Why white people need to admit that black people know more about pain

[BookShaka]

It's probably a good thing that so many of you have such a strong opinion about it. Look, I'm not saying all or even most white people have it easy, I'm not dismissing the hardships and anxieties of the Louisiana share cropper, I'm not trying to dismiss the very real stigma many black people have against white people, and I'm definitely not trying to downplay racism against Jews or say that racism is only perpetrated against people of African ancestry.

What I am trying to say is that, in reality, not all pain is equal, and yes, not all racism is felt as strongly. I lived in rural Japan for a year, and I experienced some racism - being stared at wherever I went, shopkeepers glaring at me for no reason and shoving change into my hand, being asked to represent my race as if all white people were like me, being harassed by cops who told me to leave the country - hell, I was even accused of being a terrorist for not being Japanese and asked to leave a bar. It was annoying. It hurt a bit. Sometimes it hurt a lot. But in the end, honestly, I've felt worse.

In the end I could come back to the U.S. where no one gives me a sideways glance, where shopkeepers don't look at me twice, and where white terrorism, though very real, is deemed non-existent. So I ask myself, what if people in the U.S. looked at me sidelong wherever I went with fear, or anger, or mistrust just because I'm white. What if half of every man I knew who was white had been to jail or was bound for jail at some point, what if I endured constant racism in my OWN COUNTRY but was told that it didn't exist. How would that feel? If I'm going to be honest, I just don't know. So it's good to leave the door open for the possibility that other people have it worse than me, even if I can't understand how.

You’re equating racism deniers to everyday reasonable people who are aware it exists and don’t engage in it but also don’t take their time to combat it. I like talking with kind, honest POC about racism in America bc they can share things with me that I can’t possibly understand and it’s okay for me not to understand bc it was never my destiny to be any other race than white. We are born how we’re born. No matter our race we live and cope with life the best we can. Just as you think a person shouldn’t suffer bc they’re black you shouldn’t feel bad for being white. Intelligent people know skin color is nothing more than biological and it’s attitudes that put so much importance on it. Your white guilt isn’t going to do shit to fix racism. Telling white people how racist they are (incidentally bc of their race) isn’t going to do shit to fix racism... if fact, it might just fuel it.

 

[SobieskiSavedEurope]

My Polish American uncle was blown up in Vietnam, survived, came back to hearing dumb Polak jokes, and to getting jumped, and robbed by Blacks who stole his leather jacket, and wallet. The neighborhood apartments had Blacks always shooting in front of them.
He eventually ended up in a wheel chair, because of strokes caused by presumably PTSD.
He ultimately died at the age of 52 from throat cancer, probably from inhaling Agent Orange in Vietnam.

Now that's pain.

To say that Whites know no pain in comparison to Blacks, it's outright ridiculous.

 

[Dogmaphobe]

Every time I think of all that pain Jaden andWillow Smith have had to endure, it makes me just want to cry.

"Why can't I share in some of that pain??!!" I wail in solidarity.

 

[night_son]

So I'm a white guy. Just going off recent experience, yesterday I watched Blackkklansman in a Portland theater and it was hard to watch, mainly because I noticed I had to stop myself from laughing or smiling at certain parts that were really f'ed up. My impression was that that was the question the movie was putting to white people: "So, did you think it was funny? Did you like it?" Nothing was funny about that movie and yet it was making me realize that whether I want it there or not, like most white people, I've got a little racist living inside me.

There were a few black people in the theater and there was one black guy in the back who was laughing throughout the movie, especially at the racist scenes. Eventually someone shushed him and he blew up, "Don't you f'ing tell me to shut up! They keep saying it over and over, "N****r this! N****r that! N*****r! N****r! N****r! F*** this movie! F*** all you white mother-*******!"

He kept shouting and hitting the wall until an usher made him leave the theater, and after the movie the usher started apologizing to people leaving for the interruption. I told him I don't think he should be apologizing, and that while I get what he's saying, there's a bigger issue going on than just "he interrupted the movie." I said I don't think that was a movie you're meant to enjoy and I was glad that guy had been there.

