It does seem to be the argument he’s making with “Apparently the Obamas have, and they believe it’s because of their race. I’m not sure. I’ve never been mistaken for a valet specifically (& that specifically is probably more common of blacks), but many times over the years people have assumed (or seemed to have assumed) I worked in various establishments in which I was shopping.”
It’s hard to interpret this in any way other than “It wasn’t racism when it happened to me so it isn’t racism when it happened the Obamas.” I’ll grant he didn’t explicitly say this but what other point could he have been making?
Questioning whether Obama experienced racism in the instances he talk about is not the same as question whether black people, in general, have ever experienced racism. You claimed he said the latter, which he did not.
It looks to me as though he’s acknowledging it is a disproportionately black phenomenon, but thinks Obama was implying it was “some uniquely black phenomenon.” I’m unclear why he thinks she was implying “uniquely,” given that that would make her point obviously false, when she could have been implying “disproportionately,” which would make her point one he agrees with.
Actually, check that: here’s why, I think, he used the word “uniquely”:
The problem, as I said before, is that if it’s disproportionate, either you discuss it without examples, which makes it look like you’re making it up out of whole cloth; or you discuss it with examples, with the implicit understanding that even though the general pattern holds true, any one particular example might not strictly fit the pattern.
I think MO was doing the latter. I don’t think she was suggesting that it’s a uniquely black phenomenon.
Mrs Obama is 5’11, that’s very tall for a woman. I am often asked and often volunteer to get something off the top shelf. By no means are they assuming you’re an employee- just that you are tall and look helpful.
Like I mentioned in the other topic, people seem too eager to attack the Obamas with anecdotes while not realizing that none of them do anything to disprove what they say happened to them. But when it comes to race, white privilege means you have to discount what the black people are saying so you can continue to fool yourself into thinking racism doesn’t exist
There are two ways of establishing that the general pattern holds true:
-A rigorous controlled study.
-The sharing of anecdotes.
Obviously the first way is better. However, I don’t know that it’s a fair requirement for all occasions; common human behavior is to use the second way in many circumstances. I think that’s the way Obama was using.
There may be other ways to establish that the general pattern holds true; if I missed the one you think she should have used, please let me know.
Unfortunately then the anecdotes of other people are equally valid in establishing a pattern. It doesn’t work to say “that white guy thought I was the waiter” and think it proves a pattern, because then someone can post where a black woman thought a white four star general was a waiter.
I’m clear on the problem you’re describing. I’m not clear on what you’re suggesting. Are you suggesting that people should not discuss any perceived social pattern until there’s a rigorous, controlled study of the pattern?
Well shiver me timbers I am surprised. Thank you OP for pointing out that racism happens. I was under the mistaken impression that Obamas’ first act as President was outlawing racism and that it all went away.
wiki “The expression anecdotal evidence refers to evidence from anecdotes. Because of the small sample, there is a larger chance that it may be unreliable due to cherry-picked or otherwise non-representative samples of typical cases.[1][2] Anecdotal evidence is considered dubious support of a generalized claim; it is, however, perfectly acceptable for claims regarding a particular instance. Anecdotal evidence is no more than a type description (i.e., short narrative), and is often confused in discussions with its weight, or other considerations, as to the purpose(s) for which it is used. This is true regardless of the veracity of individual claims.[3][4][5]”
They’re free to discuss it. They are not free to get huffy when people point out that you cannot legitimately claim a pattern is demonstrated when all you have is anecdote. Or rather, they can, but don’t expect me to panic over it.
Or else we can establish that there is a pattern with anecdotes, in which case we can discuss ACORN’s wrongdoings, the war on Christmas, liberal bias in the media, and so forth.
No, it isn’t, no matter what wiki claims. Data are collected under controlled conditions; anecdotes aren’t. Which is why anecdotal data are dubious and less reliable.
Homeopathy has anecdotal evidence, too. But no data.
I find that on this board, whenever you disagree with me, it means I just posted something relevant and intelligent. Or whatever the opposite of a hateful, bigoted, self-righteous douchebag like yourself is
Isn’t possible that racism is not “so prevalent” and rather that a lot of perceived racism is incorrectly inferred. I.E…
So if this happens 100 times in a day and 99 times it is erroneously perceived as racist, how can anyone distinguish? You are assuming that because someone says they are treated a certain way due to their race that it is accurate. And moreover, many on this board are suggesting that only black people can properly perceive racist intent. That’s a tad disingenuous, to say the least.
You can absolutely discuss such things–who on earth suggested you can’t?
I agree with you that anecdote is inferior to rigorous controlled study. I don’t think that anecdote is worthless for demonstrating a pattern; rather, it’s a starting point for discussion. If you disagree with the pattern demonstrated by anecdote, it behooves you to show a countervailing pattern, using anecdotal evidence at least as solid as that used in the first place. For example, if you want to talk about the war on Christmas using anecdotes, I’ve got a metric buttload of anecdotes showing the lack of a war on behalf of Christmas; start a thread and I’ll share.
In this case, I’m unclear if anyone is arguing that this phenomenon isn’t disproportionately experienced by black people. Is that your claim? It doesn’t appear to be FP’s claim.