The White Guilt PSA

[Kyle Aaron]

I thought Louis CK said it better. It was actually more biting than that other stuff.

[Will D]

Oh stop it. We can't learn anything from this shit. It's like the holocaust. People do terrible shit when the conditions are right, and incentives are aligned. It can happen, and it happens within the confines of what is permissible in that zeitgeist.

[DoctorWho]

While I agree with Spar (wait... confirming that it's me at the keyboard and checking hell for signs of freezing), racism is so intertwined with poverty, unemployment, and especially lack of mobility that one can't be solved without the other. True for a white underclass, as well (without the racism part). The most important thing that affects this is our GDP growth rate. I think the Ds blew the opportunity of a lifetime when they let the stimulus be corrupted and ineffective (if there is someone on this board who has or can provide real insight into whether Keynsian stimulus or austerity would have been better, as distinguished from repeating talking points, I haven't read them, so I don't fault the Ds for trying stimulus, just the execution), promoted class warfare (the Buffet tax is red meat for the rubes), and reached too far on health care reform.

[Chebass88]

Take away the white privilege of these idiots, and they will whine about wanting it back. Wahhh - someone followed me in a store! Waaahhh, I got pulled over!

[B4PJS]

"Priveleged not to be followed by store security when entering a shop"

I call bullshit. Last time I went to the cinema with my wife, we had a security guard run up the escalators to catch up with us to check our tickets. This being past the entry barriers where tickets are checked, and before the ticket inspectors at the top of the escalators who direct you to the correct screen. Fucking chump. I would guess most security guards are more likely to follow a white guy than a black guy for fear of being called racist these days.

Chris Rock said it best regarding "niggas" IMO : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niggas_vs._Black_People

[Simma Park]

"Priveleged not to be followed by store security when entering a shop"

I call bullshit. Last time I went to the cinema with my wife, we had a security guard run up the escalators to catch up with us to check our tickets. This being past the entry barriers where tickets are checked, and before the ticket inspectors at the top of the escalators who direct you to the correct screen. Fucking chump.

Anecdotal evidence with a sample size of 1 doesn't disprove pervasive racial bias. Also, aren't you not in the U.S.? Why do you call bullshit on Chebass's observations? I actually know Haddon Heights, NJ well. Do you?

I would guess most security guards are more likely to follow a white guy than a black guy for fear of being called racist these days.

This is a guess based on what, exactly?

Chris Rock said it best regarding "niggas" IMO : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niggas_vs._Black_People

By the way, I've never done that joke again, ever, and I probably never will. 'Cos some people that were racist thought they had license to say nigger. So, I'm done with that routine.

[JM3]

Collective guilt or collective goodness or collective evil isn't even really useful in limited discussions on the larger perspective.

As it is, too many people spend their time trying to come up with reasons why they shouldn't feel guilty because their ancestors didn't own slaves, etc., when instead they should be trying to see the ways in which every single American, no matter when he or she arrived in this country, benefits in some way from the historical labor of black slaves or railroad coolies or the destruction of indigenous people's societies and the stealing of their land, not for the purposes of assigning blame, but for the purposes of trying to understand how shit happened so that we can come up with ways to make things better. This is not the same as saying, "I'm evil" or "I should be crushed by guilt".

In fact, it's a defensive mechanism against unpleasant ideas to prefer to think that someone is trying to call you evil or make you feel guilty rather than just see the scope of historical, economic, and social factors that influence how "white" came to be the "normal" against which all else is deemed "not normal".

I dont disagree with any of this. I guess Collective guilt/goodness in and of itself isnt useful- I should've just said 'generalizations' instead- which is closer to what I mean.
Saying white privilege exists isnt tantamount to saying white people should feel guilty- but in my observation that is a typical sentiment when expressed by white people who live almost exclusively caucasian communities. I find both the defensiveness and the PC outrage to be equally annoying.

[michael dowling]

when instead they should be trying to see the ways in which every single American, no matter when he or she arrived in this country, benefits in some way from the historical labor of black slaves

That would include current blacks in America then, most white people did not own slaves, most white people came here as dirt poor immigrants, most white people remained poor until well into the 20th century. You're benefiting from the labor of my Irish Ancestors who were treated like dogs when they came here, where's my PSA?

Why is this such a big deal here? In EVERY country in the world the majority rules, too bad so sad, go move to a country where you're the majority if it bothers you then. No one gives a shit if Japan gets to have their own country and have a majority rule where being Japanese, and Japanese culture is beneficial to success in their society, or Muslim countries. It's only white countries that must "open up" and grant special favors like free education, welfare, affirmative action, to minorities.

It's nonsense, I can't wait to people wake the fuck up and see what's really going on, the news won't report on it, but whites are attacked, beaten, raped, and robbed, by blacks at a rate so alarming it would shock people if they could actually get the media to report on this stuff.

[JM3]

That would include current blacks in America then, most white people did not own slaves, most white people came here as dirt poor immigrants, most white people remained poor until well into the 20th century. You're benefiting from the labor of my Irish Ancestors who were treated like dogs when they came here, where's my PSA?

Why is this such a big deal here? In EVERY country in the world the majority rules, too bad so sad, go move to a country where you're the majority if it bothers you then. No one gives a shit if Japan gets to have their own country and have a majority rule w
here being Japanese, and Japanese culture is beneficial to success in their society, or Muslim countries.
.

know many Koreans? Bahai?

[Simma Park]

That would include current blacks in America then, most white people did not own slaves, most white people came here as dirt poor immigrants, most white people remained poor until well into the 20th century. You're benefiting from the labor of my Irish Ancestors who were treated like dogs when they came here, where's my PSA?

Yes, before the Irish were considered white, they were treated poorly and exploited as well. So what's your point? That white people deserve their preferential treatment because of the Irish? You make no sense.

Why is this such a big deal here? In EVERY country in the world the majority rules, too bad so sad, go move to a country where you're the majority if it bothers you then.

So because whites are the majority here, they deserve to be treated better than everyone else?

No one gives a shit if Japan gets to have their own country and have a majority rule where being Japanese, and Japanese culture is beneficial to success in their society

Actually, yes, people do give a shit. You just happen to be ignorant of the fact that people give a shit because you don't know a fucking thing about anything that doesn't happen in your back yard.

It's only white countries that must "open up" and grant special favors like free education, welfare, affirmative action, to minorities.

So you're saying you'd like for "white countries" to behave exactly like countries where equal treatment of all citizens is not an ideal that people try to live up to? You'd like the U.S. to abandon this ideal and be OK with white people getting advantages? We should just behave like the Japanese or like "the Muslims" (whatever that means)?

It's nonsense, I can't wait to people wake the fuck up and see what's really going on, the news won't report on it, but whites are attacked, beaten, raped, and robbed, by blacks at a rate so alarming it would shock people if they could actually get the media to report on this stuff.

You know what's nonsense? Your perspective. The simple fact is that crimes with black victims are grossly under-publicized in the media. Just because there are a few Trayvon Martin-type cases every few years doesn't mean there's some concerted media effort to cover up crimes committed against whites by minorities.