Whitewashed: Unmasking the World of Whiteness
Using amateur footage collected over the course of several years, the video records the voices of white people reflecting on race, racism, and white identity. For over a decade Mark has been talking to white people about racism and what it is like to be a "white" person. Drawing from those that would speak with him, this documentary shares some of what they had to say.
Here are some of the testimonies: "I don't have any trouble admitting that I'm a racist. I think it's absurd to try to fight with that. I grew up in this society, I was conditioned by it, I think internally in my psyche I have grounded and rooted those attitudes and I see them all the time."
"I don't like being a white man and that's what I am, because I know what I've done, what people like me have done. Part of being white is just not in any way acknowledging what it means to be white. I have a white skin and with that white skin comes along a whole mass of privileges that I have and I don't ask for them, they're just there."
How did the ancestors get turned into "white" people? "You can only be something if there's something else to negate so I guess we became white because there are bunch of other races to set us off. The reason was the assimilation in the United States when lot of European ethnics came over and assimilated for a variety of reasons, primary being to elevate their socioeconomic status."
"So to get jobs, to find places to live, lot of the Europeans altered their last names to sound more mainstream, a lot of them changed the clothing that they wore, foods they ate, so they were conforming to the dominant white culture."
"The reality is that those persons who are white and who are considered white and treated as such in the society by virtue of being white, they had to give up who they really were. All these European ethnics who are not white anglo-saxon protestants had to give up their actual identities for the sake of whiteness."
it's ok to be white
Only one thing caught my ear in this.
A young woman said as a white person we just took many rights for granted where as colored neighborhoods didn't feel much like they had those rights without always pushing for them.
Well, one right she mentioned and without even the slightest halt or pause was, healthcare. When people in america are THIS dumb about reality there is a very big bunch of doubt in my mind as to how clear their thinking and commenting on other issues is.
I agree with nearly all the rest of this stuff but wonder how they respond without a camera. Most people are phoney and don't even know it. That's why nothing ever gets done. They do their voting where there's no camera.
I really don't get this 'white' doesn't describe me never has. Nor does Caucasian. The yanks seem to be really hung up on non-existent racial classifications. Thankfully, I live in a country that isn't racist and doesn't even ask on the gov't forms.
What A Waste Of Time. Thank God I Was Smart Enough To Stop Watching This Halfway Through. I Wish I Would Have Read A Comment Like This Beforehand So I Would Have Known Better To Waste Any Of My Time. I Could Also, Easily Find People Of Any Race To Put Down Their Own Race In Order To Create An Anti-Race Documentary. Black Lives Matter? Nope. All Lives Matter. If That Terrorist Organization Was Really About Equality, They Would Have Went This Route. Just More Hate Propaganda. DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME! PERIOD, POINT BLANK!
Omg yes...all lives matter. WORD!
"All lives matter." You don't say? That's quite a remarkable notion. Real genius. The problem is that people like you still don't get it. You'll sit up here and act like you said something enlightening, and in reality, you're clearly absolutely clueless about the actual issue still. You sound like an ignorant jealous 3 year old who's upset the focus isn't on you. And that's the problem. The focus has all always been on you. You mean to tell me that an intelligent individual such as yourself can;t understand the simpleness of reality?
All lives matter....well no sh*t! Bravo! The problem is not all lives are treated the same, smart guy. And I gotta tell you, there's something very disturbing and narcissistic about the fact that certain white people, who have never had a clue about what it's like to walk in other persons shoes, can sit up here and pretend that everyone is treated the same and one race shouldn't be the center of attention cause all lives matter. LOL. WTF is wrong with people?
Look, I'm white too. But I'll be damned if I sit up here and try to pretend all of that crap is nonsense. You're so damn self centered you couldn't even watch the damn video, cause it wasn't about you. What the hell does that tell you? That right there is the damn problem. You act like there's never been a problem, cause you've never had to experience a single thing that blacks have. And to sit up here & act like an a**hole about it, that's the very attitude & same way of thinking that has worked against them for years.
You probably can't wrap your brain around this, but less than 75 years ago, blacks weren't even allowed to attend school. A privilege that your *ss, and my *ss, have never had to fight for. We've never had an issue going anywhere, or doing anything. Even something as simple as trying to get a drink of water out a damn fountain has never been an issue. When is the last time you got stopped by the police or had them called on you for doing nothing wrong? How many times have the cops stuck a gun in your face & put you in a choke hold just because?
And you really wanna sit up here & act like everything has been equal? Like it's no big deal? Are you retarded? And what...because I'm white I'm supposed to act like I'm too stupid & blind to see the truth just so I can root for my race? lol
Guess what smart guy...were all the same race. It's called the human race. And to sit up here and act like I'm too good to watch a video depicting reality because it doesn't paint white people all that great? You can't even stomach it because it doesn't revolve around you. Reality check....the problem with the world is, and always has been, white people. Selfish, self-centered, egotistical, narcissistic, ignorant, racist, whiny white people.
White doesn't make you or me better than anyone. And frankly, I don't think you could even handle a week of what most blacks go through because of racist whites. You can't even watch it on video.
You know what a good white person is? Reginald Deny is the example of what humanity should be. He was almost killed by Crips in Los Angeles for nothing. And you know what he said & did? He said he got a small taste of what it's like for them everyday, and then he & his family went to visit the prison & became friends with his attacker. The same black man that hit him with a brick. He was so stunned & moved that he didn't know what to do. What kind of lesson do you think that man learned?
You would think after all these years of bull we put Indians & blacks through, we would have a little more compassion & respect. But instead all we can do is make it about us... with the nerve to get upset because it doesn't make us look good. smh. Gee... I can't imagine why that is!
Maybe the problem is that you haven't had the balls to sit & watch one of these documentaries all the way through so you can see what actually took place. Don't be coward. Face the reality. Because that was real & still is. It just didn't happen to you. You should feel lucky instead of acting like a spoiled ignorant fool. Acting like you're some educated veteran & aint even seen the war, let alone been on the front lines.
"All lives matter...." smh. Then act like it, cause just saying it don't count. Hope & pray one day the tables don't turn.
Racism is intrinsic to the human race a primeval protection for humans it will always be with us in one form or another in every country someone is busy being prejudiced against someone else and most likely trying to harm them, I tend to treat others as they treat me be nice and I'll be nice come at me with hate and the desire to harm me I will blow your head whatever color clean off at that point color makes no difference only the survival response to a dire threat is what matters so have what ever belief you wish hold it dear just don't think it gives you the right to cause harm to any other unless it is in defense of life and limb. Americas 2nd amendment is precious while you will never overthrow the government with a few rifles and pistols but they are essential for dealing with situations out of government control...your life even if you are white is worth as much as any other life, protect yourself and your family from any idiot of any color wishing to harm you because of their internal issues and dipshitedness
Racism is an actual form of mental retardation. That's a fact..., medically, scientifically & psychologically speaking.
I've been treated lousy (threatened) by black people and white people. I've been treated well by both also. I've been taken advantage of in dealings with both white men and women. Does this make me have white privilege?
What is the natural tendency of people? To point the finger at others instead of at the mirror. Just because someone screws you over, usually has nothing to do with race, even if they openly stated, "I sure got that black guy!" Because the next day he is saying, "I sure got that mexican!" and the next day, "I sure got that a-hole" (no need to say white if he is in a predominately white area, the same as no need to say "brazil nuts" if you are in brazil, they are just nuts). Skin color is just an easy distinguishing reference. Meaning most people who tend to get a sense of gain at other people's loss, don't restrict themselves in that regard to any race. They are equal opportunity advantage takers. I know some Scandinavians of a particular country who are rotten to the core when it comes to screwing over other people, even people from their own homeland, it is what they live for. It seems a few too many jews got a rep in history for doing similar.
If one were to observe a little better, they would see that it is a wise, pretty girl's/woman's world, rather than a man's. Talk about privileges unafforded to most men... at least in the usa. Emphasis on wise. Skin color optional. The wisdom shows shortly after words being uttered. You ought to hear young black professional men describe how difficult it to find a young black woman who has some class and won't embarrass them in social situations with clients and others.
No matter the race or gender, if you cannot hold you tongue and concentrate on what is important for success, you will hold yourself back. Along with freedom of speech is the freedom not to make a fool(ass) of yourself by speaking.
See the movie "The Mask Of Zorro" with Anthony Hopkins who schools Antonio Banderas on how to be "gentlemanly" in order to get what you want accomplished in certain circles.
Imagine being before a judge in a courtroom and telling the judge what you really think... He has the power to put you in jail. So go ahead and tell him he is a snake of the lowest order, no actually lower, a worm under the dirt, and wouldn't know reckless endangerment from the hole in his head to be coming as soon as you get a hold of a gun. We are all judges or at least discerners of what we find to our fancy and what we find problematic or of no benefit or distasteful or worse. Do you think I am going to hire some liberal loudmouth loon looking for anything to cause me trouble with some liberal govt weasel hellbent on getting rid of my biz in order to help out his liberal friends in the same biz? Not to mention turning away my customers? (no I don't have any such biz, but I know people who do and prefer to retain customers rather than having some socialist govt indoctrinated blowhard scare their customers off)
What ever race, color, or creed you may be, do you find it to your liking? Do you find it useful to have someone blaming YOU for their lack of progress or advancement? Or would you be more admirable of them if they actually did something about it? Like figuring out how to build their own economy.
Detroit for example, is plenty large enough to have black grocery store owners, black owned dance halls, black owned restaurants, black owned product manufacturing of things they use. Black owned banks (like the one in Harlem) And when capable expand into other areas. Meaning Detroit is large enough to be self supporting. THE ONLY PROBLEM IS THEIR LACK OF VOTING WISDOM. They vote for the exact wrong leaders. The same self serving weasels who skim all the program money to themselves and their cronies and leave little to nothing to "their people" then blame whitey for not giving them enough. When it would NEVER EVER be enough. That is a prime example of socialism. It is THE most corrupt system and inherently so.
Suppose 1500 black people in Detroit invested all of 1 dollar into a months rent for a street corner commercial bldg to a person selling something others wanted to buy. Fried chicken and watermelon? If you can't laugh, you're unwise. Comedians of all color make a living on stereotypes. Whatever it is, they can repeat that where ever they can find a good spot. Then when it is seen to be making some money, some dick will come in with a gun and rob the place. Then they will blame the police for not protecting them. The same police they blame for shooting black guys shooting at them, drug dealers sucking up the brains and money that could be spent on chicken or apples or brooms to beat deadbeat husbands or some natural vitamins. Then the govt will want them to pay for a permit which they may not grant and tell them to shut down because they were paid to do so by the chicken shack over on the boulevard. That certainly isn't a problem of capitalism. It is a problem of govt corruption which certainly doesn't limit itself to capitalism.
What most fail to see is that govt IS the problem, not the solution to most ANY situation. When people are of the mindset to help themselves, they will protect that biz and start others next to it. If they want biz to flourish in Detroit, reduce govt to almost nothing, just some public utility workers, sanitary workers, and health inspectors. Ok some police. Minuscule taxation. No permits, just health inspectors who are required to give a video copy of their inspection to the owners so they can challenge if the inspector happens to be paid off by a competitor. Do they really need all that self dealing administration trying to serve themselves for the next decade?
The mentality is the problem, not the ability and opportunity.
What we have in the once great usa, is a few too many people trying to take advantage of other people by a few too many methods, some obvious, some well hidden. It certainly isn't limited to white men. What color were those men capturing the people of africa to sell them into slavery? Black. Yes, indeed black men profiting from slavery. Still going on today in the usa in a mental sense. "Reverend" Wright was the weasel Obama listened to for 20 years before Obama magically claimed he didn't know he was saying all those awful things. "Reverend Jesse Jackson" and "Reverend Al Sharpton" more weasels keeping their people down preaching the blame game to enrich themselves.
It is simply garbage in = garbage out. Listen to better, successful, wise people like Ben Carson and several others, and you will pull yourself out of your misery. Black or white. Good principles apply to all and are eternal. Much easier to call someone an uncle tom and go back to welfare check and scream for more free stuff that someone else has to pay for.
Who is profiting by keeping the minds of the blacks focused on the exact wrong things? Feeding on the human's of any race, creed, or color, natural tendency to blame others for anything and everything, rather than doing what it takes to succeed. Which often means dumping your stupid fiends(not friends) who want you to be as miserable as they are.
Are poor black people more important than poor white people? They certainly have many more govt programs. It seems white govt decided black lives matter long ago and in the process did them a huge disservice by lowering the grade requirements of blacks. Giving them preferential treatment in various govt positions, especially teaching. What did this accomplish? More of the same poor mentality getting spread further. The dumbing down of the usa as desired by the elite who have no need for thinkers only workers. They certainly don't want people smart enough to compete, or catch on to their schemes, only to work for them at the lowest price possible. Black power! Revolution! Look what happened to Rhodesia when the black socialists took over. Corrupt at its core. The only people that are not severely worse off are those at the top, skimming the dough and foreign aid.
Case in point Obama. How does a "community organizer" become a millionaire in the Chicago Mayor Daly regime? I know community organizers. Tney don't get paid much. So then what did Obama do to get his big dough? He delivered the black vote to a corrupt organization. He got the skim off of program money he was able to garner for his "community". Got black privilege in being able to attend Harvard while having substandard grades. And who paid for his expensive education? It certainly wasn't his mom or dad. He is an operative. A minion of the bankster elite. Those who want you to be their slave. Did he help the blacks? Not one bit. Yet another black man rounding up slaves. And they revere him like a star, just because he is half black. Is that white privilege?
The most important right people in the usa have is the right to vote and they squander and abuse it like it doesn't matter. If people of all colors would pull their heads out, of their backside, and the boob tube, and off the nipple of booze and drugs, they could easily solve MANY of their problems as easy as voting. Nowadays it seems they will have to see to it better, more incorruptible people are running.
Far too many young and old blacks listen to and believe the WRONG people. They don't listen to the well accomplished, well spoken, insightful people of their own and other skin colors like wise people do.
If you have never heard of Thomas Sowell and his comments on Obama, maybe you should. If you've never heard Walter Williams speak on economics or various other issues and how he is so glad he grew up prior to the times of Jesse Jackson and the other blame game black profiteering so called "reverends", maybe you should.
Regarding Haiti 200 years ago: How did the Europeans develop trade? They worked at it. Someone would have traded with them, even if European powers cut them off. Even if it was under the table, if the price was right. Who? China and the usa. That is if they had something they wanted. Which means you'd have to find out what they wanted and then grow and/or make that at a price you could profit from.
Excuses and blame accomplishes what? Certainly it is wise to be wary and learn from history. But to sit there and whine when you have multiple thousands of your own people to sell to and trade with and develop your own economy with is silly. That is how you will gain respect. Who respects someone sitting there crying. You just tune them out like someone else's child having a bad day. Heck if one actually went to enough places, with the right attitude, I want to learn how to do what you do, I will work for some food, and then when able, take this knowledge far enough away as to not compete with you in any way and see if I can create jobs instead of crime. My bet is that there will be more than one, if not several that would take that person in. I once let an alcoholic doper live on my property and gave him enough work so he could buy a car to move to a place where there was more of the kind of work he know how to do. He thanked me for teaching him new things and how to look at the world a little differently. We were the same age, he reminded me of a teenager. If you distract yourself from the truth about your current self long enough, you never get out of high school mentality; the socialist mentality; where it is someone else's responsibility, govt, rather than the buck stopping at your feet.
I know a gal from Jamaica who came to Boston to attend university. She stated that her tendency was to trust her own skin color and found an upstairs room to rent with a black man. One day she came back to find all her stuff on the street because guy was ticked that she wouldn't pay twice the agreed on amount so he could cover some more bills that he ran into. Sounds like white privilege doesn't it?
Racism is what you make of it. If you want to be burdened by it you will be. If you ignore it, you can move around it like it wasn't there.
What is white guilt? Fools. Did they themselves cause some problem? Or are they being fooled into wanting to cause me, via govt, to cough up money that I had to work for, to give to someone that I didn't cause any grief to what so ever?