So the friends I was with said, "I don't get why he got so mad." and in truth, I don't think I get it either, but what I do think I get if nothing else is this: That guy might have seemed angry to some people, but all I heard was someone really, really hurt. Like, beyond hurt.

I know a bit about pain - I tried to kill myself when I was a teenager; like, seriously tried to kill myself, with a note and everything and wound up in the hospital. And I'm a pretty sensitive guy. And I'm saying, I'm not sure even in my worst moments I have ever been as upset as that guy sounded to me. He didn't seem crazy - up until the moment some one told him to be quiet he sounded like a normal guy, and a normal person doesn't get that upset, they just don't.

And I've heard that kind of hurt from a lot of black people I've known or met, something deep, something carnal, and it's not about them - it's about white people. Not just the out-in-the-open racists but white people everywhere, esp. in the U.S., who won't acknowledge that something really twisted and sick is going on in this world and black people have been taking the brunt of it for a long time.

White people like to talk about equivalence a lot: "Well, maybe this black person has endured racism but racism against whites is real too." or "Well, I'm sure black people are having a hard time but that's no excuse for interrupting a movie, that was really distressing to me."

Well, maybe it's about time white people started getting distressed. Because, this is just the sense I'm getting but I just don't think any pain white people endure in their lives is really comparable to what black people endure from living in a racist society. People like to say, "Well pain is pain, let's not dismiss what anyone's going through" but in truth I think white people who complain about racism against whites are wimps and are the very deepest level of pathetic. If you're white like me, this is my message to you - we don't know what real racism feels like so let's keep our mouths shut about what we don't know and listen for a change.

In reading this otherwise well written piece I cannot help but gritting my teeth at the part where you fall on the sword of your since time immemorial ancestral cultural sword. Ouch. Well, that part and the one before and after it where you use a crowbar to pry your own foot out of your mouth. Leaves a bad taste, eh?

 

[night_son]

It's probably a good thing that so many of you have such a strong opinion about it. Look, I'm not saying all or even most white people have it easy, I'm not dismissing the hardships and anxieties of the Louisiana share cropper, I'm not trying to dismiss the very real stigma many black people have against white people, and I'm definitely not trying to downplay racism against Jews or say that racism is only perpetrated against people of African ancestry.

What I am trying to say is that, in reality, not all pain is equal, and yes, not all racism is felt as strongly. I lived in rural Japan for a year, and I experienced some racism - being stared at wherever I went, shopkeepers glaring at me for no reason and shoving change into my hand, being asked to represent my race as if all white people were like me, being harassed by cops who told me to leave the country - hell, I was even accused of being a terrorist for not being Japanese and asked to leave a bar. It was annoying. It hurt a bit. Sometimes it hurt a lot. But in the end, honestly, I've felt worse.

In the end I could come back to the U.S. where no one gives me a sideways glance, where shopkeepers don't look at me twice, and where white terrorism, though very real, is deemed non-existent. So I ask myself, what if people in the U.S. looked at me sidelong wherever I went with fear, or anger, or mistrust just because I'm white. What if half of every man I knew who was white had been to jail or was bound for jail at some point, what if I endured constant racism in my OWN COUNTRY but was told that it didn't exist. How would that feel? If I'm going to be honest, I just don't know. So it's good to leave the door open for the possibility that other people have it worse than me, even if I can't understand how.

The analysis of your once again well written piece seems to include a breed of ancestral Nihilism evident between your words; a philosophy in which you create a (no pun) back hole in your own genepool and then attempt to cast yourself into it, for the sake of some kind of self-martyrization on a pyre of self-loathing for unexperienced and anti- factualized suffering you theorize as unique to one culture. Some advice: beating your head against the roughest bark tree you can find could give you the same result in under less than a lifetime of practicing your misguided intellectual-karmic pseudo-cultism.

 

[Liberty777]

So I'm a white guy. Just going off recent experience, yesterday I watched Blackkklansman in a Portland theater and it was hard to watch, mainly because I noticed I had to stop myself from laughing or smiling at certain parts that were really f'ed up. My impression was that that was the question the movie was putting to white people: "So, did you think it was funny? Did you like it?" Nothing was funny about that movie and yet it was making me realize that whether I want it there or not, like most white people, I've got a little racist living inside me.

