5 ms·

I quit reading once I realized I was reading a gay man denouncing gentrifiers as being "neoliberal colonizers". Ugh... he may have experienced racism but he's a

I quit reading once I realized I was reading a gay man denouncing gentrifiers as being "neoliberal colonizers". Ugh... he may have experienced racism but he's also suffering from self delusion. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unreliable_narrator http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unreliable_narrator

lowboy 14y ago
> I quit reading once I realized I was reading a gay man denouncing gentrifiers Why does his sexual orientation factor into his credibility for you?
- bduerst 14y ago
  I don't think he is referring to the sexual orientation alone.
  - lowboy 14y ago
    I agree - s/he had a complaint about "denouncing gentrifiers as being "neoliberal colonizers"". But the sexual orientation is extraneous, unless s/he is going to relate sexual orientation to gentrification or colonization.
  - twism 14y ago
    from his comment, he does factor it in.
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
citricsquid 14y ago
I dunno if he's just angry, I guess it makes sense, but I agree that some of his comments seem off, like he has "problems" beyond the situation, these are just as racist: Also, at some point after this conversation took place, one of the women looked at my prized necklace and said “Hey, that looks like a calculator, is that a calculator?” I said “um no, it’s a necklace, it’s African, from Nairobi.” And she replies “Oh, huh…..well, it looks like a calculator.” Dumbwhite********** and then: do what white men always can’t help but do: “educate.” I get that he had a bad experience, but it seems he's descending into pointless casual racism too. edit: this too I cannot afford to take white people’s shit anymore.
- guelo 14y ago
  You have no clue what it's like living under constant racial abuse from white people, it might make you not like white people.
  - eldude 14y ago
    You have no clue what it's like [experiencing] constant [racism] from black people, it MIGHT make you not like black people, but for me it never has.
  - FireBeyond 14y ago
    It might. I'm also sure that if this were my problem, I might realize that 'doing what they do, while calling them out for doing it' might be seen as something of a double standard. Much like some of the worst extremes of feminism, where it was forgotten that the goal was "equality", not "favorable treatment for women at the expense of men as recompense".
- ChuckMcM 14y ago
  In my experience once people get to the point where they want to shout out their hurt/anger to the world they have gone past the 'civil' stage. This person has a pretty much slam dunk case for a hostile work environment, the lawsuit would wake up management to that fact. Now it may be true that work was just the part that took them over the top, but I am not going to dismiss his clearly painful experience because of that.
  - citricsquid 14y ago
    I didn't mean to imply his experience should be dismissed or considered any less "real", just that his own issues seem to extend beyond this situation. I think this post would do much better if he were to remove all his own racism, because it devalues his point. I can't relate to his experience (middle class, white, male) but what I can do is read what he wrote and what jumps out most at me is his own racism. I think that for a post like this to truly achieve anything (as in, explain the issue to those that have no way to understand or relate) it needs to be without any sort of... I guess distraction. It reflects poorly on me and everyone else that is unable to separate what is ultimately meaningless (his own racism) from the general point (kixeye has bad employees / management) and I think your point about his level of anger could be the reason why this actually has value (shows he is so angry / upset he lets himself become racist) to the post. I want to care about his problem but I can't relate so I'm stuck trying to take value from what he has said and I can't do that without being overwhelmed by his own racism. I think what tptacek said above is right though, he doesn't matter, the post isn't about him, it's about the people at kixeye. I'll leave my comment just for the sake of not destroying the conversation, but I no longer think it has value here.
mvzink 14y ago
You're right, he should have avoided confusion/inaccuracy by just saying "neoliberal subjugators". If you think that's delusional, I have some bad news for you.
meepmorp 14y ago
> I quit reading once I realized I was reading a gay man denouncing gentrifiers as being "neoliberal colonizers". Ugh... he may have experienced racism but he's also suffering from self delusion. In other words, you just stopped reading and don't care about the alleged racism.
- cbaleanu 14y ago
  I don't agree with your tone. Should we all be forced to read alleged racism stories or what is you point? IDC about that, and for what's worth try watching Frost / Nixon with no sound. Would you still find it awesome? Doubt it. The same goes for reading through an article and trying to ignore his rage induced ramblings. As more than one commenter before me pointed out, he is biased and it shows. Badly.
CoryG89 14y ago
I agree mostly. He may have experienced some racism just like everyone will at some point. However, he is obviously just as racist. He is constantly stereotyping throughout the entire post. It's almost comical. He doesn't understand that which is different and he is part of the problem.
king_jester 14y ago
Gentrification is huge problem that affects the black community much more than others, mostly due to systemic racism and economic oppression that keeps black community poor and without the ability to affect those communities.
tommorris 14y ago
Oh cute. You think all gay men are gentrifiers. Lovely. Poor gay people exist. Read this: http://joeclark.org/gaymoney/facts/ http://joeclark.org/gaymoney/facts/

lowboy 14y ago

> I quit reading once I realized I was reading a gay man denouncing gentrifiers Why does his sexual orientation factor into his credibility for you?

