tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post4139345309004121794..comments2024-03-06T08:29:13.333-08:00Comments on stuff white people do: pat themselves on the back for having black friendsmacon dhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07795547197817128339noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-9758012003006999102009-10-22T12:44:17.579-07:002009-10-22T12:44:17.579-07:00hm how would a white person say they have a black ...hm how would a white person say they have a black friend in a way that isn't racist then? im not white, im Chinese. i read a few posts, and while i think you are highlighting the blights of racism, i don't think you're really helping to close the divide, just widening the chasm with the 'hey sista ima black, i hate whites.' what you gona do now. say 'im not racist, i have white friends?'<br /><br />i live in Malaysia, a country where we have laws enshrined in our constitution giving the Malay race all kinds of special rights from free higher education to cheaper houses and non restriction from government contracts which other races suffer from. you don't have that anywhere else, so be glad.<br /><br />stop living off the past and crying out for pity. Every race has been wronged before.stinchanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02578513812891729466noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-71021525066552383982009-09-28T05:04:46.340-07:002009-09-28T05:04:46.340-07:00Please stop crying about racism you're hurting...Please stop crying about racism you're hurting my head. If white man is being a dick and black man wants to say "Hey dude, you're being a dick" or other way around that's NOT racism. You don't have to be over sensitive just because the object of your feelings has different pigment. The fact that you're over analyzing stuff like this makes you the worst racially polarized people ever.Groupernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-46959753395961239922009-09-02T13:22:16.558-07:002009-09-02T13:22:16.558-07:00I've heard some racist people who have POC fri...I've heard some racist people who have POC friends say things like "All [insert group] are like this, but you're different." I've heard sexist remarks like that too..."women are usually like x, but you're different." *eye roll*Vnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-52435303072964653172009-08-22T16:03:49.105-07:002009-08-22T16:03:49.105-07:00When my school's superintendent tried to get r...When my school's superintendent tried to get rid of the Day of Silence, and I told him that what he was discrimination and a display of homophobia he told me:<br />"but my daughter is married to a black man."<br /><br />Just think on that.Barbara Morrisonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03159039667171278028noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-22535359860313810812009-08-12T16:53:39.409-07:002009-08-12T16:53:39.409-07:00Hey wallflower, I DO sell the shirts! http://www.c...Hey wallflower, I DO sell the shirts! http://www.cafepress.com/wholenewg<br /><br />Hint...Hint...Ghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00900726730265994177noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-83679376737393379912009-08-12T12:39:21.117-07:002009-08-12T12:39:21.117-07:00You know, you never hear a white person say, "...You know, you never hear a white person say, "But I have a white friend..." If there is a need to brag on yourself for having friends of different colors, why not point out the color of white friends, too, you know?Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01134116554971956983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-80028858409010712072009-08-12T11:32:35.327-07:002009-08-12T11:32:35.327-07:00"i'm not racist, i have black friends&quo..."i'm not racist, i have black friends"<br /><br />You'd be surprised how many times white liberals say this when around their fellow white liberal friends. For them, it's like a pat on the back for being so "understanding", "anti-racist" and "multicultural." The fact that they feel they have to point at that they're not racist proves that they are.j3dasanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-86039219560813911502009-08-12T09:06:49.979-07:002009-08-12T09:06:49.979-07:00This is a relative of "my uncle is gay!"...This is a relative of "my uncle is gay!" and "I'm not X, but [something X]." <br /><br /><i>>I actually made a t-shirt that says Certified Grade A Black Friend. </i><br /><br />G, that's hilarious. You could sell those.Wallflower Extraordinairehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11322289705415760220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-40135872176647218882009-08-12T08:41:40.877-07:002009-08-12T08:41:40.877-07:00fromthetropics makes a great point. And that remin...fromthetropics makes a great point. And that reminds me of a similar idea, men who say that they can't be sexist or misogynist because they love their mothers or their sisters. <br /><br />MissCegenation too makes a great point and points out something that so many people don't understand, particularly white people. And that is that most human beings really have internalized fundamentally decent behavior towards their fellow human beings, but this simply isn't enough. That means that, for the most part, a person will treat another person with whom he or she is interacting with respect, regardless of racial differences. And even more so today, when outwardly racist behavior on a one-on-one basis is considered socially unacceptable. (That observation is by no means intended to ignore the fact that racist behavior is still exhibited all too frequently on this level all over the United States. Also, this "respectful" treatment of which I speak is so often peppered with condescension or otherwise less than fully conscious racism).<br /><br />But congratulating oneself for treating black people respectfully in person obscures the larger structure of racism that both pervades our institutions and our socialization. For, what does it matter if a white manager goes home at the end of the day and congratulates himself for having behaved respectfully with a black job interview candidate if he didn't give the candidate the job due to some internalized racial bias? What does it matter that white people I know who would never be rude in their daily lives to black people nevertheless see some neighborhoods here in my city (I live in DC) as "ghettos" simply because the majority of the residents in those neighborhoods are black? <br /><br />And what does it matter if someone thinks that they're not racist if they then go out and tell people that Barack Obama is not a US citizen, or that they don't want their tax dollars going to support health care coverage for minorities?<br /><br />We have a long way to go.Lost Left Coasternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-56648560777983388532009-08-12T04:20:43.438-07:002009-08-12T04:20:43.438-07:00>Franken just COULD NOT GET OVER the fact that ...>Franken just COULD NOT GET OVER the fact that Thurmond could publicly hold such racist views, while he simultaneously had a black ex-lover and a bi-racial daughter.