tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post8645775830652409262..comments2024-03-06T08:29:13.333-08:00Comments on stuff white people do: suffer from a privilege-induced lack of coping skillsmacon dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07795547197817128339noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-10714761132338307552009-09-12T09:50:53.930-07:002009-09-12T09:50:53.930-07:00Lol fromthetropics, I went and read that post and ...Lol fromthetropics, I went and read that post and came back here to ask if you were suggesting Isobel is critiquing it or embodying it....<br /><br />I think it probably is the same thing, whether you are pointing the finger at the upper class or pointing the finger at another white country... either way it means you don't need to look at your own privilege. It's easy for the poor to see how the rich are privileged, and it's easy for the rest of the world to see how the USA is privileged. It's harder to see that you share some levels of privilege with that group if you're so busy seeing how different they are to you.cinnamon girlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08547856129124479433noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-11490025747676563362009-09-12T09:40:09.289-07:002009-09-12T09:40:09.289-07:00cinnamon girl, don't apologize. I was being sa...cinnamon girl, don't apologize. I was being sarcastic (towards Isabel, and not you) when I said, 'doing a great job' ;) Your comment was actually very timely.fromthetropicsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-12848403651669675852009-09-12T09:23:21.589-07:002009-09-12T09:23:21.589-07:00thanks fromthetropics, I came here from a link up ...thanks fromthetropics, I came here from a link up there.....<br /><br />Didn't realise until I posted that this one was so old, sorry bout that.cinnamon girlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08547856129124479433noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-57523085083799619482009-09-12T08:42:03.510-07:002009-09-12T08:42:03.510-07:00>So is that another thing white people do - poi...>So is that another thing white people do - point at other white people's privilege in smug ignorance of their own?<br /><br />>Maybe you've already covered that one. ;-)<br /><br />I think Isabel, a commenter, is doing a great job covering that over here and in other posts: http://stuffwhitepeopledo.blogspot.com/2009/09/do-less-than-they-could-to-make-black.html?showComment=1252769059014fromthetropicsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-69700832202372454992009-09-12T07:24:27.778-07:002009-09-12T07:24:27.778-07:00"So, when 9/11 happened, millions of whites w..."So, when 9/11 happened, millions of whites were running around saying “why do they hate us?” because whites have never had to see our nation the way others do–we’ve been able to live in la-la land."<br /><br />It stuck out to me that in this point you equate 'whites' with 'white people from the USA'. I'd like to point out that in other white countries, we didn't say that; but neither did we run around asking why they hate you, because we already knew why.<br /><br />I think it's interesting though that while it was easy for us to spot the American privilege there (we didn't know that you had no knowledge of your foreign policy, we just thought you didn't care), it is just as easy for us to divorce ourselves from it - to condemn the ignorance of Americans living off the world's suffering when we do it too, just as much, and the only thing we don't do is export our culture aggressively like the USA does.<br /><br />So is that another thing white people do - point at other white people's privilege in smug ignorance of their own?<br /><br />Maybe you've already covered that one. ;-)cinnamon girlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08547856129124479433noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-71587195070523630602008-10-14T09:19:00.000-07:002008-10-14T09:19:00.000-07:00yeah it's like those articles in magazines and the...yeah it's like those articles in magazines and the newspaper about the failing economy or our poor health care system - featuring white white collar professionals struggling to make it. it's like the hard times haven't started until the white people say they have.<BR/><BR/>wise brings up 9/11, which has been "marketed" as the worst terrorist attack on american soil. like slavery and genocide of native peoples never happened.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-105005554402078822008-10-13T16:24:00.000-07:002008-10-13T16:24:00.000-07:00That quotation almost perfectly described what it ...That quotation almost perfectly described what it was like, before I happened to be living in New Orleans on August 29, 2005. <BR/><BR/>I really don't think I'll ever trust the government again. I don't trust that my money's safe. I don't trust that my stuff is safe. I don't trust that elected officials know how to do their jobs. I've lived on other people's charity, I've gone 30 days with the national guard stationed on my street keeping me out of my house. It is impossible to realize how on the brink we all are, until you are forced to.<BR/><BR/>I think many white people truly do go through years of life without that security ripped from under them. And I think it's something that's getting worse with this generation, ie: more people age 20-30 are STILL living with and being supported by their parents than ever before.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18285186644658106835noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-6192226690234314012008-10-10T17:30:00.000-07:002008-10-10T17:30:00.000-07:00Macon, this is wild. I was listening to that song ...Macon, this is wild. I was listening to that song last night - on purpose knowing today would be another market blood bath. <BR/><BR/>Tim Wise rocked in that article. Good Lord that man is on target, time and time again. Thanks for sharing it.Kit (Keep It Trill)https://www.blogger.com/profile/03027769872237001801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-50861956652574190232008-10-10T16:37:00.000-07:002008-10-10T16:37:00.000-07:00Thank you for the post suggestion, anonymous. That...Thank you for the post suggestion, anonymous. That does sound like a good topic that's related to this one, but separate too, so I'll see if I can add anything to what you've said here sometime. You've actually described several ways that whites often project stereotypes onto black women. Michelle Obama, of course, gets them thrown onto her back too (as in the recent moment on Bill O'Reilly's show--I think on the radio--when he basically said out of the blue, "She seems angry to me. Don't you think she seems angry?"). As I continuously say on this blog, white folks should wake up to these tendencies, and to so many others.<BR/><BR/>Hi Sharon, I have read the collection of stories called <I>White People</I>, and remember finding it enjoyable (it was a long time ago), and insightful about white people and their ways, though his characters are mostly or all American <I>Southern</I> white folks. The story "Nativity, Caucasian" seems to me like a great parody on common white fears of and disdain for the body. Gurganus is a gentle storyteller, so you have to read carefully for real critique of white people and their ways, but it's there (in a lot of color symbolism too, if I remember right). Hope you like it--it would be great if you'd let us know what you thought of his take on "white" people.macon dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07795547197817128339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-78088533895659787162008-10-10T16:11:00.000-07:002008-10-10T16:11:00.000-07:00Hi Macon,Have you ever read _White People_ by Alla...Hi Macon,<BR/>Have you ever read _White People_ by Allan Gurganus, and if so, what did you think? I just added it to my goodreads...haven't read it myself.<BR/>sliSharon Irishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04738140653120293210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-28927563362076637482008-10-10T15:06:00.000-07:002008-10-10T15:06:00.000-07:00this reminds of me something else that could be a ...this reminds of me something else that could be a topic for Stuff White People Do - unload their emotional baggage on their friends of color. i'm reminded of white friends of mine who are utterly incapable of dealing with the most routine sh*t sometimes. to them, i am a 'strong black woman' - simultaneously meaning i am a superwoman who can handle anything and that i am therefore devoid of any real emotional struggles. what they fail to realize most of the time is that the things they constantly fall apart over, i'm forced to deal with silently just so i can get along in the world and not be seen as the black stereotype of 'angry' or 'out of control'. this is another version of the 'magical negro' sidekick - the all-knowing negro who can enlighten their white acquaintances on the difficulties of life but are portrayed as not having any actual lives of their own.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com