Debate Now White Privilege and an Institution of Racism

[Foxfyre]

Take this guy, for example:

I taught my black kids that their elite upbringing would protect them from discrimination. I was wrong. - The Washington Post

He earned everything he has. He's still not feeling equal.

When does this debate end with a concession? Never?

This guys example was stupid. Damn elite whiner. His kid WASN'T discriminated against, HE WAS BULLIED. And everyone, at some point or other gets bullied or harassed. If a person is ethnic, it just makes them an easier target. But somehow people of ethnicity seem to have this delusion that white people don't get bullied or excluded. What a bunch of crap.


You know what? Kids get bullied all the time, suck it up. At first, I REALLY empathized with his story growing up, and I felt for him and was proud of how he came up out of harsh circumstances, really, I did.

But you know what? ALL kids, fat kids, short kids, girls, boys, ugly kids, whatever, they all can have traumatic experiences where they are bullied, seriously.

Sure, his son encountered serious hard core racists. WHO GIVES A SHIT. He wants to whine to us that him and his kids feelings were hurt? And we should care? As long as no laws were broken, and no government and institutional racism occurred here, what you are talking about is trying to control what are in people's hearts. GOOD LUCK WITH THAT.




When I was a boy of around, oh, say seven or eight, I was just a few years into reading, I loved it.

I was a VERY emotional boy. Boys aren't supposed to be emotional, especially back in the day when I grew up. To show tears when being bullied was a sign of weakness, but if pressed too hard, I could never help it.

One day on the bus ride to school I fell asleep. When we got to school, as the kids were getting off, some kids that were several grades ahead of me told me they thought the book I had been reading was a great read, they really enjoyed it. To my horror, it wasn't in the seat with me where I had been reading it. . . .

It was gone. I looked all over for it. The bus driver helped me.

We found it. It was all torn to shreds in the back of the bus. That Tom Sawyer book was the First Novel I had ever read in my life, and that bully destroyed it. I was crushed, heartbroken, I wept so hard, and I paid for it from the jeers of the boys at school. Did you know Jim was Huck's best friend? I digress.

Is that your "white privilege?" The point here is that it doesn't matter who you are, how old or young, EVERYONE can be bullied, and the way you are using this article makes it sound like the government can somehow do something about changing what is in people's hearts. Only the way we can change hate to love is by treating each other better and showing no preference for one person over another.

Folks who think that bullying based on race is any different than other bullying have a stick up their ass and just want to feel entitled at this point. It is the new millennium already. It's time we moved on, equality is codified and guaranteed by law. If discrimination happens, it can and will be investigated and the press will shine a light on it, you can bet your sweet ass on it.

Folks with racist attitudes will be shunned, isn't that enough? Let's just let it go and get on with our lives already. . . . Only the hateful and ignorant want to codify laws that see color at this point, or have "special training," about race relations. What a crock.

Could you imagine these sisters having to go to such a college having to take such a course? The white one having to take the "white guilt" course while the one other didn't? Wouldn't that be a hoot?

snopes.com Mixed Twins

Doesn't that show the absurdity of those that object to what McWhorter is getting at? After such a class, do you think the white sister would feel any different or have gotten anything out of it beyond resentment? Wouldn't the money, resources and talent be better allocated elsewhere in ending institutional racism, rather than addressing some theoretical fantasy, "white privilege." How much "white privilege," do you think the fair skinned girl isn't already aware of?

hmmmm?

Great rant. Completely irrelevant.

Sorry the logic and reasoning of it was above your pay grade. Go on and continue creating "racists" with your bullying. Just remember, I already advised you that you can catch more flies with honey than you can with shit.

And as I posted to WQ:
. . .I hate to poke somebody who has contributed valuable information to the thread, (and who I have appreciated a lot), but I have to be fair and equitable here. Watch the ad hominem. Attack the member's post at will, but poking the member personally is out of bounds.

 

[Flopper]

America was largely founded on white privilege. Having white skin in this society is probably still a superficial advantage.

However, there are mountains of data that clearly indicate all other factors being equal, that intelligent and educated blacks are just as successful as whites. In other words....a black person with a mean 117 I.Q. (the I.Q. of the average 4 year college graduate) is just as likely to obtain a college degree and be economically successful as a white person. That data undermines the left wing meme that America is still a deeply racist and bigoted society.

