drivers. May I?

Do they KNOW what a passing lane is?

Whenever I am on Rt. 90, it always seems to be the CT drivers hanging out in the left lane, seemingly unaware of people behind them forced to pass on their right?

Anyone else noticed this?

Entitlement?

[not_too_L8]

85. Yes.. left lane parkers ...it drives me nuts

[GetTheRightVote]

30. after listening to my co-workers put down the people of NO - repubs all of them

I jumped into my truck, drove down to NO and when we got close enough filled it with supplies, I had to sneak into the area beyond the National Guard who were letting no one in ( a kind local police officer allowed me in ) and then drove thru an area that looked like a war zone to leave the supplies with churches and the police to pass out.

I made several trips and it was so difficult to gas up to keep going back and living with the fear of running out of it, gas, and being stopped in the middle of no where. The lines I sat in until I got my 20 gallons that were ration to us while listening to the radio which was our only form of communication to the outside world. We had no cell phones, no ATM's, no food or water for miles and miles around,k no nothing but the voices coming over the wires.

Only to reach other areas which were very normal in their daily activities and appeared to have not notice that NO was in a very sorry state of affairs. I cry every time I think of it again, relive the little part I played and experienced and I can only imaged the suffering of those who lived and dead thru the event of those days. I saw truck after truck, car after car, vehicle after vehicle with no supplies which were allowed in due to them being residences of the area near NO.

Those days I learned of the good and bad in this country, of the right and wrong actions of so many Americans. I will never forget my reaction to these people who would not or did not reach out in some way for their close neighbors in end. I too do not wish to see NO Katrina used for political appeals for selfish purposes. This event holds to many memories, to many miseries but also to many true acts of heroes, real everyday heroes for them to by used by those who were not there, who did not answer the call of mercy.

They were not there on the dirt so they do not deserve to speak of it as if they were.

[Amelie]

82. THANK YOU

I get so frustrated when people use Katrina as a racial issue. My lily white family live in Broadmoor, possibly the most diverse neighborhood in New Orleans. We marinated in seven feet of water for two weeks. So did my neighbors, which included several black families, a single mother, a gay couple, and a few students.

The only point I would correct you on is that 80% of the city took water, not 50%. But you're right. Everyone suffered. Everyone has a Katrina story. No one was left untouched.

[terrell9584]

83. i was referring to a city other than New Orleans when I said that

one that didn't get much coverage in the national media, because it flooded for a day, while my childhood home of Biloxi was leveled and Lake Ponchartrain extended its boundaries for two weeks.

[Amelie]

87. Understood

My husband's ancestral home in Bay St. Louis, MS disappeared, as did my grandfather's home in Pecan Island, LA (due to Rita). Neither got as much attention as New Orleans...if any.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

84. That occurred to me, too

Why didn't the news teams bring in food and water?

[Tatiana]

25. You speak truth.

We wouldn't stand for such forced migration of any other American citizens, but the way fellow Americans were allowed to languish and die of hunger, thirst, and lack of medical attention really drove home to me that the head of my country's government and all those who have supported the administration could care less about black people.

Kanye West was right. When the Canadians make it down to New Orleans faster than our own government can, that's blatant and willful neglect. When we're in the position of relying first upon the generosity of celebrities like Sean Penn to rescue trapped citizens, at some point you have to wonder what it is about those citizens that elicits such disdain.

It's racism, plain and simple. You're right. We've been conditioned to think of racism as white sheets and cross burning. But that's where the "code language" comes into play as an acceptable form of tacit racist empathy. Some outright have called Sen. Obama a "boy." Bill Clinton called him a "kid." Different words, same intent. Still others have latched on to "Barry." Sen. Obama was called "Barry" in his youth due to mispronunciations of his first name. But why do some use the name "Barry" now? Barry is what he was called in his youth. They may not say "boy" or "kid" but "Barry" carries the same intent as the former descriptors.

