Friday, September 12, 2008

allow reality to overcome their prejudices

The following video was posted on YouTube a week or so ago by the Obama Campaign. Their title for the video is "Virginia Republicans for Obama," and it presents a series of Republican voters, mostly white, who explain how their fears of McCain have pushed them into voting against their usual party affiliation.

It's their fears of McCain, you see, that have pushed them into being traitors to their party--any countervailing fears that they might have of electing a black president stay submerged throughout this video.




It's interesting that one of the border-crossing Republicans chosen to testify here is black. That choice seems to steer the video away from an issue that remains unspoken throughout the rest of the testimonials, and indeed, pretty much throughout the Obama campaign's entire presentation of its presidential candidate. That issue is this--if these border-crossing Republicans are really going to vote this new way, one of the things that at least some of them will have to overcome about themselves is their racial prejudice. Which is also true, of course, for a lot of white people who normally vote for Democrats.

This racial subtext, which Obama just cannot avoid or "transcend" no matter how much he tries (or rather, I would say, HAS to try), is brought to the surface by the name of another blog that's re-posted this video: "Bitter White Folks for Obama." That blog's author, who writes under the name of A Bitter, Bitter Man, writes this about the video:

These testimonies are very telling; from what I've been hearing from relatives and friends, the polls are totally skewed--most people aren't fooled, and it's only a matter of time before McCain and Palin will be undeniably on their way out...

What this sardonically named white blogger hopes for is that the possibility of McCain's continuation of Bush's disastrous policies will scare a lot of white people who normally wouldn't vote for a black candidate into doing so. Personally, I hope he's right, and that the polls showing a very close election are indeed totally screwed, er, "skewed." I've been thinking, though, that they're skewed the other way, with many white voters telling pollsters that they'll vote for Obama when they actually don't want to admit they have racist misgivings that will prevent them from doing so.

I also hear that these polls are almost always conducted over the phone, and that the pollsters almost never call people with cell phones. My only phone is a cell, and I imagine that's true for a lot of people, so this may be another way the polls are skewed (or, it may not be). What do you all think--are the polls correctly gauging the tightness of this election? And will the people voting for Obama because they fear the war-mongering McCain outweigh those voting for McCain because they fear the black Muslim Obama?

For me, this video raises another race-related problem. I know that my approach on this blog to "whiteness" can seem unrelentingly critical, especially to some white folks (I also know that on the other hand, some readers don't find my approach critical enough). In fact, I've had regular white readers up and leave because they find my approach too anti-white--one even called me the "Uncle Ruckus of the white race":




I also imagine that what might seem like an unrelentingly anti-white approach here prevents some white readers who discover "Stuff White People Do" from ever coming back.

So I'd just like to say upfront that I don't have anything against white people as people. It's the idea of whiteness itself that I'm writing against, especially because of the misery that it's been inflicting for centuries on people not labeled white, but also for the ways that it dehumanizes white folks themselves.

I do think that white people can escape or undo some of that dehumanization. For instance, they can allow the frightening realities of what a McCain/Palin Administration would be like to overcome the absurd reluctance that some of them have to vote for a candidate just because he's black.

Basically, I wouldn't be writing this blog if I believed that white people can't untrain themselves.


Hat-tip: Acting White

36 comments:

  1. I have recently been turned on to your blog by a black friend. I am white. I appreciate the way you are trying to deconstruct whiteness as being central or normal. So much of everything is othered according to our whiteness and that is wrong.

    Keep up the good work.

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  2. Hi there. I am in VA and actually canvassing today. We have had to deal with college vote suppression as the rumors spread that if college students register to vote outside of their address listed on their college documents it will mess with financial aid, parents taxes, etc.

    The race, poll wise, is really close here so everyone is trying very hard. My concern is also that some of these folks we're talking to and reaching will not vote for Obama when they step into the polls because he is black. If that is the case, the race may not be close at all in VA. Right now, it is hard to say.

