Blogging Against Racism Week

[sarahmichigan]

I've seen it noted in a few places that this is "Blogging Against Racism Week."

Of course, I think Racism is Bad. And I can come up with a fistful of personal anecdotes as well as statistics to counter anyone who says that racism is a thing of the past and isn't a problem today.

But there are so many issues where I just don't know what to think. Here are some issues I'm conflicted or confused about:

-Racism and humor. What's the difference between a joke about racism and a racist joke? Who's allowed to make jokes that are racially charged? Should white people lose their jobs over making racist jokes?

-Racism and "The N Word". For the most part, only white people who are rednecks (yes, I know this is a racially charged word as well- I come from redneck stock and think I'm allowed to use it) or blatantly racist use this term with any regularity these days. Should Blacks stop using it as well? Should there be MORE use of it to diffuse the charge of the word, kind of like diffusing other epithets like "bitch" or "slut" or "dyke"?

-How to talk about race. How do we start a dialogue about racism and race without ending up in accusations, shutting people down, and making people feel like they can't talk about it at all?

Maybe some of the blog posts I'll read this week will shed some light on one or more of those issues. I'm not sure if I'll post more about the topic or not; it seems like there are plenty Guilty White Liberals posting about race already.

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/_scarlet_ibis_/]

Also, what about "reverse racism", which is really just racism... but we're not allowed to acknowledge it.

[lefthand.livejournal.com]

I find the whole issue of racism tiresome simply because I have heard it for so long. I don't think we are actually making any progress by making the subject taboo. The only thing that changes is that people stop talking about it around people who might alter their opinion / report them.

I personally believe that when we focus too closely on the words, they lose all meaning as is illustrated by your third point.

[purple-marf.livejournal.com]

I sometimes go a little too far in my belief that most questions have black & white answers (hah!). But on this one, it seems easy. Don't do it at work. You might have the funniest racially-charged joke on the planet, and if you told it, everyone within earshot would be convinced you were the wittiest guy alive. Don't tell it at work. Seriously. Why is it necessary?

Other than that, do what you want to. Unless you're a public govt offical(sorry, anything you say in public counts as being "at work" - you get plenty of other perks to make up for it), what you say on your own time is your own business.

[sylo-tode.livejournal.com]

I think a joke about race says, "Let's examine at this issue through humor."

A racist joke, however, says, "Let's degrade them by ridiculing them."

[guttaperk.livejournal.com]

I'd like to reply to you, but I'm too overwhelmed right now from recent discussions about race.

In the meantime, feel free to post. Don't worry about the glut of White Liberal Guilt- most of that is fake anyhow.

[dregory.livejournal.com]

"Not one white guy would change places with me...and I'm Rich. There's a white bus boy backstage with one arm and one leg and he'd say, nah, I'd like to see how this white thing pans out." - Chris Rock

[arkaycee.livejournal.com]

One thing that feels in its infancy about sexism or racism is that the discussion is pressured against talking about any differences. We so have to pretend they don't exist (and maybe that's what's needed as a society about these things for now anyway). When you're first educating a child, you give them much broader rules that as they grow have nuances and exceptions.

What if that coach years ago was right, that black men *statistically* tend to have a slightly different musculature that enables them to {do some aspect of something to do with football I think it was, better} (I'm hoping someone with a better memory than I tend to regarding things sportslike can help me fill that in more accurately)? We pretty much can't have that conversation as a society right now.

I think what it is, is that if differences are acknowledged, they can be misused as reasons to make value judgments and discriminate ("ummm, I dunno, we can't go hiring black men for this job, as with their statistically larger muscles, we'll need to on the average buy larger uniform sizes that cost more" -- ok very contrived example but I hope it's illustrative).

Also, sometimes we walk a tightrope -- some women get severe PMS for example. So do we ignore that? Or do we pay attention to it, and then risk some people's dismissal of every woman's strong emotional point of view as "she must be PMSing"?

I'm hopeful of someday a society where we can acknowledge the legitimate differences between any groups of people, and yet not misuse them.

[holzman.livejournal.com]

Should white people lose their jobs over making racist jokes?

If they do so on the job, you bet. Unprofessional behavior is grounds for dismissal.

Should Blacks stop using it as well?

That's something for blacks to decide -- as whites we're not the people impacted by the use of the word, so it's simply not our call.

How to talk about race. How do we start a dialogue about racism and race without ending up in accusations, shutting people down, and making people feel like they can't talk about it at all?

I would direct your attention to Be Present (http://www.bepresent.org). They've got a model that seems to work.