<<br /><br />Uhm, yeah. Most men love women, love having intimate relationships with them, marry them, have kids by them, and genuinely love their family, and yet hold male chauvinistic views at the same time. It's the same with racism.fromthetropicsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-18207208619417058802009-08-12T02:46:56.869-07:002009-08-12T02:46:56.869-07:00Yeah, I've heard this a lot of times too. If y...Yeah, I've heard this a lot of times too. If you have to trot out your example of a black friend as proof that you're not racist, then your actions really have betrayed you.<br /><br />I wonder how many white people I know use this in reference to me. I mean, I know some white girls who are so damn clueless about race and have no interest in learning anything at all that I wouldn't really consider them to be my friends, but they would probably refer to me as their "black friend" when I'm not there and they want to show how enlightened they are.Doreennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-4079601921578202292009-08-12T01:53:36.112-07:002009-08-12T01:53:36.112-07:00Even worst is the corollary: I can't be racist...Even worst is the corollary: I can't be racist, I have sex with ethnic chicks.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07532332154928094824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-59045990902709395382009-08-12T00:59:50.088-07:002009-08-12T00:59:50.088-07:00While I too have to doubt the quality of these sup...While I too have to doubt the quality of these supposed friendships (probably just someone you say hi to in the hall at work), the thing is even a true-blue friendship with a black person is hardly some wonder cure for racism. It will help in some ways but not in others. Like MissCegenation said, human beings and racism are not that simple.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-69969720627034751542009-08-11T22:13:02.455-07:002009-08-11T22:13:02.455-07:00It's been such a joke to me and my friends (fo...It's been such a joke to me and my friends (for osme of whom I am the only Black friend that they have) that I actually made a t-shirt that says Certified Grade A Black Friend. <br /><br />My friend Susan actually heard a girl claim to be friends with me in a bar right before she spouted some racist crap. Susan called her out, both on her (extreme lack of) friendship status with me and her racism. <br /><br />Living in the South I have made friends (usually at work) and hung out for a while and then later discovered a Confederate flag at thier house, boat, camper, etc... The willful ignorance that people can display always astounds me. How can they want to hang out with me and invite me to wherever and think that that's ok? That I will be comfortable? It generally leads to a discussion where they admit that it never even occured to them. They don't even notice thier own racism or the pain that they cause in others. <br /><br />I've lost a lot of 'friends' this way - people who are genuinely good and kind but cannot seem to see beyond their own whiteness. It's sad.Ghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00900726730265994177noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-31222723123950770052009-08-11T18:47:11.251-07:002009-08-11T18:47:11.251-07:00i used to listen to Al Franken every day during hi...i used to listen to Al Franken every day during his first year at Air America Radio. for the most part, he seems like an extremely smart, culturally aware guy.<br /><br />but there was one occasion, around the time that Senator Strom Thurmond died, and Franken was discussing Thurmond's black daughter (who was conceived with a black woman when Thurmond was still a very young man).<br /><br />Franken just COULD NOT GET OVER the fact that Thurmond could publicly hold such racist views, while he simultaneously had a black ex-lover and a bi-racial daughter.<br /><br />listening to him, i had one of those moments where i really understood the level of ignorance that so many people have about the innerworkings of race and the many levels that it lives on in our minds and lives as human beings. <br /><br />it's obvious to me that just because you have "friends" or intimate relationships with people of a different race, it may not change your views concerning white privelege or the inferiority of the "other". indeed, ideas about race work so insidiously that sometimes we hide the truth of how we really feel from ourselves.<br /><br />if someone like Franken can't see these things for what they are, what can we possibly expect from everyone else?MissCegenationhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08565928314913350720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-15497616998053681822009-08-11T18:37:49.142-07:002009-08-11T18:37:49.142-07:00LOL@The picture/post from "Black People Love ...LOL@The picture/post from "Black People Love Us"<br /><br />I have been coming here lately and must say that I am impressed by sensitivity and how insightful you are. No offense but a LARGE majority of White males are clueless on matters of race. Either they deter honest discourse by underplaying our situations or flat out and out deny its very existence.<br />Thank you.Black People Suffer From PTSDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07509460159802188917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-1056973345632771022009-08-11T15:15:34.593-07:002009-08-11T15:15:34.593-07:00Great article. Half the time I think their lying o...Great article. Half the time I think their lying or they might be counting the few people they casually say hi to but don't ACTUALLY know. I think you should do a post on white people who have ONE non-white friend and feel that they know everything about that non-white group of people ignoring the fact that all people within that race/ethnicity clearly able to be individuals.MissZ87noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-72778542179641148042009-08-11T09:55:11.646-07:002009-08-11T09:55:11.646-07:00Exactly!
I have always seen it as logic fail. If ...Exactly!<br /><br />I have always seen it as logic fail. If your friend is black or a fellow POC, why would you say or act out certain feelings or beliefs? Wouldn't that hurt your "supposed friend"? <br /><br />Also, meaning of these "friends" do not exist. They are often co-workers or acquaintances that one rarely hangs out with outside of work or the acquainted place, e.g. school.<br /><br />This belief is another disclaimer, such as the "I'm not a racist/sexist/anti-Semite, but....." one, that is so predictable that it's amongst the first obvious turn tos in the playbook.honeybrown1976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-528074983146803930.post-70317226961759384852009-08-11T09:23:41.586-07:002009-08-11T09:23:41.586-07:00Anybody who says "I have (enter minority grou...Anybody who says "I have (enter minority group) friends" immediately goes on my radar. As you point out it means nothing and shows how clueless they are.<br /><br />I once read an article that cited a study that said that there aren't enough black people (who say they have white friends) to go around to all the white people who say they have black friends.A.Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10542810587986768786noreply@blogger.com