Most issues are all about the greedy wanting money they didn't work for. Whether it is govt skimmers. War mongers. Inflation and deflation causing banksters. Polluters. etc. Money money money. Quit pretending it isn't about the money.
agreed . marxist "equality" has gone berserk
In regard to the Chinese person stating that 4 injured Frenchmen were treated extra well by the Chinese govt vs. the regular injured Chinese.
Really? What would you expect? For govt to stuff them in a dumpster? Or take advantage of any positive PR media spin they can get out of treating foreigners extra well? Why would any foreigner want to visit if word got out they were treated like crap; since accidents can and do happen and is an ever present risk. Meaning I would put on my list of places to visit, countries that treated visitors well versus sticking them in the back of the line behind a billion other people. Is that "white privilege" or just a natural tendency for a govt wanting to look good on the international stage?
People see what they want to see, rather than what is.
Wow. That was some of the most nonsensical bull I ever read. You've been done wrong by whites & blacks...well I guess that makes you even. You've walked the miles in their shoes. They were done wrong, you were done just as wrong...let's just stop whining & playing victim now. We're all even... lol
WTF? lol OMG smh. Way to make it about you. I cannot believe some of the ignorant narcissistic jealousy I'm seeing here. You were treated good by both, so doesn't that make you privileged. Have you ever in your life experienced reality? Do you honestly believe that you can relate to a single thing others go through?
smh unreal. All that gibberish for nothing. Just to hear yourself talk. You people just don't get it. Because yes, you're privileged.
Racism as it is packaged these days is a hoax. I'm not saying racism isn't real, just the way it is packaged and used. Especially, the pushing of white racism as some special, worse case.
Do your research on this - study after study rates the three most racist cultures in the world as 1) Indians, 2) Japanese, 3) Jews. 2 & 3 even have common derogatory terms that mean everyone that is not of their "race". What is packaged as racism is more culture-ism. I thing there is a lot of hate for the black-American ghetto culture. Much less towards black skin. "What the white man has done" is no different than what any ruling class does.
In the animal kingdom like prefers like, species tend to stay with species. Humans are the same, we can identify with and tend to advantage those most like us. It's more about helping those like us at the expense of those different, than hating those that are different. Totally different motivation than racism. "White" grabbed power in North America first, and supported other white, at others expense. In South America it was "Brown" (Spanish/Portuguese) that grabbed power and supported other brown at others expense ("Red").
Historically, (look it up) the majority of people involved in the slave trades (globally) where non-white. And, the actual number of white Americans that owned slaves was a small number - primarily those that had large areas of land to work and could afford them. Others did have slaves, but also indentured servants, just as often white as black.
Yet, in 2017, me, a Slav (where the term slave came from due to the number of us enslaved) am expected to feel guilty for the actions of a small number of white people that were customers of a minority run business.
this reminds me of my chiropractic education. string together a lot a unproven, postulates to draw a non-sequiter conclusion that is something imaginary. and how does one refute the imaginary. clearly, they lack the self-imposed, critical thinking that a scientist would impose. And the worst is that they don't even define their terms. Start by defining EXACTLY what they mean by racism.
In this Doc. all the WHITE PEOPLE are basically from the same neighborhood (middle class). They all seem schooledm I'm from both sides of the track, poor white thug, veteran, computer tech. for 3 billion dollar companies, heroin addicted back to the street. Im 50 now and all I can tell you personally is being white is a moore civil, valued, and attractive way of race. When i see white i see hope but my personal preferance is dark, cause i see action and adventure. This Doc. Is about 3 hrs. too short and narrow to represent my whiteness. Tee Hee. ?
Yes, and we also know Jews like you, Isaac, were nothing but goat herders that mooches of foreign nations for millennia, never did anything for themselves, got everything handed to them, till certain people got sick of it ( you know what I'm talking about) then got America to hand them a whole new country just for themselves, most unlike the Native Americans, who deserved far more than the likes of you people. You talk about white supremacy? Dude Jews are not white!
Race is a bigoted social construct and "white people" don't exist. We're all one race. Whites need to accept their privilege by accommodating POCs and allowing themselves to become displaced in the countries their ancestors supposedly created (we all know Native Americans and African-Americans fought the Revolutionary War and became the forgotten architects of our system of government). As much as bigots like to whine about the black crime rate, it seems that they never realize that the reason African-Americans are so prone to committing rape and murder is that they're oppressed by hate-mongering whites hassling them while keeping them in poverty and committing micro-aggressions against them by wanting to touch their hair. As for their low scores on intelligence tests, psychometrics is a tool of the kyriarchs seeking to keep our equals down to keep themselves down.
Hopefully one day we can end white supremacy and create a beautifully vibrant society like Brazil, Haiti, or South Africa. It's 2016!
This "white world supremacy", it is not true in therms of History of Humanity, all over the time, they were small poor villagers full of empty stomachs. The problem is that the "bible" is made today in Hollywood, so many believe in the movies fake history. In fact only after the industrial revolution the North European economy changed uncultured barbarians, to rich colonialists. The Arab culture were richer and more advanced for much more time, as the Chinese, the Indian, Egyptians and several more. Only Europe as an all has a great historic importance in several moments: the Greeks, the Romans, Venetians, Portugal and Spain new seas and land Discoveries, the French Revolution of Rights and Liberties and then the British Capitalism, Industrialization, with the North of Europe and North America bringing new science, 2 world wars and Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Which will be the most important fact that the superior white race will leave for history? Maybe the end of History!
jovison-yeah- and here you are typing on a WHITE designed keyboard ,network and computer to bitch about the very race that you LIVE off like a parasite.
WOW! I have never seen something so racist in my days. Just like everyone else, I didn't choose my skin color or anncesory. This sick s*it needs to get off the air, the liberals are just fueling more fire on the race war. Seriously if this was towards any other race, it would be canceled and the creators would recive hassel for years. MTV has really gone towards hell lately. Same with the s*upid media trying to brain wash everyone.
Why as a "white" woman do I worry when I see 2 or more people of color walking towards me? Why do I feel afraid when riding public transit? How about this...I as a white woman fear for my safety because there are so many people of color that insist that ALL white people owe them. The worst thing is that I am also Native American Indian and Black. To bad most blacks can't see past skin color.
Nah, you're just racist
This documentary is silly and promotes self loathing. I love being white, why wouldn't I, that being said I have a lot of black friends and enjoy other cultures. If these white people don't like their 'privilege' they can always move somewhere where they're not the majority.
And here´s the result of brainwashing.Ashamed to be white?! Is just the color of your skin,you s*upid f..ks!
Moving away from warm countries, into cooler parts of the world Beginning to wear clothing, living in shelters out of the sun, causing less melanin created lighter skin just evolution.
Laziness. People got turned into 'white' people because of laziness. More people in the world, less time to get to know them all, less interest in them as individuals. Easier to group people, right? laziness.
13:45 story of the "manager" says it all. The end. If you can't white priviledge you're in serious denial.
Yeah, but what about individuals who are white who don't identify as white? not to say they identify as another race, but don't identify their race at all. i would say it is more prevalent among younger generations. they just identify as an individual. and they then have to question why it matters in the first place, when they have to fill out in questionairres, job applications etc if they are white or not. what about eye color? lol or just other questions. it's just so broad and it seems unnecessary. so you act like all white people are fortuned by white privilege, and some people have the ability to be but don't even want to be privileged by that in the first place!
Being priviledged isn't something one necessarily wants, I am aware it just happens. I just said if people can't see it they are in denial.
Yeah but then you arguing for the side that is placing people in a group unjustifiably. Where is the fairness in that?
I wouldn't want to argue for either side, personally. It's a really broad topic and to have a set-in-stone opinion is quite foolish....
Interesting documentary. It would have been interesting to hear what people of other races think it would be like to be white.
As an African American female, I have given this question a great deal of thought over the years. What I think it would be like to be 'white', is defined not so much by what you do, how you look or the things that you do. It is defined by the 'freedom' from thinking about your race at all times. It means not holding your breath and praying that the rapist/terrorist or thief in a news story is not black. It means that being competent and successful in your job/career, does not have the extra burden of 'being a credit or a role model'. It means competing without thinking that you must be twice as good. It means NOT needing to shop at 'specialty' vendors when needing your hair and beauty products. It means being able to be blase, to have no reason to note that items labeled 'nude' as to color, do not resemble YOUR skin tone. It means (a la President Obama and other successful blacks; even myself) you don't need to smile with grace & humility, when for the 10000th time, it is remarked upon that you are, "so brilliant, intelligent and articulate", as if it is somehow surprising and must be remarked upon. I am a political junkie and have NEVER HEARD the President's intellect and articulation commented on so often! It means never needing to search for another face that looks like yours, at the conference, the club or the party. Being white would mean never hearing black people say, " I'm not prejudiced, I have white friends". Being white, allows one to be 'free' of suspicion and able to believe the Officer Darren Wilson's of the world.
These are small things, but that's the point. Being white would appear to me, to be a state of mind, that would free one from, not just the occasional overt acts of racism, but these small things, the daily annoyances, greivances and indignities of black America. Being white, as stated by some in this doc, means rarely giving your whiteness a second thought. That's what I think it would be like to be white; a freedom to just be. How remarkable that is.
bravo
Well, this was weird.
@kendra w: I spoke only of how whites generally have to watch what they say, being an inverse to how blacks did. I didn't speak on the extent of the implications for doing such originally, and esp said nothing close to the entirety of the jim crow laws being an inverse. You're putting words in my mouth.
And yes, I'm not speaking about individual events or circumstances. I said generally. Once again, taking my specific words out of context. Go check. How many blacks in the media do you see destroyed publicly, for slandering whites today? There is no NAAWP or white al sharptons running around. Many of the issues today are stirred up, just to pit us against one another.
And I didn't say racism only exists, cuz we talk about it. I said the exact opposite actually, go check. I see nothing wrong with us having differences, and therefore feel we should talk more openly about them. Of course tension still exists. I feel it's cuz we won't talk about it more.
But talking does no good, if we're not listening to each other. You keep misrepresenting what I'm saying, cuz u don't want to understand. You seem blinded by hatred, like so many other whites and blacks of today. I can understand, or am willing to try to understand where you're coming from. If you're not willing to give me that same respect, then take your confused insults, and petty attitude elsewhere. I am willing to listen , but that doesn't mean I will agree with everything. It's how we go about disagreeing that makes the difference.
" Ironically, this is an inverse to how blacks had to call us by certain names(master sir etc), and/or conduct themselves in a specific fashion as not to get scrutinized." Didn't put words in your mouth. You said inverse not me. And this is part of Jim Crow etiquette so~ I'm not misunderstanding or misrepresenting you. You just said something that was incorrect. White people being expected to be tactful towards black people is NOT the inverse or even somewhat related to white people forcing black people into submissive position.
You don't understand power dynamics at all. There is no system of oppression against white people. The times there was (Irish Italian) they were STILL placed above black people on the heirarchy. There's no white equivalent to calling someone a nappy headed ho. White features have never been considered inherently ugly. There's no white equivalent to saying why do you have to be seen with white people. Proximity to white people has always signified higher status to black people in society. Seriously give me a break. You can't tell me the food network wouldn't have let the Neeley's? go if they were caught up in a racial discrimination scandal. Please.
You sure? Do you know what NAACP stands for? There's no association with the intersests of advancing white people? Are you positive about that? Lol think long and hard. I'm sure you'll realize this is not true. And even if there weren't some private group, guess what, it's coded into politics/law enforcement.
Well, that’s not what I meant. I explained it in the last post. Either way, I’ll be more clear regarding that point in the future.
I’m pretty sure white people are associated with small asses, little dicks and poor dance moves; to name a few qualities that have been labeled similarly. Times have def changed. What is the number one musical genre in this country? You may say that all rap is doing, is allowing the balck man to be demonized, by the negative content associated with rap music. That may be the case, in the older crowd. Look at the crowds of tomorrow tho. We don’t live in the jim crow era. I’m not saying that blacks don’t get profiled more than whites. It is nothing like it was tho. Having a nappy head or a small penis, are superficial items. We place too much concern on cosmetic ideologies as a society. There should be nothing wrong with us being different, both physically and culturally. And if there's nothing wrong with it, then speaking or even joking about our differences shouldn't be an issue.
And it wouldn’t have been promoted enough, to prompt such a response, if the neeley’s did it. IE, it never makes big news. And if you’re referring to the kkk. They get how much attention? They have been completely written off as a hate group. The “system” is oppressing us all. Education is expensive as shit for all of us. Wages aren’t keeping up with inflation…for all of us.
The powers are oppressing us all. It’s poor and rich. Our oppressors are actually the minority. But, we can’t stand together enough to change it. The same thing cointel did to the revolution(60s), they’ve been doing to our country this whole time…pitting us against one another. It’s working.
You are correct on many levels. Wrong though, like most white liberals, on certain important issues, though. I agree with your premise, but you fail in two areas. "White features have never been considered inherently ugly", you say. Well, there are a couple 'features' that are considered inherently 'undesirable' by blacks, therefore creating an equivalent insult to 'nappy headed ho". That would be "flat assed cracker". There were just as many 'noassitol' (no ass at all) jokes told about white girls, as there were the nappy head ho jokes. More importantly, There is absolutely an equivalent to saying, "why do you have to be seen with those white people"? Your statement that,"Proximity to white people has always signified higher status",in the black community, sounds like it came from the many African american studies courses white folk take. Allow me to enlighten you to a little known fact about race relations and the black community.. One example is personal, the other is not.
On the personal front,
In my family, like many black families (particularly the educated middle class), proximity to whites was anathema, not at all considered to be raising your social status. In fact, when I was a teen in the late 60's, in my black middle class neighborhood, engaging with whites socially, admiring them obsessively, was considered to be low class. Pimps desired white girl hookers, white and black heroin junkies hung together and those without self esteem and pride sucked up to whites, were (ugly word, but true) Uncle Tom's. My folks raised us with the understanding that we had to be twice as good, to get half as far as whites. As with many of the proud, hard working, refined, southern blacks, we were told that we could and were expected, to outperform entitled white kids, who had it easy.. I attended a high school for gifted students that was 95% white, expected by my family and neighbors to kick white butt, academically speaking. The struggle that many of those successful black folks endured in an effort to become educated, find employment, start businesses, etc. did not endear them to whites. In fact, the interactions they had, of necessity, with white folk, demystified them, brought them down a peg or two, if you will. Consequently, white folk were not considered a status symbol, not at all. We always knew that our preferred dates and mates were to be black and bringing a white boy home would be frowned upon. For myself, my two sons attended private school. That choice was made because it was the first year of forced bussing. I felt it sent the wrong message, entirely, if my children were bussed across the city just to sit next to a white student! Many black parents agreed, sending their children to private schools. We are not exempt from prejudices of our own, in the black community, you see? Slavery, Jim Crow laws, etc. impacted us too.
That brings us to the end of the 60's into the 1970's. A time when white, progressives were surprised to find that The Black Panthers, Sncc, Core, etc. did not want their presence (whites) in their organizations. I could say more, but I think you get the point. As stated, I understand where you intended to go with your argument. You just went off the rails on the way to be ing variety
Interestingly, you use a phrase that I hear repeated quite often, by white people. A phrase that I can honestly say that I have never heard a black person use. It is a phrase that is indicative of 'white privilege', in fact. I know that you mean no harm, because you truly believe it to be true. Yet, It is wrong on so many levels.
I am speaking, of course, about your use of the phrase, "many of the issues today are stirred up, just to pit us against one another". Fox news commentators love to use this phrase, blaming the liberal media for 'stirring things up, causing trouble" between the races.. Just think for a moment how arrogant that is. It presupposes several things. One, that you are able to 'speak' for us. Who are you to know, or say that you know, what is a REAL issue in my community? You are not in our churches, living rooms, barber shops, etc. where you may have gained some insight on what is or is not an 'issue' for us? This is one of the messages of this documentary. Some very honest people here, admit that they don't know much about black people because of white privilege. That paternalistic air demonstrated by that statement is a result of the insidious nature of 'white privilege'. You see, I would not presume to know if the Washington Redskins name controversy is 'ginned up' by the media, or not. If I did think it was, I would not try to speak for Native Americans.
Secondly, I always bristle when I hear that we ( African Americans) are apparently so naive, childlike, stupid, etc. that we are led by The Rev Al Sharpton or the media to believe that racial inequality still exists. You asked to be treated with 'respect'. I ask that you treat us the same. Give us credit for being able to think for ourselves. I am aware that you mean no harm in making this statement. You may think that many of these racial issues are ginned up. Speak for yourself.
In “your” community? Isn’t it “ours”? “Your” barber shops? I thought we’ve moved past that whole segregation thing, but I know a bit better, from xp. Back when I was 20, I needed a haircut for a job interview. I was new to the area, and didn’t know of any, and was in a hurry. I stopped through one,
and could obviously tell it was a predominantly black shop from the outside decor. I went into a shop, mid-day, mid-week, that was fully staffed, just no
customers. I asked if I could have my head shaved. They all looked at me, like I was nuts. I was like, really? They said no, we can’t help you. I said, give
me the clippers and let me do it, and I’ll pay you for a normal cut. I knew that wasn’t an option, I was just trying to emphasize how silly this was, as a blind
person could cut my hair, because of how thin it is(I do it myself, while watching tv). I understand they may have felt uncomfortable, doing a texture, unfamiliar to them; but we didn’t even get that far. Even after I expressed my urgent situation, and told them anything would do.They pretty much just told me no…like they wouldn’t lay a hand on my head in a million years. I didn’t have time to deal with their filth, and just left very upset. It was a black only barber
shop(everything but the sign, of course). Yes, there are filthy white racists out there too, as racism still exists; and we all exhibit it or other items like ageism etc, I’m sure on some level. But, there def are lines, like everything else.
I attended a few churches when younger, but stopped going shortly after, usually. I just couldn’t get around, how I could only attend white churches, and how the 1s I could attend…were strictly white churches. It disgusted me…esp in this day and age(and that was more than 15 years ago), which is nothing like the jim crowe era. If you say I know nothing about that era, then neither do you. I finally found a unity church, that catered to all colors, but wtf…
And I never said anything about blacks being naïve or stupid, or being led by anyone. Stop…
You’re doing the same thing, Kendra was doing. You’re twisting my words, and projecting your views of how you think all whites feel or something.
And the media is used, in so many different ways, to keep us from coming together. Mankind is divided by nationality, ethnicity, religions(and denominations), political parties, frackin sports teams lol, and countless other cultural institutions.
So because I’m not black, I can have no say on black
affairs? That is exactly what has allowed, the filth committed by so many whites for so long, to continue. They wouldn’t put in a vote, for their FELLOW MAN.
You sound like you’re displaying some of these traits above, and I will not show you any respect, if you tell me I have no opinion; because of the color of my skin. That is a disgusting view, imo. I may be misinterpreting your stance though. I can appreciate the manner, in which you stated your position, and will listen to why you think otherwise, but as it stands; you’re perpetuating a big part of what I think is
the problem…not just “you”, but whites and may others, as well.
I'm Rodney Bresch, btw. I can't access that account, any longer.
there is a NAAWP... It is calle regular TV and Life in america. If there was no organization for minorities... We would never be thought of in society. Who in traditional societal aspects fights arm and arm with blacks? Sure isn't Bill Oreilly
Did you not read my posts? I never said, there were no issues, but it is nothing like it was. That is just a silly argument, to me.
Bill Oreilly is a mouthpiece for the same corporations, that are shitting on poor blacks...and whites. As I said. We're all being massively screwed over. It's much easier for them to pull it off, with us at each other's throats...instead of at directing our attention at the source.
. one of the reasons why I hate america(...no offence) is because they brought the world the race wars. if they just stopped dehumanizing people by colours (one being connated with good, and the other with bad. but noo, no one ever seems to realise this!) then everyone would just be referred to by the country they were born from which would be wayyy better but nooo, america through their s*upid history has been fighting an age old war to separate people into two camps, just so that they're government can better control society. divide and conquer. but not realising that this would spread throughout the world, infecting other nations like a disease of the mind.
sorry but america has spewed out so much vile into the world that it's not even funny. i'm just waiting for the day that it will finally collapse and that they will be truly judged for all of the catastrophes which they have created throughout the world....but it seems as though their judgement day will never come.
seriously this country is getting out of control. There is always somebody trying to blame somebody else instead of responsibly taking action for there own fault
What a person thinks of being white. This wouldn't even be a topic 30 years ago. People of other cultures are now impowered to question why age old thinking is in existence when it is as obvious as the nose on your face. We are who we are by no choice of our own but how people have acted through time is what makes us what we are. Since the sixties now that the federal government has mandated equality then equality has to be earned people don't get the way they are through legislation but living together. In order for White or any color to be judged or catagorized we need to look at all the factors envolved. These days being White is somehow frowned upon which is utterly ridiculous. Sorry other colors but time will have a way of evening and leveling the playing field hang in there sunshine.
White is frowned upon? LOL!!!! You are ridiculous.
"These days being White is somehow frowned upon which is utterly ridiculous."
LOL!!!!!! Where do you live? Maybe this happens in Hawaii?
How about the so called Americans would give back what they stole from the natives and go back to their original countries? where would the white american concept end up? They would have to go back to Ireland, Italy, England and... oops, wait, they'd be europeans! only with a little less memory.
P.s.: Yes I know, any country is the product of war. We should at least remember that territory wasn't ours in origin and there is no such a thing as motherland besides the earth itself for anyone of us.
Your'e English is terrible. Before you comment at least take the time to get your spelling and grammar correct, it might buy you a little time before people read your comments and laugh at what an uneducated imbecile you are :)
"Your'e English is terrible" - really?
Halfway through this ... it is utter dreck.
I don't even have words for how stupid this is. It's truly depressing.
Interesting doc,,it seems to me from reading most of these comments white people still live in this world of denial,,and most importantly,,Fear",and you call yourelves "the superior race",,lol,
I think this is racism on the other extreme - an attitude towards "white" people. This sort of dialogue can only lead to more hatred and fuel the fire. There are injustices throughout the world. These injustices will be towards whatever easy target exists. They include gender, age, and economic status to name a few. We do need open communication but this is slanted, selected and biased discrimination. You've just done what you hate - misrepresented a race.
I enjoyed the movie. It is hard to find white people who are honest about race and race relations. Very enlightening...
So, Americans don't consider europeans as White people? What the hell does that mean? So, not only Americans consider obvious making a difference between black and white, which is dumb, but also between white american (which basically means buying stuff randomly, eat crap and be ignorant) and white europeans (quite similar, but we usually look at history a little bit farther then the smell of our farts). NIce! And they are one of the most powerful countries in the world! Wonderful! What a bright future are we looking at!
I haven't watched the documentary but from what I've read about this I think the director is attempting to reach out to people with your view who take it exceptionally personal, as that is how it actually seems on the surface, However from the comments highlighted in the synopsis it is expressing the power of concepts when they are ingrained into society before people are even born into it. These people see the conflict in their views but nonetheless are aware that these concepts are deeply rooted in their psyche. Not that I condone any racism but at least this gives us an idea of the complexity of changing society
Of course, I don't blame people for being part of the culture they were born in but I rather blame the ones who made people believe in the ideas that make them bad people. Even though I haven't been that politically correct in my last comment, I believe in a cultural-anthropology approach. Everything is culture and any culture is different from one another. Nonetheless I believe that any kind of racism should be eradicated from any culture. At the time of my comment I was simply amazed that racism didn't stop to the already-enough-stupidity of hating people of a different skin-colour but actually went so far to disregard anyone not white and not american to be inferior (when actually there is no american whose family comes from America besides the natives).
In conclusion I just hope that people will get a little smarter one day or another. Looking back, though, it doesn't seem likely. :/
P.s.: I hope what I wrote here is understandable. If it wasn't clear already I'm italian. :)
Thinking someone is white or black (which are colors not a race of any people), is what your brain does automatically to identify and group people. Everyone SEES COLOR unless you are blind, its not dumb. If someone from Europe has lighter skin most likely an American brain would categorize them as "white" though this is just appearance and does not have anything to do with what culture or ethnicity this person might have.
I also didnt watch this movie, I was looking for "White Wash" the surfing documentary... This movie looks like a waste of time, I would hope most of us learned these race lessons in Elementary school, or at least middle school.
What a contrived,ideologically repetitive yawn fest.....
This is drivel. Not sure why these people are so guilt ridden. One woman says that she is thinking about her whiteness essentially 24 hours a day. That seems very unusual. I am a psychiatrist (of color) and see a wide spectrum of people and listen to their innermost thoughts. Very unusual. When the guy says he's got the inside line with judges and people in power, then wow maybe he really does have privilege. Most people do not have the inside line like that. But the lady who says that the people of color have "a lot more figured out about how to be human", say what? Romanticize others much? Really this is an agenda driven piece that seems to have little evidence besides a few fairly unusual specimens giving their own anecdotes. BTW, my partner of color has gotten plenty of warnings without tickets from police....but I thought that was just a white privilege.
Racism is just part of a problem. You could add other factors like religion, sexual preference, economic status or physical health (disabled, morbidly obese, etc.) to the list. You move the location to say India and you'll still have racism in the sense of skin tone, where people with lighter skin tone look down on others with darker skin tones. I don't see any one race with a monopoly on racism, you'll basically find some form of it wherever you go. I found this to be interesting that a majority of the examples given deal directly with police interaction. Maybe people need to start talking to their political representatives about this common thread.
Being a direct ancestor of slavery, it is very refreshing to hear these words from 'white' folks. People (of all colors) regularly dismiss their skin tone in this culture as far as status is concerned. And 'white' folks in particular do this.
I don't blame you ['white' folks] or am I mad at you for your tactics. Although a very small minority represented you in this video, I am glad to hear your view points.
:) *hugs* It is sad that this sort of thing still goes on but I have seen an incredible transformation just from looking at the estate I grew up on. That is why I never really took advice from older people because it is the youth that need to destroy the olds completely false views with all due respect.
This video is beyond ridiculous. Amongst its absurd assertions:
-Unemployed whites can expect to get $100K loans?
-Whites expect to go to the best schools?
-White people don't get arrested for perceived shoplifting?
-White people are oblivious to racism and injustice?
And it goes on and on.
I was expecting more intelligent arguments. This is just white liberal guilt on parade.
Mind you, I'm not saying racism doesn't exist, or that there aren't stresses black people have to deal with that non-blacks do not (and yes, I think most of these alleged 'privileges' are enjoyed by other non-blacks, not just whites), but the people in this video are largely spewing hasty generalizations.
Furthermore, these interviews aren't done in real time, the film maker clearly has an agenda, and we have no way of knowing what was left on the editing room floor. We are basically presented with trendy left responses that support the filmmaker's agenda.
The end result is that an opportunity for a conversation starter about the extent to which what activists polemically characterize as "white privilege" actually exists is lost in favor of superficial white liberal guilt mea culpas.
I find it interesting also that this video speaks of the "world" in terms of the "white" western world; imagine these people were speaking of Japan, Egypt, or Kenya for example and you'd find a completely different situation in terms of race.
actually it speaks more about culture than color. but apparently thats also race based in the fantasies of these agenda pushers. I love listening to them spout drivel that cannot be defended-knowing that their last resort as always is to insist that if you disagree you must be...wait for it...RACIST!!!
You need to re-watch the film. These folks said that they had white privilege. The fact that whites suffer less poverty, racism, injustice, etc. is a given. That is what this film is about. I clearly understood it...
The oppisite of racism is not love....its money if all the races had the same amount of economic oppourtunity without some i'm first privledge we would'nt even decide whose been discriminated...
hmm thats wierd.. im white and I cant get a 100K loan, they top schools didn't accept me cause I am white. And holy crap everyone accuses me of being a racist cause im white.
What they say in this Video does not apply to Canada at all. Only the united states. Yes i am white.
Right, Canada has no racism.
Funny thing, non-white Canadian disagree.
Uh, btw, which country has the black head of state?
Canada is at least as divided as the US along racial and ethnic lines; probably more so. French speaking Quebec regularly threatens to secede for crisakes.
Canada is racist is the way that is exempts certain racial groups from taxation.
Canada is institutionally racist in that is legislates if favor of certain minority ethnic groups.
There is racism in Canada.
I am Canadian. I believe there is racism in Canada too, unfortunately. However, when it comes to skin colour, ethnic differences Canada does not have the same history - Slavery - that the U.S. does. Canada is a cultural mosaic sociologically speaking whereas the U.S. continues to try to be a "melting pot" Neither model is able to defeat racism or prejudice, bias, misunderstanding or not knowing how to assimilate our culture/ethnic/colour differences.
I had hope for way more intelligent information on the subject of being white. I was intrigued that as I watched we heard more about stereotypes because few had any real intelligent reflections. As a white woman I've experienced "White Male entitlement" on the part of some, not all, white men. I never really thought a lot about "where does white come from. Where I live in Canada it's very culturally diverse. I have far more neighbours of colour and who have differing religious beliefs not just from mine but from each others. I think it would be most helpful for those of us who are white and quickly becoming way less the majority - still is "white men's network" (so to speak) that has more power than most of the rest of us - white women or African American or Canadian. We will all benefit from accepting our differences, culturally, ethnically. and religiously and learning to look more at all we have in common as human beings regardless of colour or other differences. Being white 3-4 decades ago might have meant a lot more but I don't feel I have - or should have - " power" "influence" or "entitlements" or "privilege because I am white.
no... many americans also live in diverse neighborhoods etc but the arguments come from those who do not... rich white liberals and poor blacks. it is an excuse for failure nothing more. not all whites have money and the poor ones are treated just like poor blacks or any other poor race. no entitlement exists or you wouldnt have so many poor whites or whites in prison...and there's be no blacks in any position of power or with any wealth! just like the bogus "glass ceiling" the causes have more to do with "other" factors than these delusions of bias.
Whether or not you feel you have "privilege", you are white, so you have opportunities not afforded to minorities. If "Being white 3-4 decades ago meant more", then it still does today. Whites had an unfair advantage to get ahead, and it effects their children's children. Especially in capitalist countries, with things like inheritance. Going to a Poor school vs private schools, living in a poor neighborhood vs suburbs.
The quotes above are just regurgitated "whiteness studies" propaganda. While all decent people agree racism sucks, you can't fight it with revisionist history/anthropology, which is in essence what whiteness studies does. The real purpose of whiteness studies is to in essence lie about the way whiteness was defined in the past in an attempt to change the way whiteness is perceived in the present, with the naive belief that by doing so one can to rhetorically eliminate the existence of a dominant culture and all the problems real and imagined associated with it. If you read the literature, you will find that many whiteness studies academics speak quite openly about their true objectives in attempting to "deconstruct whiteness", which range from everything from fighting racism, to making socialism more appealing to working class whites, to ethnocentric efforts to resist assimilation.
It has its origins with the book "How The Irish Became White" by Harvard academic Noel Ignatiev which came out about 20 years ago and has subsequently been followed by numerous times purporting to explain how such groups as. Italian, Jews, and even Germans as Swedes were supposedly once seen as "not white" but "became white" by agreeing to join in on being mean to black people. If this sounds crazy, it's because it is.
Whiteness studies academics typically employ the same tactics of creationists and climate change denialists to support their arguments; cherry picking, quote mining, exaggeration and distortion, and sometimes simply lying.
The basic claims of whiteness studies can't withstand the most basic fact checking, such as looking up census records from the last 19th and early twentieth century (or earlier) from the US and other countries with white populations. What we see is that none of the groups alleged by whiteness strides academics to have 'become white' in the last hundred yearn or so (e.g. Irish, Italians, Jews, Poles, etc.) were ever classified as something other than white. The idea of a white race did it originate in the US or among Anglos. The notion of a white race existed before there was a US. The white master black slave paradigm was already firmly in place amongst the Spanish and Portuguese long before the English had even gotten involved in the slave trade.
I think there may be some truth to the notion that white immigrants have at times emphasized their whiteness so as to deemphasize their difference from the dominant culture. But I have also seen Asian and other non-white immigrants e how size their American-ness for similar reasons. Rather than attempt to pretend that "whiteness" is an invention (which puts you in a position uncomfortably similar to creationists whose ideology requires them to deny the obvious evidence of evolution) and encourage Balkanization, a more ethical and rational approach would be to encourage people to find universal common ground based on their shared humanity.
have you read the history of white people?
That's a pretty broad, and I must say, strangely worded question. I am well read in history, including "the history of white people". Why do you ask?
because he ignores the history of others...so he can demonize!! pathetic!
I admire the honesty and courage of these people.
There is NOTHING wrong with the "White Race!" I am very proud and lucky to have been born white, and sure as hell don't buy the self-serving PC talk about how "guilty" we are! Nonsense! NO one alive today has ANY connection to the slavery of the past, and actually it was WHITES who ended it once the voices of reason and compassion dominated! If there is guilt today, if should be Somali Arabs who kidnap and enslave Blacks..TODAY! We are far from perfect, but lets face it, when it comes to Science & Technology we can't be beat...collectively speaking of course. Why nature played out this way? Who knows! However, I predict that down the road it will most likely again be the "White Race" that will change things for the better (via science/genetics). I see an eventual world of ONE Race,or close to it; where EVERYONE will have a basic standard of high intellect, where everyone will look more similar than dissimilar...a better world rid of the laughable and irrational lies of PC mulitculturalism, a world where we ALL will move forward together.
I would agree one ought not be ashamed of what race they happen to have been born into, but by the same token, I see no rationale for being "proud" of it either. Saying you feel lucky to have been born white sounds pretty racist to me and moreover, in saying so you are in essence agreeing with the article you are attempting to criticize.
You are at least as preoccupied with race as the whiteness studies academics.
Except plenty of white people now do have ties to slavery. White people with old money? Good chance you can trace to slavery. In any case slavery isn't where the atrocities ended so I don't know why white people like to keep running back to this argument as if it absolves them?
Lol reason and compassion? You do know that Abe disagreed with the logic behind justifying slavery but made it a point that he empathized with his southern brothers right? He said he may have done the same thing if he were in their situation. He also made many racist comments about black people.
All the slaves were not free at first. Only slaves in rebellion states. Then all slaves. This was a war strategy. It had f--k all to do with compassion. He wanted this to be clear because even the racist whites in the NORTH were angry and took this as a sign of disloyalty to whites. Truly pathetic.
-Freeing slaves? What you think black people deserve human rights? Can't have that! You're still racist right Abe?
-Yeah I still hate blacks we just have to win this thing
-Oh ok, I guess.
Do your homework and stop trying to romanticize the past.
No one alive today has connection to slavery of the past, except the white people living off the slavery money, investing the slavery money to expand their business and benefitting from the ill gotten slave money and slave infrastructure, and living in their colonial home built by slaves. I am white, I am innocent, I black man is stealing my show, its my spot I am white, I am entitled.
Somalians are not arabs and do not even speak arabic.
These people suffer from an inordinate amount of misplaced white guilt, which typically stems from an unfounded internal belief that they are better than others (including blacks). They attempt to appease this feeling, and think they are doing a service by claiming "white privilege" is everywhere we turn. Id ask, then why are there millions of white people in the U.S. living in squalor, without education, going hungry, and experiencing the same similar or worse hardships in life? Try telling them they are full of "white privilege". Jeeez!
The spectacle of self styled 'progressive' whites piously renouncing their white privilege reminds me of medieval flagellants whipping themselves in the public square. To some extent it's just a way of making a conspicuous display of their progressive bonafides, and they doubtless feel some sense of absolution in the process.
But I can't help but wonder whether people who have such an intense sense of guilt and is so obsessed with race does not perhaps harbor some racist thoughts they feel ashamed of. It's like the televangelist who constantly condemns loose morals of others and then gets caught with in a motel with three strippers, lol.
True racism is a horrible thing that ought not be trivialized, but the way some of these me-so-progressive types carry on so far exceeds the state if actual affairs today it makes one wonder what truly drives some of them. I don't see how piously co vesting to white privilege actually does anything to help people of different races get along better. I will tell you this though, I don't think anyone with such a heightened awareness of race and ethnicity can possibly have a normal healthy relationship with people of different races and ethnicities; they seem to see "people of color" ( isn't that a horribly condescending term btw?) as political symbols or objects of pity. Or something. They seem to fetishized ethnicity rather than talk about the actual issues in a rational, productive way.
Dead on sir! Guilty Whites ARE the racists. Only people with something to feel guilty about would feel guilty. Liberals ARE even more racist than their fake opposition.
You realize that is a ridiculous statement, your argument that for white privilege to exist ALL, every single white must be rich is laughable. Millions of whites are addicted to drugs, or have children in their teens. Even being a white person won't save you from being poor if you have 3 kids by 21. Doesn't mean they don't have white privilege, just means they found a way to blow an enormous advantage. Also it is very common for people who inherit money to blow it.
Even a poor white has more opportunity than a poor black at all levels, that is precisely what white privilege is.
I'm Canadian of Irish descent. My people came over here in 1795. Whilst I'm not naive about racism, I was born in 1933 and grew up with no thoughts bordering on racism and still feel that way to-day. The question in this documentary has no meaning for me because I've never thought or felt a "difference." In other words, I've never thought about being "white" because there was no need to feel that way. So having pride, or as one poster stated, ashamed of being white, is irrelevant to me.
I believe "colour" in the USA is very polarized, hence the many pro and con comments. I have worked and played for many years with Native Canadians in our far north, so have associated and been exposed to other cultures (Dene and Inuit) for quite some time. I've never seen myself as outside or even inside these cultures. I simply associated from day to day in whatever was happening at the time, whether work or play. So seeing or associating with other people of colour such as Asian, African, South Asian, etc. is not a big deal.
I have never understood the racial drama going on in the USA over my lifetime and the violence associated with it. I certainly have feelings and opinions about it, but could never understand why everyone was so vicious and angry, especially white America. As a matter of fact, I've never understood racism in Canada either, even though it hasn't the same depth as the USA.
IMO, a person is simply another human being who is to be respected until proven otherwise. All people are born with basic goodness who have the power of choice regarding their path in life. That path can be really awful or really good and there are consequences for both. I feel I meet all strangers halfway and form opinions based on how we relate. But I don't believe a conclusion based on race alone is in my psyche. Perhaps it's a part of being Canadian.
No offense, but the same race drama exists in Canada as in the US (the US however has elected a black head of state; let's see when that happens in Canada). Other than that I see very little difference culturally between the US and Canada.
In both countries there exists an academic and media culture that tends to obsess on race in a manner which ultimately is more destructive to race relations than productive. That is what we're seeing here.
Associating with people of other races isn't a big deal in the US either. It's a big deal to race obsessed academics who tend to project their racism onto others. In fact if anything I think Canada is probably somewhat more obsessed with race and ethnicity. French speaking Quebec regularly threatens to break away for heaven's sake; we have nothing like that in the US.
Remember what they say about glass houses and stones.
funnt the majority of "native" Canadians would strongly disagree and point to the fact that they suffer just as much violence at the hands of white canadians as and blacks in USA allegedly do... sadly most violence is black on black. but the natives there claim they are treated worse than the natives in USA- not that they approve of what they see and hear about USA but that the canadian conceit is just that and nothing more.
look how far black Americans have come in 60 years ? office of the president of the United States. black american music has been the flavor of the day for 60 years too. doesn't this mean white people have also done some changing over the last 60 years too ? i'm not saying racism isn't completely gone but people of color need to give up this illusion that because i'm white, my white government will sure listen to me with these noble ideas i'm suggesting. all governments are corrupt ( especially the western ones ). all i can do as an individual is love all people and be kind hearted. children of todays working class, growing up through the public school system live in a different world that our red neck forefathers. white cultures are not globally carbon copys of each other just as black cultures are varied too. the only thing this video highlights is southern white privilege to say it's an accurate measure that could be applied to all whites globally is stupid.
Very rarely do I comment on things such as racism in public but I do ponder them privately since my heritage is white but my family comes from a country that was ravaged by whites and abuse by other white westerners was common place.
I am of Irish heritage and my people were considered scum up untill fairly recently (by history standards). I often wonder wonder why it took us so long to be able to have our own govt (though parts of Ireland still are not independant but its better now) why our language was banned in our own ocuntry and how we were starved and allowed to be driven from our homes and country. How we managed to change the minds of Americans who despised us as thrid class citizens for so many generations.
How did we go from being a thrid class slice of pond scum to having one of the most beloved presidents (John F Kennedy) a thrid generation Irishman. To think of it, from endentured servants to the Presidency. And how on gods earth did we gain so much respect here when at home they could not even have political power for so long.
More importantly how did we over come the bitternes of it all? I do not know of any Irish that are in America today that is bitter about the past of what happened here or over there. I talk to to others occasionally about what life was like for our grandparents and great grandparents but none of us ever seem ambivelent about it.
The same can be said for many of Asian decent. I know they had a horrific time of it when they came over right through the 50s and still even today at times but are still recognized as a widely intelligent ambitious people with so much potential.
LOL perhaps I do not publicly comment becuase I have so little understanding of how it all came about how we got attitudes to change or how others have a difficult time with changing and intergrating. Who knows but I do hope that eventaully all races and heritages will be able to value themselves for who they are and not just who they were.
I liked it. Any look and talk about 'white priveledge' is a brave idea. Sometimes we act as if we are so far removed from acting out against others based on their skin colour, yet the facts tell a very different story. We 'discriminate' by hiring practice, who we rent to, who gets a car loan or a mortgage, who is approved for the best schools and colleges, who gets community services and how they get service. It is also true that we discriminate against 'all colors' in those and all sorts of other ways as well (disability, income level, dress, looks, language and literacy levels) etc. In my own opinion these 'divide the people' on racial or cultural or religious lines are in truth propaganda whose aim is always to keep the rich rich and protected from any massive uprising, next to keep the cultures of the rich protected and venerated, then in a hierarchy spiral downward, protection and preference is extended first to those who best serve the hierarchy and it's wants and needs. Should the 'little people' ever start really getting together and comparing notes, and supporting each-other... (I think we have seen very recently too, how brutally open movements are suppressed - we will have to find a way to get passed that)...ps I also watched the film: Racism-a History...very very good.
So are you confessing or pointing fingers? I don't say this to be provocative; you seem like a nice person and I like much of what you say. But I'm both troubled and fascinated at the way so many people watch these sort of films, nodding their head piously, somehow managing to convince themselves that the fingers in the film aren't pointed at them. The problem is the fingers are pointed at you, and I think to some extent the head nodding is an attempt to duck.
There is no such thing as collective guilt. Who is the "we" you refer to when you say "we discriminate"? Do you discriminate? Racism is vile, and when you see it you should do something about it. Making blanket condemnations of all white people might feel somehow redemptive for some white progressives but it does nothing to reduce the amount of real racism in the world. If you do discriminate, stop it. If you see someone else discriminate, stop them. Piously pointing fingers at everybody (save yourself) is pointless. Remember, when you point a finger at someone else you point three back at yourself.
This is more about culture and social dominance hiding behind the label 'white' and less about race. The 2 often get confused.
This site is dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But, reading the endless comments, it is clear that Idiocracy is now.
Race is far more than "skin deep". Anyone with the slightest knowledge of genetics knows this. Personality, physical, and intellectual characteristics are deeply rooted in our DNA.
"Racism" is an inherent characteristic of ALL humans, not just the "evil White man".
The Western World has been "White" for hundreds/thousands of years. To say that there is "White Privilege" in the West is like saying their is Chinese privilege in China.
This propaganda is purely political nonsense. And, those that are incapable or unwilling to see it for what it is are exhibit A of how dumbed-down humanity has become.
being white or any race, color, gender, etc is not a privilege.
Being a member of a group historically in power (white, male, wealthy, etc) is. To say that there is no such thing as privilege is to say that there is no such thing as sexism, classicism, or racism.
If there really were no such thing as privilege then would be no such thing as an in-group/out-group effect. It's simply true that we tend to prefer "our own". For some people that means those of the same race, for others the same gender but there is no denying (with any thought that is) that there are privileges given to certain groups of people based on superficial group membership.
You make some good points and I think have a more rational notion of "privilege" than most. The problem with the whole privilege narrative is that in actual practice what tends to transpire is that people will start with a few basic facts and then use these to construct a sort of bogey man image of "WHITE PRIVILEGE!" which departs from a reasoned sand potentially productive discussion to an exercise in vindictive finger pointing under the pretense of progressive politics. I don't think you are doing that but many who indulge the privilege do, and it's unfortunate.
What I see a lot is people making obviously provocative, inflammatory statements, and when the inevitable (and desired) angry reaction ensues, the provocateur will point and say "See the anger? That's what happens when white privilege is threatened!" It's juvenile.
You're not going to help people get along better by rationalizing group libel. I think what valid points do exist so far as " white privilege" is concerned can be made without all the dramatic and trolling red flag waving that too often accompanies these discussions. One problem is that a lot of the people peddling the privilege narrative are really not interested in racial harmony and, they're just out to make a conspicuous display of their progressive bonafides. In many ways racism has replaced sexuality as the Great Moral Taboo that self righteous moralists derive satisfaction from accusing others of. How do you prove you're progressive? Say "yep, I benefit from unearned white privilege." How many of the people that say this actually believe it? I wonder.
It would be a worthwhile venture to parse the facts from the hype but I don't see that happening so long as "white privilege" is employed more as a rhetorical stick to hit someone over the head with than a serious topic of discussion.
Question: Could it be that because of your place in the world (race, gender, class, etc -and no I have no idea what those are specific to you) that perhaps you have a bias against accepting or even just listening to anything that makes white privilege (which is real whether you agree or not) seem like an actual phenomenon?
I think the issue here is that for so long the people who have benefited from a rigged game (whites) are now being faced with the fact that while they are not guilty of committing the atrocities that rigged the game in the first place (slavery, jim crow, political and financial abuses) they do reap rewards based on them without having earned them.
The problem is that black and brown people are so fed up with having to spoon feed whites about the reality of this injustice that when there is an opportunity to have a real discussion about race and politics, etc that it turns into a screaming match of "Why don't you just get it and here us" from the side of people of color and "Why should we feel guilty about crimes we did not commit?" on the side of non people of color.
The very fact the white people amongst themselves do not even have to have conversations about race is yet another privilege. One that people of color do not have.
It's not about getting defensive or angry. It's about truly understanding why there is a pain that you don't, can't, or won't acknowledge that's happening to another person. It's not about guilt either. Most white people aren't ever going to be as overtly racist as their parents and grandparents but they will still benefit from the practices of those same ancestors. You can hate the name of the phenomenon all you want. Just don't let that stop you from having a conversation or learning because if it really is that simple to stop you from hearing your fellow man you are in every way useless.
Your response here is a perfect illustration of the passive agression posing as progressive politics. You obviously either didn't read my post, or if you did, you didn't comprehend it. Your response is nothing but an extended strawman argument; I never once in my post said "white privilege" wasn't a real phenomenon, so the thrust of your angry response is for the most part a wasted effort.
Where exactly did I say I hate the name "white privilege"?
Fascinating. You are responding to a post of your own imagining; none of what you object to bears any resemblance to what I actually wrote.
I would suggest you take a moment. Come down and perhaps re-read. No anger here. MY honest opinion and thoughts which I accept could be wrong don't come from anger. I think also, I was answering a few different people in response to you. Apologies for not more clearly delineating.
That's cool; you don't need to apologize. It's easy to be misinterpreted in an online thread. My sense is that you are sincere and have good intentions. That line about being "useless as a person" struck me as a bit over the top at first but I did re-read it and I think I see where you're coming from. I like a lot of what of have to say actually.
..also, what the hell is a "brown person" anyway? I think a lot of what we call "white privilege" is in fact "non-black privilege", and blacks are as loathe to acknowledge it as white people are to acknowledge "white privilege".
I myself am a person of mixed race, in case you are curious.
Typically, "brown people" are Mexican, Hispanic etc. You can also Google for a more formal definition if you like.
By theorizing about non-black privilege you seem to try to rank racism which on its face is completely stupid as it seeks to rationalize or hierarchically categorize who is the most oppressed/most marginalized when truly oppression anywhere is oppression everywhere. It also goes to point out my thought about in-group/out-group.
No matter what you call it, if you're not white you're not in the in-group. No matter how not-black or mixed race you are. Unless you can "pass" as white.
Also, your race doesn't matter to me. Racism is a mindset and it impacts anyone.
Typically, it's said that conservatives/right wingers gravitate towards "black-white" dichotomies (speaking metaphorically, not necessarily about black and white as races) and loathe ambiguity, shades of grey etc. I could be wrong but I am assuming you are probably not a right winger, but you nevertheless seem to have a similar need for rigid dichotomy.
Yes, I agree all oppression/discrimination is wrong, but absolutely disagree that all non-whites experience the same degree of marginalization; like it or not there most decidedly is a 'hierarchy' (for lack of a better term), and the group that is seen as the most 'different' from and is most marginalized by the dominant culture are black people. The level of tension that exists between blacks and whites far exceeds that between whites and other non-white groups. The inequities that exist between whites and blacks far exceed those between whites and other non-white groups. In fact Asian-Americans actually earn more per capita than whites.
Hispanics are a unique case. Hispanics can be of any race or mix of races. Some look white, some look black, some look 'Indian', and many of course look mixed. Nevertheless, a significant percentage of Hispanics look more like Europeans than blacks or indigenous Americans. In many countries in Latin-America even persons with significant black or indigenous ancestry are considered white. This makes their relation to whiteness quite different than that of other 'non-whites'. They just aren't as different, and can relate to "whiteness" in a way blacks and Asians cannot.
As a biracial person I can tell you that it is obvious that some interracial pairings are far more likely to draw curious or unapproving stares than others. White-Black interracial couples definitely draw people's attention, whereas White-Asian couples generally do not. Depending on how white looking the Hispanic is, a White-Hispanics couple might not even be perceived as interracial at all. I think this reflects something about the extent to which these groups are alienated from one another.
I think the Black-White divide is deeper and more bitter and harder to bridge than the divisions between whites and other people of color.
There is a definite dichotomy that I'm working through here but it's one that fits into any segment of race relations, i.e. in group/out group. This sort of effect takes place in every segment of humanity.
What I argue is that because whites have the most privilege due to centuries of oppression, suppression, warring, etc that they have the highest responsibility NOT to do away with their own privilege but to grant others access with their privilege (so that eventually it isn't privilege at all). You can make room at the table without having to give up your seat.
I have to agree with you on your last statement but it isn't impossible. Everyone needs to make an effort and most importantly racism can not be a chip that blacks use when it benefits them. But whites need to realize the real and true psychic pain that racism has embedded in the black community by slavery, by Jim Crow laws of the south, by constantly being suspicious of whites in general whenever they come into our communities in the form of politicians and police officers instead of community organizers and peacemakers.
Hispanics, as per my understanding have a different, view as most Hispanics can identify European ancestry via Spain. If you are referring to those of Latin Descent then they have the same kind of experiences that Blackd have had re: Cortes' exploits and being exploited by the Crown during his time here and countless others.
Again, I caution you against using a hierarchy of oppression or most to least white. If you don't think that a little Korean American girl doesn't experience some psychic pain at never seeing someone that looks like her upheld as beautiful in the media, you are wrong. If you think Japanese American's have forgotten all about the concentration camps that their families were forced into in this country post Pearl Harbor, you are wrong. Let's not even talk about Native American Indians and the many challenges they have had to face.
Don't create this ladder. Don't be a part of perpetuating division. Do some reading. I'd recommend Lies My Teacher Told Me by Dr. James Loewen. He isn't an apologist (NOR SHOULD ANY WHITE PERSON BE). He's a historian in the true sense. A lover of and learner from the past.
I would also recommend reading the Willie Lynch Letter. Long realized to be a work of fiction but it does shed some insight on structural systems of racism and how they are cultivated by the perpetrators and the victims (which are not all one color on either side).
Take care and be well, Joe. (And they say the internet is full of trolls)
Absolute guilt driven liberal nonsense. I wanted to stick my finger down my throat and vomit. Truly nauseating propaganda created by someone with an agenda left of Fidel Castro.
Get a life! What is this Guilt?!?!? You are White - you are not happy, if you are Black, yellow or pink you will complain again. You people will complain not matter what color you are!
I am white but I am not from the west or an anglo-saxon country. I have travelled and lived in many countries and always asked myself why this race issue which we don't have back home? The answer is simple - its the western greed that forced them western whites to go around the world, look for new "markets" and resources and take advantage of weaker and less developed races like blacks and asians....them whites never came to us (eastern europe and russia) because they know they will get their asses kicked (and they did get their butts kicked). They have enslaved and exploited blacks and asians and now the whites - subconsciously or consciously - see themselves as superior. And who is to blame them? Asians and Backs did not earn their respect...Black allowed to be slaves and a 10000 british army could control and oppress more than a 100 million asians. How is that possible? And now they whine. On the top of that these same races OPTED to stay and still go to the white mans countries to live. What is the white man to think?!!?
Bottom Line: White westerners=do not complain and enjoy the advantage..nothing lasts forever! Coloured people=if you want to be treated as equal, go home build your countries/continents, do not give in and eventually you will earn the respect and nobody will ever treat you badly. Its that simple.
Bottom Line: You don't have the knowledge to understand the big picture. The New World Order has been in effect for some time now. Get some knowledge, because "Knowledge is Power."
In South Africa, Whites are so discriminated against,
that if a Black Charity helps a single White Child, they
stand to lose their BEE Status=Tax Exempt.
On Utube, there is a video Poor Whites in South Africa.
The Blacks in South Africa have really gotten their revenge
on the Whites.
I
Dont worry. They will ruin the country and run its economy in the ground. If you did not build it you will lose it. The country was built by whites and as soon as it is controlled by blacks it will collapse.
See that ^ folks? Now THAT is racism. And that is why conflating the ambiguous airy fairy charges of 'white privilege' with THAT above is so odious.
Among other things, such hyperbolic charges of 'racism' unwittingly harbored by the average white person create the false impression that racist cretins like "sonibvc" have wide support for their repulsive views. They don't, and it's important that they KNOW they don't.
Goddamn, if REAL racism were ever to become vogue again, the ninnies currently waxing hysterics at imaginary 'racism' will realize their error. But then it will be too late.
Get off your goddamn moral high horse and reserve the self righteous condemnations for those that truly deserve it.
Show me 1 place...just 1 place on this earth where black are in control and their country is doing well, and I will become a convert and admit my fault!!
It is rather tiring to hear this White Guilt. White is advantaged because they have education. Blacks, with an education, are just as likely to get the best jobs as any other. Privatize the gov't run schools and work on keeping black fathers from leaving their children.
This self-hate from obvious liberals is laughable. There are no studies that show racism is the major factor. The major factors are education and was the father around?
You obviously do not know your history...this is not white guilt this is truth. The root of the problem is not caused by discrepancies in education or the fact that a child was raised by a single mother , it has been caused by racism enforced by WASP culture that stemmed from the European Protestants who settled in the first colonies during the formation of this country and whose main goal was to dominate other people. These White Anglo Saxon Protestants did not want Anyone that was not like them into their country. much like the republicans of today.
In addition, WASPS wanted privileges all to themselves; it was more about attaining all the resources so in order to achieve that they told themselves that others are inferior therefore do not deserve the same privileges- just like in the Jim Crow days.
And you don't know THE REST of YOUR history. You better go look at all those CATHOLICS and the crimes against humanity they committed in the name of "God" who were so racist that they wouldn't even allow black army personnel to enter Vatican City at the end of World War II. You blame White Anglo Saxon Protestants, but WASPs often decried slavery and accepted all races as children of God and you can bet your sweet ass that Catholics were not in favor of racial equality. Christopher Columbus was a murdering tyrant on a land grab for the Vatican and that IS the truth of the matter. Catholics have burned their way into the special place in Hell reserved for them and their false religion based on blasphemy and lies. It was Protestants who fought that Dragon and managed to somewhat chain it down in the very recent few years, but do not think that she cannot bare her fangs once again. The Pope is NOT the vicar of God and if you like Freedom of Conscience, then you should thank a Protestant who paid for it with much blood and treasure.
This was not even about religion, but way to go you are fulfilling a stereotype. I believe all religion is what people invented in the past to make sense of things that were a mystery to them. Then it was to used to attain power and wealth, like many of the Christian religious sects have done in the past. in the South , parts of the bible was used to justify slavery. Some religious ethnocentric people today,such as yourself, use religion to put down other religions. Learn your history.
I agree with you about religion. What I don't like is the way you seem to want to make racism an exclusively WASP thing, which is ridiculous. I just find it interesting that you seem to be intelligent and genuinely opposed to racism, yet you clearly harbor prejudices and/or hostilities towards "WASPs". It certainly is true that for many years there was a WASP dominant culture that was often very intolerant of others. It probably still is a plurality of the US population. But I sense a vindictiveness in your remarks that goes behind merely pointing this out. I could be guilty of misinterpreting you, but come across as one who just doesn't like WASPs, and using the historical bigotry of the WASP culture as a rod to beat them with,
All you need to do is look south of the US border to find a White Latin Catholic analogue to the WASP hegemony of the US. Bigotry and tribalism are human failings, not something unique to WASPs. The fact is, the WASPy US ultimately became the most inclusive society in the history of the planet. That fact of history needs to be acknowledged as well.
Columbus was on a land grab for Spain, not the Vatican. I don't usually find myself defending religion but man oh man are you an anti-Catholic bigot. You are such a caricature of a fundy bigot it's almost funny.
There is a website that is a parody satire of Protestant fundy bigots (I don't want to name it lest I be accusesd of plugging a website) but some here doubtless know what I'm talking about. You sound just like them.
I imagine you must have similarly marvelous opinions about Jews as well...
The Western world has been "White" for hundreds/thousands of years. To use the term "White Privilege" is as dishonest as complaining about Chinese privilege in China.
Do you see the absurdity in the this whole discussion?
during the formation of this country many natives were displaced and mistreated and were forced to give up their lands. The western world was not"white" it was Native American. Most groups who are considered "white" now probably are a mix of Native American,European, and African. Race is more than the color of your skin. It's also your class and culture. The reason white privilege exists is because certain rights were only given to whites and not to other ethnic groups up until the last century.
Are you real?
The West is all European countries. This insane propaganda is being directed at ALL Western countries, not just the U.S.
I couldn't agree more that the Asiatic indigenous ("Native" mean you were born in said country) tribes were treated horribly and taken advantage of. I am a big believer they should have a chunk of N. America as their own sovereign state. In fact, most "Native Americans" are as apposed to mass immigration as the rest of the native born population in the U.S.
Lastly, the Europeans have been the overwhelming majority of the U.S. for well over 200+ years. So, the U.S. has for centuries been historically "White".
I would suggest you read up on propaganda to find that you've been bamboozled onto hating as a way for a very small few to dominate this country and the world.
Is America just 200 years old?
I clearly stated the U.S., not "America".
When countries like America and Canada were formed the majority of its people were non-whites. Despite what the census said, they were not counting alot of blacks and indians and hispanics as humans. Some of the states like virginia and washington were upwards of 90% black, hardly a "white" place. And there was hardly a white man west of the mississippi when america was formed. Benjamin franklin tells us in the 1700s only britain was the white country around
White Catholics from Spain and Portugal did the exact same thing in Latin America. I myself am not a WASP but it seems clear to me that you are expressing your own racist hatred for WASPs under the guise of being a concerned progressive. Hell, the whole process of colonizing the Western Hemisphere, importing black slaves from Africa and destroying the indigenous peoples of North and South America was initiated by Spain and Portugal, who were the first in and the last out. You're the one in need of a history lesson.
Do we live in south america or america america?
You have NO idea what its like to be black AND educated in this country so don't speak on it.
I worked at a local AT&T call center that was about 60% Black. The center recruited college graduates from around the area. The level of racial hatred of Blacks towards Whites was near hysterical. Day after day I heard the "black AND educated" rant endlessly about evil Whitey. Many would make no effort to hide their hatred. Others would go out of their way to make life as difficult as possible towards Whites. And, most Whites are so brainwashed to just put up with it that even when an "educated Black" called a supervisor a "stupid White b*tch" he was not even reprimanded. He should have been fired on the spot. Some Blacks would try and intimidate me; but, they got as good as they gave.
The point is, the biggest Waycists are those who obsess over it. You are responsible for yourself. If you hate White people so much, go to Haiti, Liberia, or elsewhere that you don't have to put up with us evil "white devils".
If I was black, I would probably hate white people too. I am white and all my enemies are whites.
Statistically this is not true. White people still have a better chance with the same qualifications. Not to mention black women are the most educated in the country. Fact check next time. A simple google search could have saved you from looking like an i*iot basing your argument on racist stereotypes.
I suggest you look at the statistics which say you need to have a master's degree if you are black just to obtain the same level of employment as a white high school graduate. Education in the us is heavily based around racism. The funding is done around the county level and whites are now creating white only counties to ensure that they can have white only schools. How is that for racism, they are even forming new cities in pre-existing major cities just to ensure that poor minorities children do not have the same opportunity as their kids.
Wow you can see this is a very old video! In America today we are the minority and are definitely treated that way. I have no idea where they got these people but, they sure do not represent me at all!
We certainly are not treated with respect any longer!!!
You're not the minority you're still in power, and you have NO idea what its truly like to be treated poorly. Stop trying to be a victim when you're NO ONE AT ALL.
You're last statement shows how privilege works. smh.
Laws forced white respectability. You have to earn it like everyone else now. smh.
Oh no. Jim Crow is over. I actually have to earn genuine respect :'(
Scottish-Irish, English, Swedish, Norwegian. I claim the Norwegian,
since those roots seem the most important to me. I could speak some
Norwegian as a kid. My dad's name was Elmer, just like his dad's, and
since he was the first son born. He said he wouldn't name a dog Elmer, and
went by Roy, from his middle name Leroy. I know I came from the Valdez
Valley in Norway, and my dad's people were dairy farmers. Anderson's
only like the 6th most common name in America. My kin came here for
opportunity just as though the immigrants of today.
You might want to investigate that norwegian heritage a little bit more. There is no Valdez valley in Norway so you do not come from there. And Anderson is a Swedish name, in norwegian that would be Andersen.
Just saying.
There is a valley named Valdres ; ) Anderson used to be common in Norway aswell. The Norwegians just changed their surnames from son to sen.
Both my parents were Norwegian.They did not teach us any Norwegian language. They wanted us to be Americans. I am jealous.
They came from Kvinsland farm on the island of Foya. And from Bergen. I have gone to Norway and met my relatives, but I could not talk to them unless they spoke English; disheartening.
Since the end of WW2, all Scandinavians learn English from Grade 1. So I have no idea what you're talking about.
Scottish-Irish, English, Swedish, Norwegian. I claim the Norwegian, since those roots seem the most important to me. I could speak some Norwegian as a kid. My dad's name was Elmer, just like his dad's, and since he was the first son born. He said he would name a dog Elmer, and went by Roy, from his middle name Leroy. I know I came from the Valdez Valley in Norway, and my dad's people were dairy farmers. Anderson's only like the 6th most common name in America. My kin came here for opportunity just as though the immigrants of today.
White privilege is real. Yes, there are poor white people. There are white people with real problems, there's absolutely no denying that. But the fact is, in America, there are benefits being white. Why is that so hard to believe? Look at the society around you; management, media, politics, culture, finance etc. How can you deny that the USA is a white dominated country, and yes, a part of that has to do with numbers, being the majority...but at the same time, it shows that there's no colour blindness. By the fact that power and privilege are correlated to skin colour means racism exists somewhere. OBVIOUSLY.
The whole Miss America thing that happened YESTERDAY, is an example. People claiming an Indian American woman cannot be Ms. America because she's not white. It seems frivolous, but think about that. An American is denied, in the mind of a lot people, because of the colour of her skin and her ethnic origin.
That never happens to Italian, Irish, German Americans. Because "whiteness" is decreed what the country is and the rest of us are just guests or worse, intruders.
I find it interesting the way a few trolls on Twitter can make a racist comment and it is deemed representative of a large section of the American public.
Nevertheless I find your comment instructive nonetheless. The fact is an Indian-American woman won Miss America is far more indicative of American inclusiveness than the remarks of trolls on Twitter. What people choose to emphasize tells a lot about themselves; more than they often realize.
"White supremacy" isn't nearly as prominent as it was. What "color" is our current pres claimed to be?
Whites are so privileged that we have to watch every little thing we say as not to offend. Ironically, this is an inverse to how blacks had to call us by certain names(master sir etc), and/or conduct themselves in a specific fashion as not to get scrutinized.
I see far more whites mistreated by blacks, than vice versa nowadays, as it is acceptable to slander a white man's race, as opposed to the other way.
I think we are all partially xenaphobic to an extent. I see a midget, i take a second glance(even if just in my head). Midgets are odd to me, do i think they are any "less" of a person for it....hell no. They're just different...than me at least. Lying to yourself about instinctively noting these differences is silly.
Are you kidding me?You anti-pc types are so disgusting. You really feel it is a violation against you to treat black people with respect and that is sad. How dare you imply that whites are now experiencing a system of etiquette as bad as Jim Crow. It wasn't to avoid scrutiny. It was to AVOID VIOLENCE AND IMPRISONMENT. You are beyond stupid.
You're taking my words a bit out of context, but I can see why. I'm not pro-white, or anti-black. White people do risk violence, if they say nigger esp, nigga, or even ninja, in front of black people. It doesn't have to be used in a condescending manner either. I've witnessed it first hand several times...on top of other implications. I don't think whites are treated as bad. That doesn't change what is apparent to even yourself, if you're honest with yourself. I didn't wrong you. If you think it's ok to wrong me, or for others to, because I'm white...well it doesn't imply how stupid you are, as much as it hints at how shitty of a person you are. I understand resentment built up over generations, but we have to start treating each other right one day.
You're taking my words out of context a bit. Do white people not risk violence today, for speaking certain words, or hinting at black culture? Black people can joke all day long, but as soon as a white person does...the mood changes. That is a general claim. You're only lying to yourself, if you don't believe it's true. I never said it was as bad, but it is happening. There should be nothing wrong with being black or white, or being open about our cultural differences.
I'm not pro white, or anti black. If any person is treated poorly for the color of their skin, it is wrong. I understand resentment has built up over the generations, but when will we start to move past these barriers? WE have to start sometime.
Which one is it? You said it was the inverse. Now you're saying it's not as bad.
Anyone risks getting beat up for using slurs or making jokes about anyone. That isn't comparable to Jim Crow in the least. Cut it out. And the most important difference is there was no legal recourse whatsoever for the violence black people would face for not complying. That can NOT be said of white people today or ever in U.S. history.
NOPE! Whites make black jokes ALL the time. In fact, in the very unfortunate time I had to spend around white people, they seemed to be even MORE encouraged to make them in my presence? Almost as if my laughing along (which I didn't) would make them feel more justified.
Guess what happens when black people speak out against our skin, hair, and cultures being made fun of? We're "too sensitive" and it's "just a joke" and my favorite "racism only continues because we keep talking about it"
I spoke of how whites have to watch what they say around black people, similarly to how blacks did around whites. I never said anything about the extent of the implications of doing such originally, or esp the extent of the jim crow laws. You’re putting words in my mouth. I could call you
stupid, as you did me…but that would accomplish little. Not that me not saying
it, will accomplish more, cuz u already hate whites it sounds like.
I also never said racism only exists, cuz we still talk about it. Once again, you’re putting words in my mouth. You’re doing this,
because you seem unable to try and see where others are coming from(it’s all
perspective…or lack there of…biggest issue), so how could you ever understand
what they mean. I actually said the opposite. I think there’s nothing wrong
with being different, so there should be nothing wrong with being open about
it. Go check. You seem blinded by your hatred.
You seem intent on bringing up these issues. I agree. I def think tension and issues still exist, and need much more attention. I think we should talk about it, as I commented. What happens when u try to do such, some person hastily calls u stupid. We have to start somewhere…as in treating each other like they’re worth being heard. So, we can communicate our different viewpoints more effectively, and get to the bottom of this. The difference, I
understand, or am willing to try to understand where you’re coming from. I may disagree some, but we are going to do that. It’s how we disagree that makes the
difference.
We can continue this in regards to what’s currently happening, but first you’ll show me it’s worth any more bother, by showing me you can have a civil discussion, or that you have the capacity to realize not all white people hate back people. Even if you do think that way, you deserve maybe even more attention to show you how untrue that is. I just don't have the patience right now unfortunately. Fortunately...you don’t have to be around my disgusting white soul, any more than you prefer. Let’s just beat each other to death…
copying and pasting from word is a hassle on this site...win some...lose some lol.
I spoke only of how whites generally have to watch what they say, being an inverse to how blacks did. I didn't speak on the extent of the implications for doing such originally, and esp said nothing close to the entirety of the jim crow laws being an inverse. You're putting words in my mouth.
And yes, I'm not speaking about individual events or circumstances. I said generally. Once again, taking my specific words out of context. Go check. How many blacks in the media do you see destroyed publicly, for slandering whites today? There is no NAAWP or white al sharptons running around. Many of the issues today are stirred up, just to pit us against one another.
And I didn't say racism only exists, cuz we talk about it. I said the exact opposite actually, go check. I see nothing wrong with us having differences, and therefore feel we should talk more openly about them. Of course tension still exists. I feel it's cuz we won't talk about it more.
But talking does no good, if we're not listening to each other. You keep misrepresenting what I'm saying, cuz u don't want to understand. You seem blinded by hatred, like so many other whites and blacks of today. I can understand, or am willing to try to understand where you're coming from. If you're not willing to give me that same respect, then take your confused insults, and petty attitude elsewhere. I am willing to listen , but that doesn't mean I will agree with everything. It's how we go about disagreeing that makes the difference.
My comment will not post for some peculiar reason, but i replied to you, by starting a fresh comment on this documentary.
I spoke only of how whites generally have to watch what they say, being an inverse to how blacks did. I didn't speak on the extent of the implications for doing such originally, and esp said nothing close to the entirety of the jim crow laws being an inverse. You're putting words in my mouth.
And yes, I'm not speaking about individual events or circumstances. I said generally. Once again, taking my specific words out of context. Go check. How many blacks in the media do you see destroyed publicly, for slandering whites today? There is no NAAWP or white al sharptons running around. Many of the issues today are stirred up, just to pit us against one another.
And I didn't say racism only exists, cuz we talk about it. I said the exact opposite actually, go check. I see nothing wrong with us having differences, and therefore feel we should talk more openly about them. Of course tension still exists. I feel it's cuz we won't talk about it more.
But talking does no good, if we're not listening to each other. You keep misrepresenting what I'm saying, cuz u don't want to understand. You seem blinded by hatred, like so many other whites and blacks of today. I can understand, or am willing to try to understand where you're coming from. If you're not willing to give me that same respect, then take your confused insults, and petty attitude elsewhere. I am willing to listen , but that doesn't mean I will agree with everything. It's how we go about disagreeing that makes the difference.
They took'r jerbs!
It's sad that our society is judgemental of ANYTHING that exists outside the 'box' and is suspicious of people that don't look like they stepped out of an ad in a SEARS catalogue. It's not just the colour of our skin that affords us these privileges. It's conforming and looking/acting 'normal' that also offers this. Any person who was born looking a little different, maybe has a birthmark on their face, scars, missing limbs, or dresses in a non-conservative way, has tattoos, an unconventional hairstyle - will be treated differently - and feel obligated to "play the game" of hiding these "flaws" if applying for work, going to court, taking an aeroplane, etc.
If they'd interviewed some 'white' artists, open homosexuals, disabled or disfigured people, you'd see how quickly these 'white privileges' can be taken away...
I've been interested in and practiced art since I were a kid, I'm openly bisexual, disabled because of c-ptsd and I got a genetic "disorder" affecting my sternum. So I don't disagree with you in that one. I can understand how it feels to be looked at as a "nlgger".
Well, I wouldn't say it's the 'same' thing - and don't mean to discredit the 'white washing'. I'm just saying that 'white privilege' can be erased pretty quick to non-conformist 'whites' as well, but it'll never be as frustrating as being 'black' in the United States, where an educated, wealthy, honest, intelligent - a perfect physical specimen of a human being will still get stopped and frisked, humiliated and intimidated by people in authority due to skin colour. Many are shamed daily, openly and without cause at all. Prejudice is an all round evil, and our society is in dire need of a new perspective... something requiring intelligent empathy, true compassion and a little bloody humility too. :) Cheers!
I can only imagine the frustration of African-Americans being treated as some sort of criminals just because of how they look. Personally I'd probably do something criminal if I experienced that. But still if could could trade place with a black person (as a "perfect physical specimen") living in the deep south, with myself, I'd do it.
Are you actually saying being a disabled bisexual means you undertsand what its like to be african american?
People judge things by their covers. It's an instinct. For survival. Any other talk is just air.
What an excellent video this is...!!!
While it pertains specifically to white Americans. The observations and analysis, I think, can be globally shared...
We don't, in fact we never, see white people reflecting on issues of what it means to be "white" or to be "white and privileged" in our societies.
Why is that? Why is this topic not openly discussed more often by white people?
I can tell you why it's not discussed more often by whites. Most whites don't think they are racist.
I am a white man born and bred old-school southern. I can spot rasicm as well as any black man.
If you are white and thinking this documentary doesn't apply read again the above sentence. You can't fool an old racist.
Well, maybe the reason a lot of whites don't think they're racist is because they aren't. An admitted "old school southerner" is hardly typical of whites in general.
What exactly are you trying to say? All whites are racist they just don't admit it? And this attitude makes you 'progressive'?
Real racism is actually pretty easy to spot (chances are if it's hard to spot it probably isn't racism). In any event, you can't read people's minds and however self righteous or purifying you may find it to call people you don't know racist, the fact is, unless someone actually says or does racist things, you have no basis for assuming them racist.
I see.
I agree it needs to be talked of more, but many of us are very aware how fortunate we are to be born with lighter skin, and even more grateful to be living in a country without war, with running water, heat, fresh produce, homes we can afford: Luxuries that people of all colours have here. I live in a pretty 'white' province in Canada now, but places like Toronto and Montreal are very diverse and true cultural 'melting pots'. Not all of us are brainwashed by the media. Racism isn't as blatant here as it is in the States, but it's still around and that's not right. I just watched a TED talk with white model Cameron Russell... you may want to check it out. It's not too provocative, but it's in a pretty package - which makes the topic (sadly) more accessible to people who may not otherwise see this point of view. If you've got girls, it'd be good for them to watch too. Cheers.
Because they don't like to talk about. 100% I knew looking at the comments there would be a bunch of white people denying it. They like to think everyone is equal to absolve them from guilt.
Lol,i knew this too white peeps dont like the truth they still blame us for their "fear",,,
With all due respect, Kwamla, we must be living on different planets. We never see whites talking about whiteness? Are you kidding me? It's talked about relentlessly in media.
Yes...Perhaps we do live on different planets. Which is precisely the two worlds this documentary attempts to convey.
Feel free to point me to any link in the media you refer to which shows or talks about these same issues - with ONLY white people expressing their view...
This is important because there are many examples in the media I could point you to where ONLY Black people or people of colour express their views about "whiteness and white privilege"
Black people continuously talk about such things. Because it affects them most. White people have "other concerns" and so don't!
The whole field of "whiteness studies" - ironically - was founded by white progressive academics talking about whiteness. It's been one of the more popular academic fads among white academics for the past twenty years. It's talked about regularly by whites at academic conferences, its been the topic of several PBS documentaries, and is one of the more popular buzzwords used by progressive whites in various media outlets (npr, pacifica, msnbc, current tv, bbc, etc.).
How many moons does your planet have, anyway?
Seriously dude, just Google "white privilege". Note the avalanche of hits.
The difference with this video, which is why it is different, is that it attempts to come to terms with whiteness and white privilege rather than simply trying to play it down or explain it away. This is what most of your own comments here, Joe, have attempted to do.
Is it possible for white people to have their own open and honest self-reflective discussion about these issues without automatically feeling the urge to defend them?
There are very few videos like this to suggest it is.
I haven't attempted to deny or explain away white privilege in any of my comments and I challenge you to cite an example. I've criticized the way it is often discussed and questioned the motives of many who invoke the term.
Your basic argument here however, that whites are loathe to have their own open and honest self-reflective discussion about these issues without automatically feeling the urge to defend them is fatally undermined by the fact that the whole "white privilege" meme - even the term itself - was created by and remains dominated by white academics. Oh, the irony! Virtually all of the best known 'evangelists' of the concept are white progressives, like Tim Wise and Noel Ignatiev. Hell just read the literature. Most of the public dialogue about white privilege is by whites.
Also, most whites don't respond defensively to charges of white privilege. Many in fact make a great show their pious embrace of the fact, as though the act of doing so is itself perhaps a measure of absolution. It strikes me more as PC pandering/posturing than a serious attempt to undergo a self critical look at what white privilege really is.
As for the film, it's ridiculous. White privilege is real, but white people with poor credit don't get 6 figure loans just because they're white, and white people don't assume they can go to the school of they're choice just because they're white, get away with shoplifting, or any of the other ridiculous claims made by the people in this film. Those people have no clue what white privilege so, and were just saying things intended to impress people with just how oh-so-progressive they are.
"...I haven't attempted to deny or explain away white privilege in any of my comments..." - Joe
Honestly, just look at the last paragraph of your response here. You say "...white privilege is real..."!... But then basically go on to explain it away?
So what exactly is real about white privilege in your eyes which this ridiculous documentary fails to show?
Perhaps you would do well to listen to some Black commentary on the need to raise white consciousness and awareness of this disease. Which people like Time Wise, irrespective of any negative claims you'd make, are at lest addressing this serious issue and link to the persistence of racism.
Something no amount of accounting for or explaining away white privilege will ever be a substitute for addressing. - Which by the way seems to be your argument!
I am still waiting for you to cite specific examples of where I have attempted to deny or explain away white privilege.
I don't need to look at my last paragraph. I know what it says; I wrote it after all. You need to cite specific examples of me "explaining away" white privilege. You have not.
You also have not even attempted to respond to my point that your argument that whites are loathe to have their own open and honest self-reflective discussion about these issues without automatically feeling the urge to defend them is fatally undermined by the fact that the whole "white privilege" meme - even the term itself - was created by and remains dominated by white academics.
I mean no offense here. I appreciate your civility and passion. But vague hand waving won't cut it. You claim I have attempted to explain away white privilege. Cite at least one specific example, and explain how it is an attempt to "explanation it away".
Good luck;)
"So what exactly is real about white privilege in your eyes which this ridiculous documentary fails to show?"
Genuine white privilege is typically manifest in one of two forms:
- The privilege of majority; the ability to go about your day to day business without having to consider the fact that you don't look like the majority and may be negatively judged because of that. This might be thought of as privilege rooted in realities of the present day situation ("present privilege" for short)
- The privileges that derive from the fact that your ancestors were oppressed; in the case of blacks, aggressively held back for hundreds of years. That has lingering consequences in the present day, some of which are more obvious than others ("past privilege" for short)
None of this is manifest in something as ridiculous as unemployed whites getting 6 figure loans just because they are white as the film suggests.
Typo correction: - The privileges that derive from the fact that your ancestors were NOT oppressed (the edit feature doesn't work for long posts; at least not on my iPad2)...
black people are black because of many generations of ancestors who lived and died under the hottest suns. ( Africa, Australia Etc) excessive heat is a killer for crops, meaning more famine, less vegetation ( which means less resources for building things ) and to top it off, a sun that on some days could kill you, if you decided to go and work under it. it's then only natural to see how people from less hostile environments got ahead in the global game. it's environmental genetics which trace back to a common relative who had a friend who said " it's too f#*ken hot here, i'm going north ! ".
Actually you got it backwards. Whites had to leave Europe because it was a hostile environment that they had depleted of natural resources. I think you don't know much about other continents such as Afrika. Afrika was rich in resources and we taught Europeans how to build and educated them for centuries. This is what happens when people get a skewed education in subjects like history and geology.
completely wrong.... it wasnt africans who educated anyone...knowledge came primarily from central asia/west asia the cradle of civilization and was adopted and expanded by europeans..who incidentally came from that same area (before the rise of cities) and are the product of multiple waves of asian tribes. whites didnt leave europe due to depleted supplies but due to over competition a very different issue...ms. grant you have a horrible education...please take the time to stop using the new afro-centric nonsense and get a real education!
Umm..genetics trace back the first human beings to Africa, everyperson on the planet can be traced back to Africa, the cradle of civilization is also in Africa, with the evidence being in the plants animals and genetics of human beings containing the same trace gene. Look it up.
wrong!!! the cradle of civilization is the middle east LOOK IT UP!!! As for the out of africa theory... new discoveries are showing this may not be true with various ancestors developing across the world side by side with no connections.... nice try tho
We know the whites stole math from Africa, because the whites have it all, and the Africans don't have any.
So there.
Why are you angry? Attaching yourself to a big rock in such a way that you feel the need to lash out at others is a very superficial quality.
You're better than that...
You can read about the massive population migration to the Nile delta due to the drying up of the north African continent, which became the Sahara desert. This migration gave rise to the Egyptian civilization.
what are all of you talking about? Some african people left africa for europe, and slowly became white. Because it was harder to survive in europe, they became more resourceful and therefore "got ahead" in resourcefulness, and people in africa needed stronger bodies and blacker skins to survive, and therefore "got ahead" in that area.
so are you saying black and white were originally separate? and after whites squandered their resources, we went south and hustled the Africans ? ( yes, we all know this took place, well before the imperial age and up till today. time frame in question here is BC era) i thought it was universally agreed the first man was dark skin african ? ( BTW i realize Africa isn't all desert and in certain areas it snows.) but it is no secret that the hottest places on earth have indigenous blacks and coldest have indigenous whites. please understand, i'm not putting anybody down here. so are whites and Asians NOT migrated Africans ?
and if Europe was so hostile conditions how come such a huge percentage of humans thrived there ? and don't you say potatoes !
I know how to spell Africa, at least.
Your case for evolutionary environmental adaptation, i.e., "black people are black (increased melanin), because of many generations of ancestors who lived and died under the hottest suns," presents a contradiction when applied to Polar Bears who also have Black Skin (high concentration of melanin). I recently saw a documentary on National Geographic that said the reason Polar Bears evolved Black Skin is to better absorb UV Rays for body heat. If that were so, applying the same reasoning, wouldn't Nordics also be Black?
Steve Savage "King of the Beasts"
Only if they were covered with white fur which transmitted the suns heat to their skin.
Also, polar bears eat enough sea food to have adequate amounts of vitamin D. People need their skin to produce it.
You seem to not understand, it is not the temperature, it is the intensity of the sun light. Polar Bears are on a tundra or ice, blindingly white environment, reflecting huge amounts of sun light. If a human were to lay out in that environment, yes they would freeze, but they would also have a sun burn.
This film is very much a product of & the opinions & experiences of middle class white people living in the U.S.A. It is almost not relevant elsewhere. Note: I did say "middle class" & "almost".
There is virtually no difference between the US and Canada when it comes to race, other than the fact that Canada is much whiter and has never elected a non-white head of state.
Canada can barely keep it's English and French together in one nation for crisakes.
I think Canada's sole contributions to human culture worth a mention are Rush, William Shatner, and... Rush.
Molson Golden is ok, I guess...
I'm not certain that responding to your comment in response to my original brief statement is necessarily a good idea. You appear to have some issues with black, brown & white from the many comments you have posted prior to this one.
All I can tell you is that; yes, this doc was very much filmed & produced with a U.S.A. bent to it. Most of whom were of a somewhat privileged back ground & upbringing. I honestly do not understand how or why you would refute that.
As far as Canada is concerned in this conversation, it would be remiss of you to overlook the obvious fact that it was the ultimate destination for those desperate people of African descent seeking refuge & traveling on the underground railroad in search of the prize, dignity & right of freedom.
When I was in grade school in Canada, my best friend & his family were from a country then known as British Honduras. You might recognize it now as Belize. They were obviously descendants of slaves, but I knew nothing of that history at the time. To me they were rich & beautiful. I had a huge crush on my best friend's sister & the only other thing of significance that I recall at the time, is that his family was much better off financially than my family.
I don't know if that made me racist as a child, but if thinking that there was no difference between his family & mine other than they were wealthier & more educated & he had a beautiful sister, colour me whatever you want.
Canada & the U.S.A. are two very different countries. I have lived in both & this film was definitely made with the opinions & experiences of the comfortable, white population of the U.S.A.
P.S. As a "white" male living in Canada & the U.S.A., I have had countless tickets due to traffic violations, did not attend the best schools & worked very hard to establish a solid credit rating so I could be approved for loans. I don't recall many if any, favours from anyone.
That said: racism is a very real & present issue world wide. It happens to manifest itself very predominantly in the U.S.A. This film only just barely scratched the surface. It fell far short of any of the real pressing issues & solutions for a racist America. Yes, I'll say it again. This doc is almost not relevant elsewhere except the U.S.A. Remember I did use the words "middle class" & "almost" in my original comment.
Geez dude, you spent a lot of time to essentially just try to make the ridiculous statement "we white Canadians are color blind", which is of course ridiculous, as any non-white Canadian can tell you. Again, call me back when YOUR lily white country elects a black head of state.
I lived in Canada for 3 years and can assure you, it is exactly the same as the US so far as race is concerned, but much more monochromatic (i.e. white).
Just google "Canada" and "white privilege" for crisakes.
Btw, every single white American would say the same thing:
"P.S. As a "white" male living in Canada & the U.S.A., I have had countless tickets due to traffic violations, did not attend the best schools & worked very hard to establish a solid credit rating so I could be approved for loans. I don't recall many if any, favours from anyone."
This is precisely is what would make you considered a right wing racist in the eyes of the PC types who made this doc, who think the key to racial harmony is pandering and false confessions.
You are also am ignoramus btw; the Underground Railroad brought blacks from southern slave states northern free states as well as Canada. Canada, by the way, enslaved both blacks and indigenous people (what Canadians would call "first nations") until 1833, long after the practice was at least isolated to the southern US.
Mind you also, the US is roughly the same size as Canada but has a population of about 300 million, whereas Canada has a population on the order of a large US state. You live in the sticks, kid, lol. You strike me as well intentioned, polite, but terminally naive.
[Note how Canadians assume everyone is white? I'm NOT, btw, lol! - classic example of genuine white-centrism, but I digress...]
Typo correction: "the Underground Railroad brought blacks from southern slave states TO northern free states as well as Canada."
[The edit button doesn't work for tl;dr posts like mine. There are other typos, but I'm not gonna correct them all.]
Great documentary. Short, the topic is much deeper then 30 min. can handle, but great introduction and over view of the topic and some of it's issues. It is a very difficult topic for most and it really takes one to open up and be very honest with your self to even begin an enlightened conversation about it. You have to stop and think about things for a while, you can't just react. Your reaction has been conditioned and is not of a conscious mind. .
Yeah you've got to admire the honesty from the people in this video and I would hate to see anyone condemn them for it. 99+% of whites do not want to admit that there is an oppressive leadership campaign in place to segregate non whites and mentally condition them. Whites on the other hand are conditioned to think that they are entitled to certain privileges and rights, basically they don't think in terms of being any race or having associations, which frees the mind. It's totally unfair, but the first step is acknowledging this unfairness. North america has some deep seeded racist roots that's going to take many generations to root out, it may never get better, these conditionings are almost genetic at this point.
I agree completely.
Right, all whites are racists, except you of course.
I didn't say that, if I'm being honest I can say that my mind has been influenced by my parents and the media.
Well, you certainly have been strongly influenced by the media. Are you suggesting that parents are racists? If so I'm sorry to hear that; your time might be better spent trying to challenge their racist views rather than come on here and point fingers at strangers. If they aren't racists you owe them an apology for defaming them in a public forum.
I think it's great that you have a strong aversion to racism. I just find that more often than not, the whole 'privilege' narrative seems to be more about posturing and smug passive aggression than having a sincere potentially productive discussion about race. These pious confessions of benefiting from 'white privilege' seem more like self righteous boasts and making a big show of his 'progressive' one is than the result of some sort of sincere exploration of the issues. The feel better about themselves - cleansed of the sins of whiteness - and morally superior to those still "in denial".
Any venture into race relations that doesn't ultimately serve to improve race relations is in my opinion wrong headed. Any definition of racism that is so broad as to include all white people, and includes states of kind so subtle one may possess them without realizing it, strikes me as inherently dubious and at the very least very fertile ground for BS to brew (not to mention that 'racism' defined so broadly as that becomes effectively meaningless; it's basically just erecting a tautology, white = racist).
Yes, I thought to be Scottish-Irish was a cool thing, until I learned I am called that as a person because the Irish made my people slaves to fight in wars for them; then when the war was over, those Scots settled in Southern Ireland. Anyway, even if, you are "white" there could have been slaves in your bloodlines; it's just, the battles of "white on white" are not important in today's world because there's other "hate" that's worse than that of my kin.
You don't know your history. The Irish never enslaved the Scots. Most of the Scots that came to Ireland actually settled on land stolen from the Irish (kind of like the way they later took the lands of the Native-Americans). The only earlier Scot presence in Ireland were as mercenaries fighting for pay, not slaves.
Great documentary. Short, the topic is much deeper then 30 min. can handle, but great introduction and over view of the topic and some of it's issues. It is a very difficult topic for most and it really takes one to open up and be very honest with your self to even begin an enlightened conversation about it. You have to stop and think about things for a while, you can't just react. Your reaction has been conditioned and is not of a conscious mind. .
Interesting topic. I don't think it have anything to do with racism to feel different from other peoples skincolor and/or culture. Personally I tend to trust other white people more, specially if they are from my own country and even more when they are from the same city. When I see news about illiterate people from Africa, hysterically screaming, theatrically emotionally people from the Middle East, or for example robotic Asians, I automatically feel like there's something abnormal about them. But that's probably what they would think of me too. The only time I've felt really a deep hatred against another "race" was after 911 and similar tragedies. I almost wanted to be violent against random Pakistanis on the street, to revenge their behavior with the same errors, so luckily I only refused to eat anymore kebabs in a period. The same hate also sometimes flare up when I see signs of people being hostile against me or my country and countrymen, specially if it's immigrants/refugees. This is mostly against Middle-Eastern people, so I think it have more to do about culture then skincolor.
"Latino" isn't really a phrase we use here in Scandinavia and I personally have not or haven't seen anyone else being racists about them here. Is it similar to the Spanish/Italian "passionate temperate"? Or does it have to do with native South-Americans? Or is it the Spanish language (since Americans are less costumed to a multitude of languages then the rest of the world?) Also confused about people in the US being racists, since they live in a country filled by many different "races", but seem to have the same culture. People living here, from other countries, really are different culturally, few of them seem to have any need to let go of neither culture or language, so naturally I don't have much to do with them, but wouldn't mind it if they are well integrated (usually 2nd generation immigrants/refugees), because then the difference is gone. So I would think the US should be the least racist country in the world, logically? The only thing I can think of is that Caucasian-Americans seem more "normal" and more like Europeans then African-Americans because black people there seem to talk and behave in a theatrically, almost with "fake" mannerism.
Stop watching your news and go and talk to someone from those countries that you are talking down. The news portrays the middle east and Africa as barbaric and uncivilized because that's part of their agenda. You could easily make the U.S or any country look like an uncivilized or hostile place if you presented it as such.
Just go to a few ghettos in the states and present these sort of images hundreds of times over and eventually people will believe that America=one big ghetto and not look at their Ivy league schools, space programs or social progresses.
You are being ironic when you are praising the education, space programs and social "progress" in the US right?
And I'm not talking down on anyone. Just tried to explore my own indoctrinated prejudice against other cultures (that doesn't mean I agree with it). I should have been more clear about that, sorry. My point was that the difference in culture most often seem to be what fuels racism, more then skin-color. And that goes both ways.
I visited most of the largest concentration camps from WWII in Poland/Germany as a kid and looked at what was done there just a generation or two ago, also listened to a survivor (he talked about things like SS guards beating the life out of new born babies, but what gave the biggest impression was how he ate a chicken. There was only the bones left and not a single strip of meat.) and spent time reading dozens of books about it, so I know how bad it can become. I was also the only one that stood up openly for the few refuges at my school in the 80's, and I talked criticized virtually all my classmates instead, that thought it was OK to be braindead racist bullies. They even laughed at one of their parents that had his face filled with deep scars from being tortured because he was a Kurd. Their parents thanked me before they had to become refugees again and move closer to the city. And I've continued like that, but that doesn't have to mean that I have to like the lack of integration that makes ghettos of various foreign cultures here, or those that openly talk about bringing Sharia to the country and how they are going to spawn children until they're in majority etc. I'm sure you woudn't look at me as being unreasonable if you knew how bad it is in many countries in Europe. And I honestly think there's a lot of countries I should not visit in the world, maybe specially because I'm white, and I know from experience how some immigrants can be hostile even if I'm friendly. I don't enjoy being looked at as a dirty Kuffar since I'm a long-haired queer hippie that have a bad habit with pot-smoking. And I don't watch news much really. I can think for myself.
I suppose we Americans are confusing from where you are. It doesn't make sense does it? Thanks for your perspective.
Yes, specially people in the US. Where I live we have phrases like "only in America" when something seem too weird to be true. "Texas" is a synonym for "Crazy/Totally out of control/Wild-West". Most people here think Americans are uneducated, obese, nationalistic, extreme right wing ("patriotic") warmongers that think the US is the center of the world, the "richest country in the world" (with multiple trillions in debt) and think that everything can be solved with lower taxes and more guns. That's the stereotype - that I don't agree with, specially from talking with people on the internet.
The only thing I think is bad is how little people seem to care about each others there, that would rather follow the American Dream and become rich instead of sharing some of their wealth so people could get the medical treatment many people need (specially for children and elderly), a roof over the head for everyone and enough food (healthy food not just for rich people). I'm worried about how the politics evolve, the major pollution - specially with the tar-sands in Canada, GMO's, nuclear weapons and all the tragedies with people getting massacred because the wrong people have a too easily access to firearms, Guantanamo etc. I don't support capital punishment and think the justice system is too harsh and clearly don't seem to reduce crime. I do openly support NATO and think of the US as a valuable ally, I like much of the music and movies (entertainment) and I'm addicted to CCola. Sometimes I laugh about all the strange lawsuits, for example the woman that sued the company she'd bought her microwave from, because there were no labels to explain that she was not supposed to dry wet poodles in it.
So I don't feel confused really, I just like to ask questions to better understand other peoples cultures and how the "average Joe" is thinking. Personally I'd feel happy if someone wanted to learn more about my country and I would try to explain things that don't make sense for other people around the world.
I can remember when "Only in America" was meant to express everything good and fair existed only in America. It was just as much a fairy-tale then as it would be now.
From your posts I take it you've never been to America or possibly out of your country. You remind me of a lot of people I talk to that seems they have never even left there own city for that matter. People here in the US can yes be uneducated and Obese and all those other things you mentioned but with being a warmonger maybe the government yes but the american people maybe just guilty of to easily being controlled by the government and whatever is in there agenda. The reason I think you haven't been out of your country is because the idea you think everyone here only cares about the "American dream" and wants only wealth and such. But really who doesn't want that in other countries. And if this were true about the majority then we wouldn't have programs like the peace corp and all that. Anyways there are lots more to say but don't care to go on further, you seem to have very narrow vision of what the world is actually like and its good that you want to learn more. there is one more thing though i would like to add. well maybe a couple. yes more guns would be great. people shouldn't be so afraid and owning one. the average death toll of a shooting is 9 or so, the average death when a RESPONSIBLE gun holder in range is 1. Everyone makes a whole argument about how guns are bad so we make more laws. but why are we making laws for people who don't break them. we are just preventing the people to take charge and defend themselves. So yes maybe in your country scandinavia you don't need to protect yourself but here I would much rather rely on myself then the cops to take care of me. And with the whole sueing for ridiculous reasons like the lady, well I can actually just say yes we just have i*iots that sue for any s*upid reason except that they are i*iotic. and we have i*iot lawyers that would love to work for them.
I think I need a nap after writing this its like a school report i just did.
I haven't been to the US, and if I had the money for it I think I would choose somewhere more exotic. I've visited most of northern Europe though, and I know that the social democracy here seen to work better then the plutocracy in America. We're on the top of the happiness index (nr2), the human development index (nr1), GDP per capita (nr3) etc. All the government spending is covered by the yield of the wealth already there. If it were divided on all citizens everyone here would be millionaires, but the mindset here make people think it is better like it is, where everyone get healthcare for free, and if anyone lack the money for it, the state give everyone a place to live, food to eat, clothes to wear, medications, all basic furniture and things like drivers license if people need it at the job, or a car if they have problems walking, vacation to warm countries for those that need it for health benefit and other absurd welfare benefits like that, but still people think things are not good enough and should be improved. So I think that's also why people don't have the need to shoot other people here. The chance of something happening when walking around the streets in the city at night is virtually zero. It's not because people are more nice and friendly here, but because very few get desperate from the living conditions. I think free heroine, like in Switzerland, would solve the few social problems there is.
So I can only imagine that's the reason why you seem to think that I only know my own country, because I can't really understand how it is like in your country. And I honestly don't care about getting loads of money. Would be nice with a small farm at the countryside (they're cheaper then a tiny apartment in the city) where I could live of the land, but other then that I got what I need, even if it's just the basic's since I'm on disability. I got less then most people here (just furniture and a aging PC and lots of books), but still feel I got more things then I need. It's pretty pointless to own loads of stuff, I can see many people that don't know where to put all of it, so they just stuff rooms full of useless consumer goods. When people move they have to transport truckloads of it and now and then they trow away a truckload or two in order to fill their home with new objects.
But sorry, I'm really going off-topic. My point is that I just feel sorry for all of those people I've talked to on the internet from USA that write about how they can't afford medication, or being thrown out of their homes. One post I read on YouTube was a guy with cancer living in his car, after losing job and then his home. But still I haven't seen a single American that seem to agree with me that everyone is equal and specially those in need (like children and elderly) would be better off with more money spent to improve social conditions (more taxes). And I give up on trying to convince anyone about my view on firearms. I understand that for an American a gun is like their only child, and if some desperate junkie break into their homes to get something of value, then the only solution is go get the machinegun and keep the finger on the trigger until there's no more ammo left.
I wouldn't visit here either but since you don't understand it then why not learn about it first hand and see what its actually like because yeah people have crappy lives but it seems to me thats the only type of people you talk to and seem to see as America. See the place, talk to real people instead of through the internet. Now I'm not saying its super awesome here or trying to tell you who is better or not, I don't care. I'm simply here to tell you its not all like that. And the only way to see is to experience it.
Its not so extreme the way you seem to think also. To an American no a gun is not like their only child. Thats a bit extreme. It's just a way of protecting yourself if need be in a country with lots of anger and misunderstanding. like a teenage girl who is confused and scared.
To just summarize and be done I think lots of white people feel like they should feel bad for being white when all they did was be born white. people push racism so much that they begin to feel racist simply for being white. and all the "racism" blame goes on white people but how come when anybody else is racist it isn't considered racist or is simply just brushed to the side and forgotten. Ex: south Africans hating on the white south africans and even publicly stating that they would rape your 16 year old daughter. where was all the riots and protests then? imagine if a white guy said that. But oh no a white guy (who by the way was half hispanic) shoots a black kid and he is looked as racist even though there was no evidence that he was a racist.
By the way I'm neither white or black.
The only difference between Canada and the US is that Canadians say "eh". Canadians have all the same cultural pathologies as the US. Canada has been involved in virtually all of the wars the US has been in, and non-whites in Canada complain of discrimination at least as much as those in the US. The US however has a black presidente whereas Canada has a white Christian fundamentalist leader.
yes racism is an over used excuse for failure-period. whites are the majority hence they tend to be more successful but- any race can succeed here and if you're wealthy you have all of the privileges (the leftist hate to admit this as much as they hate to admit they're also more wealthy) most Americans dont know real racism having never lived in foreign nations et al yes we have a past but most other nations are still worse- in europe hitler made it unfashionable to be publicly racist- but other nations have no such strictures- hence the african genocides and the current arab sectarian (tribal) wars that the left wishes to blame on everyone except those who are actually doing it.Latino refers exclusively to those from latin america- hispanic refers to all spanish influenced cultures (except filipinos they wont accept them for some reason) sadly what you are watching and reading is revisionist nonsense driven by western leftists (primarily americans) they use this because their political beliefs are largely discredited on their own so they need this crutch to justify their belierfs- please note that just after the george zimmerman trial polls showed that over 85% of blacks dont believe most whites are racist and this was during a time of supposed increase racial tensions... more wishful thinking of the left dominated press than the actual reality (they claimed thered be massive race riots if he wasnt convicted- nothing near that happened) when you see these things like this so-called study investigate the perpetrator and you'll see whether its reliable... although the comments section from supporters is another good indication...here in the USA we call them kool-aid drinkers ( a children's powdered drink mix!
Its not that people feel "different" that makes it racism. its what happens with that feeling of being different and the things coming out of the difference for instance they are saying because I'm white certain things happen to my benefit. And when you say you see people on the news and you feel there is something abnormal about them well its not that hard to really get to the core of it. first the "illiterate Africans" screaming: clearly its a way of showing strong emotions for those people in that part of the country and you see it as strange behavior because its not how you would do it. "Theatrically emotional people in the middle east" it appears to me that they are in the same boat as the Africans. except they are a people that uses lots of hand gestures and such to talk and say whats on there mind. And as for "robotic asians" not sure what you mean by that. the only thing that comes to mind is that perhaps you see there much more disciplined and controlled behavior as "robotic". If you remember when New Orleans happened there was lots of chaos and looting going on but when the tsunami hit Japan people didn't go into chaos and looting they calmly and peacefully waited in line for supplies and food.
And its funny that you say its about culture and not racism but what you described when you have hatred towards pakistanis because of 9/11 is exactly racism. You are being racist towards random people not associated with 9/11 because of there race.
Okay, yeah... This film is rather superficial but I would stress that this subject is much deeper than a silly little film can capture in 30 minutes. Yes, white privilege is unavoidable for white people. Most of the people are probably academic and well educated. In contrast, I could walk around my neighborhood and they would all just deny getting any white privilege while slamming the door on non whites.
If you don't see that whites are more privileged than you are simply ignorant. It's not a silly film at all, it points out that white people have ability or freedom and mentality to think in terms of entitlement that other races aren't privileged to and that this frees our minds. White people aren't even aware of their privileges (as you are showing) they just expect them.
I think the film is good starting point for those whites who are in denial. For those who have met the goddess on her terms it is perhaps just more of the same introductory information. I am not in denial, I am well aware that in this society white people have far more advantage than colored people. I have witnessed it far to many times. By the way, try reading my entire post.
Superficial isn't the correct terminology, Jersey shore, paris hilton or miley Cyrus videos are superficial, this has plenty of substance and is important.
It is superficial to anyone who has seriously studied the issue of racism but to those who are ignorant of the issue, this movie may seem really deep. If you read my post, you will notice that I open by saying that the film is a good starting point but the more you learn of racism the more the film can appear superficial, in the same way a racist belief is superficial. I presume the man who admits to being a racist is doing so for the effect of the shock value to his potential students. If you've ever been in a sociology or philosophy classroom, this is a common technique to open the eyes of the naive and uninitiated students who are still wet behind the ears. For wise adults in the room, we can talk about the deeper causes of racism and what effective remedies that might address, amend and possibly correct the issue of racism, until then I am busy.
What CapnCanard is saying is that it seems deep to you because you are superficial.
The term "colored people" is considered offensive and condescending by many non-whites.
What an interesting topic.
I'll try not to go on and on!
This doc reflected views of white people living in the US. I, on the other hand, am a white woman living in Canada.
As far as I know, white people here get speeding tickets, flunk exams or get laid off and fired every day. Banks do not loan us money if we are unemployed.
To me, being white means no one will throw a racial slur at me as I'm going about my business.
Its hard enough being a woman in a man's world, as far as I'm concerned. To be a woman of colour surely must be so much more difficult.
Where I live, Native Indians, East Indians, and black people are treated with disrespect. Now everyone is out to get their Muslim neighbours, too. Some outwardly, but usually behind their backs.
For this reason am grateful to be white.
I have enough problems without having to deal with that.
As a white person, I am ashamed of what "stupid white men" have done to this planet and its people..
I look down on white racists who make minorities feel unwelcome and disliked. I hate listening to their sh*t but its all around me everyday.
Racists expect me to agree with them because I'm white like them.
I speak up and prove them wrong.
I dislike "white trash", and I don't care how much money they have in the bank. Its their attitude and behaviour that put me off.
I feel uncomfortable around women who wear burkas or hijabs. To me, they look oppressed, despite their claims of choosing to wear them. I could still work with them or be their friend; all depends on the person.
The fanatical Muslim men who spit at me, talk about me negatively, or glare as I walk by, are very much in my bad books.
I am grateful, as a white woman, in this country, I can pretty much wear whatever I want, depending on the situation. I can vote, work, and drive a car.
I am prejudiced against the horrible things other societies and religions do to one another, not the colour of a person's skin.
My life is definitely easier because of my skin colour.
Just some thoughts from a white Canadian woman.
I don't understand the concept where people are ashamed about the errors people have done in the past, just because they happened to be of the same skincolor, but otherwise not people that are related in any other way. Just like I also don't understand people that don't allow themselves to be proud of their culture, if they are *white*.
I think it's cool to think about my heritage as a Norse. I've seen many signs of other people that seem to admire my ability to trace my roots a millennium back to the Old-Norse name of the family, knowing quite certainly that I had Vikings as forefathers, and I feel pride in who I am culturally like that. But maybe that would be different in Canada, that left behind their culture generations ago.
Hi Alv V.
Actually, many Canadians still remember where they or their ancestors came from, and do take pride in it.
I am of Scottish and German heritage.
My people came here before WW1 with nothing but hope and dreams.
My mom is 88. She's traced our ancestory back to the late 17 hundreds after years of research.
She then published booklets on her computer for family members.
She's really into it!
excellent doc. Believe it or not, the white privilege is not only restricted to US. Even in China being white means a lot more advantages. A story: during a railway accident about 5 years ago, 4 Frenchmen are injured. There 4 persons are really tendered as VIPs, after initial treatment are transported to a top hospital in Beijing, where all top doctors are gathered to heal their wounds, and even the health minister of China came to visit them. In comparison injured Chinese are just "treated in a small local hospital" and kindly asked to "keep calm".
That may be more a matter of International Public Relations than anything else.
Could it be that these Frenchmen had medical insurance willing to pay top price for care and the Chinese did not?
1i
Luyang's remark reveals how easily racism and racist undertones can take hold even in those who claim they are not racist. :-/
You gotta be kiddin' me! This is an anti-white racist documentary. Has anyone ever noticed that 5% of the US population commits 70% of the rapes, murders, robberies and assaults and that would be, black males. Let's have a documentary about the objective evidence of this
massive epidemic of black on black and black on everyone else.
Glad to say, I have no, "White Guilt' In fact. All of the brainwashing by the PC scum in our schools, universities and government hasn't worked. I"ve very proud to be a White Male - Deal With IT!!
Well I think you should point at the way the system is designed before you point at an entire race. Blacks are segregated and treated far worse than any other racial group. What happens when you get treated like s*it all your life and force you to put your back up against the wall, you would lash out too. That percentage doesn't reflect the reality of things, cops and judges are out to put blacks in jails, they don't treat everyone equally.
That skewed statistic doesn't reflect the percentage of truly heinous crimes by serial killers like Gary Ridgeway, Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, Jeffery Dahmer and Albert Fish - all white dudes, all horrific. OR all the thousands of 'crimes against humanity' - that won't be brought to Justice. Consider Wall Street, big oil, big pharma, 9/11, unnecessary wars - ALL run predominantly by white males - and hurting people of ALL colour. As a 'proud white male' you may want to look what some of your peers are doing to 'your own'.
Haven't watched this, but does the doco address the fact that there is no such thing as the white "race"?
So there's no such thing as a white racism, right? I'd go along with that, especially as I've never understood what 'racism' could mean, unless as a shut up word, of course.
ok
What a stupid thing to say.
care to elaborate? There's nothing stupid about what I said.
There's no such thing as biological/genetic race, but race is real because its a social concept that deeply influences the human experience. Something imaginary becomes real when it impacts human behavior and social structure etc.
Before anyone can answer the question pertaining to being white, the actual definition of white needs to be clearly defined. Each persons definition of white varies greatly.
If race affects human lives, society and so on, then yes, it exists. Social concepts can become real. It's not scientific, but that doesn't really mean anything.
With this in mind, the white race has existed for a few hundred years now.
Bogus documentary Example Detroit is over 80% Black with over 95% of the elected Officials is Black. What is there Excuse? Uncle Toms elected?
Detroit has the worst murder rate in the entire US.
your remark comes from only off the wall as if your someone trying to grandstand about something completely off subject.Try to think before you speak.
Grammatical failure. It is a completely relevant reply to what has been said.
As one of the worst economic areas of the US, there is no surprise of the high crime rate. The poorest people have the toughest choices to make in their daily lives.
India, for example, has many extremely poor areas, probably worse poverty than anywhere in the US, and yet they don't have nearly the same sort of violence issues. I don't think poverty is the issue, it's the design of the system. The cops harass them like crazy and put them in jails and they are also able to buy guns at every street corner, what do you think is going to happen when you bully someone long enough and provide them with firearms.
I don't disagree with you, except for the fact that India has some of the worst slums in the world. What do you think goes on there? There is plenty of violence, you just don't hear about it because 'no one' gives a f--k about some poor Indians. They need to keep Americans afraid, neurotic, stressed, deprived of sleep, unhealthy, etc. It's literally like the government is constantly terrorizing the whole populace through its corruption, inequality, brainwashing, and debt-slavin'. Then again it's all by design so one can hardly blame our government for failing to fight against the Global elite ruling class.
No, it's reported if you open your eyes/ears to it.
excuse being that profiteers have used their freedom not to build up our country but to tear it down by out sourcing jobs to people who have no freedoms,rights or protection and or/to places that have little or no anti- pollution laws.
Their excuse is that the tax base has abandoned Detroit., and BTW your figures look suspect at best. They can't repair what's left of the city because they don't have the tax base to do so. The only way to help them is for the state of Michigan or the Federal gov't to do it. So what do you want them to do? A similar thing happened to Hati over 200 years ago. The Slaves far outnumbered their French masters and then rebelled to take over the Nation. Consequently, then France, England, Holland, Spain, and the rest of Europe all stopped trading with Hati.
No trade. No money. No profit. No infrastructure maintenance. Things fall apart very quickly. That is what is happening to Detroit and Camden NJ, among other black majority cities. It's no secret, they got screwed by white men. Long story short, it would appear that the economic powers that be can alter the very laws of nature by ignoring the consequences, and they often do. So much so that it looks like standard operating procedure.