On this blog I have defined myself as racist. People have run with this, thinking of racism in an obviously completely different context. Someone over at another blog, indicated my racism makes their stomach turn. I think that, and this is going to be racist, people of color have a different definition of racism than white people do. There I said it. Now I am awaiting for someone else to tell me they are concerned for my child and/or hope they die.
According to Merriam-Webster, racism is defined as:
Main Entry: rac·ism
Pronunciation: \ˈrā-ˌsi-zəm also -ˌshi-\
Function: noun
Date: 1933
1 : a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race
2 : racial prejudice or discrimination
I practice racial prejudice at times. As I have said before in previous posts:
-I admit when I hear White people make gross accusations about affirmative action, I assume them to be the White people who feel they are entitled, and always think for every black person in college, there is some White person who deserved it so much more, regardless of IQ, SAT scores, GPA, and whatever else that black person has.
-I sometimes think white people have a belief they are entitled to opportunities in life, and that blacks who are "allowed" these opportunities are inferior.
-I think asians and other races of folks look down upon black people in general.
-I think many other races of people (Asian, Indian, Hispanic, etc.) aspire to be white and fit into mainstream society.
-I think many Asian women suffer from what some Black men suffer from, which is "anything white will do" syndrome.
-I think that Hispanics, in particular Mexican folks are some of the most racist people around.
-I think that most White people are racist, but they can't accept or acknowledge that fact because it would be seen as negative in this day and age to be so.
-I think that for White people when it comes down to certain things, race plays a bigger factor more than they care to admit, consciously or subconsciously.
-I think that white women assume they are automatically more attractive than other races of women.
I have also said before that I know these are sweeping generalizations that aren't fair. My goal in life is to work on them. I work on them everyday. I know not all white people are evil and hate or even dislike black people, I know not all asians, hispanics, etc. all fit in the same box.
I think it is possible to be racist towards your own race. I see it all the time with black people. There is a segment of the black population that believes all the black stereotypes. People who believe most black people want to be rappers or athletes. Most black people are poor, or violent, or less intelligent than other races of people. They believe that other groups of people are inherently superior to black people. I will admit when I see black folks fulfill these stereotypes I cringe. I swore I saw Lil Wayne the other night while shopping at Kroger. I live in overwhelmingly white, republican suburbia, I cringe when I see this because I am painfully aware that white people will see the Lil Wayne clone and think that is what most black people all look like. I cringe because my racist mind assumes most white people use the example of one or some to apply to all, and use it to legitimize their own racist beliefs.
Now when I say racist beliefs of white people, I am going to the "prejudicial racism" definition. They believe that what they see on television and/or the relatively few black people they interact with, represent all black people. Do I think these are the people who will come and lynch a black person or burn a cross in your yard? Nope. I do however think they hold racist thoughts and since it is not acceptable to be called racist, unless you are a KKK or Aryan nation member, refuse to acknowledge their prejudices or racism.
It doesn't always have to be about the negative, "prejudicial racism" can be about something as simple as a name.
Do I think some white people fall into the first definition, in which they believe they are inherently superior? Most definitely, but many black people do as well (think Black Hebrew Israelites).
I usually see the "superiority racism" when I hear about the upset in Affirmative Action. Why do you assume some or even the majority of people of color (excluding asians as they have the "positive" stereotypes) are there with lower grades or SAT scores than a white person who didn't get in? Why can it not be assumed that they are just as smart as you, or maybe even smarter than the white person that didn't get in? If the grades aren't the same, maybe that black person who got in got in for other attributes, maybe they were good at basketball, football, baseball, or even golf or swimming? Maybe they transferred in with great grades from a community college, maybe they were involved in activities that look good to a college admissions person. People tend to celebrate when a white guy gets into college because of a football scholarship and frown when a black guy does it, and it is assumed that the white guy must have been smart and athletically gifted, whereas the black guy was just athletically gifted. As a black woman who once dated a white guy with a basketball scholarship, I know not all white guys in athletics are smart. Sometimes, they like the black, asian, or hispanic guy are just really good at their sport of choice.
