White Man's Guilt

[brewer]

Don't push me. Can't you see that I'm a honky on the edge?

[Amarok]

Just a thought thou are we talking about race or society ?

[ignoramus]

[Astonished]

I have a question,
if a white man from Poland or Finland becomes an American citizen, should this man start feeling guilt that his Polish (or Finnish) ancestors somehow participated in the oppression of black slaves? or segregation?

Isn't feeling guilty for the sins of one's father one of the more deplorable aspects of religions?

[Homeless Nutter]

If it wasn't him that did anything wrong, then I don't see why he should feel guilty. He can feel really bad that it happened, but feeling guilty is different.

LOL... That's rich, comming from a person, who believes, that newborn babies are guilty, because some mythical couple ate an apple thousands of years ago...

---

I have a question,
if a white man from Poland or Finland becomes an American citizen, should this man start feeling guilt that his Polish (or Finnish) ancestors somehow participated in the oppression of black slaves? or segregation?

No. But they should acknowledge the fact, that they now live in a country, that is much more rich than Poland, or Finland, in no small part thanks to genocide of its original occupants and centuries of slave labour. They should also realize, that having white skin helps them blend into the similarly colored majority and avoid a lot of the hassle associated with being easily identifiable at a glance, as an "other". 

Nobody gives a sh*t about whether or not you feel "guilty". Get over yourself. I don't have to feel guilty, that I'm not in a wheelchair, like some people are, but if I started complaining about all the accomodations made for those less fortunate - I'd be a right a**hole and other people would be right to point it out.

[TaraJo]

Race is one of those issues where everyone wants a simple answer to a complex issue.

Truth is, white privilege exists.  There is a lot of bullshit black people have to deal with that white people are basically immune to (this video is a simple example):





So, yeah, we aren't really post-racial.  But that doesn't mean that there are a lot of people who use the term 'white privilege' to justify asshole behavior.  And that's wrong, too.  In fact, if your goal is racial equality and harmony, being a jerk is counter-productive to your cause.  Lemme tell you a story about that:

When my dad was growing up, his family was the only white family in a ghetto on the west side of Chicago.  And this was during the civil rights era of MLK and Malcolm X, and his neighbors, who were mostly black, had very little love for whitey.  He was regularly beaten up, threatened, robbed.  One neighbor even trained his dog to chase white people (which resulted in him having to run home at top speed).  So, fast forward to now; the racial jerks of today would say that my dad has no right to say anything about race, despite the fact that he was routinely victim of some serious racial violence.  What's more, he's still got some psychological issues with race in that he's uncomfortable with black people; I can't say I entirely blame him for that, seeing as how his formative years were often spent running for his life from hostile black people.  

If you want to hear a much more constructive route to healing racial divides, I recently heard about Daryl Davis who will be the center of an upcoming documentary called Accidental Courtesy.  He's a black jazz musician who, since the 80's or so, has been befriending klansmen, and he's convinced around 200 of them to leave the clan.  I wish more people would follow his lead.

[paulpablo]

Race is one of those issues where everyone wants a simple answer to a complex issue.

Truth is, white privilege exists.  There is a lot of bullshit black people have to deal with that white people are basically immune to (this video is a simple example):





So, yeah, we aren't really post-racial.  But that doesn't mean that there are a lot of people who use the term 'white privilege' to justify asshole behavior.  And that's wrong, too.  In fact, if your goal is racial equality and harmony, being a jerk is counter-productive to your cause.  Lemme tell you a story about that:

When my dad was growing up, his family was the only white family in a ghetto on the west side of Chicago.  And this was during the civil rights era of MLK and Malcolm X, and his neighbors, who were mostly black, had very little love for whitey.  He was regularly beaten up, threatened, robbed.  One neighbor even trained his dog to chase white people (which resulted in him having to run home at top speed).  So, fast forward to now; the racial jerks of today would say that my dad has no right to say anything about race, despite the fact that he was routinely victim of some serious racial violence.  What's more, he's still got some psychological issues with race in that he's uncomfortable with black people; I can't say I entirely blame him for that, seeing as how his formative years were often spent running for his life from hostile black people.  

If you want to hear a much more constructive route to healing racial divides, I recently heard about Daryl Davis who will be the center of an upcoming documentary called Accidental Courtesy.  He's a black jazz musician who, since the 80's or so, has been befriending klansmen, and he's convinced around 200 of them to leave the clan.  I wish more people would follow his lead.

I agree with all that except the part of white people being immune to non specific bullshit that black people have to deal with on the basis that white people arent immune to police brutality.

I'd agree with a statement that says black people have to deal with it more but being a certain race doesn't make you immune to anything I can think of.

[TaraJo]

I agree with all that except the part of white people being immune to non specific bullshit that black people have to deal with on the basis that white people arent immune to police brutality.

I'd agree with a statement that says black people have to deal with it more but being a certain race doesn't make you immune to anything I can think of.

Yeah, that's where nuance needs to be brought into things.  White people aren't completely immune to issues like police violence, but it's much more likely to happen to black people.  I mean, have you looked at the race divide in regards to prison population?  You don't get gaps like that by chance; something is wrong and it needs to be fixed.  

Unfortunately, society right now is too impatient and has an attention span that's too short for nuance.  Messages that don't fit into the 140 character limit for twitter just don't spread.