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I grew up a middle-class white kid in a good family in California so was pretty much oblivious to victimhood until I went to college in Missouri where the notio
by indigochill 5y ago
I grew up a middle-class white kid in a good family in California so was pretty much oblivious to victimhood until I went to college in Missouri where the notion of racial inequality was drilled into me to the point I actually learned to fear people of other races held a grudge against me.
Although I've been aware of this learned fear and done what I can to mitigate it, this means I might sometimes fear interracial interactions which means I might not give a black person an equal chance as a white, which then comes across as systemic racism, and so it's a vicious cycle.
On the topic of breaking the cycle, I had an eye-opening encounter with an Iranian Christian who said that he felt the US oppressed Iran (sanctions leading to economic and political instability) but as a Christian, he chose to forgive the US and pray that they'd see the harm they're causing. In this scenario, because he offered forgiveness, I feel more comfortable around him even despite agreeing that "my people" have been making life harder for "his", and not in vague systemic ways or hundreds of years ago, but right now in concrete ways.
- collyw 5y agoI grew up as a white kid in a good middle class family in the UK. I still got bullied by (white) kids at schools. The idea that all bullying is race related seems nonsense to me. Maybe it's different in the US.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- bradlys 5y agoIt is different. Race based bullying is very much a thing when/where I grew up. (Oregon, 90’s to 2000’s) I like how I get downvoted for my own experience...
- jukabo 5y agoTHIS GUYS A VICTIM, DOWNVOTING IS OPPRESSION!
- Viliam1234 5y agoBullies typically choose a kid that somehow differs from the rest of the group. How specifically that kid differs, that depends on the specific group. In some groups, it will be the kid of a different race, in other groups in will be the nerdy kid. If there are multiple candidates, the bullies will probably choose the "safest" one, that is the one with smallest risk that someone will intervene and punish them. The culture can have an effect on evaluation of the "safest" victim. If everyone knows that no one important will care about a black kid being bullied... And in a different town, maybe everyone knows that no one important will care about a kid from a poor family.
- raarts 5y agoI agree. The bullies bully those who are can be portrayed as different. Can be redheads, size, a cleft lip, or even - as in my school - the girl who's parents had plastic flowers in the back yard. I don't think bullies usually care about race or power, they just want to be respected by their peers - using a distorted definition of respect. Of course there's also a group that are just psychopaths, but I don't think they care about race either. For them it's just a means to an end. And finally, yes, racists do exist, I personally think that's passed down from adults.