ok, so I got blasted (mildly) for using the term “whitey” in a discussion about race (see “tiger woods” discussion)
why isn’t it ok to make fun of white people?
this is the group of people, that, based on skin color has been given relatively unchecked access to power, has systematically opressed, raped, robbed, bastardized, christianified, and exploited blah blah blah…
if anyone can take it, wouldn’t it be the ethnic majority?
ethnic minorities need to be allowed to play “the race card” in order to call foul to any incidence of opression, this helps bring to light covert racism, and educates people (if done properly)
The question is, do white people have any business using the social power enhancement tactics of minorities?
This sounds kinda trollish, but it’s a slow morning, so I’ll take the bait and say:
The exact same rules regarding racial slurs and racism in general should be applied to all races equally. If it’s okay for a black person to call a white person whitey (or honky, or whatever you choose), then it’s okay for a white person to call a black person a nigger. Anything else would be hypocritical. Sorry, greck, but you can’t have your cake and eat it too.
That being said, I have no problem with friends calling me whitey, because they’re friends, and I know it’s not meant to be an insult. If a random person I didn’t know called me whitey, and meant it to be an insult, I would be offended. Then again, I’d be offended if he called me an intelligent and charming individual, if I knew that he meant it to be an insult, for some reason.
Jeff
No. Ethnic minorities do not need to be able to play the “race card.” If there is overt or institutional racism that is interfering with people’s lives, then that issue should be addressed openly.
Playing the “race card” is Detroit’s Coleman Young crying “The white press is out to get me!” every time one more sweetheart deal was uncovered in his less than ethical mayor’s office. It is Cleveland’s former City Council president, George Forbes, preventing legislation for a park in an impoverished white community with the words “We don’t need to build more parks for rich white kids” because council had failed to approve a business contract with one of his cronies.
“Playing the race card” has a specific meaning that no person should support. It means using one’s race to shield one from charges of impropriety.
Tom, thanks for the education, i misused the term.
Kal- yes i’ve started and finished quite a few sociology classes, i have a master’s degree in social work
Jeff, i think you may have missed the point (if i even articulated it)
I don’t think the same rules apply to all, nor should they untill we reach a utopian state of equality.
fairness doesn’t mean that everyone gets the same thing, it means that everyone has equal opportunity to get what they need.
people with disablities get the good parking spaces, wheelchair ramps, special spots at the movies, etc.
not that i think of minorities as “disabled” but i do think of minorities as remaining opressed through no personal fault of their own.
so, can we apply the old “your the bigger brother and if your little brother hits you, you should be able to control yourself” strategy
was homer simpson wrong for saying to marge’s gay friend “and queer is OUR word for making fun of YOU?”
I didn’t blast you using the term whitey. I pointed out to you that it’s a racist remark.
I did, though, just blast the daylights out of you in that very thread (but politely and within the rules of the forum concerned) for the racist followup post you made.
Well the definition of ‘racism’ that I subscribe to states that in order for somthing to be considered racist it must:
Use race as the criteria on which to create or reinforce an unfair power-relation.
If we accept this definition (which clearly most of you dont then it is very difficult for a white person to say that they are being discriminated against on racial grounds. It isnt impossible of course. Robert Mugabes eviction of white farmers from their lands occurs in a setting where blcks have mopre power and so can be considered a racist act.
As far as white people objecting to the term ‘whitey’ goes doesn that term imply that the white perosn is racist? Mayeb we have different connotations down here. Anyway if someone calls you white and you get pissed off becasue you think they are being racist I suggest you get over it. If someone calls you whitey and you object because it is just a nasty, rude term and you dont appreciate it when people insult you to your face then you IMO are in the right.
Oh, I think I got your point. I agree that the same rules don’t apply to all, as evidenced by MrAndrewV’s comment below. However, I believe they should, and I further believe that is one of the prerequisites for reaching a “utopian state of equality”.
No offense, but I think that’s a pretty bad definition. So a comment can’t be racist if it stems from the person considered to be the underdog?
It’s also a viewpoint I’ve come across a time or two. Well, not quite. The viewpoint is more specific: A comment cannot be racist if the person it comes from is not white.
Not a viewpoint that I agree with, but it is an arguement I’ve heard.
What does it mean exactly to “play the race card”?
I hate this phrase. Someone shouldn’t fear being called a dreaded player of the race card just for saying something is racist. This goes for everyone.
On this board, posters like to throw “racist” around freely. This behavior isn’t limited to liberals, conservatives, white posters or black posters. It’s the first barb posters use to rile up their opponents, and it usually works. If anything, I think Americans in general like to play the race card. We like being offended when it suits us. We like being victims of conspiracies.
Whites should be able to call others racist if they want to. Even though they enjoy the majority position throughout the country, they may find themselves in situations where they can be victimized. Often times they do yell “racism” (or the much annoying “reverse racism”). They have every right to do this, as they should.
I only have a problem when a white person says a black person is playing the “race card” whilst ignoring white people (or themselves) when they do same thing, For instance, a black person complaining about profiling is said to be “playing the race card”, while a white person complaining about Affirmative Action is just expressing an opinion. Both forms of behavior are similiar in goal–calling attention to perceived injustices–but many people will only view one as “playing the race card”.
I’ve heard this argument a bit differently: A person cannot be racist if the person is not white (or a member of the power structure).
I’ve also heard it said that only institutions–laws, policies, governmental bodies, businesses, corporations, etc.–can be racist. Individuals can be bigoted, but not racist because individuals don’t have a lot of power to exert differentially on “races”. Institutions do.
The first argument leaves much to be desired, but I personally agree with the second one to a cetain extent.
Why can’t I go around calling all men Manipulating Bastards without people taking offense? If you’re male, would you object to that? I mean, if you just replace the words “skin color” in your OP with “gender” we get a whole new sweeping generalization to play with which is just as accurate. Oh wait, I remember, prejudiced generalizations are bad, and we’re supposed to judge people on their own merits, not on what people who look like them did.
This is not how I hear the term “playing the race card” used. Both those examples are already about race. In my experience, the phrase is used when a situation - say, someone being fired for poor job performance - might not have anything to do with what race anyone is, but the person who got fired claims that it must have been racially motivated.
This is what I think that the phrase “playing the race card” means.
When person A does something non-racist that B doesn’t like, and B then attributes the action to the alleged racism of person A, than B has “played the race card.”
“Racism” is a stereotype of a person based on that person’s race.
Oh, and calling someone “whitey” is, most of the time, bad.
To weigh in my two cents, I’ve only heard of playing the race card as a way to get out of trouble. The OJ trial being the best example. OJ’s lawyer’s saying that OJ was only being prosecuted because he’s black, and not because he was guilty of the crime.
It’s funny, but when I think about it, I don’t think I’ve heard that term used, for example, when a white guy sues a company for not getting a job, because a person of color gets the job, due to quota’s or set aside’s.
As for fairness, you must treat everybody on an individual basis. Only the people who do racist things deserve poor treatment from the people of the group or groups that they mistreated. To treat those of us who are white, yet have never done anything racist, the same way you’d treat a white person who is racist is wrong. And two wrongs don’t make a right.
You make it sound like the “ethnic majority” is an organized club that has a clearly defined mission statement. It’s just a bunch of people who happen to be the same “race”. Just because some white people have abused their power in the past, there is now a reason to use blanket terms that are derogatory to all people of that same race?
Don’t forget that there are, and long have been, organized groups of white people
(the kkk, fraternaties)
I’ll admit, the thread was started a bit whimsically and i’ve done some thinking and watching african american comedians making fun of white people, and i still have to side with the minority.
40 acres and a mule, well, never happened.
The rights of the hispanic peoples of the southwest were never lived up to as written in the treaty of guadalupe hidalgo.
the list goes on and on
in the “hit and hit back” of things, minorities are still behind, the score still favors white people.
now, it may seem cheap and revenge based, but doesn’t one need to be able to wield a power in order to make a decision about whether or not he should?
are we holding minorities to a higher standard than the majority?
then it is very difficult for a white person to say that they are being discriminated against on racial grounds. It isnt impossible of course. Robert Mugabes eviction of white farmers from their lands occurs in a setting where blcks have mopre power and so can be considered a racist act.