

I, Racist - kelukelugames
https://medium.com/@johnmetta/i-racist-538512462265

======
scrumper
Point is well argued and carries a lot of weight. It's uncomfortable reading.

As a white person coming from the UK to the US, I noticed a stark contrast in
black participation in society between the two countries. While not claiming
Britain is perfect, my metropolitan southern experience included a lot of
black people on an equal or senior footing on various axes of professional,
financial, social, etc. That experience simply didn't carry across to the
major east coast city I moved to. It is unusual for me to interact with black
people at client meetings, in my middle class neighborhood, when I need
professional advice from a doctor or a lawyer, really anywhere other than
public transport or as a customer of a service function.

While I can't discount that my ignorance of any racial tension around non
white people in England was a simple function of youthful naivety, I'm
absolutely more aware of 'difference' now I live in the US and I'm a lot less
comfortable as a result.

In short, it's obvious to me on a superficial level that the black experience
in the USA is pretty bad, but this article is a deeper look at something
that's quite hard to confront.

~~~
jgroszko
I've noticed this in a few BBC shows vs. American shows. In a British TV show
there will be characters that just happen to be black, but in an American show
it's going to get talked about eventually. Admittedly they aren't the same
genres, but the shows that immediately come to mind for me like this are
Sherlock and Dr. Who vs. say 30 Rock or Community.

~~~
mercer
I really like how New Girl handled the issue. If my memory is correct, it
didn't really mention anything about their relatively large black cast, until
they was explicitly highlighted this fact in one of the final episodes.

------
slackstation
I am black and I'm with him on this but, he loses me at this quote:

"Racism is our acceptance of an all white Lord of the Rings cast because of
“historical accuracy,” ignoring the fact that this is a world with an entirely
fictionalized history."

What does Lord of The Rings written by a white author in a fantasy setting of
his own imagination have to do with racism? Furthermore, how is this racist?
Shoehorning a character into the story inauthentically without knowledge of
that culture would be just as bad if not worse. It's like Hollywood trying to
put "Hacker" characters into their storylines without having any idea of what
programmers actually do or actually act.

The author makes so many more powerful arguments in piece, this small point
just sticks as a thorn in my side. In the broad scope of things, an 11 year
child playing with a toy gun being shot to death within seconds of being seen
by the police (in a state with open carry laws, no less) is a much more clear,
poignant and serious issue. Harping that there aren't black people in Lord of
The Rings just waters down the argument and takes credence away from the other
more worthy points.

~~~
contravert
Fantasy has disturbingly racist undertones if you examine it closely. For
example, why is it "authentic" that all humans in Warcraft are lily-white
Europeans, and all other ethnic counterparts are fantasy humanoid races.

------
jrs235
What I have been noticing is that a large number of people seem to be
redefining "racism" and "racist".

 _" Or even worse, we’re told that we are being racist (Does any intelligent
person actually believe a systematically oppressed demographic has the ability
to oppress those in power?)"_

People are adding the requirement that to be racist or racism that an
oppression element must coexist with the thought or behavior[1][2]. That's not
completely true. An element of superiority or inferiority must exist. An
oppressed person can still be racist is they believe they are superior to
their oppressors.

The comment from the story above turns people off and away from hearing what
is being said because it is offensive and a fallacy.

EDIT: formatting

EDIT: Clarification "(Does any intelligent person actually believe a
systematically oppressed demographic has the ability to oppress those in
power?)" No. But you're conflating two issues; thinking of oneself superior to
another based on race and oppression. One can be racist without [directly]
oppressing others. In fact, that's what the article is trying to point out.

[1]
[https://www.google.com/search?q=racism](https://www.google.com/search?q=racism)
the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities
specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or
superior to another race or races.

[2] [http://archive.adl.org/hate-
patrol/racism.html](http://archive.adl.org/hate-patrol/racism.html)

------
bko
> White people do not think in terms of we. White people have the privilege to
> interact with the social and political structures of our society as
> individuals. You are “you,” I am “one of them.” Whites are often not
> directly affected by racial oppression even in their own community, so what
> does not affect them locally has little chance of affecting them regionally
> or nationally. They have no need, nor often any real desire, to think in
> terms of a group. They are supported by the system, and so are mostly
> unaffected by it.

This explains why some are moved deeply by things that occurred to strangers.
The obvious solution would be to help all people view themselves more as
individuals rather than belonging to this or that cultural identity. This
includes less personal identification with any group as well as viewing others
as individuals.

Unfortunately, the power players that make a living off racial tensions would
prefer to keep it that way to maintain their influence.