There were a few black people in the theater and there was one black guy in the back who was laughing throughout the movie, especially at the racist scenes. Eventually someone shushed him and he blew up, "Don't you f'ing tell me to shut up! They keep saying it over and over, "N****r this! N****r that! N*****r! N****r! N****r! F*** this movie! F*** all you white mother-*******!"

He kept shouting and hitting the wall until an usher made him leave the theater, and after the movie the usher started apologizing to people leaving for the interruption. I told him I don't think he should be apologizing, and that while I get what he's saying, there's a bigger issue going on than just "he interrupted the movie." I said I don't think that was a movie you're meant to enjoy and I was glad that guy had been there.

So the friends I was with said, "I don't get why he got so mad." and in truth, I don't think I get it either, but what I do think I get if nothing else is this: That guy might have seemed angry to some people, but all I heard was someone really, really hurt. Like, beyond hurt.

I know a bit about pain - I tried to kill myself when I was a teenager; like, seriously tried to kill myself, with a note and everything and wound up in the hospital. And I'm a pretty sensitive guy. And I'm saying, I'm not sure even in my worst moments I have ever been as upset as that guy sounded to me. He didn't seem crazy - up until the moment some one told him to be quiet he sounded like a normal guy, and a normal person doesn't get that upset, they just don't.

And I've heard that kind of hurt from a lot of black people I've known or met, something deep, something carnal, and it's not about them - it's about white people. Not just the out-in-the-open racists but white people everywhere, esp. in the U.S., who won't acknowledge that something really twisted and sick is going on in this world and black people have been taking the brunt of it for a long time.

White people like to talk about equivalence a lot: "Well, maybe this black person has endured racism but racism against whites is real too." or "Well, I'm sure black people are having a hard time but that's no excuse for interrupting a movie, that was really distressing to me."

Well, maybe it's about time white people started getting distressed. Because, this is just the sense I'm getting but I just don't think any pain white people endure in their lives is really comparable to what black people endure from living in a racist society. People like to say, "Well pain is pain, let's not dismiss what anyone's going through" but in truth I think white people who complain about racism against whites are wimps and are the very deepest level of pathetic. If you're white like me, this is my message to you - we don't know what real racism feels like so let's keep our mouths shut about what we don't know and listen for a change.

It’s clear your momma wore the pants in the family.

 

[IM2]

White people work and pay high taxes to support black people. Who will feel their pain? Also:

View attachment 212138

I'm Black and pay taxes. Also:

 

[AKIP]

Thanks OP for at least trying to understand. Every action creates a reaction. Applied racism is an action that produced a reaction in blacks. Racist use the reaction to racism to rationalize.....racism. Ergo, one generation shits on you and the next generation can then rationalize the stench remaining (action/reaction) as reason for looking down upon them, all while dismissing cause and effect (that the people were shat upon) and seeing it as a "Truth" (that the group stinks more than others) and not racism.

Look. Many white people see blacks as inferior. If two seeds are planted at the same time and one seed yields a bigger and healthier plant than the other, then either the soil, sun and rain were inferior for one relative to the other or one seed was genetically inferior to the other. Its just that simple. With black people, we are told that we have had the same chances as others and that all others have experienced in degree and kind what black people have experienced through the years......yet, those groups produce higher and healthier yields than blacks. Ergo, people discredit that society gave preferential soil, sun and hydration to the white seed, causing blacks inferior yield. To discredit those external causes is to accredit the belief that the inferior yield of blacks is due to genetics.

This is essentially what "white supremacy" is. That is essentially what white racism is. Its thinking that blacks run and jump better because of genetics and that blacks are less intelligent, less responsible, more violent, etc, because of genetics. People who think this way have black friends, may have a black spouse, maybe friendly to blacks, may be hostile to blacks, maybe liberal, maybe conservative. Such people come in all forms but all universally will deny their racism. Nobody is a racist today, by their own admission. Nobody.