Another way in which I see "superiority racism" is in beauty ideals or standards. I once had a white woman who was married to a hispanic man tell me that she wished her brother in law, who is hispanic, would date white women, so that he could get a "real quality woman" instead of just a black or hispanic woman. I guess in her mind quality was equal to white. She didn't like my response or reaction to that. She also didn't fully understand why I thought what she said was offensive. She probably still doesn't to this day. You also get this with other races of women.
There is also the racism that counts as both. A concern about the unfair double standards that exist that people feel benefit people of color, such as black power vs. white power, right to use the n-word, the "why can't black people get over slavery" arguments. These are prejudicial because assumptions are made about whole groups of people, and they also express superiority because they fail to acknowledge the history of racism and how it still affects people.
Racism in the traditional definition is bad, I know this, that is why I work on mine, but to fail to acknowledge racism is a grave injustice and it continues to stall race relations. Until people fully acknowledge and accept racism in all of it forms, even the "innocent" racism, I know that we are never going to improve. Maybe the answer for some is to find escape in tribalism. For people like me, who have married interracially or had biracial children, that can never be an option, and we are stuck with figuring out how the world indeed can fix the current mess it's in.
31 comments:
I think there is a fundamental differance between the reality of black and white, and the perceptions that black and white have of each other.
Your assumption that whites feel themselves superior is off, unless you are speaking of and individuals (of any race)assumption that they are themsleves above average.
What you see as an air of superioirity is really just a lack of recognizing unearned privelage. This non-recognition has more to do with lack of understanding and empathy than racial entitlement.
Most whites believ the civil rights movement won the war on racism and now things are equal... hence thier problem with affirmative action is their belief that now that things are equal one should qualify by accomplishment, not by race. They assume that those who are qualified simply win out and only those who are un-qualified need the bent rules that are in their minds what aff. action is.
Now you and I may know that this perception of reality is wrong. Things are not equal. But most white people have no first hand knowledge with black culture in any other way than the media. Some may have a black friend, but probably not that close, and surely not a large group of black friends. The media only portrays tokens, or anything sensational, no matter the race.
So today a white view of black people is Obama, Rice, Powell, and Puffy. Lil' Kim, O.J., Snoop Dog, Flava of Love, Will Smith, and murderers on the evening news.
They do not know black bankers, accountants, lawyers, doctors, teachers, or cops... except maybe one, who doesnt seam at all like TV, but thats just the one, the exception.
It is ignorance, but in the eyes of most black people, who inhabit the other side of the same coin, this non=empathetic ignorance is interpreted as superiority inspired antagonism. History has painted a confrontational picture between the two and this vista has not been updated in the minds of many black people. Why not?
BEcause they also, while living in a world full of white people, don't have white people over for dinner, don't worship with them, don't speak with them about their deep feelings or true views.
You see white teachers, cops, lawyers, accountants, but you don't know them.... and then you watch and assume.
Its quite the Cath-22 in that one side thinks things are worse than they are, which in turn makes things worse. While the other side, most of whom start out honest and open in heart, ignore how bad it really is, and end up being part of the problem they continue to ignore.
It's also incredibly annoying whenever a black celebrity (like that idiot Kanye) or public figure (Al Sharpton, anyone??) does something stupid it is automatically blamed on his/her race and every black person has to defend themselves by chiming in with the whole "So-and-so does not represent who I am" or "That's not how EVERY black person is" bs. I am SICK of it!
brohammas,
Thanks for the insightful comment. If WP/OTHER NON-BP and BP in America could find a way to openly/honestly acknowledge perceptions/misperceptions of each other, and SEEK TO CORRECT them, we could truly make progress in DIMINISHING racism in our culture.
Mimi,
I totally agree with your outrage with ANTI-BLACK RACISTS who can't wait to GENERALIZE NEGATIVE STEREOTYPES to ALL BP when ONE Black person misbehaves (eg. Kanye, Al Sharpton, etc.).
