4 ms·

I'm pretty sure the concept of appropriation is the end result of signalling games. As racism waned in popularity, racists were forced to conceal their racism w

by chroma 11y ago

I'm pretty sure the concept of appropriation is the end result of signalling games. As racism waned in popularity, racists were forced to conceal their racism with euphemisms and dog whistles[1]. Non-racists eventually figured this out and increased the sensitivity of their racism detectors. Racists concealed their racism even more. Repeat. Eventually you get to today. Almost nobody is racist, but everyone's on a hair trigger when it comes to racist language or behavior. And otherwise sane and good people get angry about white people wearing kimonos. The process is described much better by this blog post: http://blog.jaibot.com/outcast-arms-race/ http://blog.jaibot.com/outcast-arms-race/ 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog-whistle_politics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog-whistle_politics Edit: When I say "racist", I mean consciously so. We're all prone to unconscious biases, and it's good that we try to discover and correct for them. But the signalling game I'm talking about? That happens with beliefs that people are themselves aware of.

dasil003 11y ago
Eventually almost no one is (or at least believes themselves to be) racist, but systemic inequality is deeply ingrained and ensures that minorities will feel the effects of racism even with entirely well-intentioned liberal actors. This is where you get white people shouting "I am not and have never been a racist!" and black people shouting "Check your privilege!", and then people get wrapped up in polarized ideology and defensiveness. I think we're at a point with racism where it can only improve by empathy and communication, by real integration at the individual level, and actually talking and listening to each other. The utopian ideal of the internet that we had in the 70s and 80s was that it would facilitate this kind of dialog and allow the best information to spread; but instead what social media has proven is the anonymity and borderlessness of the internet allows everyone to find their own little micro-group of like-minded people and never have to speak to their neighbors again.
- vlehto 11y ago
  Everybody is little bit racist. It's about how much you act on it. It's awfully like with Christian morals. Everybody is a sinner. Everybody pretends to be Zealous. And everybody mocks everybody else for being sinners. Donate money/buy indulgence, what's the difference? Just remember to be ashamed of yourself. I'm not sure if this is Christian cultural undertones finding a new way to surface. Or did church just capture something very integral of human psyche with their rhetoric. Hopefully this bullshit is eradicated if the idea of "thought crime" becomes unpopular enough.
vidarh 11y ago
> Almost nobody is racist Maybe "almost nobody" exhibits racism openly in face to face situations (though I've experienced plenty; try being in an interracial marriage for a few years and you're likely to se racism from both sides), but go online in the right places and it gets ugly.
StavrosK 11y ago
> otherwise sane and good people get angry about white people wearing kimonos I think the only people getting angry about that are Americans, I don't think cultural appropriation is a problem in most other places in the world. You don't see me outraged about the "Greek system" in fraternities, I couldn't care less.
- Grue3 11y ago
  What about the Greeks being outraged about the name of the country of Macedonia?
  - StavrosK 11y ago
    That's less "cultural appropriation" and more "white people going 'look at us, we're black'" with a straight face.
dragonwriter 11y ago
> Almost nobody is racist What is the basis for this conclusion?

by chroma 11y ago

dasil003 11y ago

Eventually almost no one is (or at least believes themselves to be) racist, but systemic inequality is deeply ingrained and ensures that minorities will feel the effects of racism even with entirely well-intentioned liberal actors. This is where you get white people shouting "I am not and have never been a racist!" and black people shouting "Check your privilege!", and then people get wrapped up in polarized ideology and defensiveness. I think we're at a point with racism where it can only improve by empathy and communication, by real integration at the individual level, and actually talking and listening to each other. The utopian ideal of the internet that we had in the 70s and 80s was that it would facilitate this kind of dialog and allow the best information to spread; but instead what social media has proven is the anonymity and borderlessness of the internet allows everyone to find their own little micro-group of like-minded people and never have to speak to their neighbors again.

vlehto 11y ago
Everybody is little bit racist. It's about how much you act on it. It's awfully like with Christian morals. Everybody is a sinner. Everybody pretends to be Zealous. And everybody mocks everybody else for being sinners. Donate money/buy indulgence, what's the difference? Just remember to be ashamed of yourself. I'm not sure if this is Christian cultural undertones finding a new way to surface. Or did church just capture something very integral of human psyche with their rhetoric. Hopefully this bullshit is eradicated if the idea of "thought crime" becomes unpopular enough.

vidarh 11y ago

> Almost nobody is racist Maybe "almost nobody" exhibits racism openly in face to face situations (though I've experienced plenty; try being in an interracial marriage for a few years and you're likely to se racism from both sides), but go online in the right places and it gets ugly.

StavrosK 11y ago

> otherwise sane and good people get angry about white people wearing kimonos I think the only people getting angry about that are Americans, I don't think cultural appropriation is a problem in most other places in the world. You don't see me outraged about the "Greek system" in fraternities, I couldn't care less.

Grue3 11y ago
What about the Greeks being outraged about the name of the country of Macedonia?
- StavrosK 11y ago
  That's less "cultural appropriation" and more "white people going 'look at us, we're black'" with a straight face.

dragonwriter 11y ago

> Almost nobody is racist What is the basis for this conclusion?