 

[Vastator]

So I'm a white guy. Just going off recent experience, yesterday I watched Blackkklansman in a Portland theater and it was hard to watch, mainly because I noticed I had to stop myself from laughing or smiling at certain parts that were really f'ed up. My impression was that that was the question the movie was putting to white people: "So, did you think it was funny? Did you like it?" Nothing was funny about that movie and yet it was making me realize that whether I want it there or not, like most white people, I've got a little racist living inside me.

There were a few black people in the theater and there was one black guy in the back who was laughing throughout the movie, especially at the racist scenes. Eventually someone shushed him and he blew up, "Don't you f'ing tell me to shut up! They keep saying it over and over, "N****r this! N****r that! N*****r! N****r! N****r! F*** this movie! F*** all you white mother-*******!"

He kept shouting and hitting the wall until an usher made him leave the theater, and after the movie the usher started apologizing to people leaving for the interruption. I told him I don't think he should be apologizing, and that while I get what he's saying, there's a bigger issue going on than just "he interrupted the movie." I said I don't think that was a movie you're meant to enjoy and I was glad that guy had been there.

So the friends I was with said, "I don't get why he got so mad." and in truth, I don't think I get it either, but what I do think I get if nothing else is this: That guy might have seemed angry to some people, but all I heard was someone really, really hurt. Like, beyond hurt.

I know a bit about pain - I tried to kill myself when I was a teenager; like, seriously tried to kill myself, with a note and everything and wound up in the hospital. And I'm a pretty sensitive guy. And I'm saying, I'm not sure even in my worst moments I have ever been as upset as that guy sounded to me. He didn't seem crazy - up until the moment some one told him to be quiet he sounded like a normal guy, and a normal person doesn't get that upset, they just don't.

And I've heard that kind of hurt from a lot of black people I've known or met, something deep, something carnal, and it's not about them - it's about white people. Not just the out-in-the-open racists but white people everywhere, esp. in the U.S., who won't acknowledge that something really twisted and sick is going on in this world and black people have been taking the brunt of it for a long time.

White people like to talk about equivalence a lot: "Well, maybe this black person has endured racism but racism against whites is real too." or "Well, I'm sure black people are having a hard time but that's no excuse for interrupting a movie, that was really distressing to me."

Well, maybe it's about time white people started getting distressed. Because, this is just the sense I'm getting but I just don't think any pain white people endure in their lives is really comparable to what black people endure from living in a racist society. People like to say, "Well pain is pain, let's not dismiss what anyone's going through" but in truth I think white people who complain about racism against whites are wimps and are the very deepest level of pathetic. If you're white like me, this is my message to you - we don't know what real racism feels like so let's keep our mouths shut about what we don't know and listen for a change.

So you’re a Cuck... Anything else you want to get off your chest?

 

[john54]

I admire that most of you are very clearly saying what you actually think, so I'd just say this: It's easy to believe words that sound good or sound like common sense like "All pain is equal" so I'd put this to you:

"All pain is equal" -
Is a stubbed toe as painful as a broken leg? No, so in a literal sense all pain is not necessarily equal.
Is being yelled at by your boss as painful as your mom dying? No, so in an emotional sense all pain can't be equal.
Is a hurtful joke about 9/11 as offensive to, say, a Chinese person who immigrated here after the fact as it is to a native-born American? No, so even for the same issue, pain can be unequal across racial and national boundaries.

So isn't is possible, just possible, that the black experience of racism is in fact a lot more painful and deeply disturbing an experience than we as white people may be thinking it is? Wouldn't that suck if that really, clearly turned out to be true? That all this time white people have been complaining about racism against us while black people in the U.S. have been facing a very sick and disturbing reality, however much they may seem to be "self-victimizing" and however much "pain knows no color?"

If you're wondering what this reality may involve, I'd ask some of you to look at some of the things you've been saying:

"If they hate it here so much they can move back to Africa. "

"...eternally self-victimizing blacks with an eternal chip on their shoulder looking for a free handout...being totally unwilling to ever go back to Somalia."

"Every time I think of all that pain Jaden andWillow Smith have had to endure, it makes me just want to cry."

 

[IM2]

It's probably a good thing that so many of you have such a strong opinion about it. Look, I'm not saying all or even most white people have it easy, I'm not dismissing the hardships and anxieties of the Louisiana share cropper, I'm not trying to dismiss the very real stigma many black people have against white people, and I'm definitely not trying to downplay racism against Jews or say that racism is only perpetrated against people of African ancestry.