I also DETEST the ANTI-BLACK/ RACIST DOUBLE STANDARD applied to a Black person's misbehavior vs. the same type of misbehavior in a White person (Serena Williams vs. John McEnroe).
And the Kanye West incident brings out the non racists.
Kanye Fallout
Prejudice + power=racism
Looking at what you wrote, your thoughts on other races seems more prejudical than racist.
"They believe that what they see on television and/or the relatively few black people they interact with, represent all black people."
This is one thing I have never understood and will never accept as an excuse to generalizing entire groups. Although disproportionately, you can find good and bad representations on every race on television. For whites and other non-blacks to negatively stereotype blacks based on what is shown on the TV is ridiculous.
There is a myriad of negative images of whites that are never used to stereotype their entire race. Why are given the benefit of the doubt: "There's good and bad in every race/community/group"; "Not everyone is like that"; "My friend, Soinso, isn't like that"; "It's fiction, not real life". Even for crimes where whites are the majority of the criminals (e.g., sexual abuse involving children), white criminals [on tv] with this vice are considered exceptions and not representative of all whites. Why aren't blacks given the same benefit of the doubt?
Frankly it’s unconscionable that Blacks have to keep defending themselves on every front. Kayne and Serena acts up, everyone can’t wait to use the N word and use that as proof that—“just how blacks are”—“they are animal”—savage and every negative stereotype that you can think of. On another blog the word they used is Taxed—blacks are tasked for others bad behavior, cultural values and genetics, but demand that they be seen as an individual and they are positively apoplectic, if a black person deigns to take the liberty of generalizing and explaining the racist and inhuman behavior in whites.
Since Blacks have been taxed for centuries it’s a miracle that Black rage hasn’t exploded outward in which a lot of people get hurt—but instead we take it out on each other which continues to perpetuate the cycle of self hate and bone crushing contempt from Whites and other non-blacks. Incidentally, there was a great post on Abagond’s blog on Covering in which a posters name SmrtOne talks about her difficulties in academia. What was startling was the alienation that she suffered at Whites and Asians who believed that she didn’t belong in the same Science field that she was. They didn’t take her as an individual—they lumped her in with the rest of the supposedly dumb A*s affirmative action loving blacks.
Its tiring to fence with these conscious and unconscious attitudes day in and day out and to always monitor your behavior because you know you are always on stage because you always have to contend with being an ambassador to your race. Therefore its is perfectly understandable that some Blacks are vigilant and cautious when going into non-Black situations and that make us more unforgiving of racial hang-ups and that much more likely to pre-judge and other Whites.. We have to be aware of each race because we are not only the minority but we are also the most hated and the easiest group that others can look down on.
I really don’t have much faith that race relations will change. It hasn’t gotten better-it has just gotten worse and far more insidious. The hatred and incredulous disdain that I see from Whites and non-Blacks is frankly too much. Whites cannot really conceive of Blacks as human unless they account for the exceptions and a lot of Blacks are going to have to bear the onus of proving to others that they are human even if they marry themselves to the rugged individualist mindset.
Off topic;
Check out Sean Penn's new girlfriend.
Sean Penn
I like what Paul Mooney said.
He compared a black person being called racist to a guy that stands on a street corner all day and screams murder but doesn't kill anyone. That guy is not a murderer. Same with the so called Black racist. He can say Honky all day but if he can't apply his "racism", then he can't be a racist. On the other hand the white person can apply his racism.
Case in point, common false rape charges by White Women. All they need to do is say the word.
However Blacks who use violence against whites based on racial hatred are racist.
Siditty,
The honesty of your post has to be commended, and I do. I think a majority of people hold racist beliefs that in a politically correct world only see the light of day in very covert ways.
Your post has encouraged me to examine my own prejudices.
I have a question for you; do you think that many racist or bigoted beliefs held by Black people are more due to having been the subject of so much bigotry and come from pain rather than a belief of Black superiority?
I have a question for you; do you think that many racist or bigoted beliefs held by Black people are more due to having been the subject of so much bigotry and come from pain rather than a belief of Black superiority?
