# Living while black in America **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 9, 2018, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611 "2018-07-09T21:17:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 20
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2018, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611/381 "2018-07-31T20:14:01Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Such irrelevance. > Sad. Don’t be sad about your irrelevance. Someone’s great aunt somewhere thinks you’re doing God’s work. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2018, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611/383 "2018-07-31T21:23:42Z")
> [@Piruet](#): > > [A man is brutally assaulted and beaten in order to rob him of a bag of fried chicken](https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2018/07/30/aberdeen-attack/) > Haven’t seen anything remotely as racist as this since Popeye’s in Rochester “accidentally” [ran out of chicken](https://youtu.be/8pyW6w5B7Aw) > > This is everyday reality that black people endure in the good ol’ US of A ☹ If you come into a thread about anti-black racism and make jokes about fried chicken to belittle the topic, you’re probably not making the point you intended. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2018, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611/385 "2018-07-31T21:32:32Z")
I want to know what **Roderick Femm** did please. He’s not generally mentioned in the same space with **SlackerInc** and **Shodan**. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2018, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611/386 "2018-07-31T21:32:33Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Couple hundred years of slavery + Jim Crow? Never heard of it. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2018, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611/387 "2018-07-31T21:43:48Z")
> [@Piruet](#): > > Yes, beating a man half to death in order to rob him of his chicken is a joke to you. Gotcha. > Throw in the fact that the victim was homosexual and we can all share a hearty laugh. Ha-ha. Ha-ha-ha. You fucking bigot. Are you critiquing yourself and your own weak racist joke? Is this the opposite of somebody having a sock? ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2018, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611/388 "2018-07-31T21:48:09Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Because blaming the victim is rather gauche? > [@Skywatcher](#): > > Couple hundred years of slavery + Jim Crow? You all are too egocentric to realize that the history of the world encompasses far more than US history. You know you can still buy slaves in some parts of the world? You know that members of every ethnic group probably look at some other ethnic group less than equitably? Get out of the basement and educate yourself about more than just a sliver of US history. It’ll help with perspective. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2018, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611/389 "2018-07-31T21:52:40Z")
> [@Piruet](#): > > [A man is brutally assaulted and beaten in order to rob him of a bag of fried chicken](https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2018/07/30/aberdeen-attack/) That victim looks a bit pale for a black guy. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2018, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611/390 "2018-07-31T21:54:07Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > You all are too egocentric to realize that the history of the world encompasses far more than US history. The thread title is **Living while black in America** , dumbass. Get out from under your bridge once in a while. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2018, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611/391 "2018-07-31T23:04:13Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > I want to know what **Roderick Femm** did please. He’s not generally mentioned in the same space with **SlackerInc** and **Shodan**. I plead guilty to hijacking part of the thread into a discussion about generalizations and stereotypes as they are applied to individuals. I guess it was too far off topic. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2018, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611/392 "2018-07-31T23:07:30Z")
Ah. Thank you for explaining. Start a new thread maybe? Sounds interesting. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2018, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611/393 "2018-08-01T00:12:57Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > The thread title is **Living while black in America** , dumbass. Get out from under your bridge once in a while. So what? Addressing a blanket implication that racism is the fault of dastardly wypipo is far more relevant to a Pit thread than a plagiarized Betty Crocker brownie recipe. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2018, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611/394 "2018-08-01T00:15:44Z")
Damn! Now I want fried chicken! ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2018, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611/395 "2018-08-01T00:22:24Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > So what? What part of “ **in America** ” do you not understand? If you want to discuss **racism on the entire planet** , go start your own damn thread. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2018, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611/396 "2018-08-01T00:46:41Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > What part of “ **in America** ” do you not understand? If you want to discuss **racism on the entire planet** , go start your own damn thread. Why bother with it. It never has anything worth reading to post. Ever. Best to pretend it doesn’t exist than to engage and give it the attention it craves. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2018, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611/397 "2018-08-01T01:05:42Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > Why bother with it. Two reasons: for the benefit of any newbies who happen by and taking the hijack to its own thread would be easier to ignore. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2018, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611/398 "2018-08-01T01:58:59Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > Two reasons: for the benefit of any newbies who happen by and taking the hijack to its own thread would be easier to ignore. I’ve always thought the first a shitty excuse for dealing with this. If something keeps pissing on a conversation and no one pays attention, it says as much, if not more, than attempting to engage. Obviously, YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2018, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611/399 "2018-08-01T04:44:38Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > Why bother with it. It never has anything worth reading to post. Ever. Best to pretend it doesn’t exist than to engage and give it the attention it craves. “It?” What’s up with the misgendering? ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2018, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611/400 "2018-08-01T04:56:02Z")