What I am trying to say is that, in reality, not all pain is equal, and yes, not all racism is felt as strongly. I lived in rural Japan for a year, and I experienced some racism - being stared at wherever I went, shopkeepers glaring at me for no reason and shoving change into my hand, being asked to represent my race as if all white people were like me, being harassed by cops who told me to leave the country - hell, I was even accused of being a terrorist for not being Japanese and asked to leave a bar. It was annoying. It hurt a bit. Sometimes it hurt a lot. But in the end, honestly, I've felt worse.

In the end I could come back to the U.S. where no one gives me a sideways glance, where shopkeepers don't look at me twice, and where white terrorism, though very real, is deemed non-existent. So I ask myself, what if people in the U.S. looked at me sidelong wherever I went with fear, or anger, or mistrust just because I'm white. What if half of every man I knew who was white had been to jail or was bound for jail at some point, what if I endured constant racism in my OWN COUNTRY but was told that it didn't exist. How would that feel? If I'm going to be honest, I just don't know. So it's good to leave the door open for the possibility that other people have it worse than me, even if I can't understand how.

You’re equating racism deniers to everyday reasonable people who are aware it exists and don’t engage in it but also don’t take their time to combat it. I like talking with kind, honest POC about racism in America bc they can share things with me that I can’t possibly understand and it’s okay for me not to understand bc it was never my destiny to be any other race than white. We are born how we’re born. No matter our race we live and cope with life the best we can. Just as you think a person shouldn’t suffer bc they’re black you shouldn’t feel bad for being white. Intelligent people know skin color is nothing more than biological and it’s attitudes that put so much importance on it. Your white guilt isn’t going to do shit to fix racism. Telling white people how racist they are (incidentally bc of their race) isn’t going to do shit to fix racism... if fact, it might just fuel it.

None of this makes sense. What makes a POC kind and honest about racism to you? Who is asking whites to feel bad because they are white? Why did whites create this false narrative about white guilt. The OP doesn't sound guilty. How could telling whites how racist they are fuel racism? Whites want to tell others what they need to change and expect it to be done, but whites? Oh no, you can't tell whites anything, because they'll just become more racist. That's white supremacist thinking. "We are superior we don't need to listen to anyone but we can tell everyone else how to do things." Whites are not called racists because of their race. Whites are called racists who are actually racists.

 

[Unkotare]

I admire that most of you are very clearly saying what you actually think, so I'd just say this: It's easy to believe words that sound good or sound like common sense like "All pain is equal" so I'd put this to you:

"All pain is equal" -
Is a stubbed toe as painful as a broken leg? No, so in a literal sense all pain is not necessarily equal.
Is being yelled at by your boss as painful as your mom dying? No, so in an emotional sense all pain can't be equal.
Is a hurtful joke about 9/11 as offensive to, say, a Chinese person who immigrated here after the fact as it is to a native-born American? No, so even for the same issue, pain can be unequal across racial and national boundaries.

So isn't is possible, just possible, that the black experience of racism is in fact a lot more painful and deeply disturbing an experience than we as white people may be thinking it is? Wouldn't that suck if that really, clearly turned out to be true? That all this time white people have been complaining about racism against us while black people in the U.S. have been facing a very sick and disturbing reality, however much they may seem to be "self-victimizing" and however much "pain knows no color?"

If you're wondering what this reality may involve, I'd ask some of you to look at some of the things you've been saying:

"If they hate it here so much they can move back to Africa. "

"...eternally self-victimizing blacks with an eternal chip on their shoulder looking for a free handout...being totally unwilling to ever go back to Somalia."

"Every time I think of all that pain Jaden andWillow Smith have had to endure, it makes me just want to cry."

Lose the “we,” kid.