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  3. Macon D,
    As usual, you rock! I, too, believe white people can Untrain much about being white. I'm part of an organization called The UNtraining (see http://untraining.org), where that's exactly what we're working on. It is urgent that we do this work, for ourselves, for people of color, and in my mind, for the future of our planet. Thanks for your courageous and insightful blog.

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  4. How does somebody 'untrain whiteness'?

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  5. jw, whiteness is not a sentient being that can be trained, so one cannot untrain it. White people, though, can be untrained from the habits, inclinations, and so on instilled in them by being raised as "white." They can do so by learning what those largely unconscious inclinations are, and trying to stop them (and that's only one way to counteract whiteness in its many individual and institutional forms). You might consult a great book on the topic, Thandeka's Learning to Be White.

    Thanks for stopping by aprildelfuego, thanks! It would be great to hear more about how the organization you're referring to untrains white folks.

    Great to hear of the work you're doing in VA, white trash academic. I hope to read more about it, maybe on your blog?

    Welcome, revjohnny! And thanks for your encouraging words.

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  6. > White people, though, can be untrained from the habits, inclinations, and so on instilled in them by being raised as "white."

    ok, then let's talk about behavior training. Why do you think that "training" or "untraining" would be enough?
    Give me an example please.
    And one direct question to you: You like to educate others, but you refuse to truly listen. What will be your way to untrain this behavior which is typical white?

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  7. jw: Why do you think that "training" or "untraining" would be enough? Give me an example please.

    I don't think it's enough--it's just a start! A start toward non-racist and even anti-racist action.

    Examples? Of untraining? Those abound on this blog, you can find them here if you look. And if you use your own imagination as well, I'm sure you can think of many ways in which a person who has unlearned particular racist thoughts and behaviors could act differently, in both daily interactions, and in ways that counteract institutional racism more broadly (institutions, after all, consist of the people who run them). Think of hiring situations; teaching practices at all age levels; judicial decisions; police behavior; parenting; service work of all kinds; etc. I could go on, but I think what I'm saying must be clear.

    As for listening, I do listen. I've actually been told many times in my life that I'm a "good listener." But I also know that being trained as white means that I've been trained to consider some kinds of people less worthy of listening to others. To more "truly" listen, I try consciously to counteract that white (and male, and heterosexual, and American, and so on) training. So when I catch myself not listening well because prejudicial thinking still lodged within me is preventing that, I shake my head, clear my ears, listen harder, and think again later about what just happened. As for "listening" on this blog, I do that--I've altered many posts here in response to reader comments. But listening doesn't mean, to me, agreeing with everything I hear.

    What about you, jw? You've said you're white. What do you do to counteract your own typically white thoughts and behaviors? Surely you have some.

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  8. Those abound on this blog, you can find them here if you look.

    how does this blog demonstrate 'untraining'?

    As for "listening" on this blog, I do that--I've altered many posts here in response to reader comments.

    which posts did you change?

    And when it comes to listening: What's not your life experience you diminish or reject. You call my experience 'preternatural' or 'nice', which is quite arrogant for your information. For you, what's not in front of your face can't exist.

    And another question, why don't you use your blog which seems to get many hits to encourage your readers to sign the petition in the case for Troy Davis for example. I as a German can't understand the silence about death penalty in general and in this case in particular. America will execute somebody innocent and there are only 200.000 signatures, worldwide. Again the question, a rethorical one: Where are all these whites now, who want to be anti-racist?
    On white anti-racists sites I know I can't find a single word which mentions Troy Davis. Why not?
    Racism kills but whites as a collective are more interested in their own ego and want to be "concerned". This won't stop white supremacy and people like Troy Davis will pay for it.

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  9. It's their fears of McCain, you see, that have pushed them into being traitors to their party--any countervailing fears that they might have of electing a black president stay submerged throughout this video.

    Why are you projecting "fears of electing a black president" onto the White people in the video?


    an issue that remains unspoken throughout the rest of the testimonials

    Yeah, it has to be "an issue" and it's "unspoken" because they, "at least some of all White 5 of them" (since the Black guy doesn't count)... they just have to harbor racial prejudice and particularly the kind where they would have an issue with Obama who is suddenly singularly a BLACK presidential candidate as opposed to a Black + White candidate.