Another factor that is overwhelmingly supported by data is that all races equally discriminate. Blacks generally want to marry, work with, play with, live with and have children with other Blacks. Ditto Whites, Hispanics and Asians.

Does the fact that Blacks have these racial preferences mean they are racist? Or, are only Whites racist when they have exactly the same preferences?

I think that gets to the heart of the OP's question.

Whether you are black or white, preferring to associate with your own race does not make you a racist. What makes you a racist is acting hateful, intolerant, domineering, or in a disrespectful manner toward a person because of your beliefs about their race.

There would be no racism if we treated people as individuals and judged them based on their individual acts.

 

[Foxfyre]

America was largely founded on white privilege. Having white skin in this society is probably still a superficial advantage.

However, there are mountains of data that clearly indicate all other factors being equal, that intelligent and educated blacks are just as successful as whites. In other words....a black person with a mean 117 I.Q. (the I.Q. of the average 4 year college graduate) is just as likely to obtain a college degree and be economically successful as a white person. That data undermines the left wing meme that America is still a deeply racist and bigoted society.

Another factor that is overwhelmingly supported by data is that all races equally discriminate. Blacks generally want to marry, work with, play with, live with and have children with other Blacks. Ditto Whites, Hispanics and Asians.

Does the fact that Blacks have these racial preferences mean they are racist? Or, are only Whites racist when they have exactly the same preferences?

I think that gets to the heart of the OP's question.

According to the rules of the thread,you need to show us the mountains of data. A black person with a 117 IQ is just as likely to obtain a college degree as a white person with a 117 IQ? You have mountains of data that support that? Let's see it.

So you believe blacks that are equally as intelligent as whites are less successful? That is amazingly racist of you. Care to explain and provide data. Thanks.


And read this as a data starting point.


Intelligence Genes and Success - Scientists Respond to The Bell Curve

Sorry. Not going to buy a book. Give me the data please. In your own words would also be nice.

I would especially like to see the study with the 117 mean IQ data. You know the one you say has been replicated many many times. Thanks.

America was largely founded on white privilege. Having white skin in this society is probably still a superficial advantage.

However, there are mountains of data that clearly indicate all other factors being equal, that intelligent and educated blacks are just as successful as whites. In other words....a black person with a mean 117 I.Q. (the I.Q. of the average 4 year college graduate) is just as likely to obtain a college degree and be economically successful as a white person. That data undermines the left wing meme that America is still a deeply racist and bigoted society.

Another factor that is overwhelmingly supported by data is that all races equally discriminate. Blacks generally want to marry, work with, play with, live with and have children with other Blacks. Ditto Whites, Hispanics and Asians.

Does the fact that Blacks have these racial preferences mean they are racist? Or, are only Whites racist when they have exactly the same preferences?

I think that gets to the heart of the OP's question.

According to the rules of the thread,you need to show us the mountains of data. A black person with a 117 IQ is just as likely to obtain a college degree as a white person with a 117 IQ? You have mountains of data that support that? Let's see it.

So you believe blacks that are equally as intelligent as whites are less successful? That is amazingly racist of you. Care to explain and provide data. Thanks.


And read this as a data starting point.


Intelligence Genes and Success - Scientists Respond to The Bell Curve

Sorry. Not going to buy a book. Give me the data please. In your own words would also be nice.

I would especially like to see the study with the 117 mean IQ data. You know the one you say has been replicated many many times. Thanks.

Just in case you missed this:

. . . .Rule #3 for the thread explicitly states that nobody does have to show mountains of data or any data to support an expressed opinion. It is fine if WQ wishes to provide a link to support his statement. But it is not required. If you disagree you have the perfect right to do so. If you wish your opinion to hold more weight than his, however, you will need to provide YOUR link to a credible source to show that he is wrong. Don't forget to put the basic concept of your link into your own words though.

I didn't miss anything. Especially your power trip. It's so cool!

I don't want to have to start reporting people for violation of the thread rules LL. So like everybody else, I will have to insist that you respect the rules for this thread when you participate here. And this post is definitely not legal. If the rules are too unsatisfactory, there's lots of other threads out there that allow insult of other members at will.

