Quietly Thinking Aloud

gradientlair:

Lack of knowledge on the actual policies. Very few people actually understand the original executive orders, subsequent judicial decisions and legislation beyond sound bites via “news” that is insistent upon painting this as “taking stuff” from Whites for Black people (as if it is “just” about Black people). Honesty, how many White people have reviewed the actual history of why this is needed? It’s almost as rare to find as anyone who calls themselves “patriotic” who has actually read the Constitution or a Christian who has read the Bible. Media soundbites shaped by bigotry (in a White supremacist capitalist patriarchal society) absorbed by many Whites whose life ideologies have been shaped by bigotry is not going to produce the nuance and thought necessary to understand affirmative action. (Even so, these two simple, non in-depth cartoons explain this almost as well as the complex legalese: 1 and 2.)

Anti-intellectualism. Piggybacking on the first point, the current culture of anti-intellectualism doesn’t encourage most White people (and Americans at large) to actually investigate things they are “for” or “against.” It’s much simpler to decide to be “for” anything shaped by a legacy of White supremacy and White privilege and against anything that appears to be contrary to the former. Whites are used to being a “baseline,” the “norm,” or not considered a group at all, but those whom other groups are compared to.  Sociopolitically, many Whites are having a “day of reckoning” moment by even being classified as a “group,” or a “race” as Tom Scocca pointed out so well in a recent article about Romney’s overwhelming support from Whites. These factors contribute to the resistance to affirmative action.

Ahistorical views on race. If a White person takes the “why isn’t there a White history month” and “why isn’t there a White Entertainment Television station” stances on Whites and the media, it can be safely assumed that they are either uneducated or being willfully ignorant about the role of race in America and why certain spaces exist for Black people amidst the media, public discourse and culture itself. By pretending that the tide of history has no racial element, they can then infer that if everyone “is equal” (as if being equal means being treated equally) Black people are “unfairly” getting “goodies” through affirmative action. This also ignores the fact that even with said theoretical ”goodies,” unemployment, health care, finances, real estate, and more is markedly worse for Black people (and other people of colour) versus White. The latter is written off as Black “character failures” in the ever so common victim blaming ideologies such as American “exceptionalism” and even “patriotism” at times. This is where LIES about “poverty culture” come about as a way to praise greed, wealth and Whiteness and demonize suffering, poverty and Blackness.

The concept of what “greatness” is. The inherent racism involved in assuming that someone White is always “more” qualified, as if being White is a skill itself, is common in everything from college admissions to employment applications. The idea is that some “stupid” minority “stole” a slot from the perfect White knight on a horse who deserved things because he “worked” for them prevails. Further, the idea that perhaps a series of advantages afforded by White privilege is “hard work” would be even more humorous if it wasn’t despicable. Said privileges often place Whites ahead in spaces by sheer virtue of the luxury of Whiteness, not any actual work.  The myth of meritocracy is a plague on the American psyche. (Christopher Hayes wrote about this oh too well in his book Twilight Of The Elites - America After Meritocracy. Also, I recently read a fascinating study about the REALITY of financial aid versus the myth that “stupid” minorities “take all of the college monies,” and other assorted lies.)

A zero/sum view of racism. Ultimately, many Whites feel that any joy, success or progress in Black life means misery, failure and regression in White life. Period. This tunnel vision view is rooted in racism and fear. Research has revealed that many cisgender heterosexual White men feel like the “real” victims in America. Even if they are victims, would that not be at the hands of men just like them, except of a higher social class? Not to them. Racist social narratives involve the worship of “job creators” (the same ones who fire these men) as heroes because after all, they share Whiteness even if they don’t share class, status or cash. Other research has revealed that while some Whites view past times (during and pre-Civil Rights era) as a time more racist against Blacks, they view today as “more racist” against Whites. Of course this is false and has more to do with the idea of some Black people not suffering and Barack Obama’s existence more than any in-depth study of how race is a primary factor to consider when examining socioeconomic status. The enlightened exceptionalism involved in some who even choose to praise Oprah or Beyonce or LeBron James is what allows them to pretend that life for the average and for most Black people has dramatically changed, when for many, it has not. Claims of “reverse racism,” which doesn’t exist, are more common now than ever.

