5 ms·

This is a surreal reversal of the situation. Upper-class whites are obsessed with race, especially in the last few years. Every news story - and the news come

This is a surreal reversal of the situation. Upper-class whites are obsessed with race, especially in the last few years. Every news story - and the news comes from the upper whites - gets twisted into something about race, as in this case. Every tech company, every Hollywood studio, every academic institution are vibrating with energy to find and fight racism; overflowing with programs and policies about race. Hell, even the Oscars can't be won by white guys making movies about white guys any more - it's in the rules! Here's the evidence https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2019/06/the-nytimes-is-woke.html https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2019/06/th... To say it's the poor whites who are "thinking in terms of race" too much is utterly absurd. Where's the evidence that they're thinking in terms of race more than the academics or NYT? You'll hear way more about race in a random sample of discussions at the NYT than you possibly could at a NASCAR event. The people thinking too much in terms of race are the upper-class whites, and they do this to justify their superiority over the lower whites by borrowing morality points from the (in this narrative) victimized non-whites.

syops 6y ago
Yes, upper class are obsessed with race and are enacting superficial policies that do little to help people who really need it. They are content to do things that make it appear to be addressing a problem but not doing things that would actually address those problems. For instance, upper class people rarely advocate for changing the way k-12 schools are funded. They rarely advocate for increasing the pay and resources of public defenders. They rarely advocate for reforming a justice system that caters to those who can afford a lawyer and crushes those who can’t. The obsession with race by the political class gets lower class whites to lose focus on real reform that would benefit everyone. So instead of saying why can’t poor people afford justice they have their attention shifted on the crimes committed by POC and the need for more cops and harsh penalties and whatnot. Instead of saying we need better pay, better health and child care the focus is on welfare deadbeats. This list goes on. The focus on a large numbers of issues in the U.S. is about race rather than about class. News media and whatnot fuel this because fear sells. It’s gets more viewers to talk about out of control black kids terrorizing whites than it is to talk about school reform, prison reform, culture reform, etc.
- jlawson 6y ago
  Fair enough, but since about the 90's I don't recall much in the news about "out of control black kids terrorizing whites". COPS isn't even on the air any more, you know. These days it's pretty much wall-to-wall "out of control white cops terrorizing black kids". There was a big thing about it last year, as you recall. Before that there was a thing about "out of control white kids terrorizing a native elder" which turned out to be a total lie as well. Trying to think of any major news story about "out of control black kids terrorizing whites" in any recent decade. Last I know is the Central Park jogger case from the 1980's.

syops 6y ago

Yes, upper class are obsessed with race and are enacting superficial policies that do little to help people who really need it. They are content to do things that make it appear to be addressing a problem but not doing things that would actually address those problems. For instance, upper class people rarely advocate for changing the way k-12 schools are funded. They rarely advocate for increasing the pay and resources of public defenders. They rarely advocate for reforming a justice system that caters to those who can afford a lawyer and crushes those who can’t. The obsession with race by the political class gets lower class whites to lose focus on real reform that would benefit everyone. So instead of saying why can’t poor people afford justice they have their attention shifted on the crimes committed by POC and the need for more cops and harsh penalties and whatnot. Instead of saying we need better pay, better health and child care the focus is on welfare deadbeats. This list goes on. The focus on a large numbers of issues in the U.S. is about race rather than about class. News media and whatnot fuel this because fear sells. It’s gets more viewers to talk about out of control black kids terrorizing whites than it is to talk about school reform, prison reform, culture reform, etc.

jlawson 6y ago
Fair enough, but since about the 90's I don't recall much in the news about "out of control black kids terrorizing whites". COPS isn't even on the air any more, you know. These days it's pretty much wall-to-wall "out of control white cops terrorizing black kids". There was a big thing about it last year, as you recall. Before that there was a thing about "out of control white kids terrorizing a native elder" which turned out to be a total lie as well. Trying to think of any major news story about "out of control black kids terrorizing whites" in any recent decade. Last I know is the Central Park jogger case from the 1980's.