Going to be a work in progress for a bit as I add more to this post.
For now, digest this. It talks about how racism is so subtle we don’t even know it. GASP!! I am? Oh crud, what a shitheel I am!
Read up, you fellow white racist bastards.
http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2008/04/10/news/doc47fd9f59218e6219081636.txt
Another page I found makes this claim:
No matter what any of the circumstances are about you and your life, you are a racist if any one of the following are true:
- You have a problem with your children marrying/dating a person outside of their own race, unless that person is white
- You have a problem with yourself marrying/dating a person outside of your own race, unless that person is white
Just prior to that, this individual claimed:
[an individual]’s mother is living proof that having black friends, even close black friends, does not mean you aren’t a racist.
Ah. I see. So despite having a black roommate and my best man (and awesome friend) being hispanic, I’m a racist, and of even lower class than the KKK because at least they were obvious (the author’s words). Now isn’t that interesting? So it seems that despite my words and actions, it’s highly likely that I’m a racist because I’m white. I’m flabbergasted. So there is nothing I can do to avoid this label and level of distrust? By even bringing up the topic, it’s even worse?
THAT my friends, is another type of racism.
What is troubling to me is the willingness and ease with which minorities of any type are willing to cry racism or discrimination anytime anything happens that they don’t like – promotional issues, someone voicing their opinion, the classic “they didn’t look at me because of the way I’m dressed”, etc.
What can be called racism or discrimination can sometimes be a tool for survival. Let me tell you, as a man, every single day I see a woman who will not meet my eye because she is thinking (sub)consciously about potential dangers (and my wife verifies this) relating to my being a male stranger. I live with it. Am I a rapist? No not that I could prove it to the one bent on perceiving me that way. But at the same time, I have to respect that the lone woman being PRUDENT. Most rapists are MEN. Not all men are rapists, there’s a difference. I’m not claiming 1 to 1 correlation here between rapists and minorities, just using an example of wisely exercised discrimination based on cold hard truths.
Then, too, just as there is real racism, what can’t be denied is a climate of hypersensitivity. Ken Hamblin, radio talk show host, put it very well when a caller came on his show one day. The caller greeted him with a “Hello brother…” to which Hamblin immediately said “I’m not your brother, I don’t even know you”. The caller was talking about signs of racism all around him that were stopping him from achieving his goals. Hamblin stopped him and used an illustrative example – if you are crossing a street, and someone is in your way, do you turn around and walk back, or do you go around him? This upset the caller, who was hoping for validation of some sort, based on their brotherhood of color.
Another factor at work here is evident elsewhere. If you look at rape statistics, you would be led to believe that there are many many rapists out there, and the same goes for child molesters (and there are a great deal of both and I wish we’d deal with them properly but that’s another post). What isn’t brought to light is how many of these separate and distinct victims were accosted by repeat offenders. A child predator (may they rot in a pile of excrement) is likely to commit their foul deeds many many times, leaving quite a few helpless victims in their wake, so the statistics are good concerning the number of (reported) victims but don’t accurately capture the number of offenders.
I’m distressed by the volume of complaints which are totally subjective in nature (read: subtle), and cannot be substantiated or rebutted. Believe me (although it is not likely since I’m white) I would like nothing more than to pull down anyone who operates based on hate.
I was, I believe, accused of racism at a previous place of employment, and I can see how that was construed that way, but since the individuals in question did not know the whole story the label stuck. The actual truth was I was spending a disproportionate amount of time trying to help a white sad sack get his shit together and out of loser-dom. Turns out I learned a lesson, that some people like this sad-sack will NEVER get their shit together and that I was wasting my time. The minority fella in question? Best worker I’ve ever seen and w/o him the project would have failed. He was a godsend.
And for those of you who stuck it out this far… more proof that I must be racist, a column from one of my favorite authors, Thomas Sowell.
Lemur King's Folly 