The kind of racism you didn't even know you have

[NY_20th]

https://gendercreativelife.com/2017/11/21/the-kind-of-racism-you-dont-even-know-you-have/

Well worth a read.

I actually have better sources on this topic, but this one dumbs it down so that anyone can see it.


Clearly that's what we need. To dumb it down so that everyone can finally see the light and understand it.

[onecaliberal]

1. Sucn an educational, thought provoking read.

[Tucker08087]

2. I saw it once, from both sides at once, I guess

My son had been through a trauma at school. (I posted about it before, in a different thread) The school asked me to bring him to the ER for fear of self harm, and I did. He sat there for almost 4 days waiting to be admitted to a psych facility. He was in a one person room that was basically a cell. No books, pens or pencils, board games, puzzles were allowed as all could be made into weapons (??) So basically solitary confinement for 4 days.
I had to leave him at night, and on the third day I walked in to see three security guards running to the ward with guns. I started running, too. I turned the corner to see him standing in the doorway of his “room” near tears, with a wide-eyed nurse and two other very scared looking people. One of the guards said, “You don’t want to do this.” I looked back at him and said, “Do WHAT?” Then I walked over to my son with the guards yelling, “Ma’am, stay back,” and said, “Christopher, whatever’s going on, that’s enough. Sit down.” He sat. The guard wanted to know if I knew him. “Yes, I know him. He’s my son. And he’s 12. And he’s never hurt a fly so please...”
I know what I saw. My 12 year old boy was scared and frustrated and was standing in the door because he never breaks rules and someone told him to never cross that line.
I also know what they saw. A six foot tall unstable black male built like a linebacker menacingly hovering close to the point of escape. And they were afraid. My son is adopted. They saw little blond 5 feet tall me running toward danger, never considering he was my child, my life.
Were any of those people racist? That was my fear. Especially the ones with guns. But the fear, the assumptions, that was racism.
Oh, and my son? They told me he could color, so I’d bought him a coloring book before I’d left the night before. The lady who said coloring was okay wasn’t there yet, so they told him no. He was asking why, in a whiny (and, I admit, too loud) 12 year old way, trying to sound tough but on the verge of tears. He went to his doorway to see if he could spot the @its ok to color” lady and panic ensued.
I saw some pretty scary stuff with him in that ward, people who were out of control, out of their rooms, clearly either seriously ill or on drugs. But I only saw a gun (well, 3 actually) once. Odd, right?

[EffieBlack]

3. Excellent article!

[GulfCoast66]

4. A very meaningful read. Thank you.

Fifteen years ago this whole concept would have upset me.

But is was an innocuous conversation with a work friend that began my awakening. He is a black coworker from South Florida raised by successful parents, had a degree from a good university and had become successful himself with a good income. And younger than me.

In the conversation, as an aside to the subject being discussed he commented that the police had pulled him over more than 20 times in his life!!

I was like WTF! I am a 50 something white guy from Louisiana raised by educated parents who did not put up with overt racism. So I thought I was good. My life history tracked his closely. Except it became apparent to me that no matter how successful he became he always had the societal deck stacked against him. So that was the start of me coming around.

Will I ever totally shake the ingrained bias society placed in me? I like to think so.

But overcoming it takes a Pro-Active mind set. A white person raised multigenerational in this country must make the effort to continually challenge their initial reactions to situations involving people of color. Over time it becomes less necessary but I always try to keep it in mind.

On of the Ironies of Southern history is that if we could eliminate color I have way more in common Multigenerational African Americans than I do with many white northerns. From music, religion(freethinker now), family, and especially food. Hell, even my accent people make fun of is something I share with my black neighbors.

Again, thanks for posting. Sorry if I got a little wonky in my response but I have been thinking about this a lot lately. Especially as the Democratic Candidate for governor up in Georgia breaks new ground. I know most here disagree but she may well have the ability to pull more white votes than expected.

But I have always been an optimist!

Have a nice evening.

[NY_20th]

5. spot on response.

Yes, it takes effort. I work at it every single day.

But first it needs to be acknowledged. Without acknowledgement, there is no reason to address it and eradicate it.

[GulfCoast66]

6. Yeah. But acknowledging it is not easy

For me it took a lucky comment made in a conversation not about this subject at all. So my defense mechanisms were not prepared to kick in.

I recently read that political beliefs are as hard to give up as religious beliefs. Of course I walked away from my religious beliefs as well.

I do not have a societal answer.

[chia]

9. Great post.

Your post was a needed optimistic antidote to a day/week/month/year of bad MAGA news...

[mythology]

7. A really good article

My one quibble is that it doesn't quite go far enough. There are some other examples like how our society generally finds lighter skinned blacks to be prettier, less threatening, smarter that I think are even more insidious.

But I like how the article goes into that it's the racism that doesn't wear a white hood or a swastika that is more pervasive.

[bluecollar2]

8. Excellent article

Kick and rec.