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Calling a bluff

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Off of the post about paralyzing white guilt–which strikes people irrespective of their beliefs about racism, amazingly enough–I thought I’d link this essay from Hysterical Blackness about the race card and its worth:

Since the O.J. trial, it seems as though almost any allegation of racism has been met with the same dismissive reply from the bulk of whites in the U.S. According to national surveys, more than three out of four whites refuse to believe that discrimination is any real problem in America (2). That most whites remain unconvinced of racism’s salience–with as few as six percent believing it to be a “very serious problem,” according to one poll in the mid 90s (3)–suggests that racism-as-card makes up an awfully weak hand. While folks of color consistently articulate their belief that racism is a real and persistent presence in their own lives, these claims have had very little effect on white attitudes. As such, how could anyone believe that people of color would somehow pull the claim out of their hat, as if it were guaranteed to make white America sit up and take notice? If anything, it is likely to be ignored, or even attacked, and in a particularly vicious manner.

15 thoughts on Calling a bluff

  4. Racism is still an issue today. The group of individuals facing the hardest road are white. It is okay to say something offensive unless you are white. Not to mention a person of my stature in the building industry was worth $25 an hour 10 years ago. Now I can hardly find $15. Because we are being out bid by people here illegally. We have affirmative action that would rather hire people based on statistics rather than meeting qualifications for the job. I have also never seen a white man or a hispanic man head of the NAACP. So yes I believe racism is a very live and well issue. We all have to face it though it’s just not one group that is being discriminated against. They actually hired a man to lead a woman’s group at a university in California. The outcry was so great that the gentleman stepped down. Where is equality there?

  5. I had a professor who specialized in American history. He, a white middle-aged man, believed that racism is not a real problem in the United States today. The reason for this, he believed, is that Americans love people who work hard. Immigrant workers mowing his lawn for $2, he believed, would, in time, solve all problems with racism. Because America loves a hard-workin’ man.

    And, of course, all those weird statistics about black men being disproportionately represented in the prison population… well, according to him, it’s more a question of socio-economics than racism.
    It is really very easy to be absolutely blind to discrimination if you never encounter it in your own life.

  6. Brandcn, unless you’re claiming that there is no gender- or race- based discrimination of any kind in our society, groups that discuss the issues surrounding such discrimination are necessary and valuable. And because they exist in a society where said discrimination is alive and well, they are voicing the specific concerns and problems that people of color/ women face. It is pretty silly to expect members of the privileged group (um, that would be white dudes) to respond to those concerns or to share them in the same way as the people who actually live with them on a daily basis. That’s why women tend to head women’s organizations, and black people tend to lead the NAACP, etc. etc. I am a little amazed that this needs to be explained to you.

  7. I have also never seen a white man or a hispanic man head of the NAACP. So yes I believe racism is a very live and well issue.

    Are you shitting me?

  8. Troll invasion! There’s no point in arguing against this stuff. Don’t feed the trolls!

  9. …Yeah. I don’t think I need to provide space for someone to argue that the NAACP’s tendency to hire black people to leadership positions–and what about the UNCF’s refusal to award scholarships to white applicants?–is racist. Sorry, Brandcn, but you’ve worn out your welcome.

  10. I think it’s a given that white people are considered the cultural norm in North America. Demographic and economic factors are in our favor, as are social perception and bias. Personally, I don’t excuse it or apologize for it, but I do try to recognize it. It is worth noting that racism is almost invisible to certain white, middle-class, suburban types. I had my own eye opening experience way back in college. It was such a little thing that woke me up – I got really steamed listening to the borderline racist crap a local radio host was spewing about the East Indian population. I broached the subject with a (Indian) classmate and he basically shrugged it off – this kind of incident was commonplace to him.

  11. It all depends on where the message comes from. I have heard the cry of Racism from those who are trying to Bully others and I have no time for it. On the other hand if someone who attempts to work hard and fit in says, “I feel we need to talk”, I will listen, and attempt to help them make changes. If someones begins with a threat then, no, I will not listen. Unfortunatly I have seen more of the bully then the reasonable person. This needs to be addressed. Also a person who is hyper aware of racism must be aware that racism is a different face of a larger problem. People bullying others can be over any reason not just race. A Racist can be educated a bully using racism cannot. If you shutdown their racist tools they will just choose another path to bully and abuse. Correct the underlying soul sickness and racism will be easier to correct.