People who benefit from affirmative action also want it destroyed. While more than anyone else, White women have benefited from affirmative action, many of them stand with White men against affirmative action while simultaneously benefiting from it. Most people now know the name Abigail Fisher and know it well. Further, many older Black people (primarily men from what I’ve seen) want it dismantled despite the fact they benefited from it in the past. They clearly knew that in their time especially, being qualified was not enough. Assumed inferiority blocked their way.

Related Posts: CEO? Have A Seat. Kthanxbai., Black Woman? Want A Job? Register On Monster.com As A White Woman, False Equivalence, Kerry Washington Talks Affirmative Action On Real Time

supersandys-space:

Last night in my hometown a man named Lucas Dane Stevens fled police in his vehicle leading to a high-speed chase in which he rammed a patrol car, then pulled a knife on officers after fleeing his car on foot.

He was on methamphetamine and had 5.2 grams of the drug on him. And he had a knife. The cops didn’t think he had one, he had one, and he tried to hurt them with it. Nonetheless, he’s alive and well and sitting in an air-conditioned jail on a $173,000 bond.

Unlike Michael Laney of Charlotte, North Carolina, Stevens was arrested. Stevens was not handcuffed and shot in the back of the head and written off as a “suspect” simply because he was riding a red scooter.

One of these men had a weapon. One did not. One was on drugs. One was sober. One is alive. One is dead. One was the suspect. One was the victim.

One is white. One is—was—black. That’s all it takes, folks. That’s white privilege. Check yours, fellow white people. Seriously. We call 911 for help all the time and don’t get shot execution style. This shit has to stop!!

withrevolutionarycries:

librariesandlemonade:

But you’re white, and you wonder if doing so is insensitive? Well, in some ways, it totally is. One of those ways is that, as a white person, the chances that you’re mourning the same thing people of color are mourning is pretty stinking slim. And some Black people will almost certainly be angry at you for that, because they’re mourning all of their children right now, whose lives are so heavily invested in dealing with this kind of thing every day. The knowledge that they have to teach their children that any interaction, even (and often especially) with those in charge of protecting them, could result in their death, and that their murder may go entirely unprosecuted.

That’s something that, as a white person, you don’t understand. Not on the same level. You can’t. And people of color are rightfully angry and upset about this whole incident, and furious with the system that allows it to continue. Because this is about their lives, what you mean as support for the struggle of their community might look like an attempt at solidarity, and it’s not your place to seek solidarity here. It might be construed as offensive.

On the other hand, wearing black is respectful and shows that you’re paying attention and you care about what’s happened. That’s important, and not doing it also carries the potential to be infuriating because by making that decision, you’ve chosen to make the potential that someone will get mad at you more important than what happened to Trayvon. 

The thing is, though, if you choose to wear black, you can’t expect congratulations for caring about a child’s murder. Nobody has to wear a special color to show they care about a highly publicized white child’s murder. It’s assumed that if it’s in the news, we care about it. So if you do wear black, you do it quietly, and if someone challenges you and says you can’t possibly understand, you agree with them. You can’t. Possibly. Understand. And now of all times is NOT the moment to expect people of color to try to educate you about it.

It’s your call, but no matter what you do, somebody’s going to be mad at you, and that anger is justified because this isn’t an isolated incident and you are part of the group that benefits from this system even if you don’t actively make it happen. There’s not a right answer. And that’s ok. But as a white person, let tomorrow, at the very least, be the day you step aside. Use your judgment and wear black or not, but don’t make it about you. No matter what.

bitchesandtheirprivilege:

ladyatheist:

alexandraerin:

Imagine a minefield… a strip of land seeded with traps that will maim or kill you if you put one foot in the wrong place. What’s the wrong place? You’ll know when you step there. There’s no rhyme or reason to it. The pattern that gets you safely through one part might get you killed in another part.

It isn’t that every square inch of soil in the minefield means certain death, of course. But what would the ratio of safe ground to mined ground have to be before you could actually relax, before you could feel safe… before you could be safe, in practical terms?

Imagine that you and your entire family are woken up at dawn every day and made to cross the minefield in order to just live your lives. You’re not allowed to take the same route as each other. You have to watch each other as you make your way through an invisible deadly maze, never knowing if today will be the day but always knowing that it could be.

And one day, while you’re in the middle of that maze, watching your children or your siblings pick their way carefully around you, you say, “I HATE EVERY LAST INCH OF THIS FUCKING MINEFIELD.”