 

[mudwhistle]

I don't think "focus" (whatever we might mean by that term) on white privilege and/or racism either helps or hurts black people, no.

But I do think knowing our history -- which is the context of the world in which we live -- helps everybody equally. You can't know where you're going if you don't know how you got where you are now.

Just remember that history means history. Acting like it's going on today ignores the truth. Blacks were better off when they weren't constantly being reminded how everything bad that happens to them is because of race. Repeat this lie often enough and it becomes a self-fullfilling reality when it's nothing but pure fantasy, and builds an overly sensitive nature that is counterproductive. In other words, they learn to see racism when it doesn't exist.

 

[Foxfyre]

America was largely founded on white privilege. Having white skin in this society is probably still a superficial advantage.

However, there are mountains of data that clearly indicate all other factors being equal, that intelligent and educated blacks are just as successful as whites. In other words....a black person with a mean 117 I.Q. (the I.Q. of the average 4 year college graduate) is just as likely to obtain a college degree and be economically successful as a white person. That data undermines the left wing meme that America is still a deeply racist and bigoted society.

Another factor that is overwhelmingly supported by data is that all races equally discriminate. Blacks generally want to marry, work with, play with, live with and have children with other Blacks. Ditto Whites, Hispanics and Asians.

Does the fact that Blacks have these racial preferences mean they are racist? Or, are only Whites racist when they have exactly the same preferences?

I think that gets to the heart of the OP's question.

According to the rules of the thread,you need to show us the mountains of data. A black person with a 117 IQ is just as likely to obtain a college degree as a white person with a 117 IQ? You have mountains of data that support that? Let's see it.

Sorry but Rule #3 for the thread explicitly states that nobody does have to show mountains of data or any data to support an expressed opinion. It is fine if WQ wishes to provide a link to support his statement. But it is not required. If you disagree you have the perfect right to do so. If you wish your opinion to hold more weight than his, however, you will need to provide YOUR link to a credible source to show that he is wrong.

I just provided a number of data links, Foxy. I have a postgraduate degree and this is my field. I have a pretty good idea of what I'm talking about.

Whites and blacks of equal intelligence have virtually identical outcomes in terms of educational and economic success. This has been known for almost 30 years. It cannot be argued as the studies have been replicated many, many times. It definitely undercuts the idea America is still a deeply racist country.

Also, all races are equally biased toward people of their own race and show fairly equal bias against people of different races.

I would encourage anyone to read the data sources I provided as a starting point.

Thanks....and a very good thread.

I know you provided the links and I have very much appreciated your contributions to the thread. On equal 'bias', I still member when our school system and the whole town voluntarily desegregated long before there was any social movement or federal involvement to do so. The black kids had been bussed to the nearest 'black' school 20 miles away and it just occurred to everybody how dumb that was.

Now most of our parents were southern products born and raised into a southern culture where you were courteous and kind to everybody, but the races were to be separate. So when we kids started bringing our new black friends home to play or for dinner, our southern bred parents swallowed hard but they were gracious. And in time it became routine and the discomfort dissipated.

But at a class gathering awhile back I was visiting with a couple of my black classmates--we have stayed in touch over the years--and they confessed that they really were uncomfortable at first--they missed their friends from their old school and weren't sure what to expect in the home school. But it did work out well for them. But the funniest part was their parents who also had to swallow hard and remind themselves to have manners when the white kids came home with their kids. And they were terrified that their kids might start dating somebody white.

But maybe that was my first real education into how to eliminate racism. You just stop making it an issue and let people be people and assume the same risks of encountering great people and jerks on the same basis. And pretty soon, race no longer matters at all, or at least it assumes no more importance than anything else that makes us different or unique.

 

[Foxfyre]

America was largely founded on white privilege. Having white skin in this society is probably still a superficial advantage.

However, there are mountains of data that clearly indicate all other factors being equal, that intelligent and educated blacks are just as successful as whites. In other words....a black person with a mean 117 I.Q. (the I.Q. of the average 4 year college graduate) is just as likely to obtain a college degree and be economically successful as a white person. That data undermines the left wing meme that America is still a deeply racist and bigoted society.

