To clarify: Accusations of racism carry far more potential to disrupt one’s life.
I think too big a deal is made out of racism these days. A big reason being that it’s such a huge political issue.
I mean, the way people talk about racists you’d think they were grandma murderers or child rapists. In fact, I’ve seen child rapists defended on these very boards! I’ve never seen any racist even slightly defended.
If you step back and look at it; what’s a racist? Basically a big jerk. Maybe not even a jerk in general, maybe that’s just one jerky thing about him or her. I know tons of racists, and while I don’t like or agree with their feelings, I also don’t know one single person who has ever been hurt as a result of them.
Racism sucks, it really does, but I think there are much much much much much much worse problems in the world today that get overlooked way easier.
Oh, and ruining or even disrupting someone’s life because they’re a racist? Gimme a freakin’ break, man. How is that better than anything they’ve done?
I’m afraid we’ve had a misunderstanding. My point is that an ACCUSATION of racism has a great potential to disrupt or ruin someone’s life, regardless of whether they’re actually racist or not. It happens.
Now, if the person actually IS racist, by all means, call them out. If not, however, don’t ruin their life (or cause them major inconveniences) by tossing around serious accusations.
You even said yourself, “I mean, the way people talk about racists you’d think they were grandma murderers or child rapists. In fact, I’ve seen child rapists defended on these very boards! I’ve never seen any racist even slightly defended.” That’s my point exactly. If you’re not a racist and someone labels you one, you’re immediately, in many peoples’ eyes, assumed to be the scum of the earth.
Shakes reminded me of a story when I bartended. I had a black man (just turned 21 and no experience in mixing drinks) that I was training. I was talking him through a Long Island Iced Tea. (College town, this is a must to know).
I was at the other end of the bar, quiet day so didn’t speak loud enough apparently, and told him to pour a jigger of each of the 4 liquors.
Him: “What the fuck did you call me?!?”
Me: “I didn’t call you anything, I said pour a jigger of each.”
Him: “Fuck that, jigger isn’t a word, I know what you said!”
Then he stormed off.
The beauty was, he tried to file a complaint with the state labor commision. They realized he just didn’t know what a jigger was. Never heard from him again.
Where did you get the idea that I misunderstood you point, Garfield?
That gimme a break wasn’t directed at you, I was just saying it in general.
Ok, no problem.
I was just confused because you used my same wording in your next post.
I can’t help it, this makes me laugh so hard I’m cryin’ here.
To be fair, there are a lot of racists in this world, and once you’ve been the victim of racism, you’re more likely to be conscious of future incidents. (A very brief example - I took my stepfather’s surname when I was a teenager, and was suddenly made personally aware of anti-Semitism.) Some people see racism where there is none, but there’s all kinds of things people do that they don’t REALIZE are racist.
I know a number of otherwise kind, lovely people who have surprised me with some of the racist things they’ve said. Personally, I draw the line at intent vs. ignorance - when it’s ignorant racism, I do what little I can to correct it gently. If it’s malicious, there’s not much you CAN do about it.
There is a literary quote about something being “the last refuge of scoundrels”. I’m going to insert racism into that sentiment.
I’ve run into accusations of racism before. Without fail, it’s been by those who know they are somehow in the wrong and trying to turn the tables. It is an attempt to fluster and frustrate…and is seen as the ultimate weapon. People who use this tactic are doomed to mediocrity because they have no personal pride.
“Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.” — Samuel Johnson
“Aah, prayer. The last refuge of a scoundrel.” - Lisa Simpson
I’m almost getting used to it, I’m sorry to say. I’ll piss a kid off by asking him or her to, say, go to class since the bell has rung, or raise their hand before speaking up in class, or whatever insignificant thing I tell kids to do every day–and it’s so easy to say, “You’re picking on me 'cause I’m black.” It’s an effort to deflect the heat, but it’s being watered down by overuse.
The first time it happened to me, I felt like going home sick for the rest of the day. Nowadays, I tend to roll my eyes and repeat whatever it was I just said. “Please go to class, the bell has rung.”
I’m actually surprsied to hear that some people haven’t been falsely accused of racism.
If you are a camp counselor and some teenager pissess on someone else’s bed and you report them to the director, it’s not because he was a vile, disgusting person, it’s because you’re a racist.
Complain on a bulletin board that you hate it when companies outsource tech support to India for all the various reasons you think it sucks, someone from India calls you racist.
