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HN heavily leans white suburban kid culture. I think when you make claims like I do that goes against their experiences and they simply don't understand. They d

HN heavily leans white suburban kid culture. I think when you make claims like I do that goes against their experiences and they simply don't understand. They don't understand situations when the police aren't automatically on your side. That's how life has always been for them. I remember one of the first times I was pulled over. I was driving my dad's car, which was a nicer but not terribly expensive, luxury model. The cop literally had his gun out in a battle pose as his partner approached my window. I thought that was normal until someone told me otherwise. Apparently, the cop thought the car was stolen and was expecting a gunfight due to how I looked (young dark guy in a bmw driving the way most teenagers drive). I'm decently well off now and don't often deal with this stuff much or just don't notice it anymore, but growing up I was certainly treated a certain way my white friends were not. I don't blame them if they don't understand this automatically. They never had those experiences and its understandable. But it is annoying to be auto-downvoted like I'm making all of this up or have some big agenda. I rarely talk about this stuff to be honest, mostly because of reactions like this.

pavel_lishin 10y ago
You're right, most people don't understand just how lucky they are to be born that way. But those are exactly the people who should be standing up to this sort of bullshit, because they can do so with less risk.
- stcredzero 10y ago
  Throughout history, some risks when doing activism as a privileged member of society: - Oppressing one group while championing another - Oppressing the group you are championing - Acting in anger and alienating potential allies - Acting in anger and discrediting potential allies
  - pavel_lishin 10y ago
    I mostly meant personal risk; I'm less likely to be severely harmed, physically or financially.
    - ebfe 10y ago
      That's patently not true. You're far more likely to be harmed than, say, women or Asians, though the latter are oppressed.
Frondo 10y ago
Thank you, thank you a thousand times, for sharing your experiences. I hope someone here reads it and realizes that other people experience a different (and usually less pleasant and more hostile) world.

pavel_lishin 10y ago

You're right, most people don't understand just how lucky they are to be born that way. But those are exactly the people who should be standing up to this sort of bullshit, because they can do so with less risk.

stcredzero 10y ago
Throughout history, some risks when doing activism as a privileged member of society: - Oppressing one group while championing another - Oppressing the group you are championing - Acting in anger and alienating potential allies - Acting in anger and discrediting potential allies
- pavel_lishin 10y ago
  I mostly meant personal risk; I'm less likely to be severely harmed, physically or financially.
  - ebfe 10y ago
    That's patently not true. You're far more likely to be harmed than, say, women or Asians, though the latter are oppressed.

Frondo 10y ago

Thank you, thank you a thousand times, for sharing your experiences. I hope someone here reads it and realizes that other people experience a different (and usually less pleasant and more hostile) world.