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Is the solution to ignore bias then? Taken separately those incidents may not scream racism, but most incidents don’t. Taken together they give reason to ask th

Is the solution to ignore bias then? Taken separately those incidents may not scream racism, but most incidents don’t. Taken together they give reason to ask the question at least. Being openly racist in public is no longer acceptable in most of America, but these types of subtle racism are very common and it’s easy to dismiss them because they’re not explicit.

educationdata 8y ago
Yes. It is better to ignore implicit bias. Every time you talk about it, you are reenforcing it. Because every time you talk about it, you are more likely make more people to have this idea, instead of making less people to have this idea.
- icebraining 8y ago
  What makes you think that?
DanBC 8y ago
Calling a black man "boy" is not subtly racist. It's blatantly racist.
- dlivingston 8y ago
  FWIW I can easily imagine an angry, old white man calling a 30 year old white man 'boy'. It's typically a condescending way of implying dominance and is not necessarily a racist expression in and of itself. Coupled with his other comments, though, you might start to view these as 'dog whistles'...
  - dvtrn 8y ago
    FWIW I can easily imagine an angry, old white man calling a 30 year old white man 'boy' Have you ever actually seen this? Or, failing that, have you ever read the Alex Haley book "Roots"? or seen the television series based upon? There's an entire scene of protagonist Kunta Kente being whipped savagely as the slave master repeatedly asks "what's your name boy" to dehumanize him and strip him of his birthright and birth-given identity, changing his African name to a white, Anglo-Christian name. I can't think of a better example than that of how that word came to be weaponized against an entire group of people to the point we have come to now. "Boy" to black people (hi there, black person here) has a LOT of history of being blatant, unambiguous and pretty darn direct. Although... I suppose it's easier if one hasn't lived that life though to rest their laurels on what they "imagine" versus what people like me continually have to point out actually happens because we're the ones living through it.
    - creaghpatr 8y ago
      In the south people use the expression “boy” in non-racial contexts all the time, you’re wrong to suspect he hasn’t seen it before. Have you ever spent time in the southeast, outside of Atlanta? Your Roots reference is correct but it doesn’t prove your point.
      - dvtrn 8y ago
        Have you ever spent time in the southeast, outside of Atlanta? I was born and raised in South Carolina (a town called Moore), and actually went to college in Atlanta, and served in the military in Alabama and later Louisiana, and I recall quite vividly being aggressively called boy from everyone from high school disciplinarians to police officers. So yes, I have spent considerable time in the southeast. I know quite well where I come from, what's your point? If you want to sit here and quiz me about my lived experiences as a black man in the southern US, knock yourself out, I suspect most of the answers I give you aren't going to be what you think you want them to be.
      - iamdave 8y ago
        you’re wrong to suspect he hasn’t seen it before I welcome dvtrn to correct me on the matter, as I don't want to speak on their behalf out of line, but taken in context, it seems pretty obvious to me what he was doing was contrasting what someone imagines race relations being like to what he actually lived and experienced is as a black man in the south. No imagination needed on his part. I think the benefit of the doubt there is earned.
        dvtrn 8y ago
        it seems pretty obvious to me what he was doing was contrasting what someone imagines race relations being like and what his actual experience is as a black man in the south It's quite annoying that it needs to be explained like this, since it should be pretty painfully apparent, but yes. Sorry but I'm (personally) not particularly inclined to favorably entertain what someone "imagines" about dog-whistle terminology. Their proximity to the ebbs and flows of southern racial 'charm' doesn't hold a candle to what I actually lived through and experienced first hand for 30 years-as a direct recipient of aggressive, racially loaded behavior and speech.
- alphabettsy 8y ago
  You would/wouldn’t be surprised how many people don’t know history and may not know or understand that, but that’s another issue and also why you have to look at it in context with the other incidents. Either the guy is regularly unaware of the implications and connotations of his words or he’s using them on purpose as an expression of his prejudice and either would seem to be an issue.
  - oh_sigh 8y ago
    But who calls any grown man 'boy'? I have literally never heard it happen before in normal conversation.

educationdata 8y ago

Yes. It is better to ignore implicit bias. Every time you talk about it, you are reenforcing it. Because every time you talk about it, you are more likely make more people to have this idea, instead of making less people to have this idea.

icebraining 8y ago
What makes you think that?

DanBC 8y ago

Calling a black man "boy" is not subtly racist. It's blatantly racist.

dlivingston 8y ago
FWIW I can easily imagine an angry, old white man calling a 30 year old white man 'boy'. It's typically a condescending way of implying dominance and is not necessarily a racist expression in and of itself. Coupled with his other comments, though, you might start to view these as 'dog whistles'...
- dvtrn 8y ago
  FWIW I can easily imagine an angry, old white man calling a 30 year old white man 'boy' Have you ever actually seen this? Or, failing that, have you ever read the Alex Haley book "Roots"? or seen the television series based upon? There's an entire scene of protagonist Kunta Kente being whipped savagely as the slave master repeatedly asks "what's your name boy" to dehumanize him and strip him of his birthright and birth-given identity, changing his African name to a white, Anglo-Christian name. I can't think of a better example than that of how that word came to be weaponized against an entire group of people to the point we have come to now. "Boy" to black people (hi there, black person here) has a LOT of history of being blatant, unambiguous and pretty darn direct. Although... I suppose it's easier if one hasn't lived that life though to rest their laurels on what they "imagine" versus what people like me continually have to point out actually happens because we're the ones living through it.
  - creaghpatr 8y ago
    In the south people use the expression “boy” in non-racial contexts all the time, you’re wrong to suspect he hasn’t seen it before. Have you ever spent time in the southeast, outside of Atlanta? Your Roots reference is correct but it doesn’t prove your point.
    - dvtrn 8y ago
      Have you ever spent time in the southeast, outside of Atlanta? I was born and raised in South Carolina (a town called Moore), and actually went to college in Atlanta, and served in the military in Alabama and later Louisiana, and I recall quite vividly being aggressively called boy from everyone from high school disciplinarians to police officers. So yes, I have spent considerable time in the southeast. I know quite well where I come from, what's your point? If you want to sit here and quiz me about my lived experiences as a black man in the southern US, knock yourself out, I suspect most of the answers I give you aren't going to be what you think you want them to be.
    - iamdave 8y ago
      you’re wrong to suspect he hasn’t seen it before I welcome dvtrn to correct me on the matter, as I don't want to speak on their behalf out of line, but taken in context, it seems pretty obvious to me what he was doing was contrasting what someone imagines race relations being like to what he actually lived and experienced is as a black man in the south. No imagination needed on his part. I think the benefit of the doubt there is earned.
      - dvtrn 8y ago
        it seems pretty obvious to me what he was doing was contrasting what someone imagines race relations being like and what his actual experience is as a black man in the south It's quite annoying that it needs to be explained like this, since it should be pretty painfully apparent, but yes. Sorry but I'm (personally) not particularly inclined to favorably entertain what someone "imagines" about dog-whistle terminology. Their proximity to the ebbs and flows of southern racial 'charm' doesn't hold a candle to what I actually lived through and experienced first hand for 30 years-as a direct recipient of aggressive, racially loaded behavior and speech.
alphabettsy 8y ago
You would/wouldn’t be surprised how many people don’t know history and may not know or understand that, but that’s another issue and also why you have to look at it in context with the other incidents. Either the guy is regularly unaware of the implications and connotations of his words or he’s using them on purpose as an expression of his prejudice and either would seem to be an issue.
- oh_sigh 8y ago
  But who calls any grown man 'boy'? I have literally never heard it happen before in normal conversation.