 

[john54]

I admire that most of you are very clearly saying what you actually think, so I'd just say this: It's easy to believe words that sound good or sound like common sense like "All pain is equal" so I'd put this to you:

"All pain is equal" -
Is a stubbed toe as painful as a broken leg? No, so in a literal sense all pain is not necessarily equal.
Is being yelled at by your boss as painful as your mom dying? No, so in an emotional sense all pain can't be equal.
Is a hurtful joke about 9/11 as offensive to, say, a Chinese person who immigrated here after the fact as it is to a native-born American? No, so even for the same issue, pain can be unequal across racial and national boundaries.

So isn't is possible, just possible, that the black experience of racism is in fact a lot more painful and deeply disturbing an experience than we as white people may be thinking it is? Wouldn't that suck if that really, clearly turned out to be true? That all this time white people have been complaining about racism against us while black people in the U.S. have been facing a very sick and disturbing reality, however much they may seem to be "self-victimizing" and however much "pain knows no color?"

If you're wondering what this reality may involve, I'd ask some of you to look at some of the things you've been saying:

"If they hate it here so much they can move back to Africa. "

"...eternally self-victimizing blacks with an eternal chip on their shoulder looking for a free handout...being totally unwilling to ever go back to Somalia."

"Every time I think of all that pain Jaden andWillow Smith have had to endure, it makes me just want to cry."

Lose the “we,” kid.

I won't. I know about as much in terms of what racism feels like to a black person as any white person who has never experienced racism on a systemic scale. I know some intellectual facts and can try to imagine what it would be like knowing half of my friends will wind up in jail, or if the three cops who let me off the hook for speeding last year had instead tantalized me and then arrested me for resisting arrest, or I can imagine what it would be like to be told in all seriousness to go back to Europe but as neither I nor most white people know a thing about how that feels, just why can't it be worse than we as white people may be thinking?

 

[Unkotare]

I admire that most of you are very clearly saying what you actually think, so I'd just say this: It's easy to believe words that sound good or sound like common sense like "All pain is equal" so I'd put this to you:

"All pain is equal" -
Is a stubbed toe as painful as a broken leg? No, so in a literal sense all pain is not necessarily equal.
Is being yelled at by your boss as painful as your mom dying? No, so in an emotional sense all pain can't be equal.
Is a hurtful joke about 9/11 as offensive to, say, a Chinese person who immigrated here after the fact as it is to a native-born American? No, so even for the same issue, pain can be unequal across racial and national boundaries.

So isn't is possible, just possible, that the black experience of racism is in fact a lot more painful and deeply disturbing an experience than we as white people may be thinking it is? Wouldn't that suck if that really, clearly turned out to be true? That all this time white people have been complaining about racism against us while black people in the U.S. have been facing a very sick and disturbing reality, however much they may seem to be "self-victimizing" and however much "pain knows no color?"

If you're wondering what this reality may involve, I'd ask some of you to look at some of the things you've been saying:

"If they hate it here so much they can move back to Africa. "

"...eternally self-victimizing blacks with an eternal chip on their shoulder looking for a free handout...being totally unwilling to ever go back to Somalia."

"Every time I think of all that pain Jaden andWillow Smith have had to endure, it makes me just want to cry."

Lose the “we,” kid.

I won't. I know about as much in terms of what racism feels like to a black person as any white person who has never experienced racism on a systemic scale. I know some intellectual facts and can try to imagine what it would be like knowing half of my friends will wind up in jail, or if the three cops who let me off the hook for speeding last year had instead tantalized me and then arrested me for resisting arrest, or I can imagine what it would be like to be told in all seriousness to go back to Europe but as neither I nor most white people know a thing about how that feels, just why can't it be worse than we as white people may be thinking?

You don’t speak for “white people,” dumbass. Stop being ridiculous. If you’re wrestling with irrational guilt, you do it alone.

 

[john54]

I admire that most of you are very clearly saying what you actually think, so I'd just say this: It's easy to believe words that sound good or sound like common sense like "All pain is equal" so I'd put this to you:

"All pain is equal" -
Is a stubbed toe as painful as a broken leg? No, so in a literal sense all pain is not necessarily equal.
Is being yelled at by your boss as painful as your mom dying? No, so in an emotional sense all pain can't be equal.
Is a hurtful joke about 9/11 as offensive to, say, a Chinese person who immigrated here after the fact as it is to a native-born American? No, so even for the same issue, pain can be unequal across racial and national boundaries.