  12. The group of individuals facing the hardest road are white. It is okay to say something offensive unless you are white. Not to mention a person of my stature in the building industry was worth $25 an hour 10 years ago. Now I can hardly find $15. Because we are being out bid by people here illegally. We have affirmative action that would rather hire people based on statistics rather than meeting qualifications for the job. I have also never seen a white man or a hispanic man head of the NAACP. So yes I believe racism is a very live and well issue. We all have to face it though it’s just not one group that is being discriminated against. They actually hired a man to lead a woman’s group at a university in California. The outcry was so great that the gentleman stepped down. Where is equality there?

    GIVE ME A BREAK!

    As a woman in the field of contracting, who has seen all her life racism and of course, sexism in many vulgar forms, I can tell you with confidence that racism and sexism are alive and well.

    Especially in the building trades.

    That your $25 bucks and hour is outbid by an immigrant maybe is more a reflection of your inability to 1) sell yourself as a more capable contractor/worker/subcontractor 2) find a more appropriate market for your demand of higher wages.

    Costs for labor are always rising and any employer, including myself, who can find someone who 1) doesn’t have the idea that they must be highly paid because they are a white male and therefore deserving 2) is willing to work long and hard like I am to earn a buck 3) and has a good and consistent work record, will follow directions and are willing to barter their pay with what I can pay them and what they are wiling to accept, then I’m all for them. Last I knew that was what the market was all about.

    Illegals are another issue and I’m sure, like every other white guy idiot, you lump all brown people together and assume as I hear everyday that every brown person with a rake or a shovel in his/her hand is an ‘illegal’. People who hire illegals are exploiters and racists as well. But that’s not what you were talking about.

    I worked as a woman in woman slotted low income jobs and was told to snuff it up when I complained that I couldn’t support my three kids on 8 bucks and hour. And here you are complaining about how your white male priviledge is all offended because you don’t get the cream like you think you deserve.

    When someone comes over to this country, who has seen poverty and knows the value of a dollar like I do, shares my appreciation to be able to work for a living and is willing to compete in the marketplace, they have my support.

    I can’t even begin to count the number of times I’ve had to listen to bloviating white guys bitch about, make fun of and refuse to hire brown people or women.

    It kills me, you people all whine about how you want a free market and as soon as a free market becomes active in your pet area, you start crying.

    Jesus, if I could have earned 15 bucks an hour without one day of education past high school, or even barely any, like I see all the time with white guys in the trade, when I had the three kids to support alone, I would have been thanking my lucky stars.

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    my head just exploded!

  13. Lemme see, racism:

    When I managed an apartment building and was informed that I was renting out too many rooms to ‘you know what I mean…black people’
    I responded, “Oh, I’m sorry I wasn’t making that type of distinction, but if you’d like to put that policy into writing and make it official, as your employee, I will follow it.”

    The issue was dropped.

    Or when I worked for a labor agency and constantly had the request to fill positions for laborers that demanded, “Bring me three strong men. I don’t want no black guys or hispanics either.”

    Or the one contractor that I’ll remember forever who requested, “I need a laborer today, I don’t want no n—-s or puerto ricans, this is a high end home I’m workin’ in if you know what I mean.”

    I informed him that we’ll send the best qualified people we have on hand and that federal law prohibits our making such distinctions and that there are many capable and willing people of all colors and both sexes. He was frustrated and complained and another compliant employee provided him his demands.

    Or the puerto rican girl who worked with us, she was cutting a check for a worker, when said worker demanded, “I don’t want that n—-r touching my check! Gimme a white girl!” We all stopped what we were doing and as I was in charge, so to speak I said, “Nope, she’s cutting your check, so if you want to get paid, you’ll have to get it from her, we don’t accomodate demands to discriminate.” Everyone backed me up. It was a rare, good moment.

  14. Or the puerto rican girl who worked with us, she was cutting a check for a worker, when said worker demanded, “I don’t want that n—-r touching my check! Gimme a white girl!”

    I fucking love it when racists can’t tell the difference between races they’re discriminating against. Like my Lebanese friend in high-school who got called “Paki”. And, in a delightful twist of irony, my Pakistani friend who got called an ” Ay-rab”.

  15. So, uh, could someone please answer the question about the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) and its leadership? Have there been diverse cultural leaders, or has it all been from one “minority”? I understand the sentiments behind “are you shitting me” but I personally usually like to follow that up with cold hard facts to slap someone in the face with.

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