tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post7363004072641772018..comments2024-03-06T08:29:13.333-08:00Comments on stuff white people do: fail to give credit to non-white people for understanding whitenessmacon dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07795547197817128339noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-41568812117132252342008-07-30T08:07:00.000-07:002008-07-30T08:07:00.000-07:00abagond, thank you for suggesting Baldwin's book, ...abagond, thank you for suggesting Baldwin's book, <I>The Fire Next Time.</I> I'd forgotten just how powerful it is, and yes, it clearly does belong on the list. <BR/><BR/>I have a copy of Jones' book now and look forward to it. <BR/><BR/>Thanks again.macon dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07795547197817128339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-55000988900712357872008-07-26T06:59:00.000-07:002008-07-26T06:59:00.000-07:00Schuyler wrote that novel before his turn toward c...Schuyler wrote that novel before his turn toward conservative views. It's a wide-ranging satire that in part exposes the fantasies of white skin favortism, and of the concept of race itself. I don't find all of what it seems to say convincing.macon dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07795547197817128339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-85410664609444797402008-07-25T17:59:00.000-07:002008-07-25T17:59:00.000-07:00George Schuyler, Black No More (novel, 1931)______...George Schuyler, Black No More (novel, 1931)<BR/>________________________________<BR/><BR/>Interesting list. With perhaps a few exceptions, it explains why we (you and I) come at this from very different angles. <BR/><BR/>Back to the list... Schuyler makes it even more interesting. I'm wondering what you drew/draw from Schuyler or what you credit him for.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-75660847917770848262008-07-25T14:26:00.000-07:002008-07-25T14:26:00.000-07:00abagond wrote: You can try what Thandeka herself ...<B>abagond wrote: You can try what Thandeka herself suggested: always call white people "white". And no need to use "non-white" or "black" or anything like that - they are just people! See how that changes your perception of things.</B><BR/><BR/>Thanks, abagond, for sharing the above.<BR/><BR/>From now on, as a person, I am going to do this.<BR/><BR/>=================================<BR/><BR/>In pretty much all of the fiction books that I have read, written by a white person, any character who is not white (be the character the "normal" white WASP or an ethnic white), is only described by their colour or nationality. So, with black persons, they are only described as black. There is no description of that black person's skin colour or hair texture or facial features. A Chinese person is the Chinese person; again, no description of how that person looks. But a white person is rarely identified as white. Usually, every nuance of that white person's physical being is described: hair colour, facial features, hair length, even skin colour (which is ironic, given that there are so few shades of white skin as compared to the many, many, many shades of black and brown and yellow skin).redcatbikerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08645491470348404443noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-77693223958501527842008-07-24T18:42:00.000-07:002008-07-24T18:42:00.000-07:00Kit, I'm glad you liked what that sentence summari...Kit, I'm glad you liked what that sentence summarizes. It's certainly something white folks rarely realize.<BR/><BR/>Eric, not to be snarky, but this blog is all ABOUT centering whiteness. There are good ways and bad ways of doing that, granted, but I'm hoping to help center whiteness in white self-consciousness, where it's too often taken for granted (or else misapprehended). Sometimes I use POC or people of color, but usually not when I'm going against my white training by focusing on whiteness.<BR/><BR/>jw, I work against whiteness, or white supremacy, in my daily life in many ways, first of all by doing what abagond suggests, or sort of suggests--always trying to think of white people AS white, including myself (Thandeka's suggested experiment of always verbally labeling white people "white" is indeed hard to keep up--I get her point already, for one thing, but for another, it just drives other white folks nuts, and for me at least, that's hard to work with--I still do it sometimes, though). I also take time during the day to <A HREF="http://stuffwhitepeopledo.blogspot.com/2008/07/go-along-with-racism-instead-of-calling.html" REL="nofollow">talk to white folks</A> about <A HREF="http://stuffwhitepeopledo.blogspot.com/2008/06/think-that-black-people-are-wasting.html" REL="nofollow">various manifestations</A> of white supremacy, and at the end of many days I often pause to <A HREF="http://stuffwhitepeopledo.blogspot.com/2008/06/rarely-count-their-racial-blessings.html" REL="nofollow">count my racial blessings</A>. I also work with a parents' group that's trying to diversify local schools, and my own effort there is specifically geared toward pushing curricular offerings away from an entrenched, fundamentally Eurocentric perspective. And my professional life is specifically about challenging white supremacy at institutional levels. And I do more, including "daily" work on this blog, one of several forms of writing in which I counter white supremacy.<BR/><BR/>renee, I thought Rent a Negro was funny as hell too, and that Ayo's <A HREF="http://stuffwhitepeopledo.blogspot.com/2008/05/dismiss-idea-of-reparations.html" REL="nofollow">project on reparations</A> was also a good poke in the white eye, for those who understood it as such.<BR/><BR/>And thank you for the recs, Abagond, I'll certainly look into them.macon dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07795547197817128339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-14110829031388508572008-07-24T18:23:00.000-07:002008-07-24T18:23:00.000-07:00Interesting list. I would add:James Baldwin, "The ...Interesting list. I would add:<BR/><BR/>James Baldwin, "The Fire Next Time"<BR/><BR/>LeRoi Jones, "Blues People"<BR/><BR/>The second one is about the history of black music but he says quite a bit about the sensibilities of white people along the way.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-91745039291981686172008-07-24T18:12:00.000-07:002008-07-24T18:12:00.000-07:00You can try what Thandeka herself suggested: alway...You can try what Thandeka herself suggested: always call white people "white". And no need to use "non-white" or "black" or anything like that - they are just people! See how that changes your perception of things.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-42077863911800064342008-07-24T17:59:00.000-07:002008-07-24T17:59:00.000-07:00Thanks for posting this list. It's very helpful!Thanks for posting this list. It's very helpful!veggiegrrlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11203195649790878982noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-48916418831036877642008-07-24T17:56:00.000-07:002008-07-24T17:56:00.000-07:00I loved hot to rent a negro..even though it was se...I loved hot to rent a negro..even though it was serious I found that I was laughing out loud. It spoke to the ways in which we understand race.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-10297330216045023142008-07-24T12:08:00.000-07:002008-07-24T12:08:00.000-07:00As I write about whiteness, and as I work against ...<I>As I write about whiteness, and as I work against it in my daily life</I><BR/><BR/>how do you work against whiteness in your daily life?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-45266929341152728212008-07-24T11:22:00.000-07:002008-07-24T11:22:00.000-07:00I am honestly not trying to be snarky with this co...I am honestly not trying to be snarky with this comment...but I have a post idea for Stuff White People Do: Use "non-white" when referring to people of color.<BR/><BR/>It centers whiteness and keeps "white" as an element of the identities of both white people and people of color. Sometimes I use non-white, but I try to avoid it because it feels like an institutionalized/socialized (?) component of racism...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-51345773054509393882008-07-24T11:08:00.000-07:002008-07-24T11:08:00.000-07:00Macon, you said, "Understanding white people has b...Macon, you said, "Understanding white people has been a matter of life or death for non-white people..."<BR/><BR/>Wow. That really hits a chord with me and summarizes so succinctly what blacks have and still go through. Thank you.Kit (Keep It Trill)https://www.blogger.com/profile/03027769872237001801noreply@blogger.com