ShonHarris said
Jesus I hope you're trolling. Alright, before this is read, just know that statements like the above rank about an inch lower than pile a dog mess on a side-walk. I'm going to point out some serious notes where prejudice is clearly present in our system, but I'm also going to tear apart that perspective, because it simply must be trolling, but if it's not, I really cannot stand to allow it the time and patience of a thorough, point-by-point argument. Chances are with a perspective like this you may well not be sharing in order to have new views introduced -- I suspect you're probably just throwing out a grenade and waiting for the backlash. So here's mine. Okay... hold on. So, let's talk about this for a moment. 1) White People refers to, oh, people who have white skin. 2) African American refers to people with roots leading back to Africa. First problem here is that you're not distinguishing parties in a way that makes sense. I say this because, an African American can be white, and can actually declare themselves as white too, but still be African. While being from Africa does have his associations, for example many just assume you hail from poverty, it is more the obvious distinction of a person being of colour or not, or of having some apparent sign of their "non-white" culture. There institutionalized racism and oppression based on what group you hail from. Random example could be that people with white skin have committed numerous atrocities and genocides, shootings, bombings, and horrific killing sprees in the United States. Yet, somehow, anyone who is seemingly Arabic or perhaps Muslim is more apt to associated with such activities, and are much likelier to be pulled aside in airports or in some states (I'm looking at you, Arizona) to prove their citizenship. We could talk about the deaths after recent Stand Your Ground laws and the disproportionate number of cases where a person of colour is killed by a white person and it's ruled as self defence despite disturbing circumstances suggesting otherwise. There's of course media representation, which is actually accepted as a flaw by figures in the business, often depicting any of people of colour (beyond just African) in highly stereotypical, often demeaning ways. Oh, oh, shoot, I almost forgot the studies that have come up showing that charges related to drug possession often differ greatly depending on the ethnicity of the accused. Right, do you remember the inner city school full of mostly students of colour, Harper High? They're at 29 students shot, 8 killed by gun violence. They actually had pretty big shooting last year, but didn't receive much media attention -- yet other schools suffering the same, but with far less children hurt gained tons of attention, granted those were largely white, suburban schools. See racism is ugly. Nobody gets behind pure, illogical hatred that leads to violence with no rhyme or reason. People followed Hitler, because it was empowering to shame another group and oppress them, especially in light of their severe humiliation not two decades prior. The most evil minds are all too often convinced that their actions make sense, and in that sense, they are free to do as they please. So obviously those parts of the system that perpetuate oppression and prejudice aren't going to blatantly identify their oppressive nature. They're going to act subtly, but the power dynamics will still be written and the pain still felt. I'm sure it's wonderful to be able to pass alongside the majority that are expected to have the most opportunity and be generally acceptable just from appearance. It must be nice not have people commenting on how exotic your hair is, or when you jewellery, ask what that means to your culture. Shoot, it must be extremely nice not to get pulled over by police while you walk to work in a hoodie and accused of selling drugs. I get that it's probably hard to see the prejudice when it's constantly aimed at you. I'm sure you've felt that sort of hate at some point in your life, and that experience is valid, absolutely. But in North America if you're of colour, you're a minority. And the simple fact is that nobody is going to defend your image, or you culture, or simply accept that you are an individual, without somehow noting your ethnicity, your race, or generally that superficial difference. I am so happy for you that prejudice is not a systematic problem in your world. Woo.... Okay, that's out of my system and, honestly, it felt good. I usually hold my tongue when people say such blatantly asinine things, but there's a lapse. Enjoy!
Wow, you've hit the nail on the head. I agree with this entire rant almost 100%. I know I said I'm withdrawing from this discussion, but after reading this I just couldn't resist commenting again. It's also worth noting that I am white so am rather sheltered from racism, but I'm not quite so ignorant to deny it exists.