Train a class for which everyone knows they need a certain grade on a written exam at the end in order to be hired, and should anyone fail, you’re called a racist (and sexist to boot).
Point out that most Ancient Egyptians were not black, or that “squaw” doesn’t refer to genitals, or that “picnic” does not refer to eating food as a group while people are lynched and you’re called racist.
The most pathetic are message boards when you don’t know anything at all about the other person except their posting alias and what they say, and they call you a racist for disagreeing with them. How can I be racist when I don’t even have a clue what race they are?
There are way too many people out there living life with persecution complexes.
See, had you just asked him to pour a jegro of each . . .
When I was in eighth grade, there was a discussion of someone who was suspended for calling someone “nigger”. As a (somewhat misguided) libertarian at the time, I said that while it was bad and the kid should have been suspended, there are many innocuous statements that people unjustly branded racist; I cited a US News article in which it was stated that blacks have an average lower SAT score than whites and the resulting flood of letters accusing the editors of being racist.
Well, a partially black girl apparantly took offence at that. She went to the principal’s office and said that I called her a nigger. I was duly dragged down; no matter how I protested that I said no such thing, the principal called me a racist (and elitist for suggesting that SAT scores are important at all) and suspended me for three days.
I had a lot of time to read National Review articles in school in the following days.
(The principal was white, btw, and was a few years out of school.)
I did the snort-funny thing to that. You all should know what I mean. But trust me when I say I’m glad my state allows Concealed-carry permits. I’m not kidding. It’s funny to tell it, but at the time, I’m glad I had a sidearm.
disclaimer he wasn’t mad enough for me to think of pulling it, but it was cocked and ready. He was really on a roll.
It’s as close as I’ve come to pointing a gun at someone. And to give a little perspective, if he was in my home at the time, there is no way I would have missed hitting his femoral artery. Good shooters can injure, but not kill. But if the shitbag bleeds to death, I’m not going to feel too bad.
May I use that second paragraph as a .sig line? You’d be accredited, of course.
Great summary!
When I was in 3rd grade ('72-'73) at a parochial school, there was a black girl in our class who reported to the teacher that 4 or 5 boys (including myself) called her a nigger the week before, during recess. The head penguin and our teacher confronted each of us in a group, including the accuser. To paraphrase something that happened 30 years ago:
Head Penguin: Yeticus, I am really ashamed of you. Why did you call this girl such a horrible name?
Me: I didn’t call her that!
HP: You’re not lying to me, are you?
Me: No, I didn’t call her that.
HP: But she said you did. Are you calling her a liar?
Me: Well…yes.
HP: Why should I believe you…the other boys admitted to it…are you trying to weasel your way out of your punishment?
Me: No, I’m not weaseling out of any punishment. I couldn’t have called her that last week…I was on a family vacation all last week.
HP: …
Teacher: Hey, that’s right!
Girl: But you did! Yeticus did call me a nigger!
Me: How could I?
HP:…[turning a different color altogether]…
T: I’m sorry, Mr. Rex, you’re excused.
Me:…[exiting and closing door, then putting an ear against the door]…
HP: [Girl’s Name], I’m really disappointed in you. Why did you falsely accuse Yeticus of calling you such a horrible name…Now all of you will have to be punished!
Lesson for the day: Guilty until proven innocent. That holds to this very day when it comes to someone wrongly accused of racism.
That’s Jafrican-Jamerican, you racist.
As long as you don’t tell him not to be niggardly in his pour…
Regards,
Shodan
What the Hell? I just fucking said the exact same thing except I didn’t blow it up into some self-rightous “wise old sage” big-deal maxim! Did you happen to catch this, a few posts up?
Huh? Did you see that? The only difference is that I took my own advice and didn’t extrapolate some GRAND MACROCOSMIC ANALYSIS! I swear to God if I have to see that overblown shit repeated over and over again in irrelevant threads by way sig line…then…something.
Jesus Christ! It looks like we can’t get enough of Grand Proclimations when race is discussed. Guilty until proven innocent has always been the basis of grade school justice. Whatever a 7-year-old girl accuses a male classmate of to a nun is going to be believed - DUH! - why would a sweet little girl lie? Did you really expect her to shoot back “show me some proof” to that girl?
There’s a difference between saying “Yeticus, this girl says you said this - what do you have to say?” and “Yeticus, why did you do what this girl says you did?”