    Then you frame all this in terms of "fear" when A Bitter, Bitter Man emphasized the economic interests aspect which Cindy Maten echoed and Dave Simpson seemed to alluded to something similar and definitely nothing "fear" based with his blanket statement about fixing the last 8 years.

    There was only ONE person, Gabrielle Rhoads, the red shirt wearing, 23 year old wife of an "unqualified" deployed serviceman expressed anything close to "fear" of warmongering McCain. Stephanie Marushia described herself as a veterans issues voter. Here issue, then, was not about "fear."

    Ruth Derry spoke of "bringing different factions together" via Obama and McCain being "more of the same." No fear mentioned.

    And, the Black man who didn't count (because he apparently can't have any "fear" or harbor any negative Black president racial stereotypes), Ed Brown, hadn't like the direction of the Republican party for a while.

    So the real "unspoken" subtext for the party jumpers in the video, the majority of them, is that they didn't need to be "scared" into voting for a black presidential candidate... that candidate just happen to connect with them in terms of what they valued and nothing in the video even hinted to some idea that they submerged racial prejudice.

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  10. > What about you, jw? You've said you're white. What do you do to counteract your own typically white thoughts and behaviors? Surely you have some.

    Macon, my reality is very different from yours. Also, my generation grew up as a generation whose parents had to endure a war. Not just on TV, like America prefers war, like a game for stupid bored people who send their soldiers abroad, but they had to live the consequences.
    With that knowledge I grew up as well as with German terrorism (RAF) etc. etc.
    Germans, at least my generation, aren't so blinded by myths like white America, because my generation couldn't effort to live with the danger of myths and the generation before us knows how quickly things can change and turn to violence and genocide.
    America isn't the center of knowledge, but the center of violent arrogance and I believe that your white American "awakening" will come sooner than you would like to see it and it will be much harder than you even can imagine.
    All the arrogance you display demonstrates the arrogance of spoiled white children who don't know what they are talking about.
    One assumed white privilege - time, to have the time necessary to "understand racism" - will work against you.

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  11. That's quite a coincidence, jw! I'm working already on a post about action for Troy Davis. I'll post it soon, and thanks for the, uh, encouragement.

    More soon,

    macon

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  12. you have the nerv to tell me "what a coincidence", just to safe your clearly white mindset.
    Troy Davis will be executed on September 23 and you talk about "I will post it soon".
    I hope that your reasearch won't take too much time. Time you have, while trying to pretend an 'anti-racist' identity, but time the victims of your system don't have.

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  13. jw, I agree that I should have taken what action I can here by writing a post sooner about Davis' case, but please stop claiming that you can read my mind. For one thing, while my white anti-racist identity clearly differs from what you think it should be, it's not a pretense.

    Do you have anything positive to say? For instance--the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles refused on Friday to postpone or overturn Davis' sentence. The next step in the appeals process, as I understand it, is the U.S. Supreme Court, but that court "doesn't come back into session until after Davis's scheduled execution," and it "rarely makes early interventions." So what in particular do you think people should do now? What are you doing about now, aside from complaining about how I write my blog?

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  14. > stop claiming that you can read my mind.

    oops, I forgot, only Macon D is allowed to make assumptions about others.

    Btw, you didn't answer the question: Which posts did you change?

    And don't try playing this game with me: 'What are you doing about now, aside from complaining about how I write my blog?'
    Boring, my friend.

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  15. http://www.troyanthonydavis.org/call-to-action.html

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  16. http://www.troyanthonydavis.org/call-to-action.html

    The Georgia Board made its decision on Friday, so there's nothing current on this site for what sort of action to take right now. Writing to that board and signing petitions to it seem pointless now (though maybe not?), but this site is one to watch for updates.

    jw, you're not answering some of my questions either. I'm also not playing games with you, whatever that means. If you want to know which posts I've changed, comb through the Comments sections to various posts here, and then your question will be answered. I know you're a meticulous Comments-comber.

