All white people are racists...or "white fragility" ??

[Rhondazvous]

I think everyone has some racism in them. It's not just white people, your Asian friend, who has also been raised in a society which has undertones of white supremacy, will also have racist views. People are products of their environment. I think when you're born and raised in a country like America, where the notion of "race" and white supremacy is so deeply woven into the fabric of the country, it's downright impossible not to have some racist views. That doesn't mean you're inherently a bad person, it just means you've been indoctrinated with a lot of shitty conditioning you need to unlearn.

I think most people (especially white people but not exclusively) don't see themselves as racist just because they agree that slavery, genocide, segregation and lynching are bad. That's all we see as "racism", when people are "really" being hurt, we see the more subtle manifestations as harmless and petty when people complain.

I'm white and I do think "white fragility" is a thing, there are a lot of white people who act like being told they said something a bit backwards is somehow worse than experiencing racism. Sure, I think there comes a point where people definitely can say prejudiced, fucked up, hell I'll even say racist things about white people, but being told "be careful, that sounded problematic because..." is not racism.

You and Alex K are right on point. It’s possible that the difference between racist and non-racist is a matter of degree. Just like the difference between poison and medicine is a matter of quantity not substance.

Sometimes people say things and it’s hard to know how to respond. We can’t have the same response to everything that sounds like it might be racist. I was listening to this White woman talking to another White woman. I wasn’t eves dropping. I was just there. Apparently some Black guy had been fired because he did not have the proper license to do his job. When the White woman talked to him he said, “That’s easy for you to say. You’re the same color as the boss.” She got mad and told him, “Look, if you want to play the race card then you go get somebody from the NAACP and I’ll get somebody from the KKK and meet you down at the courthouse.” I wasn’t sure how to feel about this because I know this woman and she loves herself some Rhonda. I also know that this same company fired a White man who was over charging customers. Who was the racist here?