"Its Hard to See Racism When You're White "

[TigerTank77]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6YPmqyOHrY

Am I the only person who's incredibly offended by this?

(Ignore the comments on the video)

[ReluctantPegasister]

I'm offended, because I grew up in the South and I saw racism. Hell, I even experienced reverse-racism. Just because my skin produces less concentrated melanin does not mean I can't recognize that people are treated differently because of the color of their skin.

[rizz]

i am so offended...i'm white and i do see racism plus who says all whites are racists and who says that blacks are the only ones on the bad end of racism

[JKmadu619]

I haven't see the video yet (mobile browsing) but the title of this thread in itself is a racist comment.

- Justin

[Revolution]

...Ehh. I do know that I'm privileged because I'm white. Yes, I can see racism, there is a lot of racism where I'm from about latinos. I see it. However, I don't think that's what they're saying. I have never experienced it somebody being racist to me, and I acknowledge that I could only imagine how that may feel like. We need to be able to admit when you are privileged so that you can fully help others who do not have that privileged.

Not even going to check this thread again. Honestly, it's not worth arguing about. I'm not particularly for this campaign, I don't know enough about it, but I think it's sending a powerful message for an issue that does need to be talked about.

[Marguerite]

I think it's a great idea, the best I've seen dealing with racism in a hell of a long time.

When you're dealing with an issue like this you do need to confront it in a very blunt and yes, sometimes controversial way. Maybe they could of had a campain which said something like "Everyone should be equal... we should love each other regardless of skin colour... " etc etc but that's the kind of message we've heard before and the kind that has zero impact on most people.

This campaign is literally targeting people who can't see racism. It's not trying to turn bigots into pluralists through the power of love. One of the posters that was shown listed the 'advantages' you can get in our society by being white. I think this really should hit close to home on this forum because frankly a lot of people here need to pay attention to what it says.

Most of the people in this section are not racist, but yet most of them (you?) are dead set against universities offering places to minorities because I suppose of a lack of understanding of the statistics and maybe (not to sound arrogant and condescending) a lack of understanding about how the real world works. THAT is why the capaign is desperately needed.

The fact that people are responding to this ad and saying "I feel this is racist against me as a white person!" reinforces that.

[JKmadu619]

Marguerite: I know full well that the last line was for me.

I didn't say I gave two shits. I just felt like pointing out the hypocrisy of the title, because apparently I possess the ability to spot it. Racism against the majority and misconceptions about how "bigoted" we are are the same as how some view the minorities.

Descrimination hits all races and genders, so sorry if I don't weep over the "poor me" mentality.

- Justin

[Marguerite]

Originally Posted by JKmadu619

Marguerite: I know full well that the last line was for me.

I didn't say I gave two shits. I just felt like pointing out the hypocrisy of the title, because apparently I possess the ability to spot it. Racism against the majority and misconceptions about how "bigoted" we are are the same as how some view the minorities.

Descrimination hits all races and genders, so sorry if I don't weep over the "poor me" mentality.

- Justin

Look at the time stamps on posts. I would have had to write my post in 3 minutes if it were about you. In fact, your post wasn't even there when I
clicked reply, but

a) I don't need to explain myself to you

and

b) I agree, it probably would have been at least partially about your post if I had read it before hand.


The fact that you (and the people in the video who I was actually talking about...) see this campaign and think "Wow, as a white person this discrimination I feel is totally on the same level as the discrimination minorities face in our society" then this campaign (let alone my posts) were basically hand crafted just for you and people like you.

[TigerTank77]

Originally Posted by Marguerite

The fact that you (and the people in the video who I was actually talking about...) see this campaign and think "Wow, as a white person this discrimination I feel is totally on the same level as the discrimination minorities face in our society" then this campaign (let alone my posts) were basically hand crafted just for you and people like you.

So basically, white people aren't allowed to feel discriminated against because they're white?

That's essentially what this whole campaign is saying. "White people have privileges because they are white, and should feel bad because of it."

I'm not going to sit here and pretend like racism doesn't exist, because it does. But how is saying that while people deserve to feel guilty because of stereotypes involving whether or not they MIGHT have special privileges based around their skin, not incredibly racist?

Because it is. Making assumptions about people based on their skin= racist.

I understand what they're trying to do, but they're going about it in an entirely hypocritical fashion.