Another factor that is overwhelmingly supported by data is that all races equally discriminate. Blacks generally want to marry, work with, play with, live with and have children with other Blacks. Ditto Whites, Hispanics and Asians.

Does the fact that Blacks have these racial preferences mean they are racist? Or, are only Whites racist when they have exactly the same preferences?

I think that gets to the heart of the OP's question.

Whether you are black or white, preferring to associate with your own race does not make you a racist. What makes you a racist is acting hateful, intolerant, domineering, or in a disrespectful manner toward a person because of your beliefs about their race.

There would be no racism if we treated people as individuals and judged them based on their individual acts.

Well said.

There are always lots of exceptions, but it is uncanny how often a freckled person is attracted to another freckled person. It is probably more usual for brunettes to be attracted to brunettes, blonds to blonds, etc., so it stands to reason that more black people are going to be attracted to black people than will whites be and whites will be more attracted to white people than blacks are, etc. etc. etc.

I don't think we'll ever eliminate racism any more than we eliminate people's prejudices against fat people, old people, rich people, freckled people, etc. etc .etc. But we can take away the power of racism to be of any more importance than unkindness expressed to people for any reason. We can allow people to be just people in society instead of a 'special class'.

 

[WelfareQueen]

America was largely founded on white privilege. Having white skin in this society is probably still a superficial advantage.

However, there are mountains of data that clearly indicate all other factors being equal, that intelligent and educated blacks are just as successful as whites. In other words....a black person with a mean 117 I.Q. (the I.Q. of the average 4 year college graduate) is just as likely to obtain a college degree and be economically successful as a white person. That data undermines the left wing meme that America is still a deeply racist and bigoted society.

Another factor that is overwhelmingly supported by data is that all races equally discriminate. Blacks generally want to marry, work with, play with, live with and have children with other Blacks. Ditto Whites, Hispanics and Asians.

Does the fact that Blacks have these racial preferences mean they are racist? Or, are only Whites racist when they have exactly the same preferences?

I think that gets to the heart of the OP's question.

According to the rules of the thread,you need to show us the mountains of data. A black person with a 117 IQ is just as likely to obtain a college degree as a white person with a 117 IQ? You have mountains of data that support that? Let's see it.

So you believe blacks that are equally as intelligent as whites are less successful? That is amazingly racist of you. Care to explain and provide data. Thanks.


And read this as a data starting point.


Intelligence Genes and Success - Scientists Respond to The Bell Curve

Sorry. Not going to buy a book. Give me the data please. In your own words would also be nice.

I would especially like to see the study with the 117 mean IQ data. You know the one you say has been replicated many many times. Thanks.

Look it up yourself. I am right, and I provided a source. If your too lazy to look at the data I can't help you. The fact remains....blacks and whites of equal intelligence are equally successful in America in terms of educational attainment and income. Period.

 

[Pogo]

I don't think "focus" (whatever we might mean by that term) on white privilege and/or racism either helps or hurts black people, no.

But I do think knowing our history -- which is the context of the world in which we live -- helps everybody equally. You can't know where you're going if you don't know how you got where you are now.

Just remember that history means history. Acting like it's going on today ignores the truth. Blacks were better off when they weren't constantly being reminded how everything bad that happens to them is because of race. Repeat this lie often enough and it becomes a self-fullfilling reality when it's nothing but pure fantasy, and builds an overly sensitive nature that is counterproductive. In other words, they learn to see racism when it doesn't exist.

Acting like it never happened also ignores the truth, which was my point there. And I brought all that up because we're on USMB, and I see that ignorance demonstrated here on a daily, even hourly, basis. I spend a considerable amount of energy correcting it.

The purpose behind all that, here and elsewhere, is that none of us know what we're dealing with -- what our context is -- without knowing that history, and that history has been demonstrably suppressed. Institutionally.

I always get in trouble asking for context, but it's not going to stop me from seeking it.

 

[WelfareQueen]

America was largely founded on white privilege. Having white skin in this society is probably still a superficial advantage.