So isn't is possible, just possible, that the black experience of racism is in fact a lot more painful and deeply disturbing an experience than we as white people may be thinking it is? Wouldn't that suck if that really, clearly turned out to be true? That all this time white people have been complaining about racism against us while black people in the U.S. have been facing a very sick and disturbing reality, however much they may seem to be "self-victimizing" and however much "pain knows no color?"

If you're wondering what this reality may involve, I'd ask some of you to look at some of the things you've been saying:

"If they hate it here so much they can move back to Africa. "

"...eternally self-victimizing blacks with an eternal chip on their shoulder looking for a free handout...being totally unwilling to ever go back to Somalia."

"Every time I think of all that pain Jaden andWillow Smith have had to endure, it makes me just want to cry."

Lose the “we,” kid.

I won't. I know about as much in terms of what racism feels like to a black person as any white person who has never experienced racism on a systemic scale. I know some intellectual facts and can try to imagine what it would be like knowing half of my friends will wind up in jail, or if the three cops who let me off the hook for speeding last year had instead tantalized me and then arrested me for resisting arrest, or I can imagine what it would be like to be told in all seriousness to go back to Europe but as neither I nor most white people know a thing about how that feels, just why can't it be worse than we as white people may be thinking?

You don’t speak for “white people,” dumbass. Stop being ridiculous. If you’re wrestling with irrational guilt, you do it alone.

Yasashii kata desune, Unkotare. Soretomo, moshikashite, nanikano jijitsu wo mitometakunai kara hara ga tatsunanodeshouka?

If I've mistaken you for a Japanese speaker, I apologize.

 

[AveryJarhman]

I won't. I know about as much in terms of what racism feels like to a black person as any white person who has never experienced racism on a systemic scale.

Hello, John54. Serious question.

 

[Likkmee]

So I'm a white guy. Just going off recent experience, yesterday I watched Blackkklansman in a Portland theater and it was hard to watch, mainly because I noticed I had to stop myself from laughing or smiling at certain parts that were really f'ed up. My impression was that that was the question the movie was putting to white people: "So, did you think it was funny? Did you like it?" Nothing was funny about that movie and yet it was making me realize that whether I want it there or not, like most white people, I've got a little racist living inside me.

There were a few black people in the theater and there was one black guy in the back who was laughing throughout the movie, especially at the racist scenes. Eventually someone shushed him and he blew up, "Don't you f'ing tell me to shut up! They keep saying it over and over, "N****r this! N****r that! N*****r! N****r! N****r! F*** this movie! F*** all you white mother-*******!"

He kept shouting and hitting the wall until an usher made him leave the theater, and after the movie the usher started apologizing to people leaving for the interruption. I told him I don't think he should be apologizing, and that while I get what he's saying, there's a bigger issue going on than just "he interrupted the movie." I said I don't think that was a movie you're meant to enjoy and I was glad that guy had been there.

So the friends I was with said, "I don't get why he got so mad." and in truth, I don't think I get it either, but what I do think I get if nothing else is this: That guy might have seemed angry to some people, but all I heard was someone really, really hurt. Like, beyond hurt.

I know a bit about pain - I tried to kill myself when I was a teenager; like, seriously tried to kill myself, with a note and everything and wound up in the hospital. And I'm a pretty sensitive guy. And I'm saying, I'm not sure even in my worst moments I have ever been as upset as that guy sounded to me. He didn't seem crazy - up until the moment some one told him to be quiet he sounded like a normal guy, and a normal person doesn't get that upset, they just don't.

And I've heard that kind of hurt from a lot of black people I've known or met, something deep, something carnal, and it's not about them - it's about white people. Not just the out-in-the-open racists but white people everywhere, esp. in the U.S., who won't acknowledge that something really twisted and sick is going on in this world and black people have been taking the brunt of it for a long time.

White people like to talk about equivalence a lot: "Well, maybe this black person has endured racism but racism against whites is real too." or "Well, I'm sure black people are having a hard time but that's no excuse for interrupting a movie, that was really distressing to me."