[Marguerite]

Originally Posted by TigerTank77

So basically, white people aren't allowed to feel discriminated against because they're white?

That's essentially what this whole campaign is saying. "White people have privileges because they are white, and should feel bad because of it."

I'm not going to sit here and pretend like racism doesn't exist, because it does. But how is saying that while people deserve to feel guilty because of stereotypes involving whether or not they MIGHT have special privileges based around their skin, not incredibly racist?

I understand what they're trying to do, but they're going about it in an entirely hypocritical fashion.

It's not that we're supposed to feel guilty for being white from this campaign (I'm white in case I hadn't made that clear yet), it's the fact that we're supposed to acknowledge the discrimination in society, because only after we acknowledge it can we fix it.

Yes, people can be racist against white people, racism has no colour (which is why I hate the term reverse-racism), but in my life I've never been turned down for a job, called a racial slur, been treated differently, been excluded, been beaten or anything of the sort for being white. And I feel like when people say things like this campaign is racist against white people it trivalises a huge problem in our society and just comes off as something that needs to be submitted to whitewhine.com.

[JKmadu619]

Also the girl at the 1:04 mark is an idiot. "Make more jobs for blacks."

What'S that supposed to mean? Are we supposed to generate jobs for black only participants? It just seemed like a stupid comment.

- Justin

[TigerTank77]

Originally Posted by Marguerite

It's not that we're supposed to feel guilty for being white from this campaign (I'm white in case I hadn't made that clear yet), it's the fact that we're supposed to acknowledge the discrimination in society, because only after we acknowledge it can we fix it.

Yes, people can be racist against white people, racism has no color (which is why I hate the term reverse-racism), but in my life I've never been turned down for a job, called a racial slur, been treated differently, been excluded, been beaten or anything of the sort for being white. And I feel like when people say things like this campaign is racist against white people it trivializes a huge problem in our society and just comes off as something that needs to be submitted to whitewhine.com.

I've had any number of racial slurs thrown my way and I have been excluded on several occasions all based on my skin, and that's not involving anything having to do with the fact that I'm Jewish.

It doesn't happen to a lot of white people however, and I get that. But again, this campaign is not going about this in the right way, because it is essentially saying that white people don't have to deal with the same stuff non-whites do, and that's simply not true. The reason you don't hear about it more is because generally, no one listens. It's like female-on-male domestic abuse. And this campaign is further trivializing that, as if the discrimination white people receive is not as important or even an issue. It is, and it ALSO needs to be addressed.

Also, whitewine, a site dedicated to making fun of first world problems, I.E- white problems. Nice.

How would people react to a site called blackwhine.com, where we made fun of black people's problems?

The outcry would be substantial.

Look, if we want to REALLY tackle racism head on, then we need to tackle this from all perspectives. Coming at this from the idea what white people are the only ones who don't have to deal with discrimination is bullshit.

[Maverick.]

For some reason, I thought of this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFuNJl0WL20

A black woman is called racist terms by a white lady at disneyland. Of all places.

that's all I have to say about this. there are racist white people, there are racist black people. I myself as a person of dark complexion have been encountered with racism, but luckily I haven't had a situation as severe as that woman.

[ReluctantPegasister]

Originally Posted by Marguerite

Yes, people can be racist against white people, racism has no colour (which is why I hate the term reverse-racism), but in my life I've never been turned down for a job, called a racial slur, been treated differently, been excluded, been beaten or anything of the sort for being white. And I feel like when people say things like this campaign is racist against white people it trivalises a huge problem in our society and just comes off as something that needs to be submitted to whitewhine.com.

Again, I grew up in the south so when I was affected by all of this I was thirteen max, usually younger.
I was called names and excluded by more melanin-heavy classmates (these were the same peers who teased me for not being Christian. In Kindergarten).
I and my family were served last despite being first in line at restaurants in the more melanin-heavy parts of town.

I have been affected by racism. And not because I'm white and I'm unhappy I got nickels as change from the vending machine (like the first complaint on whitewhine would have me believe).

[Shawn K.]

I reluctantly agree that the campaign has great intention, but in my family we are not fans of worth while campaigns that tell you " the approach may cause some controversy, but hopefully that will get people talking." That usually means that we want to piss a bunch of people off. And THAT usually means that the discussion will deteriorate to a level of arguing about everything BUT racism, and what if anything can or should be done about it.

