Racism obliterates the individual

[Coyote]

Another Murder Case In Florida Sparks National Outrage : Code Switch : NPR

"Racism obliterates the individual"....that's a quote from this program, but it's not in the highlights. It's a very stark, simple, and powerful definition of what racism does in reality.

In the George Zimmerman case, the hoodie Trayvon Martin was wearing became a kind of racial Rorschach — it was either a benign article of clothing or a signifier of racial menace. In the Dunn case, the hip-hop blaring from Davis' car played the same role. Here's what Coates and Bouie said:

Coates: If it was a car full of white kids, would that have gone down the way that it did? Even if they were listening to the same music? But also beyond that, hip-hop is no more violent than American pop culture is violent. What do our video games look like? What do our movies look like? What do our comic books look like? Is hip-hop really any different than the country from which it comes? And yet hip-hop in particular is "thug music"... that's actually not very different from the broader culture within which it resides. Which is not to say it shouldn't be critiqued, but I'm saying that those other things are not affixed with that label.

And so often, this is how racism actually works. ... Barack Obama is actually an exceptional individual. It is not the exceptional individuals who are the test cases for whether the country is racist or not. It is when we start getting to the mean — or very often, in the case of criminal justice, to those who are below the mean, if we want to put it that way — how are they then treated? If you mess up, if two people mess up, are they treated equally? That really is the test case, not whether an exceptional person can break all barriers. The majority of black people are not going to be exceptional. They're going to be mediocre, because the majority of white people are not going to be exceptional, they're going to be mediocre, because the majority of human beings are going to be mediocre. The test case is not our exceptions; it's the ordinary. And in the sense that hip-hop is like the rest of American culture, why that particular label? Like a lot of kids, my favorite comic book hero growing up was Wolverine, whose body count in a single comic book can be ridiculous. Was I engaging in thug [behavior], in murderous art? Well, yeah. Kinda, wasn't I?

Bouie: No one would go to, like, a comic book shop and see a bunch of kids trading Wolverine or Deadpool comics and say, "Those are a bunch of potential murderers." We would all treat them as distinct individuals — as well you should. Dunn, Zimmerman — each of these people did not look at Trayvon, Jordan. They were thugs. [A] nondescript mass of black threat. Which is, you know, I wouldn't say "in their defense," but in context, that's just how we've portrayed black men.

Indeed. "Racism obliterates the individual..."

 

[ScienceRocks]

The guy killed these kids in cold blood. You think killers don't kill people for other reasons? You're the racist.

 

[Mr. H.]

Hate ain't healthy, that's for sure.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Hate ain't healthy, that's for sure.

Both sides seem to have way to much of it. Why not work towards improving both communities and following the law.

 

[ScienceRocks]

Also I don't believe laughing at dead beat dads is racism. Sorry...

 

[Coyote]

The guy killed these kids in cold blood. You think killers don't kill people for other reasons? You're the racist.

You missed the point of the article.

 

[PredFan]

Blah blah blah. Thanks to the left, racism has lost all its impact.

 

[Stephanie]

You have to love how they PICK AND CHOOSE which cases are racism? Screw all those cases against whites, Asians, etc etc

All of sudden with Obama's election racisim is a crisis again...Like we didn't see this coming to be hit over the head with

 

[PredFan]

You have to love how they PICK AND CHOOSE which cases are racism? Screw all those cases against whites, Asians, etc etc

All of sudden with Obama's election racisim is a crisis again...Like we didn't see this coming to be hit over the head with

Yup.

 

[rdean]

"Racism obliterates the individual"

That's the point.

 

[rdean]

You have to love how they PICK AND CHOOSE which cases are racism? Screw all those cases against whites, Asians, etc etc

All of sudden with Obama's election racisim is a crisis again...Like we didn't see this coming to be hit over the head with

Right wingers have felt that way for years. Obama simply gave them a target.

Peanuts thrown at black camerawoman at GOP convention: This is how we feed the animals | 6abc.com

At the GOP convention no less. I suspect many were very angry. At their "free speech" being restricted.

 

[PredFan]

And we all know how much the left hates the individual, individual achievement, etc., and loves group think. Must be why lefties are such racist assholes.

 

[R.D.]

Yet, for the left, everything boils down to race

 

[Coyote]

You have to love how they PICK AND CHOOSE which cases are racism? Screw all those cases against whites, Asians, etc etc

While this particular article applied to the Dunn case - the point applies to all issues involving racism and for that matter, bigotry against ethnic groups and religions. It obliterates the individual.

All of sudden with Obama's election racisim is a crisis again...Like we didn't see this coming to be hit over the head with

In my honest opinion - Obama's election brought a lot of hidden and unrealized racism to the forefront. And it's forced us to acknowledge and combat some unpleasant truths in our society.

However I do not believe that all criticism against Obama is due to racism, and the claim that is just as false as to claim there is no racism.

 

[Coyote]

You have to love how they PICK AND CHOOSE which cases are racism? Screw all those cases against whites, Asians, etc etc

All of sudden with Obama's election racisim is a crisis again...Like we didn't see this coming to be hit over the head with

Right wingers have felt that way for years. Obama simply gave them a target.

Peanuts thrown at black camerawoman at GOP convention: This is how we feed the animals | 6abc.com

At the GOP convention no less. I suspect many were very angry. At their "free speech" being restricted.

I don't think racism is a "left/right" paradigm.

 

[driveby]

You have to love how they PICK AND CHOOSE which cases are racism? Screw all those cases against whites, Asians, etc etc

All of sudden with Obama's election racisim is a crisis again...Like we didn't see this coming to be hit over the head with

Right wingers have felt that way for years. Obama simply gave them a target.

Peanuts thrown at black camerawoman at GOP convention: This is how we feed the animals | 6abc.com

At the GOP convention no less. I suspect many were very angry. At their "free speech" being restricted.

Yep, check out the right wingers here harassing an innocent 68 year old woman......

A vile school bus video goes viral and victim may get a well deserved vacation | Get Schooled

 

[R.D.]

You have to love how they PICK AND CHOOSE which cases are racism? Screw all those cases against whites, Asians, etc etc

All of sudden with Obama's election racisim is a crisis again...Like we didn't see this coming to be hit over the head with

Right wingers have felt that way for years. Obama simply gave them a target.

Peanuts thrown at black camerawoman at GOP convention: This is how we feed the animals | 6abc.com

At the GOP convention no less. I suspect many were very angry. At their "free speech" being restricted.

All two of them were idiots. But CNN is garbage as well

 

[ScienceRocks]

Not having enough self respect to stay for your children = obliterating the success of them. So should we just shut up and be happy every time someone gets knocked out for no reason killed??? Meaning out of hatred because that person was white of course.

 

[Asclepias]

Racism is a construct brought about by white people. All you have to do is look at the categorization of different people into races and using those differences to define innate intelligence and superiority. This was then the mechanism used to fuel European imperialism. The church even supported this doctrine and encouraged white people to go out and colonize the world. Stop this and you will see and end to racism.

 

[Howey]

The guy killed these kids in cold blood. You think killers don't kill people for other reasons? You're the racist.

You missed the point of the article.

Ummm....yeah. I looked at his post and thought "What?"