However, there are mountains of data that clearly indicate all other factors being equal, that intelligent and educated blacks are just as successful as whites. In other words....a black person with a mean 117 I.Q. (the I.Q. of the average 4 year college graduate) is just as likely to obtain a college degree and be economically successful as a white person. That data undermines the left wing meme that America is still a deeply racist and bigoted society.

Another factor that is overwhelmingly supported by data is that all races equally discriminate. Blacks generally want to marry, work with, play with, live with and have children with other Blacks. Ditto Whites, Hispanics and Asians.

Does the fact that Blacks have these racial preferences mean they are racist? Or, are only Whites racist when they have exactly the same preferences?

I think that gets to the heart of the OP's question.

Whether you are black or white, preferring to associate with your own race does not make you a racist. What makes you a racist is acting hateful, intolerant, domineering, or in a disrespectful manner toward a person because of your beliefs about their race.

There would be no racism if we treated people as individuals and judged them based on their individual acts.

I agree with you. All of your points. I do not consider the idea of racial preference to be "racist."

But the idea of racial preference among all races is not discussed. We all are biased toward those of our own race. This is a fact. I think whites are often accused of being racist for having this preference. But if there are those who believe whites are racist for having a preference, is not everyone equally racist in this way?

 

[Foxfyre]

I don't think "focus" (whatever we might mean by that term) on white privilege and/or racism either helps or hurts black people, no.

But I do think knowing our history -- which is the context of the world in which we live -- helps everybody equally. You can't know where you're going if you don't know how you got where you are now.

Just remember that history means history. Acting like it's going on today ignores the truth. Blacks were better off when they weren't constantly being reminded how everything bad that happens to them is because of race. Repeat this lie often enough and it becomes a self-fullfilling reality when it's nothing but pure fantasy, and builds an overly sensitive nature that is counterproductive. In other words, they learn to see racism when it doesn't exist.

Yes. Using history as a weapon to perpetuate racism I believe has hurt black people far more than it has helped.

 

[LoneLaugher]

America was largely founded on white privilege. Having white skin in this society is probably still a superficial advantage.

However, there are mountains of data that clearly indicate all other factors being equal, that intelligent and educated blacks are just as successful as whites. In other words....a black person with a mean 117 I.Q. (the I.Q. of the average 4 year college graduate) is just as likely to obtain a college degree and be economically successful as a white person. That data undermines the left wing meme that America is still a deeply racist and bigoted society.

Another factor that is overwhelmingly supported by data is that all races equally discriminate. Blacks generally want to marry, work with, play with, live with and have children with other Blacks. Ditto Whites, Hispanics and Asians.

Does the fact that Blacks have these racial preferences mean they are racist? Or, are only Whites racist when they have exactly the same preferences?

I think that gets to the heart of the OP's question.

According to the rules of the thread,you need to show us the mountains of data. A black person with a 117 IQ is just as likely to obtain a college degree as a white person with a 117 IQ? You have mountains of data that support that? Let's see it.

So you believe blacks that are equally as intelligent as whites are less successful? That is amazingly racist of you. Care to explain and provide data. Thanks.


And read this as a data starting point.


Intelligence Genes and Success - Scientists Respond to The Bell Curve

Sorry. Not going to buy a book. Give me the data please. In your own words would also be nice.

I would especially like to see the study with the 117 mean IQ data. You know the one you say has been replicated many many times. Thanks.

Look it up yourself. I am right, and I provided a source. If your too lazy to look at the data I can't help you. The fact remains....blacks and whites of equal intelligence are equally successful in America in terms of educational attainment and income. Period.

No they aren't.

 

[WelfareQueen]

America was largely founded on white privilege. Having white skin in this society is probably still a superficial advantage.

However, there are mountains of data that clearly indicate all other factors being equal, that intelligent and educated blacks are just as successful as whites. In other words....a black person with a mean 117 I.Q. (the I.Q. of the average 4 year college graduate) is just as likely to obtain a college degree and be economically successful as a white person. That data undermines the left wing meme that America is still a deeply racist and bigoted society.

Another factor that is overwhelmingly supported by data is that all races equally discriminate. Blacks generally want to marry, work with, play with, live with and have children with other Blacks. Ditto Whites, Hispanics and Asians.