[sandnsea]

3. My daughter went to a new doctor today

We took the baby back and I rode along to sit with the older child. She came out and I asked her how she liked the new doctor and she said it was nice, just more Latinos than her other doctor. I said it's because this clinic has its own assistance program. That's racist. Maybe they have a doctor who speaks fluent Spanish, I don't know. But I jumped to the derogatory conclusion.

If Hillary were a black woman, she'd have been kicked to the curb on Super Tuesday. The only reason she's still in it is racism.

[goldcanyonaz]

78. Wow, you never cease to amaze me.

[dsc]

4. weren't the weatherman white?

that is who he was linked to.

[Bonobo]

6. True, but the attempt to link him to them is because Obama is "the Other".

[dsc]

10. that is absurd

they are linked because Obama launched his career at the man's house. That isn't Hillary's fault. I think the minister is another matter and a stronger case for you but this is absurd.

[RaleighNCDUer]

16. He launched his career at a gathering with a long-time community

organizer who had never been convicted of a crime.

Bill pardoned two terrorists who had been charged and convicted of robbery and murder.

Who gets the press?

[dsc]

18. Only one of them had been charged with robbery and murder

the other one had helped hide the first. They also didn't, rather famously, publish an oped wishing they had bombed more.

[Bonobo]

20. Anyway...

No need to get hung up on that example.

Unless you want to really deny the substance of what I said in the OP. Do you?

[mmonk]

7. But he is black and there isn't any hullabaloo

over Bill Clinton pardons. This has turned into a racist campaign and I say that as a white male.

[dsc]

9. oh please

we hear endlessly about supposed scandals involving pardons. We hear about Rich, the Puerto Ricans, and the Hassidics.

[mmonk]

14. Sorry, but I haven't seen any links of the Clinton's in this campaign

to terrorists on my TV or on my radio. I would think pardoning two "convicted" would be more direct than the "links" of Obama to Ayers.

[redqueen]

66. Endlessly? On which cable news show are they talking about Hillary's

unbelievable claim that she didn't know about his pardoning that murderer?

[WinkyDink]

15. But Bill isn't a candidate.

[Shae]

29. technically. nt

[mmonk]

32. Neither is the Rev Wright.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

64. Yeah, and so is Clinton.

Yet there's the racist double standard in blaming Obama for the connection.

[dsc]

71. He is being blamed for the connection because he knows the man

fancy that.

[PinkTiger]

8. I agree with what you say about racism

But don't forget that anybody can be a racist, not just white folks.

[BlooInBloo]

12. White folks see it perfectly well. They just lie about it. And reinforce each other doing so...

... That's why it's so great to come out on the winning side of history - you get to be the foxes guarding the henhouse.


EDIT: Grammer nazi day is today.

[ogsball]

40. I dare you to take the test. . .

. . . it might surprise you how racist you are, sure made me think.

Link:

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/demo/

[spoony]

79. It's grammar, and you're still full of shit.

[GetTheRightVote]

13. when your white friends remind you your other friend has darker skin

very sad, very sad world at times but remember now, Obama also had a white mother and a black father so he is really both if you need to look at him that way. That is the color of his skin.

[AlCzervik]

17. when you get followed around in a store.

no i'm not black but i've seen that tactic in action, i took my daughter and her friend to a store, i think they were almost 12 at the time and her friend was followed so i don't get it right away, i'm thinking the guy is a perv so i ask why he's tailing her "Well she's a kid" "My daughter is also a kid--a white kid" and he pretty much blanched, i talked to the store manager and when the girl's mom came to get her the next day i told her exactly what happened including all of the names.

[AtomicKitten]

22. Specifically, I have never viewed the Clintons as racists, they just use race as a political tool.

I believe there is an undercurrent that is race-oriented which absolutely agree comes from somewhere inside people, but of note also is that reportedly the Clintons have been threatening media outlets who acquiesce and play along with them in various degrees promoting their incessant goal post moving.

It seems to me race is being muddled in with the Clinton's bulldozer push for their way or else. This is some sick shit they are laying on Obama, a tag-team clusterf*ck courtesy of the Clintons and their minions, the MSM, John McCain, and the entire GOP. It's breathtaking really watching them ironically prove Obama has the right stuff to deal with their bullshit after all.