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  17. no action regardless how little is pointless. It's perhaps pointless for you, because nobody will praise you, but it's not pointless in the attempt to not being silent

    >If you want to know which posts I've changed, comb through the Comments sections to various posts here, and then your question will be answered.

    Wrong Macon. Your happy readers who praise you so much should know and most of all understand the mistakes you make as well as your assumptions you make about others.

    Silently changing a little of your posts which will go widely unnoticed doesn't change anything.

    But yes, I will search particular posts when I have time and we can warm up some discussions, it's your choice.

    >jw, you're not answering some of my questions either.

    I don't answer stupid questions

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  18. jw, I think you've written before that I'm looking for praise by writing this blog, but once again, you've failed to read my mind correctly. I don't see how someone writing under a pseudonym could be seeking praise for themselves.

    By the way, speaking of how writers are regarded by others, you might be more careful how you throw around that word "stupid." Some Americans might think it makes you sound like an arrogant European.

    If you want to warm up some old discussions, you're welcome to do so in the particular comment-threads where those discussions took place.

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  19. >you've failed to read my mind correctly. I don't see how someone writing under a pseudonym could be seeking praise for themselves.

    I don't have to read your mind, just your words. And just because you "don't see" doesn't mean that it doesn't work.

    >Some Americans might think it makes you sound like an arrogant European.

    And? As long as the rest of the world has to endure America's arrogant, war-mongering policies I give a shit what some Americans think about me. It is not my part to be diplomatic with people who benefit from white American supremacy.

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  20. Uncle Ruckus is HILARIOUS! Those White people can listen to him badmouth them "happy, nappy-headed niggers with they fingers on the triggers!" but they can't read your eloquence and engage in constructive discourse?

    Right. *singing* Someone's a racist, I wonder who...

    Keep up the greatness and honesty, Macon. It's the reason why I (and others) keep coming back.

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  21. I am so impressed by your level of patience/engagement with trolls..

    @nquest - I actually wasn't referring to the people in the video at all. I personally know people who will not vote for Obama because he is black. The local news likes to go around and find these people too and put their voices on TV. Yes, there was a black guy on that video. Macon was not making the kind of generalization that you are accusing him of.

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  22. White Trash Academic, I haven't directed a single word towards anything you said unless you authored the "allow reality to overcome their prejudices" piece. So I have no idea why you informing me about who you were referring to is relevant to me.

    And it's funny how you provided more support for that than you did your claim that Macon wasn't making "generalizations" I never accused him of making.

    I took issue with his ASSUMPTIONS which had to do with the people in the video. So when Macon says:

    It's their fears of McCain, you see, that have pushed them into being traitors to their party

    Then my "accusations" about what Macon said ABOUT THE PEOPLE IN THE VIDEO are warranted and correct.

    I guess you can say Macon did GENERALIZE and take the testimony of 1 out of 5 White Republicans in the video to concoct this FEAR scenario but I actually address his inaccuracy from the standpoint of him making untenable ASSUMPTIONS.

    Also, the fact that you know people who want vote for Obama because of his race says nothing about this rather self-selected group of people in the video or those like the blogger, A Bitter, Bitter Man. For the party jumpers, in particular, they've already shown that they are, somewhat, atypical people. That alone would suggest that they probably don't hold typical views which possibly include views regarding the "fear" of a Black president. And the fact that they are atypical makes your reference to people you know even more beside the point.

    Notice you didn't say everybody you know have said they won't vote for Obama because he's black. What Macon actually conveyed in his post is that you and White people you know who have said they will vote for Obama, at least some of ya'll have some submerged racial issues.

    So, Macon just knows that you or one or more of those pro-Obama people you know (if you know any) are hiding some kind of racial prejudice, some racial issue you have with the idea of a black person being president.

    That's what he said.

    if these border-crossing Republicans are really going to vote this new way, one of the things that at least some of them will have to overcome about themselves is their racial prejudice.

    So, out of the 5 white Republicans in the video, Macon is banking on one or more of them having some kind of racial prejudice they will have to overcome.

    Macon just knows "some of them" have relevant racial prejudice(s) they will have to overcome.