And If the situation was kind of reversed, and the campaign was something like "Its Hard NOT to see Racism When You're Black", and had pictures of only black people with words describing disadvantages of being Black in America, a sizable number of Black people might take offense, since we are not all victims of racism, and we don't all have things about us or our lives that make us disadvantaged.

My small attempt to get to why some people may have trouble understanding where other people may be coming from on the subject; The little bit of TV I was allowed to watch today happened to be the movie "Freakonomics". There's a part where they report about a study where they made up several hundred resumes. the resumes were identical. They sent half the resumes out with the applicants name as Tyrone. The other half were sent out to the same companies and had the applicants name as Greg.

Guess which name was 33% less likely to get a call back. And they said that meant that if those with the "higher call backs" waited for a job for ten weeks, the 33% less call back name waited for fifteen.

I'm just sayin.

[Shawn K.]

Originally Posted by ReluctantPegasister

Again, I grew up in the south so when I was affected by all of this I was thirteen max, usually younger.
I was called names and excluded by more melanin-heavy classmates (these were the same peers who teased me for not being Christian. In Kindergarten).
I and my family were served last despite being first in line at restaurants in the more melanin-heavy parts of town.

I have been affected by racism. And not because I'm white and I'm unhappy I got nickels as change from the vending machine (like the first complaint on whitewhine would have me believe).

Wow...just...Wow

[ReluctantPegasister]

Originally Posted by Shawn K.

Wow...just...Wow

Disbelief? Disgust? Despair?

Welcome to my childhood.

[Maverick.]

Originally Posted by ReluctantPegasister

Again, I grew up in the south so when I was affected by all of this I was thirteen max, usually younger.
I was called names and excluded by more melanin-heavy classmates (these were the same peers who teased me for not being Christian. In Kindergarten).
I and my family were served last despite being first in line at restaurants in the more melanin-heavy parts of town.

I have been affected by racism. And not because I'm white and I'm unhappy I got nickels as change from the vending machine (like the first complaint on whitewhine would have me believe).

Hogwash. That isn't racism. Racism is being excluded in a job interview, or not being allowed to rent an apartment. Racism is being avoided while walking down the street. Racism is being called offensive terms in real life or on the internet.

Just because you were teased in grade school, (90% of children were) and black people received better service in a restaurant, does not mean the restaurant was being racist.

[TakeTheLeap]

I get a little bit irked by this. Just because we're whtie, it doesn't mean we haven't seen racism happen, and it doesn't mean we haven't experienced racism. I personally have experienced it while substituting in a downtown school where the whites are the minority. During my time there, a student said, "We need to get this white teacher outta here and bring back that black substitute." Have I experienced racism in extremes? Not that I can remember, but I do know how it feels to be discriminated against because of the color of my skin. How about being discriminated against because I'm blonde or because I'm Polish? Yet, this campaign says that I don't understand racism? To a certain extent, I understand because I have never been refused a job because of my race, but I do have white friends who have had it happen to them.
The "racism" card gets played no matter what the color of your skin is. At -any- level, racism is wrong - whether it's a white person making the racial slurs or a black person excluding the white person from their social group because of their skin color. I don't think that will EVER change, and that needs to be acknowledged. We all have biases against others for some reason; we're not perfect. Rather than saying that it only happens in certain groups or, "You don't understand because you've never been there," we need to start campaigning against racism in a different way.

I would personally like to see this campaign be dropped and to have a different campaign get started. The campaign makes assumptions that white people haven't experienced racism from a minority point-of-view, which may not be true.

I would like to see what I call the "Crayon Box" campaign. Rather than bringing in the "You're white. You're probably racist. Stop the racism" campaign out, I want to see a campaign that highlights everyone's differences and the fact that we can live peacefully in the same "crayon box" together. We should be teaching respect for ALL people, whether they're white, black, yellow, red, or brown.

[BDF]

I'm white... and regardless I've had my own share of "racism". This video doesn't offend me, but I simply find it a bit stupid. Racism is simply prejudice... and I think everyone's experienced that. I'm half British, half Polish, and I've been fucked about in both countries by a minority % of retarded shitcunts for being foreign. 

[OMFG!You'reActuallySmart!]