It's definitely a reaction to the bigotry in my case, it doesn't come from feeling superior, I'm not superior, but it does come from experiences. It isn't fair to paint the whole that way, but I admit I do it.
Siditty,
Thanks for answering. That's what I was thinking in general about racist views held by Black people, that it's more of a reaction.
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@Dark Moon
"Since Blacks have been taxed for centuries it’s a miracle that Black rage hasn’t exploded outward in which a lot of people get hurt—but instead we take it out on each other which continues to perpetuate the cycle of self hate and bone crushing contempt from Whites and other non-blacks."
Isn't that the diabolical genius of racial superiority? I think part of the reason that's so is because so many Black people subconsciously believe that we are inferior therefore it's less of a crime to harm another Black person.
Siditty your post is dead on and also Brohammas is too. I think race-relations are doomed. I tried but people have their minds made up.
I hate to divert the topic to the whole kanye-taylor swift incident but even though Kanye was wrong for what he did the white girl pity party is annoying now. She will live and move on she is big girl. As for the Serena situation that was an over reaction she doesn't deserve a year suspension.
I think there is a fundamental differance between the reality of black and white, and the perceptions that black and white have of each other.
Give it up Bro. Blacks and whites have far too many differences to be reconciled in this country. They come from different cultures with very different outlooks on the world. I'd put money on the Palestinians and the Jews coming to terms first and that sure is shit isn't going to happen either.
@ Anon,
Hey Defeatistsorous Rex, I may agree with you if I havent seen people change, if I hadn't seen myself change.
Do I feel Utopia is attainable? no. Do I think things can get better? yes.
Things never get better without us trying. Defeatist attitudes and passive attitudes are similar in the end result of maintaining status quo.
Grata,
In reference to Sean Penn dating Jessica White, I have strong feelings about older WM dating younger BW NOW, when they NEVER dated or considered marrying BW WHEN THEY WERE IN THEIR PRIME.
I know from FIRSTHAND accounts, that older WM (from Sean Penn's demographic) treated BW in one of two ways when they were in their PRIME. This type of WM either felt that BW weren't GOOD ENOUGH (SOLELY because they were BW) to date seriously, much less consider marrying (ANTI-BW RACISTS) or they were too afraid of what others might say/think about them if they seriously dated/considered marrying a BW (ANTI-BW COWARDS).
I wish younger BW would examine the past attitudes/actions (towards IRR's with BW) of the older WM who approach them and choose NOT to REWARD older WM who were ANTI-BW RACISTS/ANTI-BW COWARDS in the PAST with relationships with BW in the PRESENT.
Isn't that the diabolical genius of racial superiority? I think part of the reason that's so is because so many Black people subconsciously believe that we are inferior therefore it's less of a crime to harm another Black person.
Monie,
The abused person apology usually fits into your point which makes it all the more insidious. Whites love to throw out FBI stats, Black on White violence—that we are more a threat to them then Whites could ever be to Blacks, be but overwhelmingly we will kill each other before we even think about hurting a White person. The STL bus incident is horrible but the reality is that it’s a fluke compared to all the killing and rape that we do to each other. And it just goes back that if whites really do fear blacks like they claim—this country would have been incinerated years ago—but it doesn’t happen because deep down not only do so many blacks hate themselves and the “community” but they want to be part of White—but it will never happen.
It goes back to being seen the minority and being ridiculed and viewed with contempt for Centuries—this didn’t just happen in the last century after slavery. We don’t have the cultural superiority, oral and later written portable history and strongly closed mindset that Jews use to protect them. We never had the tools unless you count sheer survival as anything other than a means to an end. Coupled with that, we have no real community like Whites, Asians and newly arrived African immigrants, who all come from majority cultures in which they do not have to deal with being seen as less than human—the cultural disconnect and the general feeling of loathsomeness and misery that Blacks foist on each other makes it all that much harder to rally around a more positive insurgency that inspires hope across social and economical lines. I’ve seen it too many times the disinterest that some Blacks display to Blacks who are struggling and the grim satisfaction that they got theirs and those other blacks are just weak and lazy.