[Spazito]

72. I honestly don't get how one can use race as a political tool without....

being racist in thought. To "use" race as a tool means, imo, you have to believe that race is "less than" otherwise would one not believe using race against anyone was wrong?

[Bonobo]

74. Not at all.

You could simply be aware of the usefulness of exploiting other people's preconceptions.

[Spazito]

80. But if you are not racist how can you (the generic you) find it acceptable within yourself....

to use it to harm others. To me, if you find it okay to use race against someone in order to "win", you must have an inherent belief that they are "less than" otherwise how can they even countenance using it at all?

[Barack_America]

23. When your losing opponent insists the rules should change to keep you from winning...

And your party actually considers it.

[cliffordu]

26. KICKED JUST BECAUSE IT'S A GREAT POST!!!!

[Basement Beat]

31. K/R

Great thread.

[EffieBlack]

35. K&R

[Name removed]

36. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Hope08]

37. People tell you ...

that you are winning because you are black, but no one ever says that the last 43 Presidents won because they were white. Even though that is strictly true, inasmuch as a black person couldn't vote in presidential elections in much of the country for much of our history, much less hope to become the President.

[lastliberalintexas]

38. White is the default unless we are thinking of something bad

You can describe a robber, rapist or murderer to many people and the picture their minds create is of The Scary Black Man. A Black man is 12 times more likely than a White to be sentenced to death for similar criminal conduct. Black men suffer from the highest unemployment of any demographic in the US and are imprisoned at the highest rate as well.

Those things actually bother me more than the things you've cited, though of course we can multi-task and be outraged by all of them at the same time.

But I also wish that people understood that all the isms (racism, sexism and classism especially) are used in concert by the elite to divide and conquer amongst us pleebs. Perhaps after the primary we can get back to real discussions.

[Bonobo]

39. Great post and you're right. Those things ARE more disturbing.

When I think of the number of families destroyed by the "Drug War", I am sickened.

Take away a father, break up a family and you destroy not only that mother, father and kids, but perhaps you destroy many generations to come.

You are right about how it is used to divide and conquer us. That is how they have achieved a 50/50 split despite the ENORMOUS income gap between people.

By all rights, the vote should be split 95-5, not 50-50 if it was based on people's economic self-interest.

[lastliberalintexas]

41. You're more generous than I

I think the bottom 98% should be voting Dem. That top 2% really could care less about the rest of us. :(

But yes, I remember we used to have many discussions on DU about how the Haves divided the Have Nots from the Have a Littles. And all the while Bush's true base laughs all the way to the bank.

[stillcool]

43. My husband says Obama is the ..

Jackie Robinson of politics. He was telling me the story of how gracious Jackie Robinson was with all the crap he had to go through. Obama is in unchartered waters.

[Bonobo]

44. We are ALL in completely uncharted waters this year.

Impossible to predict based on the past.

Who could EVER have imagined this?

[grantcart]

45. I think that is impossible for a white american to understand racism unless you have lived in

an area where you are the only person of your race there. I mean the only one.


I lived in Asia for 18 years and part of that time I spent where I was the only white person in my area.

I am not referring to the living and receiving hate part of racism I am speaking of how living in a world where all of the other images that your brain relates to look different from you.

Part of it is your 'on stage' all the time. Go into a room of strangers and everyone looks at you. Take a bus and everyone looks at you with curiousity. You have to watch your step because a trip will illicit laughter where if you were one of them it would be unnoticed. Everything you say has a different level of scrutiny.

And this is among people who liked Americans. It is just being different is a very isolating experience.


The other thing is it changes how you percieve yourself. I remember clearly after one particularly long period in the rural area without a single other European around that I had to suddenly go into the big city. I was walking by a new building with the reflecting glass and I was astonished to see the big ugly fat American standing in front of me. My mind had changed my own perception of myself into a much more Asian image. Seeing the reality was a real shock.