The campaign is flawed as it takes a very narrow approach by only viewing through the lens of White people being responsible for much of the racism. As a white person, I've been called a variety of racial slurs, often from the German part of my heritage. I would want but I have a very hard time believing racism would completely stop through any one campaign or combination of campaigns.

Originally Posted by ReluctantPegasister

Again, I grew up in the south so when I was affected by all of this I was thirteen max, usually younger.
I was called names and excluded by more melanin-heavy classmates (these were the same peers who teased me for not being Christian. In Kindergarten).
I and my family were served last despite being first in line at restaurants in the more melanin-heavy parts of town.

I have been affected by racism. And not because I'm white and I'm unhappy I got nickels as change from the vending machine (like the first complaint on whitewhine would have me believe).

Boohoo, you're bullshitting everyone by suggesting those experiences were of racism. You were teased in school like almost every single other child and heaven forbid, a restaurant in a Black district provides better service to Black people, what are the odds of that? If you want to see what racism actually is, look up individuals such as Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Originally Posted by ReluctantPegasister

Disbelief? Disgust? Despair?

Welcome to my childhood.

I'm not going to get started on this nonsense of yours.

[Marguerite]

Okay so I have a question before I reply to anyone. Several people have commented saying they have faced abuse for being white. Nobody (except one person, but I'll get to that later) has really explained what. I'm trying to make a statement or anything, I'm just genuinely curious to what actually happened, and what 'racial slurs' there are for white people anyway.

Because when the majority start complaining about being discriminated against by the minority it starts to sound like this:

Originally Posted by ReluctantPegasister

Again, I grew up in the south so when I was affected by all of this I was thirteen max, usually younger.

I was called names and excluded by more melanin-heavy classmates (these were the same peers who teased me for not being Christian. In Kindergarten).

I and my family were served last despite being first in line at restaurants in the more melanin-heavy parts of town.

Which doesn't sound that much like racism at all to me. It just sounds like someone who doesn't really understand the severity of racism some people face trivalising it.
　
RE: White Whine, you said

Originally Posted by TigerTank77

Also, whitewine, a site dedicated to making fun of first world problems, I.E- white problems. Nice.

How would people react to a site called blackwhine.com, where we made fun of black people's problems?

The outcry would be substantial.

　
I don't know if you're very aware of WhiteWhine or not but it is a site which is run by white people and primarily directed at white people. Why is it not okay to laugh at ourselves anymore? The outcry wouldn't be substantial is a black person made a site called blackwhine for a black audience, in fact, how many black comedians have you seen talking about the exact same things?

As you already said, the site deals with first world problems, white whine is just a play on words- I've seen Kanye featured on that site more than any other celebrity.

I think it's funny that the same people who seem to bitch about how overly politically correct society is are the first to call discrimination whenever the word white is bought up in a sentence. They also seem to be the ones who think that every time a man grazes his knee a feminist is standing behind him with a bat. (This isn't directed at you, I have no idea your stance on political correctness).

Originally Posted by TigerTank77

It doesn't happen to a lot of white people however, and I get that. But again, this campaign is not going about this in the right way, because it is essentially saying that white people don't have to deal with the same stuff non-whites do, and that's simply not true.

I'm not sure what to say to this- because I believe it is absolutely true which is why I think we need campaigns like this.

Originally Posted by TigerTank77

Look, if we want to REALLY tackle racism head on, then we need to tackle this from all perspectives. Coming at this from the idea what white people are the only ones who don't have to deal with discrimination is bullshit.

I'm sorry but I don't agree with this either. I'm not saying that we never deal with discrimination but it's pretty rare. And when it happens it's rarely severe. Apparently every white person commenting here has faced racism yet I've never met anyone in real life who has ever mentioned being discriminated against for being white because it hardly ever happens.

As for the campaign, it's not trying to make people aware racism exists or trying to make everyone love each other. It has a narrowed focus and goal. It's not trying to say only white people commit racism, it just happens to be a campaign that is targeted at white people.

[Baxter]

Originally Posted by Marguerite

This campaign is literally targeting people who can't see racism. It's not trying to turn bigots into pluralists through the power of love. One of the posters that was shown listed the 'advantages' you can get in our society by being white. I think this really should hit close to home on this forum because frankly a lot of people here need to pay attention to what it says.