bduerst 14y ago
I don't think he is referring to the sexual orientation alone.
- lowboy 14y ago
  I agree - s/he had a complaint about "denouncing gentrifiers as being "neoliberal colonizers"". But the sexual orientation is extraneous, unless s/he is going to relate sexual orientation to gentrification or colonization.
- twism 14y ago
  from his comment, he does factor it in.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]

citricsquid 14y ago

I dunno if he's just angry, I guess it makes sense, but I agree that some of his comments seem off, like he has "problems" beyond the situation, these are just as racist: Also, at some point after this conversation took place, one of the women looked at my prized necklace and said “Hey, that looks like a calculator, is that a calculator?” I said “um no, it’s a necklace, it’s African, from Nairobi.” And she replies “Oh, huh…..well, it looks like a calculator.” Dumbwhite********** and then: do what white men always can’t help but do: “educate.” I get that he had a bad experience, but it seems he's descending into pointless casual racism too. edit: this too I cannot afford to take white people’s shit anymore.

guelo 14y ago
You have no clue what it's like living under constant racial abuse from white people, it might make you not like white people.
- eldude 14y ago
  You have no clue what it's like [experiencing] constant [racism] from black people, it MIGHT make you not like black people, but for me it never has.
- FireBeyond 14y ago
  It might. I'm also sure that if this were my problem, I might realize that 'doing what they do, while calling them out for doing it' might be seen as something of a double standard. Much like some of the worst extremes of feminism, where it was forgotten that the goal was "equality", not "favorable treatment for women at the expense of men as recompense".
ChuckMcM 14y ago
In my experience once people get to the point where they want to shout out their hurt/anger to the world they have gone past the 'civil' stage. This person has a pretty much slam dunk case for a hostile work environment, the lawsuit would wake up management to that fact. Now it may be true that work was just the part that took them over the top, but I am not going to dismiss his clearly painful experience because of that.
- citricsquid 14y ago
  I didn't mean to imply his experience should be dismissed or considered any less "real", just that his own issues seem to extend beyond this situation. I think this post would do much better if he were to remove all his own racism, because it devalues his point. I can't relate to his experience (middle class, white, male) but what I can do is read what he wrote and what jumps out most at me is his own racism. I think that for a post like this to truly achieve anything (as in, explain the issue to those that have no way to understand or relate) it needs to be without any sort of... I guess distraction. It reflects poorly on me and everyone else that is unable to separate what is ultimately meaningless (his own racism) from the general point (kixeye has bad employees / management) and I think your point about his level of anger could be the reason why this actually has value (shows he is so angry / upset he lets himself become racist) to the post. I want to care about his problem but I can't relate so I'm stuck trying to take value from what he has said and I can't do that without being overwhelmed by his own racism. I think what tptacek said above is right though, he doesn't matter, the post isn't about him, it's about the people at kixeye. I'll leave my comment just for the sake of not destroying the conversation, but I no longer think it has value here.

mvzink 14y ago

You're right, he should have avoided confusion/inaccuracy by just saying "neoliberal subjugators". If you think that's delusional, I have some bad news for you.

meepmorp 14y ago

> I quit reading once I realized I was reading a gay man denouncing gentrifiers as being "neoliberal colonizers". Ugh... he may have experienced racism but he's also suffering from self delusion. In other words, you just stopped reading and don't care about the alleged racism.

cbaleanu 14y ago
I don't agree with your tone. Should we all be forced to read alleged racism stories or what is you point? IDC about that, and for what's worth try watching Frost / Nixon with no sound. Would you still find it awesome? Doubt it. The same goes for reading through an article and trying to ignore his rage induced ramblings. As more than one commenter before me pointed out, he is biased and it shows. Badly.

CoryG89 14y ago

I agree mostly. He may have experienced some racism just like everyone will at some point. However, he is obviously just as racist. He is constantly stereotyping throughout the entire post. It's almost comical. He doesn't understand that which is different and he is part of the problem.

king_jester 14y ago

Gentrification is huge problem that affects the black community much more than others, mostly due to systemic racism and economic oppression that keeps black community poor and without the ability to affect those communities.

tommorris 14y ago

Oh cute. You think all gay men are gentrifiers. Lovely. Poor gay people exist. Read this: http://joeclark.org/gaymoney/facts/ http://joeclark.org/gaymoney/facts/