Does the fact that Blacks have these racial preferences mean they are racist? Or, are only Whites racist when they have exactly the same preferences?

I think that gets to the heart of the OP's question.

According to the rules of the thread,you need to show us the mountains of data. A black person with a 117 IQ is just as likely to obtain a college degree as a white person with a 117 IQ? You have mountains of data that support that? Let's see it.

So you believe blacks that are equally as intelligent as whites are less successful? That is amazingly racist of you. Care to explain and provide data. Thanks.


And read this as a data starting point.


Intelligence Genes and Success - Scientists Respond to The Bell Curve

Sorry. Not going to buy a book. Give me the data please. In your own words would also be nice.

I would especially like to see the study with the 117 mean IQ data. You know the one you say has been replicated many many times. Thanks.

Look it up yourself. I am right, and I provided a source. If your too lazy to look at the data I can't help you. The fact remains....blacks and whites of equal intelligence are equally successful in America in terms of educational attainment and income. Period.

No they aren't.

Link????

 

[LoneLaugher]

The sum total of the advice given in this thread from the right is to pretend that there is no racism and no white privilege.....and it will magically disappear.

This nation is still segregated. That is why this nation still has racists and white privilege.

 

[Pogo]

I don't think "focus" (whatever we might mean by that term) on white privilege and/or racism either helps or hurts black people, no.

But I do think knowing our history -- which is the context of the world in which we live -- helps everybody equally. You can't know where you're going if you don't know how you got where you are now.

Just remember that history means history. Acting like it's going on today ignores the truth. Blacks were better off when they weren't constantly being reminded how everything bad that happens to them is because of race. Repeat this lie often enough and it becomes a self-fullfilling reality when it's nothing but pure fantasy, and builds an overly sensitive nature that is counterproductive. In other words, they learn to see racism when it doesn't exist.

Yes. Using history as a weapon to perpetuate racism I believe has hurt black people far more than it has helped.

That isn't even vaguely akin to anything I posted.
Strawman.

 

[Foxfyre]

I don't think "focus" (whatever we might mean by that term) on white privilege and/or racism either helps or hurts black people, no.

But I do think knowing our history -- which is the context of the world in which we live -- helps everybody equally. You can't know where you're going if you don't know how you got where you are now.

Just remember that history means history. Acting like it's going on today ignores the truth. Blacks were better off when they weren't constantly being reminded how everything bad that happens to them is because of race. Repeat this lie often enough and it becomes a self-fullfilling reality when it's nothing but pure fantasy, and builds an overly sensitive nature that is counterproductive. In other words, they learn to see racism when it doesn't exist.

Acting like it never happened also ignores the truth, which was my point there. And I brought all that up because we're on USMB, and I see that ignorance demonstrated here on a daily, even hourly, basis. I spend a considerable amount of energy correcting it.

The purpose behind all that, here and elsewhere, is that none of us know what we're dealing with -- what our context is -- without knowing that history, and that history has been demonstrably suppressed. Institutionally.

I always get in trouble asking for context, but it's not going to stop me from seeking it.

But this thread is not about conduct at USMB EXCEPT as that conduct can be used for illustration specifically for the thread topic. This is not a discussion about the history or all aspects of racism.

This thread is focused--the attention is directed at--the thesis of the OP as expressed in McWhorter's essay or the paragraphs I excerpted from it. That thesis is who is it benefitting? Who benefits when we force white people to be 'educated' on the history of racism and how terrible white people once were to black people and how white people must feel guilty about that and keep it constantly in their minds lest they say or do something that might be hurtful or insensitive to a black person?

His implication is that it sure as hell isn't helping black people.

 

[Foxfyre]

I don't think "focus" (whatever we might mean by that term) on white privilege and/or racism either helps or hurts black people, no.

But I do think knowing our history -- which is the context of the world in which we live -- helps everybody equally. You can't know where you're going if you don't know how you got where you are now.

Just remember that history means history. Acting like it's going on today ignores the truth. Blacks were better off when they weren't constantly being reminded how everything bad that happens to them is because of race. Repeat this lie often enough and it becomes a self-fullfilling reality when it's nothing but pure fantasy, and builds an overly sensitive nature that is counterproductive. In other words, they learn to see racism when it doesn't exist.