It breaks my heart when I read of the experiments where young AA girls pick a white doll over a black doll because they think it is prettier. The reality is even if all the whites became 'non racist' tomorrow the lingering effects of living 'seperate but equal' will still have a damaging effect on AA children, youngsters and adults because the media is constantly portraying idealized versions of Americans in a way that is different from them. This is why white America looks at Rev Wright one way and Black America lives another.

It is a difficult thing to try and explain but if you have the opportunity to live in a situation where you are the only one that looks like you do then you begin to feel the very basic existential difference that many African Americans face on a daily basis.

[Bonobo]

46. I have done it.

In remote parts of Japan where I lived.

You get the look. You know what it is like.

You are unable to rise above being the "Other".

You struggle for others to see what lies inside you, but you learn how very, very hard that is to achieve.

You go through many stages.

Your description was perfect. You get it.

On the rare occasions that I saw another foreigner, we were often uncomfortable with recognizing each other, because to admit to being friendly to that other foreigner simply on the basis of them being a foreigner was to admit that you, also, were a foreigner -and at one stage I remember not wanting to do that.

But eventually you acquiesce to that and move on to the other stages...
Ah, Thailand I see. Lovely people I understand.. Makes you embarrassed to be an American often, doesn't it? They are such better people, no? More emotionally mature, Buddhistic, whatever you want to say... No one reading this will understand if they have not had the chance...

[bhikkhu]

50. The closest I know is a year in Atlanta

A very deliberately non-racist and fine big city, but I had transferred there from New Jersey and so was definitely an outsider. This was particularly difficult as I was a single young male at the time, and came to find that while I was very fond of Atlanta - the friendly and fascinating people, the nightlife and clubs - I would always be an outsider and in a well-defined way "alone", no matter how long I stayed. Hardly a realization fraught with suffering or anything as I freely moved back to Seattle when opportunity arose, but it was very informative to a previously oblivious denizen of the West Coast.

edit to say - that is "regionalism" rather than racism. And I think in many cases where there is no ill intent the terms and symptoms are interchangeable.

[grantcart]

54. There is another part of meeting the strange European

Oddly enough - resentment -


You settled this area. You became familiar with everyone and learned the language and you earned the status of being the


European Resident in this Area. Now who is this interloper - look how he walks - oh so conceited - hasn't he learned to walk like

a native. Look how he moves his arms and speaks so loudly. Oh this is embarassing, what a humiliation!!! lol


Then you realize that he is acting just like you did just 6 months ago and you go over and introduce yourself lol.

[Bonobo]

56. HA! Man, you get it all right. You nailed that!

Cause nobody is as native as me, man!

:rofl:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

86. Yes, one of the most educational experiences of my life

was living in Japan. Having people make assumptions about you simply because of what you look like gets old after a short time.

On a return trip, I encountered a hotel that didn't take foreigners--because some foreigner at some time in the past had caused problems. The hotel's policy was that only foreigners in the company of a Japanese spouse could stay there, presumably so that the spouse could keep an eye on the foreigner.

I found the experience both infuriating and humiliating, but it gave me a bit of a sense of the kinds of things that African-Americans go through.

[ShortnFiery]

47. Black members of Congress must always wear both "a flag" + "a pledge (Congressional) PIN" lest

the Capital Police and some "white folk" may be afraid that you might be a TERRORIST or one of THEIR suspicious lookin' sympathizers.

[Bonobo]

48. I forgot about that one.

It's another perfect example of non-overt racism.

Yup. What is that congresswoman's name again? It's too late here for me.

[ShortnFiery]

51. Cynthia McKinney. OMG! The anger here that she dare not wear her "Pledge Pin"

was awesome! I'm the first to admit that I'm NOT above predjudice because we all stereotype.

IMO, the people who are *the most prejudice* and who behave in a discriminatory manner are The Ones who think that they don't need to reflect on their thoughts and feelings - they think that just by being "who they are" they self-righteously will themselves as RISEN ABOVE IT.

In other words, IMO, the most racist people are the ones who will fight you "tooth and nail" that they are IN FACT, totally openminded and ABOVE all predjudices.

