More blithe racism

[lisarea]

Originally Posted by Janet

Also, there was a response to #crimingwhilewhite pointing out that it was, once again, making it all about White people. I don't know if it has died down since then or whether it was just people in my feed who stopped reposting.

I just read a couple of things about that, and I understand what they're saying, but I also think it's important that white people do things like this, to acknowledge their own privilege and to get other white people thinking about it too. Privilege is still hugely misunderstood, even sometimes by people who aren't just being emotional and defensive about it,* so providing examples is still useful.

And one of the things you can do after you've acknowledged your privilege is to use it. If you understand how much less risky it is for you to film or call out racial profiling and police brutality, maybe you'll decide to take that risk when you see it. Maybe you'll record a police encounter you see, maybe file a complaint or back someone up. And maybe you'll be less likely to assume that the cop roughing up a black kid is doing it for good reasons.

Plus, it's often panicky, sheltered white people who called the police who eventually came and killed those unarmed black people. In that Walmart one where the cops came and killed the guy with the toy gun, you could hear the the remorse setting in in that 911 caller's voice. It's possible he never had any intention of getting that guy killed, but was just so acclimated to his experience of police as reasonable and helpful that it never occurred to him that they might do what they did.

And maybe some of those criming while white stories will inspire more white people to actually think about their own encounters with police and how those compare to the encounters that black people are talking about. (Or even just the ones they've seen in videos and court transcripts.)

And maybe some white person somewhere, having acknowledged these disparities, will think twice before calling the police to come kill the next unarmed black kid.

* Although there is plenty of that, too, as anyone here is aware.

[Ari]

Yeah I read an article from the WaPo about that and was unimpressed. A conservative magazine trying to silence people talking about white privilege, what are the odds?

The reality is many #crimingwhilewhite posts aren't actually making it about themselves. Many mention the direct disparity between the reaction they got and the reaction their black friends got. In a world where white folk pretend privilege doesn't exist, I see no issue with pointing out that privilege.

The reality is that cops aren't just violent or abusive but they are targeted to a specific group, pointing out this targeting should not be silenced. I worry that the white privileged media just wants the cops to get less noticeably violent and will write it off as a win, even though the disparity between how they treat whites and blacks hasn't change.

[erimir]

The editorials* I saw complaining about it seemed to be comparing it not to the scenario where those people just didn't tweet/read about #CrimingWhileWhite, but the scenario where white people paid more attention to #AliveWhileBlack #BlackLivesMatter etc. But that scenario wasn't going to exist whether or not #CrimingWhileWhite existed. People weren't and aren't ignoring that because of #CrimingWhileWhite. The lack of what the author sees as an acceptable number of articles about #BlackLivesMatter isn't because of that hashtag.

But those white people who aren't paying any attention to #BlackLivesMatter? Maybe they'll pay attention to another white person pointing out a scenario where they were up to worse things but still didn't get killed, shot, beaten or even arrested. Maybe it won't convince white people who didn't believe in white privilege to now believe in it. But I really don't see how it's going to cause any damage. It's not like the presence of that hashtag on Twitter erases the presence of black people's tweets.

Maybe there are some people using that hashtag just because they want to say something about their own experiences even if they didn't have anything useful to add. I'm not going to tweet it because my only interactions with the police haven't involved me doing anything worse than speeding.

Honesty, I think a lot of these complaints about Twitter hashtags are more related to the platform of Twitter itself than negative intentions or behavior on the part of individual users.

Like, as one example, that one woman tweeted something maybe a little too strident about that scientist's stupid t-shirt with the busty women on it. All of sudden she's constantly having that tweet included in articles like she's the ringleader of a group that tried to make him lose his job or forced him to apologize on TV, rather than just expressing her momentary annoyance which is more likely.

* The glaring problem with #CrimingWhileWhite - The Washington Post
and
#CrimingWhileWhite is exactly what's wrong with white privilege | Jessica Valenti | Comment is free | The Guardian

Also, irony of white authors writing editorials in the Washington Post and the Guardian about how tweets about #CrimingWhileWhite are expressions of white privilege.

[JoeP]

#commentingwhilewhite

[Dingfod]

I didn't tweet a #crimingwhilewhite story, but I could have because I've had run-ins with police that probably would have been considerably different in outcome if I had not been white. I don't see a thing wrong with recognizing that I know I have white privilege, but do it with the intent of pointing out the inherent unfairness that represents. Everyone should be given the latitude that I have been given. I'm sorry that it's not that way.

[Watser?]

4 reasons to reject the racist Dutch tradition of Zwarte Piet - The Washington Post

[Dingfod]

Better hurry, they're multiplying.

[lisarea]

People actually claim that's not a racist caricature?

Nobody could possibly sincerely believe that. That is ridiculous, and the people who say that are just plain lying.

