So what do us whities need to do? Paint ourselves green and call ourselves cabbages?
Sure, if you like, but I’d plump for something tasty if I were you.
I love “whities”. Yes, yes, it reminds me of the Blues Bros too.
Yes he’s got a right to be upset, but I completely fail to see why he hates himself and his ethnicity, it’s stupid. But that doesn’t mean that all white people are stupid, just one who blames the rest for the attitude of another.
I hate the behaviour of football (soccer) hooligans in the UK, many of whom are white males, but I don’t hate myself because of their behaviour because it’s not the way I behave myself. (I don’t actually watch football at all).
Possibly because I don’t generally associate myself with any religious or political movement I can’t see any benefit in feeling part of a large ethnic group. To be honest the only people who I really give a shit about are many family and friends, why care or feel guilt about any actions but your own?
I do get sick of, as a white male, being made to feel guilty for either the actions of others or historical events over which I have had no control.
I refuse to take responsibility for:
The Empire,
Slavery
and any other bad shit that occured before I or any of my friends/family were born.
In my opinion this whole thread is a pile of shit that should be shut down, it’s as racist as the thing the OP is ranting against.
This thread is almost proof this statement is the truth. Sometimes justice can only be served at the moment the crime is commited. You might apologize to your friend but the opportunity to make it right with yourself is gone forever. Unless you catch the fucker in the street and tell him what you really think of his hateful ass. 
Just to clarify my last post, I’m not saying I endorse the empire or slavery, just that I refuse to be blamed for the actions/attitudes of others.
Like other here have said, the OP missed their opportunity to do something positive at the time. The boat has sailed, get over it and don’t blame others or assume we all share the attitudes of one.
Why must (some) white people deliberately seek racial offense? Is it born from a desire to prove they aren’t racist themselves? Is it curiosity about what it’s like? I don’t get it. Are you really comparing an incident where a guy made a racist comment within earshot of a black guy to this thread, where the OP acknowledged and used hyperbole to express his embarrassment at the actual racism? Come on. You almost have to choose to be offended by something like this.
Yes, why must white people be so afflicted?
I agree with you - Craig is the offending party and Weirddave doesn’t have any cause to be embarrassed, or to think less of any other white people, just because he and they might have similar melatonin levels to the asshole in question. And it’s better to stand up to the guy when it happens than to be upset about it later. But he did the right thing, even if he could have done more, and acted like a friend. Why nitpick the manner in which he expressed this point?
I’m probably going to regret getting involved in this thread, but…
My point (well, one of my points) was my WAG that **Weirddave ** doesn’t *really * hate himself or his ethnicity, but that this incident (not that it wasn’t fucked up all on its own) could’ve pissed him even more than it might normally have because he’d likely been in similar situations before, and the shit is really (and rightly) pissing him off.
Okay, perhaps he was a bit hyperbolic in his vitriol, but in the absence of evidence, I honestly don’t believe that he hates either his own whiteness or the whiteness of other white folks. Does he feel some guilt about being born white? I don’t know, but if he does…well, given all of the underground racism that I’m made to understand exists among far too many average, every day white folks (related to me by other white folks), I’m going to say that I understand it on some level. NOTE: I did *not * say that I would agree that he should feel guilty–only that I’d understand where that might come from.
And, since you mention it, who have you encountered that expects you to feel guilty about slavery and the Empire? I ask because I don’t feel that way, and I’ve not heard any sane, rational person express this sentiment. Granted, there are wingnuts out there who I’m sure want you to feel guilty for your whiteness, but they’re firmly ensconced on the lunatic fringe, and I can’t help but think that some of this “I shouldn’t feel guilty because of slavery/the Empire/whatever happened before I was born” is a reaction to something that exists largely in some very misguided imaginations. (I’m not saying that that’s the case with you, but I do think that it exists.)
And while I’m on the subject, I do want to say this (now I *really * think I’m about to regret jumping into this thread): While you most certainly shouldn’t feel responsible for something that was done in the name of whiteness by some other white people, I do believe that you and every white person benefits in a variety of ways due to your having been born with white skin. I understand why some people don’t want to acknowledge the existence of white skin privilege, and I don’t know if you’re one of them, but in case you are, just consider how many whites you’ve known to “secretly” harbor racists attitudes, then consider the possibilities if those people are cops, or hiring managers, or landlords, or whatever position might imbue them with some kind of authority or “power” over someone else.
