Look. Every place is racist. It is how this country was founded. It just depends on where you live who that racism is directed to, but it is always a minority. So you can say oh this place is racist as fuck I'm so glad I don't live there. But that is part of the problem. Look at the issues where you live. I am sure there are many. No place has transcended racist issues. This thread should show you that. And it seems like people are already reverting to the 'not me, it's those people over there. They are so much worse.' This is why nothing will ever really change. You might change a person here and there but overall people are going to try to justify how other people are worse than them so they aren't so bad.
If anyone is still reading this I have a book rec. The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks About Race edited by Jesmyn Ward.
I feel like this is the moral of the story* and why it's so perplexing that people keep coming back in here and acting like this is new information. Thanks for the book rec andwhat
*granted, I'm not through the whole thread yet, so who knows what turns it's taken...
I was listening to a podcast today and they described two girls as the black one and the other one. It really struck me that white=normal in all aspects of culture. It is so ingrained in everything and it really makes me sick. Obviously WOC would be tired of trying to explain everything that is racist because it is pretty much everything. It is hard to grasp something that is so all encompassing and try to shift the way you think.
Look. Every place is racist. It is how this country was founded. It just depends on where you live who that racism is directed to, but it is always a minority. So you can say oh this place is racist as fuck I'm so glad I don't live there. But that is part of the problem. Look at the issues where you live. I am sure there are many. No place has transcended racist issues. This thread should show you that. And it seems like people are already reverting to the 'not me, it's those people over there. They are so much worse.' This is why nothing will ever really change. You might change a person here and there but overall people are going to try to justify how other people are worse than them so they aren't so bad.
If anyone is still reading this I have a book rec. The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks About Race edited by Jesmyn Ward.
I have never said I wasn't part of the problem. If you want to make me the next target in the thread, that's fine. I can't change the past. I can change the future.
I love that sfy and 05heel put into words what I was thinking about the bs that we WOC have seen on these boards.
I'm hear for the laugh that these things bring me and the ability to say things like ...
Since we are talking about Hamilton, DD is always telling me she is not throwing away her shot. She also uses the same beat to tell me she is not putting on her pj's. Or not gonna eat her veggies. It's fun to let her think she has choices.
I'm dying at this. My girls get the choice of eating or being hungry... I do no play games! Save
I finally made it all the way through this thread. I live right outside of Montgomery, Alabama, so you can imagine the racial climate here. My office isn't even diverse - we have one black attorney. Everyone else is white.
I really appreciate the links to articles and books and the other recommendations of things to read on this topic. I also will do my own research and reading so that I too can be better.
There were so few POC on campus. But the local anti-Native American sentiment was real. And heavy.
I just have to pipe in because this is my hometown. The incoming freshman class at Gonzaga is 25% students of color. So to say "everyone is white" is a bit of stretch. Is the city awash is diversity? No. But they're making strides. Like andwhat said, every place is racist, but I just hate that people decide to stereotype entire cities based on a few encounters with a-holes.
Well, I was writing in the past tense. My experience was from [deleted, but it was a long time ago].
Actually you aren't. Because a: the poster in question did not cite how many undergrads were people of color at that time (nor was she admitted to an undergraduate course), so we don't actually know if things are "better" now or if in fact they were "better" then.
b: if your mark of "are students of color treated well and is the environment welcoming to students of color" is simply a statistic of the percentage of matriculated students who are students of color that's not a logical conclusion. There are many schools in this country with substantial minority student populations that have experienced egregious racist incidents as recently as probably yesterday. Like Yale where 44% of non-international students are non-white or of mixed race. Should we assume that Yale is "better" for students of color than Gonzanga because it has more of them? I don't think that's a very good assumption at all, and I feel safe saying that without knowing anything about this particular Gonzaga.
So you take take your FACTS back to NOT THAT RACIST SPOKANE.
Okay? I was replying to the statement "everyone is white." And everyone is NOT white. Fact.Â
I don't think you're going to get it so on behalf of @246baje....
Actually you aren't. Because a: the poster in question did not cite how many undergrads were people of color at that time (nor was she admitted to an undergraduate course), so we don't actually know if things are "better" now or if in fact they were "better" then.
b: if your mark of "are students of color treated well and is the environment welcoming to students of color" is simply a statistic of the percentage of matriculated students who are students of color that's not a logical conclusion. There are many schools in this country with substantial minority student populations that have experienced egregious racist incidents as recently as probably yesterday. Like Yale where 44% of non-international students are non-white or of mixed race. Should we assume that Yale is "better" for students of color than Gonzanga because it has more of them? I don't think that's a very good assumption at all, and I feel safe saying that without knowing anything about this particular Gonzaga.
So you take take your FACTS back to NOT THAT RACIST SPOKANE.
Okay? I was replying to the statement "everyone is white." And everyone is NOT white. Fact.
Oh man. I met some racist assholes in Spokane. I wonder if it just doesn't come up very often because everyone is white.
