01/19/2009 01:08:38 AM EST

White guilt

posted by Ectheleon

This is my summation from personal experience about The effects of Racism and their new course in America.

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Throughout the past few generations as Segregation ended (at least in public view, private segregation still has some roots n strongholds.), The abolition of slavery, the Advances in equality that were desperately needed and craved in this Society, we found that things are slowly marching to where they should be if we are to live as PEOPLE not as tribes/races.  

However a alarming thing is in my oppinion starting to occur. 

We all have heard the term "white guilt" but not many actually understand what it means.   White guilt is what is bieng taught to white children by educated and understanding parents who do not want their children to grow up with any discrimination in their heart.   I have taught my son similar things but as im teaching him Im understanding more about the ramifications of this education.   Especially when Combined with my own childhood, having many black friends and knowing their families closely.

I grew up in Del ray alexandria in virginia, at the time it was almost entirely compromised of Black families.  I Listened in to discussions on racism, heard the attrocities my people commitied (or at least their percieved truth, some of which was grossly incorrect, IE white people taking slaves from africa, when the truth is most the slaves were sold by OTHER african tribes after they took them from their homes,  these tribes have 0 blame in the eyes of your average black person, it was all white peoples fault.)

The black families that i knew tended to teach their children to distrust police... distrust white people (usually said with a snyde "the man" comment).   While at the same time my parents, were teaching me, respect everyone, we did bad things, they should never be repeated. 

My black friends would say things like "cracker, honkey, whitie"  thered be times id suggest something to do instead of sittin around all day, and jokingly get the response "you aint my massah white boy".    ;  Id laugh them off, i knew they were kidding.  But the more i heard it the more i realized there were times i SHOULD have been offended.   Why wasnt I?

I Felt like i had to take it cause of what my ancestors had done, that i was not allowed the privallege of bieng offended by words because their culture had been through so much.   Slowly as i grew, these things got more and more prevolent.  Bieng one of the only white families in a almost all black school (court kelly magnet school).   I literally would some days, Fight my way to school, and fight my way home as Racism was quite ingrained in many of these families,  The "dont trust white people" statements had turn to hate.   Id get insulted or attacked because of my skin color,  yet i never felt it was racist.... they were just mad at my people and i guess i had to take it.   I Learned to fight, Had first hand experience with More racial things when i and another kid fought.  I had learned how to fight over the years and won pretty easily,  His mother after he was on the ground nursing a bloody nose came out and grabbed him by the Ear, and as loudly and clearly as she could say told him and i quote.   "how fucking dare you ever get your ass beat by some WHite boy, you should be ashamed"   And led him off into the house, obviously mad and embarassed her son had lost to the likes of *gasp* me.

The point of this tale is the following.  Hate is hate, no matter the Origin,  Lately having heard a few statements from Cenk, or Ana about white people.  Easily could be a joke.  But im growing sick and tired of turning the other cheek and feeling like i have to Just accept racism against my skin color cause of things people long dead (or should be dead) do. 

I myself have never used a derogatory name towards anyone based on their color.   When you listen to a black comedian saying the shit they say is different, hes a comedian.   But sometimes you have to sit back and listen to things.

1) cenk's Impression of a white persons voice... i have NEVER EVER met a white person that sounded like that cliche science nerd/virgin.  I find it pretty offensive.   Especially where as if i made a impression of a Ghetto ignorant black person saying things like "muh fuggah yea!"  and the like.  There would be plenty of "you cant say shit like that racist!" lobbied at myself.

2) ive stated it a few times things like ana's Talk about why she doesnt like white men (This is not just about ana but more a general thing) cause they lack flavor.   This is also So fucking racist to me,  You dont know what "Flavor" a man has based on his skin color.  Nor should you judge a man by his skin color.  Its the same in my view as if a woman said "i dont like black men cause they are ignorant"   You cant LUMP people into some trivial Catagory.  If you prefer a certain type of man thats fine, but skin color should not come into it.  I may like specific hair colors of women, body figure etc etc,  but im not about to say "I wont date hispanic women cause they are too spicy" as ive met many hispanic women that have no "spice" to them whatever. 

We should of learned by now that Racial profiling/stereotyping is wrong.

3) White people dancing.   Seriously get the fuck over it, i know many white people that Can dance hip hop/classical or even Raive dancing with those stupid Glow sticks (seriously people.... how did that BS start do you not realize how stupid you look, almost as dumb as the crunking siezure fad thats going now.)

