9 ms·

It can't be racist if you have no power [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prejudice_plus_power https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prejudice_plus_power

dpbriggs 5y ago
Let's redefine racism, nice play
endominus 5y ago
This is just blatantly untrue. Some piss-poor unemployed KKK member yelling racial slurs at the TV during the 2012 election is still a racist, despite having infinitesmal power - especially institutional power! - compared to the person he is being racist towards. I doubt there's a single person who would doubt that. Would you?
- evocatus 5y ago
  Sounds like something a white would say. Perhaps you suffer from the "white fragility" cited by the wikipedia article [1]? [1] https://libjournal.uncg.edu/ijcp/article/viewFile/249/116 https://libjournal.uncg.edu/ijcp/article/viewFile/249/116 White people in North America live in a social environment that protects and in- sulates them from race-based stress. This insulated environment of racial protec- tion builds white expectations for racial comfort while at the same time lowering the ability to tolerate racial stress, leading to what I refer to as White Fragility. White Fragility is a state in which even a minimum amount of racial stress be- comes intolerable, triggering a range of defensive moves. These moves include the outward display of emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and behaviors such as argumentation, silence, and leaving the stress-inducing situation. These behav- iors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium.
  - endominus 5y ago
    And that sounds like something a racist would say. Seriously, "a white"? Does my race matter to you because you judge the validity of arguments by the skin color of the people making them? Also, while I haven't read DiAngelo's greater oeuvre, that's a pretty poor quote to pull. The symptoms (anger and fear particularly) and strategies he gives of a white person experiencing "white fragility" could just as easily be applied to a black person experiencing racism! Which honestly is in accord with my wider experience with the anti-racist movement. Its most ardent supporters tend to say things that, as a non-American (and non-European before you make that assumption), are almost indistinguishable to me from white supremacy. I find myself agreeing greatly with John McWhorter (https://johnmcwhorter.substack.com/p/the-elect-neoracists-posing-as-antiracists-e2f?s=r https://johnmcwhorter.substack.com/p/the-elect-neoracists-po...) over Ibram X. Kendi.
    - evocatus 5y ago
      You touch it with a needle.

dpbriggs 5y ago

Let's redefine racism, nice play

endominus 5y ago

This is just blatantly untrue. Some piss-poor unemployed KKK member yelling racial slurs at the TV during the 2012 election is still a racist, despite having infinitesmal power - especially institutional power! - compared to the person he is being racist towards. I doubt there's a single person who would doubt that. Would you?

evocatus 5y ago
Sounds like something a white would say. Perhaps you suffer from the "white fragility" cited by the wikipedia article [1]? [1] https://libjournal.uncg.edu/ijcp/article/viewFile/249/116 https://libjournal.uncg.edu/ijcp/article/viewFile/249/116 White people in North America live in a social environment that protects and in- sulates them from race-based stress. This insulated environment of racial protec- tion builds white expectations for racial comfort while at the same time lowering the ability to tolerate racial stress, leading to what I refer to as White Fragility. White Fragility is a state in which even a minimum amount of racial stress be- comes intolerable, triggering a range of defensive moves. These moves include the outward display of emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and behaviors such as argumentation, silence, and leaving the stress-inducing situation. These behav- iors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium.
- endominus 5y ago
  And that sounds like something a racist would say. Seriously, "a white"? Does my race matter to you because you judge the validity of arguments by the skin color of the people making them? Also, while I haven't read DiAngelo's greater oeuvre, that's a pretty poor quote to pull. The symptoms (anger and fear particularly) and strategies he gives of a white person experiencing "white fragility" could just as easily be applied to a black person experiencing racism! Which honestly is in accord with my wider experience with the anti-racist movement. Its most ardent supporters tend to say things that, as a non-American (and non-European before you make that assumption), are almost indistinguishable to me from white supremacy. I find myself agreeing greatly with John McWhorter (https://johnmcwhorter.substack.com/p/the-elect-neoracists-posing-as-antiracists-e2f?s=r https://johnmcwhorter.substack.com/p/the-elect-neoracists-po...) over Ibram X. Kendi.
  - evocatus 5y ago
    You touch it with a needle.