Most of the people in this section are not racist, but yet most of them (you?) are dead set against universities offering places to minorities because I suppose of a lack of understanding of the statistics and maybe (not to sound arrogant and condescending) a lack of understanding about how the real world works. THAT is why the capaign is desperately needed.

The campaign may be targeting people who can't see racism, but it just comes off as the standard cop out in a racial debate. "You can't say anything because YOU'RE white, you dont know how it feels". That's bullshit. Most people have it hammered in their heads that there is racism in the world, how can they not understand it? A dickbag campaign of "white people have it easy, you don't know what true racism is like. Look at how trivial your problems are " trying to solidify white guilt is apparently more effective in helping people overcome racism than "everyone is equal".

[Brandon]

I'm not sure what to believe because I'm not sure what constitutes as racism.

[TigerTank77]

Originally Posted by Dr. Gregory House

I would like to see what I call the "Crayon Box" campaign. Rather than bringing in the "You're white. You're probably racist. Stop the racism" campaign out, I want to see a campaign that highlights everyone's differences and the fact that we can live peacefully in the same "crayon box" together. We should be teaching respect for ALL people, whether they're white, black, yellow, red, or brown.

I would wholeheartedly support this.

Originally Posted by Marguerite

Okay so I have a question before I reply to anyone. Several people have commented saying they have faced abuse for being white. Nobody (except one person, but I'll get to that later) has really explained what. I'm trying to make a statement or anything, I'm just genuinely curious to what actually happened, and what 'racial slurs' there are for white people anyway.

http://www.rsdb.org/races#whites

There are a shitload. Hope you have time.

Originally Posted by Marguerite

I'm not sure what to say to this- because I believe it is absolutely true which is why I think we need campaigns like this.

Then you must have grown up in a very sheltered environment.

Originally Posted by Marguerite

I'm sorry but I don't agree with this either. I'm not saying that we never deal with discrimination but it's pretty rare. And when it happens it's rarely severe.

Severity is a matter of opinion. And it doesn't matter if it doesn't happen as much, it still fucking happens. Female on male rape doesn't happen much, does that make it trivial? Abso-fucking-lutely not.

Originally Posted by Marguerite

It's not trying to say only white people commit racism, it just happens to be a campaign that is targeted at white people.

Thats pretty much the same thing. By only targeting white people, they are essentially saying only white people are racist. If they want to deal with racism as a whole, targeting one race is not the appropriate method of dealing with it.

Originally Posted by The Man And XX Master

Boohoo, you're bullshitting everyone by suggesting those experiences were of racism. You were teased in school like almost every single other child and heaven forbid, a restaurant in a Black district provides better service to Black people, what are the odds of that? If you want to see what racism actually is, look up individuals such as Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

I'm not going to get started on this nonsense of yours.

If a person was discriminated against because of their skin color, it's racist. It doesn't matter if its black on white, white on black, black on black, or in the case of your post, white on white.

[TheBabyEater]

I can 100% guarantee you that everyone has been discriminated against at some point in their life, big or small. People who think otherwise need to nut up or shut up.

[Shawn K.]

Originally Posted by TheBabyEater

I can 100% guarantee you that everyone has been discriminated against at some point in their life, big or small. People who think otherwise need to nut up or shut up.

In my long fourteen years on this earth, I have never been discriminated against. And that has nothing to do with my race.

[TheBabyEater]

Originally Posted by Shawn K.

In my long fourteen years on this earth, I have never been discriminated against. And that has nothing to do with my race.

So you're saying no one has ever basically judged you in any sort of way, even if they never told you? Amazing you can read the minds of everyone around you, amazing you were never once bullied as a child, made fun of for anything, and never judged. Must have had a damn amazing life if you ask me.


Guess what. I just judged AND discriminated you.

[thebigmole]

This topic just gets me so fumed. Because every other freakin race gets to be racist but white people. Black people get to make slurs all of the time, but god forbid a white person says something. And as much as I'm for gay rights the same thing happens there. Gay people can say horrible things about straight people all of the time (my mother has been called a "breeder" by the guys she works with quite a few times) But god forbid one of them gets called out on something, it's automatically because they are gay. And to get back on topic that goes the same for race. If a black person doesn't get a job it's automatically because they are black, not because they might be under-qualified.

Does racism happen, absolutely. Does it actually happen as much as races complain about it, absolutely not. As for being able to see discrimination because I'm white, personally I think you get a much better view from the outside than from within.

