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What are White Folks Doing Wrong?

Nakosis

Non-Binary Physicalist
Premium Member
To answer the OP, talk to people from other races and read what they write and try to understand their perspective. And also pay attention to the number of times a white cop shoots an innocent black in their own home etc.

And a big part is to recognize the history where people have acted upon the belief that their tribe, race, religion etc was inherently superior to the "other" no matter how the "other" was classified.

Understand and recognize, that's it? If that is all that is being ask, doesn't seem much to make a fuss about.
 

Sunstone

De Diablo Del Fora
Premium Member
I don't see how I should behave differently. I treat people as I would like to be treated regardless of their race or religion.

I think what you are doing is great, Dave. I also think that treating people fairly might be the single most important thing anyone can do.

Is there there anything beyond treating people fairly that most of us could do? I think a great deal of good could be done if we all pitched in now and then to raise awareness of privilege. There's a whole lot of ignorance and misinformation about it.
 

Sunstone

De Diablo Del Fora
Premium Member
‘The Man of the Future will be a Mongrel’ this is the plan.


To be sure, there is nothing wrong with being a "mongrel". At least you can be a decent human and a "mongrel" both. Can't say the same about being a racist and a decent human. Those two things just don't coexist.
 

leov

Well-Known Member
To be sure, there is nothing wrong with being a "mongrel". At least you can be a decent human and a "mongrel" both. Can't say the same about being a racist and a decent human. Those two things just don't coexist.
i do not know if that is good or bad idea, so i agree with you. i do not like that way too many put in misery achieving the idea.
 

David1967

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
Well, that's what I'm trying to find out. Let's sit aside the argument whether White privilege exists or what it is exactly. Now then going forward, what should be done about it? What behavior would need to be change so it is not a problem.

IMHO white privilege was a real thing a few years ago, but now, at least in my community, I don't see it. "What behavior needs to change?" I think that any behavior by anyone that thinks less of anyone else due to race should go away.
 

David1967

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
Is there there anything beyond treating people fairly that most of us could do?

That is a great question @Sunstone and actually made me pause and think a bit. The first thing that came to mind was that it wouldn't hurt for "most of us" (and that includes me) to work at being a little more compassionate and understanding as well as less judgemental of where others are in life and how they got there. We are all, after all, the sum of our experiences.
 

Evangelicalhumanist

"Truth" isn't a thing...
Premium Member
Take time to learn about what is going on for non-whites. A little here, a little there can go a long way.

White people who are firmly enclosed in "white space" should find the inspiration to get out and explore something outside that space.
I really agree with this. Throughout my life, I've been able to see that by the simple virtue of being what I was -- white, tall, male, good-looking (my opinion, occasionally seconded :rolleyes:), I really did have advantages that others did not. I was offered jobs that others, who had skills equal to my own, couldn't hope to get. I got raises that those not quite like me, but who contributed just as I did, weren't considered for. I've been believed when others, as honest (or not) as I am, wouldn't be.

Later in life, when I occupied positions of some little authority, I did what I could to change that, in the situations I was in -- but that's just me, doing a little tiny bit in a big, big world.

Now, before we get carried away with "white privilege," let me remind everyone that the same might be said elsewhere, in other terms. An ethnic Lao in Thailand is at a disadvantage, as are the Rohingya in Myanmar, and so many others, in so many other circumstances. The biggest hurdle we humans have to overcome, if it is even possible (I think it is, though difficult), is to learn to accept that every human is just as human as every other.
 

Nakosis

Non-Binary Physicalist
Premium Member
IMHO white privilege was a real thing a few years ago, but now, at least in my community, I don't see it. "What behavior needs to change?" I think that any behavior by anyone that thinks less of anyone else due to race should go away.

Kind of hard for me to see too since I don't run into White folks much. Maybe in a different part of the country...
 

PureX

Veteran Member
Well, that's what I'm trying to find out. Let's sit aside the argument whether White privilege exists or what it is exactly. Now then going forward, what should be done about it? What behavior would need to be change so it is not a problem.
The PRIVILEGED behavior is what would change. But you just posted that you don't want to know what that is, exactly. So I don't see how anyone could explain to you what would need to be changed. Do you?
 

sealchan

Well-Known Member
Ok, after learning should Whites be behaving differently? How would a person who has step out of their White space behave different than one who has not?

IOW, two White people standing side by side. Could you tell by their actions which had and which had not?

The difference would be in what either of them would choose to notice. Its not a simple distinction and I doubt there are any litmus tests. Finding an Other that is unfamiliar is probably a lifelong encounter that everyone has to deal with. There are probably excellent examples that one may encounter within the boundaries of one's own race. It is a never ending process.

Bias is subtle and may even extend to the thought patterns of a person in a given class against their own class.

I saw a TED talk that suggested if you wanted to check for bias in your own thinking you can just "flip it to test it":

 

PureX

Veteran Member
Is there there anything beyond treating people fairly that most of us could do?
How do we respond to having been given so many advantages in life simply for being born white in a culture controlled by white people, for the benefit of white people? Do we reject all those advantages? Is that even possible? It's been going on for so long, and is so pervasive that it's literally a part of who I am, now. It's so pervasive that it's basically become invisible to those who have been benefiting from it all their lives. It's only visible to those who have been frustrated and victimized by it.
 
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Jayhawker Soule

-- untitled --
Premium Member
Among a host of other things ...
- Acknowledge its pervasiveness.
- Be sensitive to its expressions.
- Repudiate its denial.
- Support criminal justice reform efforts.
Ok, how is this different from racism?

You ask ...
  • How is acknowledging the pervasiveness of white privilege different than racism?
  • How is sensitivity to the expression of white privilege different than racism?
  • How is repudiating the denial of white privilege different than racism?
  • How is support for criminal justice reform efforts. different than racism?
... and in so doing model a rather pathetic and sophomoric form of white privilege victimhood.
 

Evangelicalhumanist

"Truth" isn't a thing...
Premium Member
You ask ...
  • How is acknowledging the pervasiveness of white privilege different than racism?
  • How is sensitivity to the expression of white privilege different than racism?
  • How is repudiating the denial of white privilege different than racism?
  • How is support for criminal justice reform efforts. different than racism?
... and in so doing model a rather pathetic and sophomoric form of white privilege victimhood.
I think you are trying to muddy the waters. You cannot always so glibly equate one thing to another. Your first question, for example, tries to equate "acknowledgement of white privilege" with "racism." This cannot be done. One is a recognition of an established fact, the other is a judgement based on criteria that don't apply. Similar arguments for your other points.
 
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