Well, maybe it's about time white people started getting distressed. Because, this is just the sense I'm getting but I just don't think any pain white people endure in their lives is really comparable to what black people endure from living in a racist society. People like to say, "Well pain is pain, let's not dismiss what anyone's going through" but in truth I think white people who complain about racism against whites are wimps and are the very deepest level of pathetic. If you're white like me, this is my message to you - we don't know what real racism feels like so let's keep our mouths shut about what we don't know and listen for a change.

Wow. Good to know that no white person can ever experience the sort of pain a black person has. No poor white share cropper from Louisiana, ever felt the pain and misery of working long hours in the hot Sun like those poor blacks before them. Nope. Not ever.

What about them there Jews? They're all white and they've put up with more than any black person I've known. Nobody I've ever heard of sent 6 million black folks to the gas chambers.

Its never been proven that ANYONE sent 6 million to "gas chambers". It makes for attention tho.

 

[Unkotare]

I admire that most of you are very clearly saying what you actually think, so I'd just say this: It's easy to believe words that sound good or sound like common sense like "All pain is equal" so I'd put this to you:

"All pain is equal" -
Is a stubbed toe as painful as a broken leg? No, so in a literal sense all pain is not necessarily equal.
Is being yelled at by your boss as painful as your mom dying? No, so in an emotional sense all pain can't be equal.
Is a hurtful joke about 9/11 as offensive to, say, a Chinese person who immigrated here after the fact as it is to a native-born American? No, so even for the same issue, pain can be unequal across racial and national boundaries.

So isn't is possible, just possible, that the black experience of racism is in fact a lot more painful and deeply disturbing an experience than we as white people may be thinking it is? Wouldn't that suck if that really, clearly turned out to be true? That all this time white people have been complaining about racism against us while black people in the U.S. have been facing a very sick and disturbing reality, however much they may seem to be "self-victimizing" and however much "pain knows no color?"

If you're wondering what this reality may involve, I'd ask some of you to look at some of the things you've been saying:

"If they hate it here so much they can move back to Africa. "

"...eternally self-victimizing blacks with an eternal chip on their shoulder looking for a free handout...being totally unwilling to ever go back to Somalia."

"Every time I think of all that pain Jaden andWillow Smith have had to endure, it makes me just want to cry."

Lose the “we,” kid.

I won't. I know about as much in terms of what racism feels like to a black person as any white person who has never experienced racism on a systemic scale. I know some intellectual facts and can try to imagine what it would be like knowing half of my friends will wind up in jail, or if the three cops who let me off the hook for speeding last year had instead tantalized me and then arrested me for resisting arrest, or I can imagine what it would be like to be told in all seriousness to go back to Europe but as neither I nor most white people know a thing about how that feels, just why can't it be worse than we as white people may be thinking?

You don’t speak for “white people,” dumbass. Stop being ridiculous. If you’re wrestling with irrational guilt, you do it alone.

Yasashii kata desune, Unkotaro. Soretomo, moshikashite, nanikano jijitsu wo mitometakunai kara hara ga tatsunanodeshouka?

If I've mistaken you for a Japanese speaker, I apologize.

I hope you haven’t mistaken yourself for one.

 

[john54]

I won't. I know about as much in terms of what racism feels like to a black person as any white person who has never experienced racism on a systemic scale.

Hello, John54. Serious question.
View attachment 212459

Hey, sorry, I'm not understanding the question on the image. Can you rephrase it?

 

[Dekster]

Well, maybe it's about time white people started getting distressed. Because, this is just the sense I'm getting but I just don't think any pain white people endure in their lives is really comparable to what black people endure from living in a racist society. People like to say, "Well pain is pain, let's not dismiss what anyone's going through" but in truth I think white people who complain about racism against whites are wimps and are the very deepest level of pathetic. If you're white like me, this is my message to you - we don't know what real racism feels like so let's keep our mouths shut about what we don't know and listen for a change.

How is feeling oppressed because of your race different than being oppressed because of poverty, or because you are in a shitty relationship you cannot escape, or because of who your family might be? I mean there are lots of situations in which one might feel oppression independent of their race. What makes race so much more in your mind? I don't understand your logic. I'm not questioning the veracity of your belief, so much as I am not sure what the basis of it is.