A good friend of mine just got back from LA. She spent almost 2 years there in South Central and she marveled at the desolation and that it was nothing more than a glorified wasteland. The Blacks she saw are so nihilistic it’s beyond pathetic and alarming that a generation of children’s future is being born for naught. The cops treat it like a de-militarized zone, helicopters and impromptu searches are the norm. Living under this she wondered why the Blacks don’t leave. Why do they stay in that kind of limbo hell? They are not only outsiders, but invisible to the rest of the country and refugees in their own country. What’s worse is that they are confined to their neighborhoods base due to pathetic gang codes and the police, thus they ending up destroying each other. It’ something out of some dystopian chiller accept its real life. That experience can be replicated over and over again.
@Laromana...
I agree with your statement 100% Not to get off the immediate topic at hand, but I was on a IR board this morning and everyone was talking about how great it was that Sean Penn is dating a black woman. Well I of course had to be the one dissenting opinion.
I pointed out the fact that the main reason Sean Penn is divorcing his wife Robin Wright is because he allegedly cheated on her left, right and center. The man was married to Princess Buttercup for god's sake and he still couldn't keep it in his pants!!!...LOL!! Once a cheater, always a cheater. A leopard doesn't change his spots. I also pointed out that he is a known substance abuser (alcohol & cocaine) as well as an abuser. How soon we forget he went to jail for beating up an extra on the set of his movie "Colors". He also beat up Madonna when they were married. You can actually find the police report on-line from one such incident during their marriage. Now granted these violent incidents were many years ago and he seems to have chilled out in recent years but he still has a reputation as being quite prickly. Not to mention he has always been into black women but he's typical in the sense that he keeps us on the down low. Although when he showed up to bail the rapper Eve out of jail after she was arrested for drunk driving last year, that made more than a few people do a double take.
In other words what I was trying to point out is that Sean Penn is no great catch for any woman based on his prior behavior. I've noticed that a lot of these IR boards or black women empowerment blogs get so excited and fall all over themselves when any famous white man gets a black girlfriend that they seem to forget that the man in question may not exactly be Prince Charming.
Laromana,
Oops, I never caught the age difference. I assumed they were closer in age. I just saw the oic and posted it.
I hear you. There is a certain arrogance young White men carry with them that only starts wearing off with age.
Grata,
I was highlighting my DISTRUST and CONTEMPT for OLDER (American)WM who are FORMER ANTI-BW COWARDS/ANTI-BW RACISTS dating YOUNGER BW NOW when they didn't think BW were GOOD ENOUGH (SOLELY because they were BW)to seriously date or marry when they were in their PRIME. Instead of being true to their REAL PREFERENCE for BW, when this type of OLDER (American) WM was in his PRIME, he took the EASY way out and married the ACCEPTABLE WW/OTHER NON-WW. By doing this this type of OLDER (American) WM perpetuated the LIE that BW are INVISIBLE, SECOND CLASS, UNDESIRABLE, women, NOT WORTHY of being pursued/loved/married/having their children.
In the Sean Penn/Jessica White case, Anon is on point in his characterization of him as a cheater, beater, and low quality man for ANY WOMAN, much less BW (who he's ALWAYS treated as his dirty little secret).
I have had a much more POSITIVE experience in IRR's with MOST YOUNGER (American) WM TODAY because they don't have the ANTI-BW COWARD/ANTI-BW RACIST attitudes that MOST OLDER (American) WM had in the PAST when they were in their PRIME.
A lot of BW who are now considering WM as partnership material, in their youth didn't seem to know that WM existed.
I'm 51 and my attraction has ALWAYS been for WM and I never hid it. I know of quite a few BW, 35 and older, who only started talking about/admitting to an attraction for WM after years and years of being outwardly fixated only on the "bruthas".
