I should explain the racist encounter I was referring to last night, and why a naive approach to solving racism is problematic. The person involved (who shall remain nameless) began commenting on a thread that linked to a separate discussion about blackface makeup on Halloween and how such a thing can be considered racist owing to historical context and such, thats a different conversation for another day, but you get the idea. Said person, Person M if you will, then brought up the Washington Redskins, an American Football team under scrutiny for the racist connotations in their team name, and how having such a name was a positive thing as it gave a positive connotation to the term, which is again is problematic as it completely ignored the pre-existing negative connotation, and that its still used as a racial slur today. The points made therein by person M involved claiming that people need to be more thick-skinned about racism, and that the *only* way to solve a problem such as racism is to ignore it. M then drew a parallel to a child being called idiot over and over again, but ignoring it until his bullies decided to stop. If you have half a brain, Im sure you can no doubt see why this is an idiotic comparison, as racism doesnt just involve name-calling as it were. [Speaking of which, when I pointed out how said views were naive, person M then shifted the subject of the conversation to how one should maintain civil discourse in a discussion instead of focusing on any of the points at hand. This is a shitty defense. You cannot negate and ignore peoples points just because an argument moves in a direction you dont like, and someone points out what youre saying is completely uninformed] In any case, I then tried to explain marginalization and how minority races in America face racism, both direct and latent, at every level of society. However person M refused to pay attention to any of these points and kept spouting idealist nonsense about how oppressed groups should let go of hatred and we should all live in harmony which Im sure is a positive goal, but as you can see its being approached completely tactlessly and with little thought. (Ive since deleted the thread, but my witnesses and screenshots can back all of this up if necessary) I then tried to point out how in America, white is considered the norm and I used Hollywood as an example. I linked two movie posters, one to Love Actually and one to The Best Man Holiday, the former of which has an all white cast, and the latter of which has an all black cast. I then explained that people are likely to look at the former and make no observations about the races of the actors involved, whereas the latter is often observed under the lens of race, i.e. all black cast whereas the term all white cast is rarely, if ever, used to describe a movie. I even said that this holds true for my own observations on media, owing to my having been conditioned to the norms of Hollywood, and then these points were all backed up by two of my friends who joined in the thread, both of whom were also white, and I hoped it was here that he could at least here it from someone who came from a similar background as him. He then completely ignored my point about the posters, and then went on to explain that he was more likely to watch the former as it had an all white cast, which would make it more relatable to him as he had mostly white friends. He went on to say that this neither came from a place of hatred not prejudice, however, he saw absolutely nothing wrong with saying that a person having a different skin colour makes them less relatable. He claimed to have no idea why such a thing could possibly be seen as problematic, and even upon myself and my two friends trying to explain why this and everything else he had said came from a place of misinformation and naiveté, he would keep circling back to his argument about how people should simply ignore the name Redskins and it would somehow stop being racist, when the team name was never a point of discussion anywhere in the thread to begin with except on his behalf. He also said it wasnt problematic because he had never heard it used in a racist way. I eventually had to painstakingly recount an instance of discrimination I once faced at the hands of the NYPD (which I wont retell here) before he finally accepted that I have real world experience with racism, something he clearly knew nothing about. He kept harping on about how my calling him naive was out of line, even when the conversation was shifted from the thread to a private chat, before I had to meticulously break it down for him, explaining to him that his claims of not being allowed to talk about racism were unfounded, especially since the other people discussing it in the thread were also white, and that his views on the matter were idealistic (ignoring it until it went away) and that he was dealing in hypotheticals instead of in reality, and that since hes someone with little to no exposure to other races and what they go through, he should familiarize himself with these issues before trying to offer a solution, especially since the extent of his understanding of racism was that its the equivalent of schoolyard name calling even AFTER myself and said friends went in to great detail about how racism is systematic and penetrates every sphere of personal and professional life. [There came many points in the conversation where I thought he was playing some kind of practical joke, but as much as I wish that were the case, it turns out he wasnt] Eventually, a good four hours later (I dont know why I stayed civil that long, that ones on me) he went so far as to call me condescending for pointing out that his arguments were flawed and problematic and that he wasnt even listening to the things HE was saying, let alone what was being said by my two friends and I. It was at this point that I finally spelled it out for him, that he was being childish by not even listening to our points or our critiques of his points, and that his behaviour and attitude with regards racism were disgusting, as he was insinuating that people who are victims of racism should simply grow thicker skin instead of stopping the racism itself through education, information, and standing up to intolerance. I pretty much flew off the handle at the end of those four hours, and made sure I called his views ignorant before I blocked him. I really did think I could change his narrow perception of racism, but as one of my friends later suggested to me, he didnt seem like he wanted to learn anything despite saying he did. Sorry I didnt keep my cool like I usually try to in these matters, but theres only so much I can take.
Posted on: Tue, 29 Oct 2013 03:18:43 +0000
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