[Bonobo]

52. Bingo on that one.

"The ones that fight tooth and nail"

Black people love us!

http://www.blackpeopleloveus.com/

[Aloha Spirit]

49. Racism is great because people always underestimate you. People don't expect O to do well in the GE.

[ShortnFiery]

53. Excellent Point.

But if racism is anything like sexism I've experienced - you have to be careful not to "show off" too much? After all, both women and minorities need to know their place? :eyes:

I was a high school track star in our little town in South Dakota, i.e., nothing special - only 8th in the mile on the State level. However, being able to outrun many of the men in my unit really *ANGERED* some of the men in my unit. I could see the resentment in their faces.

However, unlike Obama who is "gracious" when he out performs EXPECTATIONS, I figuratively would "rub salt" in their machismo wounds by promptly lighting up a smoke after each run. :smoke: :blush:

[Aloha Spirit]

57. LUV it. Don't stop rubbing salt!

[TexasObserver]

55. Yes. When they say "those great Americans in the heartland" that means white people.

When they're talking about those salt of the earth people of middle America, they're talking white people.

"Married, church going ..." = white people.

These terms are coded, and they ain't used to mean blacks, hispanics, or gays.

[ORDem]

59. Bingo! nt

[Starbucks Anarchist]

58. Pygmy George can ask if your "coolness" is tied to your race.

http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2007/05/obama_on_abcs_this_week_with_g.html

STEPHANOPOULOS: You have a very cool style when you're doing
those town meetings, when you're out on the campaign trail. And I
wonder, how much of that is tied to your race?

[Terran]

60. There are almost too many permutations on this to count.

My partner of 22 years is a man of color who is very aware of these issues, and has taught me a hell of a lot over the years (such that I occasionally get embarrassed when he recounts a story..."Remember when you used to think...?").

I think the most prevalent example of what you're talking about is this: the flaws of any given black person define the entire group, whereas the virtues of any given black person are shockingly unique to that one person. This is where the "clean", "articulate", "so well spoken" comments come from. Vast numbers of white people are simply astonished when they encounter a black person who basically holds their own against what is perceived as the best white people have to offer; with the corollary that any other form of appearance and/or behavior *outside* of that standard is evidence of a racial shortcoming (or let's face it, "inferiority"). Don't dress to the nines all the time? Don't do your hair quite perfectly? Toss some slang or mangled grammar once in a while? Show up to work five minutes late? "Oh that's so typical of them!"

Another big one for me is how (putting this in my partner's words), "Black people can't have nothin'." Every month is White History Month and we celebrate with joy the status of Irish-Americans and Italian-Americans and Polish-Americans, but for many white people, let a black person talk about their status as an "African-American" and why it might be a good thing to celebrate it, and they start whining, "Why can't we all just be Americans, boo-hoo??" I see this attitude right here on DU all the time. The idea that we should have a color-blind society is very convenient to push when the result is that it would make annoying black people shut up; but the mechanics of actually getting to a color-blind society are simply too rough on the privileges of white people, so, let's not go there too fast, ok?

Me, I want people to not be afraid of being different from one another. If we had that, we could relish our differences in color instead of being "blind" to them. It's not about tolerating one another (denotes barely controlled impatience, to me); mutual respect is what's needed and so rarely found.

[EffieBlack]

61. What a fabulous post. Wow! Thank you.

[Terran]

62. Oh! Thanks very much. n/t

[EffieBlack]

63. You should start a thread with this.

[redqueen]

67. Seconded.

[Bonobo]

75. I "third" that.

[sniffa]

81. 4th

That was dead on.

[NatBurner]

68. ^^gets it

thx for this post

[LuckyLib]

70. It means George Snuffleupagus can ask an insane question about Obama's "cool" being related to race.

And we don't see jaws drop among everyone present. And no one speaks out. And it means the MSM doesn't pick up on it, doesn't even question it. And it means Obama, should he retort with a Greek-related comparative comment, would have been hung out to dry.

[Bonobo]

76. That was a shocking moment. nt

[Evergreen Emerald]

77. Look at the difference between this thread and a thread about sexism

why do the people on DU deny that sexism exists in this campaign and admit that racism does?