    So, I've taken issue with Macon's wild ASSUMPTIONS on two counts: his assumption-assertion that party jumpers made the move out of "fear" and his assumption that "some of them", some of those people from an already small, self-selected group, just have to have some racial prejudice they have to get over...

    There is no way he knows that and there is no way for you or him to defend those baseless assumptions.

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  23. > I am so impressed by your level of patience/engagement with trolls..

    This blog and readers like you display openly the serious problems white anti-racism in America suffers from.
    And the phrase of "following Black lead" is just an empty phrase.
    The bigotry is disgusting

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  24. I am so impressed by your level of patience/engagement with trolls..

    What makes you think that people in this thread are trolling, other than that we disagree with Macon D? There is some history to our concerns about Macon D. Sometimes white liberals regurgitate textual learning about racism and white privilege, but then later on, act in ways that show non-understanding of white privilege and racism when dealing with people of colour.

    Being concerned with how academic knowledge translates to practical application is hardly "trolling". Acknowledging that racism and white privilege exist is only the first step. Consciously acknowledging this is much easier than realizing what kind of unconscious assumptions one has about people of colour, which are revealed in the way one frames discussions about race.

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  25. I think that according to WTA "trolls" are people where such whites know that there are some people who can look through and understand their faked "anti-racism".
    Like they write there on the Whiteantiracist-blog about the image of a so-good-white. People who can understand white privilege and abuse this wp again to "educate" and lecture other white people who are simple-minded enough to believe these self-declared "teachers".
    Critical people aren't welcomed and the more they are trying to silence us or try to diminish us with the attempt, that other whites will side with them and against us, the more they prove us right.
    Calling us "trolls" despite the facts we offer tells all about them.
    I am tired of white people like that with their racism and bigotry and their abuse of white supremacy for their own sick ego.
    But this also explains, sadly, the white silence when it comes to serious issues. It's not a lack of empathy, it's white entitlement without any interest to change anything.
    Macon still didn't change his "handshake post", this is telling and no surprise, I think he 'can't'. His white mindset makes it impossible for him to truly listening and learning. People like Macon don't understand that it is not about "untraining", but about truly living. People like Macon live the double-identity so many Europeans learn to live, not having the courage to be true to oneself. Trying to display another self than they actually are. Honesty is one of the most unwanted issue in Eurocentric culture

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  26. Ha. "Concerns." I've been following this very helpful blog for a long time now, and I think you're right, Restructure. Macon's approach isn't perfect (as he often says himself), and you, jw, and Nquest aren't trolls. You're Concern Trolls. Another helpful feature of the this blog is Macon's exemplary displays of patience with y'all. Sometimes I wonder, though, why he puts up with it. The three of you might think you're being helpful with your "concern," but your unrelenting negativity is anything but. It drives people away (which may well be your intent). I've noticed that a lot of the commenters here who appreciate this blog are people of color. If this blog is the mess that the three of you generally claim it is, I wonder what they're all getting out of it?

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  27. Thank you runawayfred. That is exactly the kind of trolling I was referring to. I hope they take the time to look up the definition of "concern troll."

    @jw- "You like to educate others, but you refuse to truly listen." This is one of the first things you said. Isn't this dismissive? If you have valid points about the post, they tend to get lost when you say things like this. Oh, yeah, you also tried to derail the thread with Troy Davis

    @nquest - point taken with addressing assumptions - but the fact remains that these people do exist, whether they are on this video or not and that is absolutely relevant - so, you could have addressed both the assumptions and the content of the post

    @restructure - read the definition of "concern troll" - once again, your point about white liberals is valid but there is no way that you could have read jw's post and concluded that he was bringing up academic points for discussion

    There are people who will not vote for Obama because he is black. This is a FACT.

    You may have problems with the way that Macon framed the discussion.

    My problem is that this is a pattern in discussions about race in the blogosphere..derailed with tone, derailed with the way the discussion was framed, etc. How about the content?!

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  28. RAF
    >The three of you might think you're being helpful with your "concern," but your unrelenting negativity is anything but. It drives people away (which may well be your intent).