[Snufkin]

Originally Posted by thebigmole

(my mother has been called a "breeder" by the guys she works with quite a few times)

Is that really a derogative term? I'd laugh my ass off if a gay person called me a breeder.

I've definitely been discriminated against for silly little things in my life, but never race. I live in a very white area so it'd be tough to be racist towards me. I haven't really experienced any whites being racist either, though there are a lot of corner shops around here run by people from India which people label as "the Pakis." I suppose that is offensive because it's not only racist, it's incorrect as well.

[Shawn K.]

Originally Posted by thebigmole

This topic just gets me so fumed. Because every other freakin race gets to be racist but white people. Black people get to make slurs all of the time, but god forbid a white person says something. And as much as I'm for gay rights the same thing happens there. Gay people can say horrible things about straight people all of the time (my mother has been called a "breeder" by the guys she works with quite a few times) But god forbid one of them gets called out on something, it's automatically because they are gay. And to get back on topic that goes the same for race. If a black person doesn't get a job it's automatically because they are black, not because they might be under-qualified.

Does racism happen, absolutely. Does it actually happen as much as races complain about it, absolutely not. As for being able to see discrimination because I'm white, personally I think you get a much better view from the outside than from within.

Come back when gay people are killing women because they are breeders. And as for the not getting a job, just for possible application to this subject, check my post above about "Freakonomics"

[thebigmole]

Originally Posted by Shawn K.

Come back when gay people are killing women because they are breeders. And as for the not getting a job, just for possible application to this subject, check my post above about "Freakonomics"

I do not understand you first sentence. Sure people are killed for being gay, people are also killed for being women, or even being white, or Christian there are a lot more. As for your second sentence you didn't understand what I was saying. Of course there are times when people aren't hired for their skin color, what bothers me are the people who always assume that the reason they don't get something is because of their skin color and couldn't possible be any other reason.

And it bugs me when people cry about being discriminated against and called derogatory words, when they use those same words themselves ALL OF THE TIME!!!! It doesn't work that way, if a term is derogatory it's derogatory for everyone to say. You can't pick and choose that way. If you are going to be insulted fine, but at least be consistent about it.

[Shawn K.]

Originally Posted by TheBabyEater

So you're saying no one has ever basically judged you in any sort of way, even if they never told you? Amazing you can read the minds of everyone around you, amazing you were never once bullied as a child, made fun of for anything, and never judged. Must have had a damn amazing life if you ask me.


Guess what. I just judged AND discriminated you.

This may be one reason people who have been legitimate victims of racism and discrimination believe the average person doesn't have a clue what it's like. Do you really think that your post about me rises even remotely to the level of "discrimination?" Do you really believe my life was affected in any way by your "judgement AND discrimination?". Really!

The laws against discrimination were not put there to control people's "thoughts", there were put there to protect people's rights. If your thoughts, judgements, and mental discrimination isn't violating my rights, or affecting my life in any way then I shoudn't give a crap. People have a right to think or believe what they want. It's the actions that may be based on those thoughts and beliefs that are in question.

And, no never been bullied. NEVER. As for being made fun of. What freakin kid has never been made fun of? I kicked the crap out of a kid in fifth grade because he said I didn't have a mother. Should I seek assistance for those who have been discrimated against because of their "Mom" status.

And I said the lack of discrimination in my life has nothing to do with my race. I live in a multi ethnic, multi racial environment. And the majority of that environment are white. The one thing we all have in common is money, plain and simple. The Muslims in my area are not suffering backlash cause they've got money, they're hiring people, people are not hiring them. The gays in my area do not get bullied or harassed because they can afford to avoid it. They are the ones leasing the properties or office space, not the renter or buyer.

It is now and has always been about money in this country. If black people had been given equal opportunity to earn a living, get their kids educated, live where they could afford to...they wouldn't give a crap who liked them or not. When you deprive any group from a FAIR opportunity to make money in this country, that's gonna raise a stink period. If you throw in depriving them of basic dignity like some of the treatment of some gays, the treatment of some blacks, the treatment of some immigrants, the stink is worse.

Individual prejudice or racist views don't count in the big picture. When racism is systemic, institutional, in some cases legally sanctioned...that counts far more.

[Rainbow Dash]

Hmmmm, stereotyping people because of their skin colour. Isn't that called something? Yes, I'm pretty sure that's called racism -_____-

[TigerTank77]

Originally Posted by Shawn K.