Oh, and just to even things out a little, consider this: If you think you’re sick, as a white male, of being held responsible for the actions of other white people (not that that shouldn’t piss you off), I’m sick, to the umpteenth power, as a black male, of being held responsible for the actions of other blacks. I have written several times on these boards about the ways in which whites (and, sadly, non-black people of color) subtly and not-so-subtly let me know that they’re making uncool judgments about me just because I’m a black man. So yeah, white guys aren’t the only ones suffering. And if I had to be honest, I think I’d rather have some random fool think that I’m “guilty” of some historic sin than to have them wonder if (and believe that) I’m liable to rape, rob, or murder them, or that I got into college (Ivy League, to boot!), or that I receive some kind of “special rights” just because I’m black.
Talk about good times! 
Hey you know something people
I’m not black
But there’s a whole lots a times
I wish I could say I’m not white
Trouble Comin’ Every Day
Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention
Also, screw prokaryotes. Primitive little dipshits, should’ve evolved when they had a chance.
Flowering plants. Totally gay.
That is the segment of the population that Obama can not win. Nobody knows how big it is.
And don’t let me get started on viruses – useless things that never did a day’s hard work in their lives, and just live off us cellular life forms.
Not that I want to make an issue of this, because I don’t, but in the UK there seems to be an implied guilt trip laid on us by the political left over the whole empire/slavery issue. It’s never overtly stated, but it can be seen in the attitudes of many, usually white middle class, do gooder here. No doubt they have good intentions, but they inevitably cause upset and it is the actions of these people that give credence to the arguments of people like the BNP.
I honestly have to say that I don’t think it is the case that I am privileged because of my skin colour. Never once in applying for jobs, university etc has it been raised as an issue.
I fully accept the possibility that some landlords may be racist. Although in the part of the UK I live in many landlords are non white and therefore may have an entirely different set of prejudices.
There almost certainly are racist police officers and these should be removed from their positions as soon as they are found out, but the police force in the UK now has an approach of “positive discrimination”. Whether this truly works I am not in a position to know.
On your last point, I concur with you. The whole point of my previous posts was to point out to judge the persons actions not the group, whatever group.
I agree with your statement that as a black male you are likely (in some circles) to be viewed with suspicion, but I don’t agree that you should be viewed with suspicion. Hope that statement makes sense and I don’t inadvertently cause offence.
On the “special rights” issue we may have to agree to differ, numerous jobs and other positions are restricted to people from minority groups. Which is a special right whether you want it or not. At this point in time it is probably a necessary evil, I like to hope that in the, not too distant, future all affirmative action can be done away with and people will obtain employment, housing and college places based solely on ability not ethnicity (whether black or white). Will it happen? Who knows?
Hope I’ve answered your questions.
My beef was not with the OPs attack on the racist, I agree with that point, but with the stupid act of including every white person in the attack. This I disagree with, just as much as you would, hopefully, disagree with being blamed for the attitudes of Louis Farakhan et al.
Are you serious? What would you expect them to say?
“Well, we were going to give the job to the other fellow, but he’s a darkie, so we were awfully glad when Sharon brought over your resume!”
Not stupidity, just the same outrage as you share. Sorry, but the “I’m generalizing, so don’t be pissed that I’m stereotyping you” defense is bullshit. Black people do as much stupid shit as white people. It’s the individual that sucks, not the race. I HATE racism, even mild, joshy racism such as your OP. Fuck *you, asshole.
[sup]And by “you” I don’t mean all assholes like you, I mean specically you.[/sup]
Yes – I’m waiting for the time when I go for a job, and they say, “Well, we had a lot of really good women applying for this job, but we wanted a man, because we don’t think a woman is capable of doing this work.”
Not what I’m saying at all. But I’d love for someone to give me an exact example of sometime that I’ve benefited solely due to being white.
Not going to happen. Everything I’ve got I got by my own abilities, no one “gave it to me” because I’m white. That’s just bollocks.
Presumably you’re joking too. If you’re not, wait until they hire you and a woman, and see how much lower her contract rate of hire is.
VC03, is that you?
sorry. :d&r: