White people and white culture are in positions of power. It is their foot on peoples’ necks, quite literally.
If every other time I turned on my TV there was a different ethnicity doing this i would call them out, but that isn’t what’s happening and to somehow act like racism within the black community is part of the reason the black community keeps suffering from white racism is just distasteful to me.
I don’t think that’s what you are trying to say but it is certainly adjacent to position and I’ve heard many white folks argue that or similar, but don’t worry its okay because they have “black friends” TM.
Ah, no, I totally agree with everything you’ve said there. I think you might just be slightly misunderstanding my point. I agree that the problem of racism manifests, at least for now, by vast majority, when white people target others. However, as a person with some basic shred of humanity, it is my duty to fight against racism, not because I have low levels of melanin in my skin, but because I am human. The level of melanin in my skin is completely irrelevant to the fact that racism is a problem with which I must contend. Every citizen of this planet must face that issue. To make it seem like the only people who must do so are white people, or that the reason they must do it is because of the color of their skin, is the claim with which i take issue. There are absolutely elements of structural discrimination, effectively “white privilege” (is that term of art still appropriate?), of which it is my moral duty to be aware, and to actively rebuff. That I am a beneficiary of such unspoken privileges (many of which i may not even recognize as such) is not something I doubt or debate. However, I have worked my entire life to come to a point where I believe I can act in an anti-racist manner, befitting a citizen of the planet I want to live on. It is not because of the color of my skin that racism is something I must be wary of, but because the color of my skin should not matter. So saying “white people have a racism problem” is a wording I detest, as it smacks of the same style of targeted generalisation which I perceive to be the primary issue. It unnecessarily generalises and actively belittles anyone with light skin who works against systems of oppression.
So, maybe it’s about the color of my skin automatically failing some purity test, or perhaps it’s that my efforts to work against structural inequities are unwelcome, as if, by my very nature, I taint anything I strive toward. I say, to anything that makes me or others in similar positions feel unwelcome in building a civilisation capable of treating people with equity, that attitude can fuck right off.
Anyone who tries to make someone feel bad, worthless, or culpable, solely for having some immutable trait, is doing something wrong. Full stop.
White people and white culture are in positions of power. It is their foot on peoples’ necks, quite literally.
If every other time I turned on my TV there was a different ethnicity doing this i would call them out, but that isn’t what’s happening and to somehow act like racism within the black community is part of the reason the black community keeps suffering from white racism is just distasteful to me.
I don’t think that’s what you are trying to say but it is certainly adjacent to position and I’ve heard many white folks argue that or similar, but don’t worry its okay because they have “black friends” TM.
Just call a spade a spade.
Ah, no, I totally agree with everything you’ve said there. I think you might just be slightly misunderstanding my point. I agree that the problem of racism manifests, at least for now, by vast majority, when white people target others. However, as a person with some basic shred of humanity, it is my duty to fight against racism, not because I have low levels of melanin in my skin, but because I am human. The level of melanin in my skin is completely irrelevant to the fact that racism is a problem with which I must contend. Every citizen of this planet must face that issue. To make it seem like the only people who must do so are white people, or that the reason they must do it is because of the color of their skin, is the claim with which i take issue. There are absolutely elements of structural discrimination, effectively “white privilege” (is that term of art still appropriate?), of which it is my moral duty to be aware, and to actively rebuff. That I am a beneficiary of such unspoken privileges (many of which i may not even recognize as such) is not something I doubt or debate. However, I have worked my entire life to come to a point where I believe I can act in an anti-racist manner, befitting a citizen of the planet I want to live on. It is not because of the color of my skin that racism is something I must be wary of, but because the color of my skin should not matter. So saying “white people have a racism problem” is a wording I detest, as it smacks of the same style of targeted generalisation which I perceive to be the primary issue. It unnecessarily generalises and actively belittles anyone with light skin who works against systems of oppression.
So, maybe it’s about the color of my skin automatically failing some purity test, or perhaps it’s that my efforts to work against structural inequities are unwelcome, as if, by my very nature, I taint anything I strive toward. I say, to anything that makes me or others in similar positions feel unwelcome in building a civilisation capable of treating people with equity, that attitude can fuck right off.
Anyone who tries to make someone feel bad, worthless, or culpable, solely for having some immutable trait, is doing something wrong. Full stop.