    It's not my intention to be 'helpful'. But driving people away would be a good thing, the less people read this subtle racist blog the better it is.

    My, you know, for me this blog is also something like learning about the powerful dynamics of subtle racism and how "so-good-whites" are able to create their safe space with people defending each other.
    It is this defending just to defend, this group dynamic of destructive power of white supremacy. This blog is a perfect example how that works and how people who try to combat this subtle racism are being treated by those who believe they are in power.
    Not those who do the mistakes (Macon) are those who are blamed, but those who uncover the truth.
    Of course uncovering the truth isn't wanted within a system of white supremacy, it's not about the patience Macon has with us, but the real issue is that victims of racism are being forced to 'have patience' with people like Macon and his friends. This is white supremacy in action, in front of your nose.

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  29. >How about the content?!

    Yes I agree, Macon should finally come up with content without assumptions

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  30. Okay, I am going to do something that I have never done on a blog's comments section, because I have always found it to be silly, but I am going to "co-sign" the comments of runawayfred (on 9/15 at 6:08 AM) and white trash academic (on 9/15 at 6:55 AM).

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  31. JW is a moron, sorry....

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  32. @White Trash Academic

    You have not taken my point and you keep acting like you can't address the fact that Macon was saying "these people exist" within the 5 white people in the video.

    So deal with the CONTENT of what I've said and explain what it is that you or at least some of your pro-Obama acquaintances have done or used to submerge your anti-black racial prejudice. That's what we're dealing with here.

    Macon insisted that at least some of the people in the video harbored racial prejudice and must be submerging said prejudice.

    Notice how the title and main idea of Macon's thread is NOT "[stuff white people do] allow their prejudice to stop them from voting for someone black." No, the title and main idea, THE CONTENT I CONTENDED WITH, had to do with Macon's wild ASSUMPTIONS that there is some overriding "fear" factor -- McCain's warmongering/advancing Bush policies -- that explains why Whites are voting FOR Obama when they, at least some of them, would otherwise NOT vote for a Black candidate due to race-prejudice that they have "submerged" given the war and economic reality that trump their prejudice in this situation.

    Your comments to me were and remain irrelevant because you have not and failed to address the context and CONTENT of what I said as I took issue NOT with some imagined generalizations you accused me of accusing Macon with (YOU WERE WRONG) but with the bogus ASSUMPTIONS Macon made ABOUT THE PEOPLE IN THE VIDEO, etc.

    Once you started talking about people who were not in the video, you were NOT addressing what I said. Again, this is what Macon had to say about THE PEOPLE IN THE VIDEO:

    if these border-crossing Republicans are really going to vote this new way, one of the things that at least some of them will have to overcome about themselves is their racial prejudice.

    Now address that CONTENT. While you're at it, address this CONTENT:

    What this sardonically named white blogger hopes for is that the possibility of McCain's continuation of Bush's disastrous policies will scare a lot of white people who normally wouldn't vote for a black candidate into doing so.

    Full disclosure: It appears that Macon intended to post a specific link to the Bitter White Folks For Obama blog but didn't. The ABOUT ME section on the blog and, indeed, the name of the blog itself echoes the non-partisan, failed government sentiment Obama expressed when he made his comment about politicians, Republican and Democrat, who failed to deliver policies for rural Americans but instead used wedge issues including guns and religion/culture war issues to gain their votes. Nothing in that ABOUT ME section was premised on the "fear" factor Macon created-and-inserted and Macon failed to quote anything from A Bitter, Bitter Man that indicated such a "fear" factor.


    Again, I took issue with Macon's post on two counts which had everything to do with the CONTENT which revealed:

    (1) his assumption-assertion that party jumpers made the move out of "fear" and

    (2) his assumption that "some of them", some of those people from an already small, self-selected group, just have to have some racial prejudice that they have to get over...

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  33. Nquest, I get what you're saying; here's the last word on the points you're raising again and again, unless White Trash Academic has more to add (I'm not trying to speak for her here).

    You may not see each of the folks in this video expressing various sorts of fear of McCain, but I do (in addition to their expressions of approval of Obama's differing policies). You wrote, "Stephanie Marushia described herself as a veterans issues voter," and that she's therefore not voting for Obama out of fear of McCain, but I do interpret that as fear of McCain, because, obviously, she fears what a McCain Administration would do to, and not do for, veterans. My larger point is that the video is about those fears, and not about the white elephant in the room, racist fears of (or as a lot of white folks would now describe them, "reservations about") black people. If you disagree on this point, then neither one of us will convince the other that he's wrong.

    I'm not projecting "fears of electing a black president" onto the people in the video. I'm saying (in line with a guiding, repeated, working presumption of this blog) that being "white" in America means having racist thoughts and yes, fears, instilled in oneself. I believe it's safe to assume that few if any of the white folks in this video have undergone much if any sort of the untraining that it would take to overcome such (often unconscious) racist fears. I know what becoming white in America entails well enough to know that it's not a "wild" assumption to say that at least some of the folks in this video, and a lot of Republicans who vote for Obama, and even a lot of Democrats who do so, will have to overcome their racism--their latent or overt fears of black people, and thus of a black president--to do so.

    All right then, you boiled down your verbiage into two points in your most recent comment, and I've addressed those. I've also added to the post the link that you pointed out is missing.

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  34. runawayfred & white trash academic:

    I honestly don't know how to respond to the accusation that we are "concern trolls", as we are probably working from completely different worldviews. From the definition runawayfred linked, you perceive us as pretending to be allies of Macon D, but are actually for the other side. I can only speak for myself, but I am not on Macon D's side or anybody's side.

    Now if you are equating Macon D's side with antiracism, then the implication that we are pretending to be antiracists but are actually anti-antiracists (i.e. racists) who are trying to prevent white people from learning about racism and white privilege is too wacky to be offensive. If you actually think this—that we are trying to prevent white people from learning about racism and white privilege—then I can only shake my head. I'm going to risk being perceived as a paranoid PoC and suggest that within the white racial frame, the white antiracist symbolizes the epitome of antiracism, because (i) antiracists of colour are seen as disruptive and creating racial tensions (while the white antiracist is seen as constructive and building bridges); and (ii) antiracists of colour are seen as fighting racism for personal benefit (while the white antiracist is seen as completely selfless). Since Macon D is a white antiracist, you people are unable to consider the possibility that there can be people who are more antiracist than Macon D, that people who disagree with the white antiracist are not necessary working against antiracism itself.

    Of course, there is no need to think of antiracists in terms of ranking (and a conceptual model that places antiracists on a linear scale is too simplistic), but if you people actually think that we are stealth anti-antiracists because we are not on Macon D's side, maybe you have a problem with understanding that there are more than two sides to an issue. It is not the case that "if you are not with Macon D, you are against antiracism." Apparently, the tendency to reduce complex/nuanced positions that you don't fully understand as being on the enemy's side is not limited to political conservatives.

    By the way, accusing people of being "trolls" is a form of silencing dissent, since once we are labelled "trolls", anything we say afterwards is considered insincere and motivated by some hidden agenda. Yes, there are such things as trolls, but please exhaust all other possibilities of why people would disagree with Macon D before reaching for the intellectually lazy rationale that reduces your cognitive dissonance.

    Finally, calling people "trolls" is quite off-putting, and makes me want to not come back to this blog, which may be your intention.

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  35. Hi JW, do you have a blog/site where I can read up on more of your thoughts. I visit here from time to time and usually find the comments more interesting than the article because it tends to expose certain tendencies that I believe you and a few others have noted. I don't mean this as a sleight to Macon D. I do believe he deserves some Kudos for at least the effort in posting. There is the chance that this location gets a dialog going amongst people you may normally not talk about it.

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  36. Anonymous, thanks for the lukewarm kudos. I can answer your question—jw has written two posts for “Stuff White People Do,” here and here. Lately she's been posting on another blog, along with Restructure and Nquest, " “Stuff White People Say.”

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