~~~
rabbyte
It's not that the oppressed are unwilling to view themselves as individuals,
it's that they are safer and better supported when they think as a collective.
So saying they should just view themselves as individuals isn't so much a
"solution" as it would be a sign that a solution was found. Also, is it an
unchecked white default bias to believe it's better to view yourself as an
individual?

------
louithethrid
My honor is all i care about. I want respect, i see insults in every lower
task i have to fullfill. So they are not done, and society crumbles away.

Most insulting of all, is that any ideology can be put to test. One can make a
colony, a island, a rapture and see how far it goes. Not far, by far.

The biggest insult though is that the web is annonym. There is no gender.
There is no colour. There is no countrys. There is only mind. Thus, if one
puts his mind and dedication into the web, one is equal. I ve seen to many
excellent black speakers at conferences. The Wall has holes, and one can step
through them. Of course there is racism. And its beeing fought by now. With
cameras everywhere- beneath every gun, on every drone. This will not stand,
this will end.

One is free to change what one can change, or to sit and sulk about the things
one can not. Years of social paintjobs have archieved nothing.

------
peterhadlaw
I'm so sick and tired of the race card. My parents are immigrants. They didn't
have the language privelage that [non-white] natives have. It's such a sorry
excuse blaming your failure on others. There will always be inequality in the
world. Somehow against the odds my parents worked their asses off and put our
family in a favorable position. It took working two jobs, going to school for
8 years but somehow they did it. I can't stand hearing racial this or that.
But to appease the racists out there, Morgan Freeman has many times been asked
if it's impossible to be successful as a black person, to which his response
was 'look at where I am now, that is evidence that you can be successful"
[paraphrased]. You have to want it, not whine about something else.

~~~
peterhadlaw
Don't understand why the down vote.

~~~
random28345
> Don't understand why the down vote.

Because you're weighing in on a complicated subject without considering your
inherent biases. You're conflating the success of individuals with equal
opportunity. Having a black president doesn't mean we're in a post-racial
society, being able to point to black athletes and movie stars doesn't mean
there's no disaprites in educational funding or discrimination in employment.

But worst of all, you've decided that because your advantages of birth are
invisble to you, they must not exist. This is like deciding you don't have a
cornea because you can't see it directly.

Look in a mirror, and instead of dismissing the idea of privilige, see if you
can actually see it in your life experience. Perhaps you can look here as a
starting point.
[https://www.uakron.edu/dotAsset/1662103.pdf](https://www.uakron.edu/dotAsset/1662103.pdf)

~~~
peterhadlaw
> There will always be inequality in the world.

I'm not dismissing inequality. I'm saying that b!tching about it gets you
nowhere and even worse, is a sorry excuse. There will always be people with
more and with less. If you want more, you go out and get it, for yourself, by
yourself, against all odds.

And what advantages are you talking about? Because I was referring to my
parents who grew up in communist Poland, where my mom as a kid dragged the
entire stores worth of butter home after rations were lifted. As a kid, in
complete innocence, bought all the butter in the store because she was afraid
of there not being more butter in the future. Or my dad, who to this day,
still has bread soaked in milk as his ingrained go to food when hungry.

------
notacoward

      White people have the privilege to interact with the social 
      and political structures of our society as individuals. You 
      are “you,” I am “one of them.”
    

I had never thought of this relationship between individualism and privilege
before. Thanks, OP.

------
andrewmcwatters
Uh, this is like a blatantly reverse-racist article.