Would it be appropriate to share a story where a man follows a black man in a road rage incident to shout racial slurs - only to find that the public at large don’t care for that sit? [http://www.dispatch.com/news/20180729/theodore-decker-column-racist-words-blow-back-on-man-family-and-business](http://www.dispatch.com/news/20180729/theodore-decker-column-racist-words-blow-back-on-man-family-and-business) ---
**Author:** ![Huey\_Freeman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/huey_freeman/32/251_2.png) [@Huey\_Freeman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huey_Freeman)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2018, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611/401 "2018-08-01T23:32:14Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Actually, I think him calling you that would be “hate speech” which isn’t allowed. I never thought of that. And it explains the coded language and the dog whistles. For example, it explains why when I insult Grand Dragon Shodan, she reflexively attack my intelligence; or how a a cursory search on your Great Debates forum has [one](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=859664), [two](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=859661), [two point five](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=775646) (Hint: It’s called the ACA not Obamacare)[three](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=859339), and [four](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=858490) threads using coded language talking about blacks or people of color. All but one of those threads reinforce negative stereotypes of people of color. May I say a few more words and a suggestion (in bold)? Kuchiyose no Jutsu Take it from here, Robin. (emphasis mine) > [@Robin DiAngelo](#): > > The language of violence that many whites use to describe anti-racist endeavors is not without significance, as it is another example of the way that White Fragility distorts and perverts reality. By employing terms that connote physical abuse, whites tap into the classic discourse of people of color (particularly African Americans) as dangerous and violent. This discourse perverts the actual direction of danger that exists between whites and others. \*\*The history of brutal, extensive, institutionalized and ongoing violence perpetrated by whites against people of color—slavery, genocide, lynching, whipping, forced sterilization and medical experimentation to mention a few—becomes profoundly trivialized when whites claim they don’t feel safe or are under attack when in the rare situation of merely talking about race with people of color. \*\*The use of this discourse illustrates how fragile and ill-equipped most white people are to confront racial tensions, and their subsequent projection of this tension onto people of color (Morrison, 1992). Goldberg (1993) argues that the questions surrounding racial discourse should not focus so much on how true stereotypes are, but how the truth claims they offer are a part of a larger worldview that authorizes and normalizes forms of domination and control. Thank you, Robin. White folks history of violence, inhumane indifference, and dehumanization of people of color need no introduction and there’s no need to belabor the Trail of Tears, Tuskegee Experiments, Hurricane Katrina, or ascribing the word “thug” and “gangster” to NFL players who engaged in nonviolent, nonvocal protest. We would be here all day and I haven’t even gotten to the [dude that specifically targeted, stalked, attacked, raped, and _ate_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Dahmer) [people of color](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/04/28/12/00CBE7B900000190-0-image-a-22_1430221037830.jpg). The violence whites have inflicted and continue to inflict on people of color is incalculable and their collective indifference that violence is inhumane. \*\* My suggestion and take on it is that you should allow white folks to say racial epithets in the Pit\*\*. This has three benefits. First, white folks will have their outlet for their two minutes of hate against people of color. This two minutes of violence, scapegoating, and hate is essential for their happiness (as history has shown). Second, it serves to let you know who people are (and this knowledge is more important than you realize). Third, it’ll cut down on the coded language in your forums that makes your forum look like some cruel hybrid of _NPR’s Fresh Air_ and _Mississippi Burning_. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611/402 "2018-08-02T00:14:29Z")
> [@raventhief](#): > > Would it be appropriate to share a story where a man follows a black man in a road rage incident to shout racial slurs - only to find that the public at large don’t care for that sit? > > [http://www.dispatch.com/news/20180729/theodore-decker-column-racist-words-blow-back-on-man-family-and-business](http://www.dispatch.com/news/20180729/theodore-decker-column-racist-words-blow-back-on-man-family-and-business) Here’s an interesting follow-up thought piece on this incident, about how the white guy still doesn’t think he is racist, how he’s a victim of making a “mistake” and choosing the “wrong word.” > **[Man Says “I’m Not a Bigot” In Response To Viral Video: Watch & Decide For...](https://gendercreativelife.com/2018/07/31/he-said-im-not-a-bigot-decide-for-yourself/)** > > Today in viral video land, we have a perfect, prime example showcasing the insidious commingling of racism & white privilege. The story is basically that a white man (Whitman) followed a black … > [@](#): > > … that’s the thing with racism. Nobody thinks they have it. Which is why it’s so insidious. Racism doesn’t have to show up in a white hood carrying a burning cross. More often, it is ingrained so deeply within us white people, we don’t even know we’re infected with it. The litmus test? Call a white person “racist.” The angrier that white person gets, the more that shows they’re living with unchecked white privilege, meaning, they are in the highest stages of denial that they might be, even just a teeny tiny bit racist, even subconsciously. And there’s a link in there to another interesting discussion about unacknowledged white privilege. > **[The Kind Of Racism You Don’t Even Know You Have](https://martiesirois.medium.com/the-kind-of-racism-you-dont-even-know-you-have-44b053cf0c80)** > > It was unnerving to realize: not only was I part of the problem, but I didn’t know how to fix it either. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611.md?page=19) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/living-while-black-in-america/817611.md?page=21)