Yes. Using history as a weapon to perpetuate racism I believe has hurt black people far more than it has helped.

That isn't even vaguely akin to anything I posted.
Strawman.

Everything isn't about you dear. My response was to Mudwhistle's post not yours.

 

[WelfareQueen]

The sum total of the advice given in this thread from the right is to pretend that there is no racism and no white privilege.....and it will magically disappear.

This nation is still segregated. That is why this nation still has racists and white privilege.

No one has said that but you. Wonder why? As I said, this nation was founded on the idea of white privilege. The OP and many posters here have made similar points.

 

[mudwhistle]

I don't think "focus" (whatever we might mean by that term) on white privilege and/or racism either helps or hurts black people, no.

But I do think knowing our history -- which is the context of the world in which we live -- helps everybody equally. You can't know where you're going if you don't know how you got where you are now.

Just remember that history means history. Acting like it's going on today ignores the truth. Blacks were better off when they weren't constantly being reminded how everything bad that happens to them is because of race. Repeat this lie often enough and it becomes a self-fullfilling reality when it's nothing but pure fantasy, and builds an overly sensitive nature that is counterproductive. In other words, they learn to see racism when it doesn't exist.

Acting like it never happened also ignores the truth, which was my point there. And I brought all that up because we're on USMB, and I see that ignorance demonstrated here on a daily, even hourly, basis. I spend a considerable amount of energy correcting it.

The purpose behind all that, here and elsewhere, is that none of us know what we're dealing with -- what our context is -- without knowing that history, and that history has been demonstrably suppressed. Institutionally.

I always get in trouble asking for context, but it's not going to stop me from seeking it.

Nobody's acting like it never happened.
The problem here is the left constantly priming the pump. Inventing racism where none exists. At the same time beating us over the heads for crimes or events that none of us alive today had anything to do with.

 

[Pogo]

I don't think "focus" (whatever we might mean by that term) on white privilege and/or racism either helps or hurts black people, no.

But I do think knowing our history -- which is the context of the world in which we live -- helps everybody equally. You can't know where you're going if you don't know how you got where you are now.

Just remember that history means history. Acting like it's going on today ignores the truth. Blacks were better off when they weren't constantly being reminded how everything bad that happens to them is because of race. Repeat this lie often enough and it becomes a self-fullfilling reality when it's nothing but pure fantasy, and builds an overly sensitive nature that is counterproductive. In other words, they learn to see racism when it doesn't exist.

Acting like it never happened also ignores the truth, which was my point there. And I brought all that up because we're on USMB, and I see that ignorance demonstrated here on a daily, even hourly, basis. I spend a considerable amount of energy correcting it.

The purpose behind all that, here and elsewhere, is that none of us know what we're dealing with -- what our context is -- without knowing that history, and that history has been demonstrably suppressed. Institutionally.

I always get in trouble asking for context, but it's not going to stop me from seeking it.

But this thread is not about conduct at USMB EXCEPT as that conduct can be used for illustration specifically for the thread topic. This is not a discussion about the history or all aspects of racism.

I didn't claim the thread was about USMB. I explained why I brought the point up. And yes, the history absolutely is a derivation of racism.

This thread is focused--the attention is directed at--the thesis of the OP as expressed in McWhorter's essay or the paragraphs I excerpted from it. That thesis is who is it benefitting to force white people to be 'educated' on the history of racism and how terrible white people once were to black people and how white people must feel guilty about that and keep it constantly in their minds lest they say or do something that might be hurtful or insensitive to a black person?

His implication is that it sure as hell isn't helping black people.

And I like his thinking. I'm familiar with McWhorter from his linguistic work (he's from Philly). Smart guy.

 

[Foxfyre]

The sum total of the advice given in this thread from the right is to pretend that there is no racism and no white privilege.....and it will magically disappear.

This nation is still segregated. That is why this nation still has racists and white privilege.

No one has said that but you. Wonder why? As I said, this nation was founded on the idea of white privilege. The OP and many posters here have made similar points.

The OP also suggests--or at least it did to me--that the race baiters and other opportunists are now using guilt of 'white privilege' for their own self-serving interests.