Poll: Your reaction to "If Black People Said the Stuff White People Say"

[madmonk28]

I would guess that race in Europe was less of an issue in the 70s than it is now. The election of several right wing candidates across the continent and some of the recent incidents show that race is a very big deal in parts of Europe these days.

DC is a strange place in a lot of ways. There are racial and cross-cutting class issues that create some strange tensions. Bike lanes, for example, are seen as a symbol by some of a gentrifying class that is pushing out lower income residents. There have been some very ugly incidents over bike lanes and because of DC’s demographics, race is often part of the issue.

It should be noted that not everyone coming into the city is white. The city is diversifying along racial lines (from a black majority city to a black plurality city with upticks in lots of other races) while at the same time stratifying along economic class (basically, lower income folk are just being priced out). So a gentrifier might not be white, s/he might be black, latino or Asian, but s/he will be upper income.

It just makes for a big jumble of neurosis, but mostly people tend to be on their best behavior and try to get along. Although I couldn’t make a video like this of if white people said stuff that black people say, because I get a lot of fuck you white boy, or get out of my city.

[Omega_Glory]

@Little_Nemo

Okay, let me throw this out to the black people here.

I was talking with a black coworker one time and during the course of the conversation he mentioned that he had been born in another state and had lived in several different states when he was a kid. And I asked him if his family had been a military family. He seemed a little taken aback by my question and said no but didn’t elaborate further.

I hadn’t intended any racial implication to that question. I’m not from a military family myself but I grew up in a military town and I know military families move around the country. You tell me you moved around a lot when you were a kid and that would be my first thought.

But looking back on it afterwards, I wonder if he saw my question as being racial. Something like “I think the army is full of black people” or “I don’t consider the possibility that a black parent might be a corporate executive”.

My guess is he was startled by the question for a reason that didn’t have anything to do with race.

[amanset]

None of the above.

I’m white and it just wasn’t funny. It was boring, like an overly PC joke from a shit 90s comedian.

[Malacandra]

@MsWhatsit

Dude, there’s probably an entire Internet forum devoted to people who have a fetish about this. It’s a big world and none of us are alone.

Internet forum? Please. I’ve got a finnif that says there’s porn of it somewhere out there. Rule 34. No exceptions.

[wonky]

@Little_Nemo

The serious answer is because it helps. There are people who just don’t care if they’re being offensive. But most of us do. If you explain to us that what we said is offensive, we’ll make an effort to improve.

So while it aggravates you to hear this stuff now, coming here means you’ll hear less of it in the future.

Given the nature of half of the people on this board, if they know it is aggravating, they’ll do it more. And then they’ll argue that there’s simply no way anyone should find it annoying or racist or anything bad, because they are white and they say so.

[astorian]

DO well-meaning white people sometimes say patronizing things that make black friends or co-workers cringe? No doubt.

But in my experience, black people regularly say offensive, stupid, racist things and are given a LOT of slack. Slack no white person would ever be given.

MANY times, I’ve read comments from black athletes that were FAR worse than anything John Rocker said. Those comments were either ignored, or dimissed by sportswriters with a jovial, “Oh, that’s just Bill.”

The same way Joe Biden can say idiotic things Dan Quayle would laugh at (but journalists either ignore it, or shrug “That’s just Joe.”)