In the past some of these same women actually gave me a hard time for expressing my attraction for WM. And, to top it off, they were often quite smug in their contempt of my dating choices and in their (then) belief that WM are little more than eunuchs next to BM!
As far as I'm concerned there really isn't much difference between those BW and the Sean Penns out there.
The man was married to Princess Buttercup for god's sake and he still couldn't keep it in his pants!!
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Wow, she's blonde, female and white, and yet he still couldn't keep it in his pants -- imagine that!!!
A lot of BW who are now considering WM as partnership material, in their youth didn't seem to know that WM existed.
That's not what the marriage stats say: Less then 1 in 400 marriages is between a black woman and a white man.
Anon says,
I'm 51 and my attraction has ALWAYS been for WM and I never hid it. I know of quite a few BW, 35 and older, who only started talking about/admitting to an attraction for WM after years and years of being outwardly fixated only on the "bruthas".
laromana says,
Anon,
I totally agree with you. The type of BW who gave other BW a hard time for being attracted to WM/NON-WM in the PAST, but NOW claim to be attracted to WM/NON-BM are as problematic as OLDER WM who, in the PAST, were either too "AFRAID" to date or marry BW or didn't think BW were good enough to date or marry (because they were BW).
Dark Moon,
South Central and places like that around the country are farms of self-loathing. The crops grown on those farms end-up killing anyone who looks like them, sounds like them or acts like them.
If only the true history of those neighborhoods was taught in schools maybe those living there would realize how racism is at the core of everything they do.
A lot of BW who are now considering WM as partnership material, in their youth didn't seem to know that WM existed.
That's not what the marriage stats say: Less then 1 in 400 marriages is between a black woman and a white man.
----
???
Anon, rather than go into a panic, perhaps you should just re-read my post -- and this time in its entirety. I was NOT speaking of BW in general, but only a portion of THOSE BW WHO ARE ACTUALLY CONSIDERING WM as potential love interests. My statements about this PARTICULAR group of BW are based on personal experience, as well as from reading the online commentary of some of these women.
Okay?! Do ya get it now???
It should be obvious enough that we all are racist to some extent or another. We all have prejudice; we all have power. How much power dictates how much racism we can buy for our prejudice, but it's always there.
The real issue is that "racist" is vilified to a point where very few people will consider coping to it. I'm not sure there's anything worse one could admit to. I certainly can't think of anything.
And from there out - the usual "admitting you have a problem is the hardest part" tripe can be applied. Not admitting you have a problem makes it harder to fix. (Realistically, we just end up teaching our kids to not be as racist as we are, then die.)
@ Grata
Wow, those tweets calling for him to be LYNCHED BY THE KKK were over the fckin top!
What's funny is these same people are probably the ones claiming their not racist.
LMAO at the Latino posters jumpng in. How typical.
Sorry for going off topic siditty, but I had to comment on this.
I once heard from other older Black people that it is impossible for Black people to be racist simply because racism is based on an institution of power--power that Blacks never had. I believe that Black people can be prejudiced-- we all have it in us to a certain extent. Anyone with common sense isn't going to be blatantly racist and think that no one is going to call them on it. Wilson and his outburst has been called racist by many-- I'm still not sure about it. Yes, he's an idiot and he doesn't think before he speaks, but that doesn't make him racist. However, he was a staunch supporter of keeping the Confederate flag flying on government buildings-- THAT is racist. Looking at the history behind that flag, I don't see how anyone can simply pass it off as "Southern Heritage". That flag reminds me of slavery, Jim Crow and people getting lynched. And Southern Whites are naive if they think it's about heritage. Ignorance and denial are all part of racism.
"Wow, those tweets calling for him to be LYNCHED BY THE KKK were over the fckin top!
What's funny is these same people are probably the ones claiming their not racist."
The are very ordinary looking folk. Could be your work mate.
"LMAO at the Latino posters jumpng in. How typical."
Don't you know that other minorities have to prove their disdain of blacks towards whites inorder to be accepted. Then play victim when they meet blacks.
That's true, Grata.
Just scary how ordinary they look..
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