[Janet]

Don't you understand? Beloved traditions can't be racist caricatures. It's just not possible. Ask any Washington Redskins fan.

I feel bad that you all went off and read articles about #crimingwhilewhite after reading my post. I only saw a couple of snarky tweets. I didn't even know it had produced think pieces. Sorry about that.

[erimir]

Originally Posted by lisarea

People actually claim that's not a racist caricature?

Nobody could possibly sincerely believe that. That is ridiculous, and the people who say that are just plain lying.

Don't be silly. Of course people believe that.



WTF is Chief Wahoo looking at anyway?



Sneaky Janet replying after I loaded the page.

[lisarea]

Originally Posted by Janet

I feel bad that you all went off and read articles about #crimingwhilewhite after reading my post. I only saw a couple of snarky tweets. I didn't even know it had produced think pieces. Sorry about that.

I am pretty enraged that I read some articles, too, Janet!

For reals, though, I read the articles when they showed up in my feed partly because you'd mentioned that. But then I thunked about it for a while before I decided. And that is one of my favorite things to do.

[The Man]

Muslim teen intentionally struck by SUV dies.

Charge this motherfucker with a hate crime.

[erimir]

Originally Posted by The Man

Muslim teen intentionally struck by SUV dies.

Charge this motherfucker with a hate crime.

Seems like both the perpetrator (Christian) and the boy (Muslim) were Somali so it wouldn't be an example of racism really...

Of course, that doesn't stop it from being a hate crime.

[Watser?]

If the roles were reversed of course it would be terrorism. That's the textbook definition: Muslim kills Christian (or Jew).

[lisarea]

Dollree Mapp, 1923-2014: The Rosa Parks of the Fourth Amendment | The Marshall Project

[Watser?]

Brown lives also don't matter in Palestine: A Palestinian minister is dead, and Israel will no doubt get away with it

[ZEZOZE]

[Ari]

The Irish are just 'niggers turned inside out' don'tcha know.

[Dingfod]

Gingers?

[The Man]

Crazy Birthers Rally Outside The White House, Threaten to Lynch POTUS - Little Green Footballs

Among the remarks picked up by the cameraman:

“Hang the traitor!”

“Hang the lying Kenyan traitor!”

“We’ve got rope.”

“Plenty of trees in the front yard, wouldn’t be the first one hung on one of them trees.”

“Whatever happened to those good ol’ days?”

“Don’t stab his neck, you watch him choke to death.”

“He’s just biding his time until Satan takes him home to where he belongs.”

They seem nice.

[lisarea]

FBI investigates Lennon Lacy hanging death that was ruled suicide | Local News - WXII Home

Some background on this and similar cases:

Teenager's mysterious death evokes painful imagery in North Carolina: 'It's in the DNA of America' | US news | The Guardian

The strange death of Lennon Lacy: Another lynching mistaken for suicide?

[Janet]

The other day, one of the English people I follow was trying to get #poundshopEnochPowell trending. I found out later that Russel Brand had called Nigel Farage that on the BBC. I didn't have the context to get the joke, although the name was slightly familiar. Today, another Brit in my feed posted this article by Hanif Kureishi about Powell.

I'm including it here because of this.

eight years after Powell’s major speeches, one of my heroes, Eric Clapton, ordered an audience to vote for Powell to prevent Britain becoming a “black colony”. Clapton said that, “Britain should get the wogs out, get the coons out,” before repeatedly shouting the National Front slogan “Keep Britain White”.

Now, I've never liked Eric Clapton anyway, mostly because he made White men with thin, whiny voices think they could sing the blues. But I didn't know he was a racist shithead. It's even worse coming from a man whose entire career is built on appropriating the culture of Blacks. What an asshole!

[Watser?]

Enoch Powell was a nazi sympathiser who is (in)famous for his 'Rivers of Blood' speech. That's all I know.

[Ari]

A bill was recently introduced to force the change of California High Schools that use RedSkins as a mascot name.
Because liberals hate our freedoms!
'Redskins’ school mascots would be phased out under bill - SFGate

As a graduate of one of those school that is targeted I say... yeah sure, it's about time. Our logo is one of those generic indian Heads and when I was there the head cheerleader wore a simple 'indianish' outfit, and there was actually some cool community bonding thing with a drum beat before homecoming, all of which could easily be done without a racial name. With a ton of local traditions to draw from, at the very least they could pick a tribe or symbol that's not a direct reference to skin color, let alone native americans. Of course there will be grumbling, this is a conservative community that feels change happens way too fast and only 30 years ago was arguing over the installation of a blinking yellow light as modernizing taking over our lives!

[Stephen Maturin]

Originally Posted by Ari

Because liberals hate our freedoms!

Damn right! They insist on outright obliterating the freedoms for which so many have fought and died even though perfectly reasonable compromises are available.