And then you hear a voice from up above you, from someone who doesn’t have to walk the minefield… someone who’s allowed to use a footbridge to bypass it every day while you’re inching your way through it, someone who gets a head start on everything compared to you and yours because they don’t have to go through the minefield…

And the voice says, “That isn’t fair. Sure, some of the minefield will kill you if you step on it, but it isn’t all like that.”

This is for every person who was come to me on both twitter and tumblr talking about “we’re not all like that”. I’m so sick of hearing that shit.

This is white fucking privilege. This is “my feelings of being insulted are more important than any actual loss of life.” And this? This is me saying fuck you and your privilege. We have to acknowledge racism to help, and that means saying “we are born racist, and with privilege. That needs to stop.”

stfuconfederates:

These are some things that I have discovered or have been informed of over the last few months on this blog, and I wanted to pass them on in one place. I hope they can help you in the ways they’ve helped me, and I thank the people who’ve patiently helped me to understand them.

1. ‘Ally’ is something that you do, not something that you are.

I don’t call myself an ally. I appreciate it when I am referred to as such by my friends/followers who are People of Color, but a label such as ally isn’t something that a person can apply to themselves. It’s a liquid term that may or may not apply to me at any time depending on my personal behavior, and to assume the term is to assume that I am then incapable of wrongdoing or racism. I’m not. I’m simply not. You cannot label yourself an ally, all you can and should do is be one.

2. We’re still white, folks.

Far, far too often I see white anti-racists referring to all other white people as ‘you’, ‘they’, ‘them’, etc. We’re still white, y’all. We still have white privilege. When we tell white people to stop doing things, we have to say we have to stop doing this, we have problems, we have privilege, we don’t experience racism, we will never understand, we, us, ours. Rejecting whiteness and white supremacy does not strip us of privilege or somehow remove from us our ability to white.

3. We must work in the interests of all People of Color, while understanding that PoC are human beings who do not always agree with each other.

Simply put, it’s not our place to step into conversations between People of Color who are discussing racism to agree or disagree. Remember, we don’t experience racism. We can’t pick between the viewpoints of people who, from birth, understand racism from experience. As white people, and as anti-racists, we deal in our own. There are plenty of white people upholding white supremacy, we have plenty to do. And, in the rare case that this happens, if a Person of Color tells you that racism happens to white people, etc, thank them for their opinion and move on. We simply have no place to argue.

4. We support, defend, and battle. We don’t validate.

When we reblog something about experiences with racism/whiteness from a Person of Color, we don’t do so in order to ‘endorse’ or ‘validate’ their experiences, or to say that ‘as a white person, I agree that this happened to you and I say it’s awful and therefore it really is’. We must understand that these experiences are valid by the fact of their existence alone. We pass these things on because they’re real, and because people need to know. Not because we need to put our white stamp of approval on it.

5. Intersectionality.

In other words, to work in the best interests of People of Color we must also work in the interests of queer people, trans people, women, disabled folks, etc, but we must remember that these battles often share the same front. There are queer PoC, trans PoC, Women of Color, disabled PoC. Homophobia, cissexism, misogyny, and ableism work against People of Color as much as they do anybody else.

6. It’s not about us.

It’s just not. When whiteness is rightfully attacked, we have the choice to continue to battle whiteness or personally defend ourselves. We can only do one at a time, and there’s only one that we can do while calling ourselves anti-racists.

Who gives a fuck if we’re not all like that? There are still an overwhelming majority of white people who are. See point 2. We’re not here to defend ourselves or present ourselves as good people or ‘better than the other white people’. See point 1. We don’t determine the legitimacy of our ally status, and to derail a conversation on racism by defending ourselves is to say that the fact that I don’t see myself this way is more important than the fact that whiteness prevails, which is whiteness prevailing in action, and is racist.

lightspeedsound:

1) Why is saying “you are being racist” a trump card? 

2) Because if it’s true, you are a horrible person and your arguments are invalid?

3) Or because clearly, a POC knows what ze is talking about and if you are racist, all your arguments fall to pieces?

4) Or because society is slowly acknowledging the fact that racism is bad in a certain context and you really don’t want to be perceived as a) old fashioned, b) behind the times, c) in the same boat with the KKK and slaveowners?

5) Or all of the above?

and when you think about it, given those arguments, and given the complaint that, “A POC cannot cite race in an argument because it’s not fair because as a white person I am not oppressed and I should be able to have the same arsenal of argument weapons as A POC has,” 

…well…don’t you think that argument makes you sound like a racist fuck?