This may be one reason people who have been legitimate victims of racism and discrimination believe the average person doesn't have a clue what it's like. Do you really think that your post about me rises even remotely to the level of "discrimination?" Do you really believe my life was affected in any way by your "judgement AND discrimination?". Really!

I'm sorry, when were you made the grand ayatollah of what could and could not be called discrimination and/or racism?

[Dream]

I think it is true. It is harder to know how racist a place is if you're not the victim of it. I know there are people around here who are very racist, but I'm not sure to the extent and never see them act racist because I'm not going to be targeted by them.

I have been targeted by racists before in the past in a very different place. It just depends where you are in the country and even what part of town you're in.

[Shawn K.]

Originally Posted by TigerTank77

I'm sorry, when were you made the grand ayatollah of what could and could not be called discrimination and/or racism?

No need To be sorry, it ain't personal, at least not to me.

Basically you can call a duck a f**king mongoose but that don't make it so.

There's a generally accepted definition and application for these terms in modern society. Those accepted definitions are the basics of the laws against disccrimnation and the efforts and laws to fight racism. If someone else sees the words written above about me as racism and discrimination I can't help that. I can only control my feelings about it, and based on what I've learned in school, from the news, and from the grown ups in my life, it's not even close.

And let's be honest is that even debatable?

[TheBabyEater]

Originally Posted by Shawn K.

This may be one reason people who have been legitimate victims of racism and discrimination believe the average person doesn't have a clue what it's like. Do you really think that your post about me rises even remotely to the level of "discrimination?" Do you really believe my life was affected in any way by your "judgement AND discrimination?". Really!

The laws against discrimination were not put there to control people's "thoughts", there were put there to protect people's rights. If your thoughts, judgements, and mental discrimination isn't violating my rights, or affecting my life in any way then I shoudn't give a crap. People have a right to think or believe what they want. It's the actions that may be based on those thoughts and beliefs that are in question.

And, no never been bullied. NEVER. As for being made fun of. What freakin kid has never been made fun of? I kicked the crap out of a kid in fifth grade because he said I didn't have a mother. Should I seek assistance for those who have been discrimated against because of their "Mom" status.

And I said the lack of discrimination in my life has nothing to do with my race. I live in a multi ethnic, multi racial environment. And the majority of that environment are white. The one thing we all have in common is money, plain and simple. The Muslims in my area are not suffering backlash cause they've got money, they're hiring people, people are not hiring them. The gays in my area do not get bullied or harassed because they can afford to avoid it. They are the ones leasing the properties or office space, not the renter or buyer.

It is now and has always been about money in this country. If black people had been given equal opportunity to earn a living, get their kids educated, live where they could afford to...they wouldn't give a crap who liked them or not. When you deprive any group from a FAIR opportunity to make money in this country, that's gonna raise a stink period. If you throw in depriving them of basic dignity like some of the treatment of some gays, the treatment of some blacks, the treatment of some immigrants, the stink is worse.

Individual prejudice or racist views don't count in the big picture. When racism is systemic, institutional, in some cases legally sanctioned...that counts far more.

It appears you don't know the actual dictionary and widely accepted definition of Discrimination. For this reason, I'm not going to waste my time responding to someone that simply doesn't understand.

[Shawn K.]

Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be used as an expression of derogatory racial prejudice in the 1830s from Thomas D. Rice's performances as "Jim Crow".
Since the American Civil War the term 'discrimination' generally evolved in American English usage as an understanding of prejudicial treatment of an individual based solely on their race, later generalized as membership in a certain socially undesirable group or social category.[1]
Discriminatory laws such as redlining exist in many countries. In some places, controversial attempts such as racial quotas have been used to redress negative effects of discrimination.


As much as I am going to miss our little give and take, and at the risk of sounding defensive. WTF are you talking about. Above is the "Wikepedia" definition of Discrimination. It is an expanded version of what appears in ALL THREE of my dictionaries. Where in this "widely accepted" notion of discrimination does it say people's thoughts are discrimination. Notice words like "behaviors", "treatment", "excluding", "restricting".

I've been taught for some time to respect my elders, but c'mon REALLY....

[Dream]

Lol. The irony is that the campaign is being discriminatory in the process of trying to fight discrimination.