I almost went to law school at Gonzaga. Shortly after I received my acceptance letter, I received a second letter, advising that the school was "looking into the recent racial incidents" that were "similar to those that occurred the PREVIOUS TWO YEARS (emphasis added)," all of which were close in time to Hitler's birthday. Then I reviewed the admissions video they had sent and noticed that within 30 minutes of film the only POC was a photo of an AA student.
Yeah, nope. I kept my ass firmly planted in CA.
On the rare occasion that I could even convince a POC to come visit [**I deleted some details here], I remember thinking, each time, why would anyone who didn't look like EVERYONE else here, ever want to be here?
Also, I'm going to back and delete some identifying details.
Thank you, that's all I was trying to say. I did not mean to invalidate your experience and I'm sorry that happened to you.
Are you apologizing to sugarbear? Why?
Also how much of this thread have you read?
Thank you. I had to go back and try to figure out where I'd given the impression that I was a WOC.
ETA: @nora, I hope you understand that when you make statements like "a few a-holes shouldn't ruin it for everyone," you are invalidating anyone's / everyone's experience in which any racist a-hole ruined it. Or even tainted it. Or even played a role.
@nora if you have read the whole thread, or even half of it, or even any of it really besides the two or three comments about Gonzaga, you would know that your post is not helpful.
As has been said throughout this thread, white women really aren't the best people to determine whether or not racism is an issue.
And everyone gets that not every single last student at Gonzaga is white with literally no students of color in attendance. We didn't need that pointed out.
There were so few POC on campus. But the local anti-Native American sentiment was real. And heavy.
I just have to pipe in because this is my hometown. The incoming freshman class at Gonzaga is 25% students of color. So to say "everyone is white" is a bit of stretch. Is the city awash is diversity? No. But they're making strides. Like andwhat said, every place is racist, but I just hate that people decide to stereotype entire cities based on a few encounters with a-holes.
I Know I've been mostly absent in this thread. I'm finally caught up.
This is some BS right here. You completely invalidate the experience of POC when you say something like this. "Making strides" doesn't erase the past. And 25%? That's laughable
Actually you aren't. Because a: the poster in question did not cite how many undergrads were people of color at that time (nor was she admitted to an undergraduate course), so we don't actually know if things are "better" now or if in fact they were "better" then.
b: if your mark of "are students of color treated well and is the environment welcoming to students of color" is simply a statistic of the percentage of matriculated students who are students of color that's not a logical conclusion. There are many schools in this country with substantial minority student populations that have experienced egregious racist incidents as recently as probably yesterday. Like Yale where 44% of non-international students are non-white or of mixed race. Should we assume that Yale is "better" for students of color than Gonzanga because it has more of them? I don't think that's a very good assumption at all, and I feel safe saying that without knowing anything about this particular Gonzaga.
So you take take your FACTS back to NOT THAT RACIST SPOKANE.
Okay? I was replying to the statement "everyone is white." And everyone is NOT white. Fact.
Why are you getting defensive?
Why are you invalidating and minimizing the experience of a POC? Or trying to?
I'm just an occasional poster here, post more on DWP & Disney.
I have been making my way through all of the related threads, liking a lot of comments and trying to keep up. As I've read about micro aggressions, especially, and some of the experiences POC have had I think I understand a little bit better. While I generally don't consider myself an asshole, I am positive at some point I've come off like one. I do know I'm a privileged white woman living in pretty liberal suburban philly. And I know I can do better. One comment that hit home a bit was how my particular subset (white, liberal, female) is often so gung-ho about women's rights, LGBTQ rights but not so much about their role in racism. The one thing I plan on doing is checking out some books for my kids so that I can address this more outright.
I almost went to law school at Gonzaga. Shortly after I received my acceptance letter, I received a second letter, advising that the school was "looking into the recent racial incidents" that were "similar to those that occurred the PREVIOUS TWO YEARS (emphasis added)," all of which were close in time to Hitler's birthday. Then I reviewed the admissions video they had sent and noticed that within 30 minutes of film the only POC was a photo of an AA student.
Yeah, nope. I kept my ass firmly planted in CA.
On the rare occasion that I could even convince a POC to come visit [**I deleted some details here], I remember thinking, each time, why would anyone who didn't look like EVERYONE else here, ever want to be here?
Also, I'm going to back and delete some identifying details.
I actually did end up visiting Spokane for a skating event! But I didn't wander far from the official hotels.
PS: Thank you to those of you who responded to that mess. I was in court all morning and had no idea my post set off another round of fragility.
@nora LOL at your facts. Here we go again. White tears. Yes you are invalidating her experience/feelings. @starlily said she got a letter referencing racial issues at the school. I don't care if the school has a 50% minority population, if there are ongoing racial issues that is not a place that I want to voluntarily be.
Just because you might think increasing the number of people of color is indicative of better racial dynamics, that might not be the case at all.