4 ms·

Interesting read. The number of times the author mentions "white men" honestly made me uncomfortable. How is a statement like "Steve then proceeds to do what wh

by 3minus1 14y ago

Interesting read. The number of times the author mentions "white men" honestly made me uncomfortable. How is a statement like "Steve then proceeds to do what white men always can’t help but do: “educate.”" not racist in and of itself?

kaonashi 14y ago
Because the author is being made to feel like he is an 'other', and he is using language to reflect that.
wwarneck 14y ago
I felt this exact same thing. The author specifically writes out "Dumbwhite" a few times after making a point or outlining some situation. While the author certainly doesn't deserve to be treated with disrespect, I think there is some looking inward that needs to happen here too.
lowboy 14y ago
Without a doubt it's racist. But if you consider power structures and privilege, not all racism is equally bad. As a white male, I'd rather he not have that opinion of me based solely on my race, but I'm willing to give him some leeway due to his experiences.
- cowsaysoink 14y ago
  Meh that is bullshit. What makes that more acceptable than calling someones dress thuggish because it appears similar to what all the gang members you went to school with wore? Experience doesn't get to dictate racism.
  - aidenn0 14y ago
    I think if he were wearing baggy jeans and gold-chains, the thuggish comment would have made more sense. His dress is more reminiscent of a gay san franciscan than a gang-banging Angeleno. On the other hand, he's black and he's dressing different from other people at the office, so it's "thuggish"
  - lowboy 14y ago
    His racist comments and the thuggish comment are both on the "bad" side of the moral scale when taken alone. But when we look at the overall situation in the US, racism against black people is worse to me than racism against white people, systemically speaking. I wish that neither Kixeye employees nor the blogger made racist comments, but we can decry one as worse than the other.
  - JonnieCache 14y ago
    >What makes that more acceptable than calling someones dress thuggish because it appears similar to what all the gang members you went to school with wore? The power differential between them. This guy's racism exists on tumblr and is targeted at noone, the racism he suffered at work was going from a manager to a lower employee. It's the same reason teacher-pupil relationships are never acceptable, no matter the age or maturity of the student.
king_jester 14y ago
Is it racist on a micro level? Yes. However, keep in mind this a black man telling you about his personal experiences working in the valley, so you can imagine how often this happens to him (read: this happens a lot). Also, that judgement really doesn't affect the manager, as he was just able to walk out of that meeting and continue to be a shithead.
w1ntermute 14y ago
> How is a statement like "Steve then proceeds to do what white men always can’t help but do: “educate.”" not racist in and of itself? It is racist. Anti-white racism is a common feature of modern black culture, but it's not considered controversial because of the traditional oppression of black people and the lingering effects that has today.
rmc 14y ago
There are several definitions of racist talk, one is essentially "making references to someone's race and implying everyone in that group is the same (in some attribute)". Lots of people like this definition because it's nice and simple and it means black people in the USA can be racist to white people if they say things like "Dumbwhite". There's another definition, which is talk that's designed to maintain & reinforce the institutionalised power structure among races. Right now, if modern USA life was a video game, "white male" would be an easier difficulty level than "black male". There are statistically less problems for the "white male" group. Racist talk is talk that re-enforced that imbalance. This definition is harder for some people to accept because it means that you need to look at yourself and think about what power imbalances you might be benefiting from, and it means you can't just do s/white/black/g and make it just as racist. So no, it's more racist to say "dumbblack" than "dumbwhite"

by 3minus1 14y ago

kaonashi 14y ago

Because the author is being made to feel like he is an 'other', and he is using language to reflect that.

wwarneck 14y ago

I felt this exact same thing. The author specifically writes out "Dumbwhite" a few times after making a point or outlining some situation. While the author certainly doesn't deserve to be treated with disrespect, I think there is some looking inward that needs to happen here too.

lowboy 14y ago

Without a doubt it's racist. But if you consider power structures and privilege, not all racism is equally bad. As a white male, I'd rather he not have that opinion of me based solely on my race, but I'm willing to give him some leeway due to his experiences.

cowsaysoink 14y ago
Meh that is bullshit. What makes that more acceptable than calling someones dress thuggish because it appears similar to what all the gang members you went to school with wore? Experience doesn't get to dictate racism.
- aidenn0 14y ago
  I think if he were wearing baggy jeans and gold-chains, the thuggish comment would have made more sense. His dress is more reminiscent of a gay san franciscan than a gang-banging Angeleno. On the other hand, he's black and he's dressing different from other people at the office, so it's "thuggish"
- lowboy 14y ago
  His racist comments and the thuggish comment are both on the "bad" side of the moral scale when taken alone. But when we look at the overall situation in the US, racism against black people is worse to me than racism against white people, systemically speaking. I wish that neither Kixeye employees nor the blogger made racist comments, but we can decry one as worse than the other.
- JonnieCache 14y ago
  >What makes that more acceptable than calling someones dress thuggish because it appears similar to what all the gang members you went to school with wore? The power differential between them. This guy's racism exists on tumblr and is targeted at noone, the racism he suffered at work was going from a manager to a lower employee. It's the same reason teacher-pupil relationships are never acceptable, no matter the age or maturity of the student.

king_jester 14y ago

Is it racist on a micro level? Yes. However, keep in mind this a black man telling you about his personal experiences working in the valley, so you can imagine how often this happens to him (read: this happens a lot). Also, that judgement really doesn't affect the manager, as he was just able to walk out of that meeting and continue to be a shithead.

w1ntermute 14y ago

> How is a statement like "Steve then proceeds to do what white men always can’t help but do: “educate.”" not racist in and of itself? It is racist. Anti-white racism is a common feature of modern black culture, but it's not considered controversial because of the traditional oppression of black people and the lingering effects that has today.

rmc 14y ago

There are several definitions of racist talk, one is essentially "making references to someone's race and implying everyone in that group is the same (in some attribute)". Lots of people like this definition because it's nice and simple and it means black people in the USA can be racist to white people if they say things like "Dumbwhite". There's another definition, which is talk that's designed to maintain & reinforce the institutionalised power structure among races. Right now, if modern USA life was a video game, "white male" would be an easier difficulty level than "black male". There are statistically less problems for the "white male" group. Racist talk is talk that re-enforced that imbalance. This definition is harder for some people to accept because it means that you need to look at yourself and think about what power imbalances you might be benefiting from, and it means you can't just do s/white/black/g and make it just as racist. So no, it's more racist to say "dumbblack" than "dumbwhite"