~~~
mister_m
Feel free to explain why please.

~~~
andrewmcwatters
What is there to explain? The sun shines, water flows, and racists make
prejudicial statements.

~~~
kjdal2001
He is asking what about the article is racist, not why racism exists.

------
GoldenHomer
I can understand his anger and frustration, but come on.

[http://www.jamesmaystock.com/essays/images/InterracialMurder...](http://www.jamesmaystock.com/essays/images/InterracialMurders.jpg)

Source of image:

[https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-
the-u.s/2013/...](https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-
the-u.s/2013/crime-in-the-u.s.-2013/offenses-known-to-law-
enforcement/expanded-
homicide/expanded_homicide_data_table_6_murder_race_and_sex_of_vicitm_by_race_and_sex_of_offender_2013.xls)

~~~
VeejayRampay
What about the fact that there is a system of ghetto-ization that ensures that
a huge chunk of the black population is marginalized and ostracized? What
about the fact that the worst areas (where said crimes are committed) of the
densely populated urban swaths are disproportionately inhabited by African-
Americans?

What about institutionalized educational and police racism? What about the
presence of drugs and the lack of social workers cause God forbid rich people
pay higher taxes for the well-being of others?

What about the absence of fathers leaving innocent children to grow up without
good role models because daddy is in jail for an egregiously long "drug
offense" sentence (i.e. toking on a blunt)?

That stuff is systemic, showing out-of-context bar charts from the FBI doesn't
make it right.

~~~
GoldenHomer
I am sadden that you are justifying black murderers.

------
mplscoder
If whites were 1) running the country and 2) racist

then the immigration policies of this country would have kept the USA as a
white majority country.

Instead, white people are becoming a minority in the USA and European
countries.

"As Of Today, California No Longer Has A White Majority"
[http://thinkprogress.org/immigration/2013/07/01/2238421/cali...](http://thinkprogress.org/immigration/2013/07/01/2238421/california-
latinos-equal-white-population/)

~~~
JoeAltmaier
Sure, but that's couched in racist ideology: you are black (or non-white) if
you have any fraction of not-white blood. As the great melting pot processes
along, its inevitable that 'pure white' folks will disappear.

And that's a problem, why?

~~~
mplscoder
You are just arbitrarily defining whites to mean nonsense and accusing me of
being a racist which I am not, I am a Catholic and I believe racism is
illogical, but I still get annoyed reading about how all us whites are
supposedly racist or secretly racist, and couch everything in our secret
racist ideology.

I didn't say it was a problem for a country to be non-white. I said that it
simply proves that white racists are not running everything, which it does.
The WASP elites are not running everything anymore - its not the 1920s.

~~~
JoeAltmaier
Don't go overboard, there. The idea that 'white people' are disappearing is a
racist notion. Because of an ancient notion that if you are 'polluted' by even
1% 'black blood' then you're not white. On the face of it, that's nonsense.
Why not say that even 1% 'white blood' makes you white? Then the USA is almost
entirely white.

And half a percent of the USA are running the whole country. I suspect they
are all old white guys. We're more than halfway done proving the "they are in
charge" accusation, right?

~~~
mplscoder
What's the point of talking if you are going to just make up stuff I
supposedly said, you're arguing with things you imagined I said.

Did I say "white people are disappearing" No.

I don't know where this 'ancient notion' stuff you are arguing with comes from
either.

I can't argue on the internet with someone who can't read.

~~~
JoeAltmaier
Ok, sorry, I didn't actually mean to attack you at all. I was injecting the
comment that what it means to be white or black is a flawed notion, and any
discussion around that is likewise flawed. I retract any impression you have
that I was criticizing you personally, and retire from the discussion.

