snake Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 ...dressing up in a Western suit...is racist...Is there anything that is not racist? Can I wear my hat backwards?No you cannot!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IheartTesla Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 So everyone missed the part where I talked about numbers and are now focusing on percentages. Well, I cant help your selective reading I guess, but 45% of 50 million is still less than 45% of 300 million.In short, your post might be the one full of sh*t. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galactus Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 To want to adopt the physical traits associated with power and status can indeed be a manifestation of racism, much like how Chinese people serving the British officials in the 30s dressing up in western suits were indeed racists.Would you call Sun Yat-Sen a racist then? Just curious. Quite true. This is common to any group who's subjected to the othering process, and it is not unique to black culture.Yeah, it's not as if the "big tits" stereotype isn't used for eg. Swedes. Women are sexualized, pretty much regardless of culture or status. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerraPrime Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 So why in God's name should anyone work to not be racist? And I mean truly racist? Why should anyone try to be happy and interact with people? Why should anyone to anything, when you're going to be called racist and sexist and transphobic no matter what? Why should anyone attempt to achieve when all it's going to get them is contempt and condemnation by a bunch of people under the mistaken impression that their opinions matter.Absolutely no reasons at all. In fact, that's the opinions of many people, so you're in good company! :)Life is hard when you're in the dominant group, I gather, when every word, every gesture, and every joke are scrutinized for signs of bias against one group or another. Why can't those pesky minorities just leave things be and assume that no ill intent was meant in any of these things? I don't get it, either. Seems like they just live to find faults in others. Oh wait, did I just commit a crime of being mean to the minority? See? I have to watch every word I say. Every word! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
str8 outta Old Town Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 What's racist about it?Everything is racist. A memo went round a couple of years back, were you not on the group mail list? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IheartTesla Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 what a load of shit. london has just been announced in this weeks census to only be 45% white british. there are plenty of people around the world who live in places which are multicultural. and even if they don't this doesn't mean that they are have any less of a nuanced take on racial issues than americans. especially since americans travel outside their borders so rarely. what you may have is a nuanced take on racism in america, this incident involved a dane, in brazil.So everyone missed the part where I talked about numbers and are now focusing on percentages. Well, I cant help your selective reading I guess, but 45% of 50 million is still less than 45% of 300 million.In short, your post might be the one full of sh*t. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Relic Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 If i wanted to poke fun at say...a female basketball team mate that im friendly with and showed up to one of our games wearing a stuffed bra would that be considered sexist? Insensitive? Because that's really all i see happening here. It's Serena that is being poked at, not her race/religion/nationality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFatCoward Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 So everyone missed the part where I talked about numbers and are now focusing on percentages. Well, I cant help your selective reading I guess, but 45% of 50 million is still less than 45% of 300 million.In short, your post might be the one full of sh*t.absolutely, every american interacts with all of those 100 million. you showed us.edited for accuracy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempra Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 Considering that Serena's half-sister, Yetunde Price was a victim of gang violence, I think it's safe to assume that Serena's dance is not a glorification of gang life and was just a bit of harmless fun.Wow, that make's Serena look like an insensitive dick since a Crip member went to jail for killing her half-sister.Anyways, whether she intended to glorify gang violence has no bearing on how other people view her crip-walking stunt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShowOverBooks Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 It isn't racist, but it would have been funnier with a few steroid needles sticking in her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fragile Bird Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 Sorry, Tesla, that makes no sense to me at all. Your sensitivity shouldn't make any difference if the numbers were 35 million or 3.5 million. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IheartTesla Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 absolutely, every american interacts with all of those 50 million. you showed us.300 million. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. E Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 Life is hard when you're in the dominant group, I gather, when every word, every gesture, and every joke are scrutinized for signs of bias against one group or another. Why can't those pesky minorities just leave things be and assume that no ill intent was meant in any of these things? I don't get it, either. Seems like they just live to find faults in others. Oh wait, did I just commit a crime of being mean to the minority? See? I have to watch every word I say. Every word! :dunno: Terra, you are a censor. And oddly condescending, at that. ... And whatever, that's okay, I guess, as long as you don't get any real power. But this board has given me an education, which in itself is pretty neat. And that is if it came down to a choice of a world where people were nice to each other, and never "offended" each other intentionally or otherwise, and a world where people were free to speak what they want, the latter is the ideal paradigm every time.Fact is, this was a teasing show pointed at Serena Williams. Hers is the only opinion that even matters at all in it. Not yours, not mine, and not Billy Bob over in accounting. Yet all of us want to jump in an make value judgments to, what? Make ourselves feel better? Show that we're better than everyone else? I don't know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
str8 outta Old Town Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 This thread shows what has gone wrong with American discourse on race. There are a thousand valid examples of why America is a racist society, nobody talks about them. Instead people minutely examine every single representation of a black person by a white person in case it has some relationship to a body of cultural signifiers so out of date that most people don't even know WHY they are racist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 Why does TerraPrime think it's helpful to storm into what is for the most part a reasoned debate here and be a prick to everyone who doesn't agree exactly with him?Or does he think it's better to not only not try to win people over to your side but antagonise people who aren't really on one side of the fence or the other but examining a given issue from various angles, including the ones trying to be civil to him? Because the world is definitely a better place when everyone's acting like a particularly uncouth three-year-old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Relic Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 . And that is if it came down to a choice of a world where people were nice to each other, and never "offended" each other intentionally or otherwise, and a world where people were free to speak what they want, the latter is the ideal paradigm every time.Why do those two have to be mutually exclusive? You already live in a world where the latter is a reality, btw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerraPrime Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 Would you call Sun Yat-Sen a racist then? Just curious. Overseas Chinese were different because they lived in a foreign culture and it's to be expected that they'd adapt to those cultures in both customs and attires. Also, Sun and the revolutionary group need some special analysis, given that one of the frustrations they had was about a corrupt Qing government that had become fast obsolete in the modernizing world dominated by the European countries. The example that I was referencing was about Chinese people who had not been overseas at all, but which aspired to the social status of the ruling class (British) by dressing like them. You can get examples on Chinese people wearing Japanese attire in areas where Japan occupied, too, and it'd be the same with regards to illustrating how someone can internalize racism and present it in a manner of mimicking appearance of the dominant group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IheartTesla Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 Actually, its a pretty straightforward sociological phenomena. More people means more interactions and more possible configurations and scenarios. Ergo, more exposure to various situations.I mean, if there are criticisms about a nation's collective sensitivity to issues of race, then on the flip side you must also allow that as a nation we have more collective exposure to various 'racial' scenarios.Or we can drop talking about how America has a problem, I would be fine with that too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFatCoward Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 300 million.sorry, bad typing and not paying attention. what i meant was that americans are no more likely to interact with someone 'non white america' than someone in london and many other major cities are likely to interact with a 'non white wherever'. so the total is irrelevant, to me anyway. also you can't go anywhere in london without interacting with 'non white british people' i imagine there are huge swathes of America where it is almost exclusively white, but tell me if i'm wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elder Sister Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 :dunno: Terra, you are a censor. And oddly condescending, at that... And whatever, that's okay, I guess, as long as you don't get any real power. But this board has given me an education, which in itself is pretty neat. And that is if it came down to a choice of a world where people were nice to each other, and never "offended" each other intentionally or otherwise, and a world where people were free to speak what they want, the latter is the ideal paradigm every time.Mr. E., that seems a little harsh to me. Terra is just voicing his opinion. He hasn't attempted to silence the discussion. And honestly; what is wrong with being careful not to offend? Why do I need to feel that I can say whatever I want?The fact of the matter is this: I am not black. I grew up in Mississippi, which is still extremely segregated, even in 2012. And for the record, most places are the same way. I understand there are enlightened pockets of equality in places across the US, but by and large, we are still dealing with an extreme racially prejudiced environment. I think the reaction to Obama's reelection shows that.It's actually a very interesting topic/discussion. And many African Americans will tell you that they themselves engage in racially motivated behavior every time they straighten their hair. Watch Chris Rock's "The Politics of Hair" and see what I'm talking about.I think this is an extremely valuable conversation if we can set our sensitivities aside and not get defensive. I know it's hard, but we are never going to get anywhere as a country if we can't talk about this stuff honestly. And who knows? Maybe TP and Mormont and I are wrong? But is it that wrong to want to just have an honest, lively (but not too lively, heh.) discussion, and maybe get some new perspective?Mr. E, you are a very level headed guy - and pretty much everyone in this thread is. I value your opinions. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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