Anyways.  I just think if were going to be a nation that comes together and treats everyone as equals ALL this Racist stuff HAS to end.  There is room for jokes in comedy.  But when you make Blanket statements no matter the skin color, your damaging something that has taken years to build up.   Were not black/white/red/yellow/purp le humans, were just humans and until we start realizing that skin color is meaningless.  THen we are never going to truely come together.

(in final, i know that There is Racism still out there.  Cops that profile etc, black people not recieving fair legal presence in courtrooms,  But that does not make it OK for disparaging remarks that are flown off the cuff, to not warrant a "hey man you cant say that shit about white people, just as i cant say that kind of shit about your people.")

Love the show Cenk, ill never stop watching, just hope you read this.   And as for ANA, i think she is a dharling, and the whole white men thing is the only thing i dislike about her, and i know she doesnt mean it like she keeps saying.  But its annoying and Seriously does come off as rather racist.

The etchasketch.
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White guilt | 13 comments (13 topical, 0 hidden)
Two Sorts (none / 0)
The World is divided in two sorts of people, the sort of people who divide the world into two sorts of people, and those who don't.

by Milez on 01/19/2009 04:58:39 AM EST

And... (none / 0)
The World is divided in two other sorts of people, the sort of people who complain about racism and those who complain about people complaining about racism.

"No, you are a paid blogger assigned to counter anyone that posts something negative about the government or Obama." by Mcamelyne II on 05/17/2011

by Robrob on 01/21/2009 02:01:26 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Race (none / 0)
There are bad apples in every race, And that is what will keep racism around for way to long.
We all need to heal racism, not let our parents feed more racism into our heads.

Blacks have had a real hard time in the past, and still do in some areas. And it is time to find the a real way to heal the past and present.

I think most of us have felt some kind of racism in our life , Be it small or large and it all hurts.

Think about sometime that you hurt so bad you can't stand it , That is what racism fells like, I here it here on tyt all the time, Just because i am not as smart as someone else , who thinks they are better than you.

by tuna on 01/19/2009 07:06:10 AM EST

You are right (none / 0)
I don't think there's any debate there, if we want an end to racism, it can't just come from the white community.

by nmaks on 01/19/2009 11:12:45 AM EST

That's no reason to resist (5.00 / 2)
I don't think there's any debate there, if we want an end to racism, it can't just come from the white community.

Fair enough, but if that reasoning stops any white racists from trying to correct their own ways, then it's not even worth mentioning. Childish as it sounds, the whole "but he started it" argument is used by enough adults to cause the breakdown of peacemaking worldwide. See also, Israel/Palestine. If a person, white or otherwise, realizes his own negative tendencies but then refuses to change on the grounds of "why should I? Those people do it, too," that's called being petty.

by OneHitKill on 01/19/2009 08:14:52 PM EST

[ Parent ]
my appologies butt... (none / 0)
thats a retarded defense...  and as you said in the statement quite childish. 

Just cause someone else is doing something clearly wrong, it doesnt excuse you doing the same behavior.  With that reguards white or otherwise you need to get over yourself and stop discriminating based on color.  If you cant then your part of the problem.

change always begins with the first person to have a open mind to something.    ; the more people that stop teaching white guilt/racism (in any form to any color).  to their children, just teach that were all equal, and things will get better, stop teaching DISTRUST and hate, and you will see a improvement in race relations in a single generation.

by Ectheleon on 01/19/2009 11:09:40 PM EST

[ Parent ]
my bad. (none / 0)
Sorry about my comment, i misread your post (Was distracted by a 7 month old and read it in snipets)  I thought your post meant something else entirely.  Appologies hopefully accepted.

by Ectheleon on 01/19/2009 11:11:49 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Totally (3.67 / 1)
(Was distracted by a 7 month old and read it in snipets)

No hard feelings. When ever anybody disagrees with me about anything, I always assume first that they were somehow distracted or under duress.

by OneHitKill on 01/26/2009 11:05:38 AM EST

[ Parent ]
Let's forget race and be here now. (none / 0)
"...were just humans and until we start realizing that skin color is meaningless.  THen we are never going to truely come together."

A poet once said: "It is not enough to have memories... you must be able to forget them."

In a way, hyper-sensitivity to racial issues is a product and symptom of us clinging to our past.  Yes, a black person has every right to feel angry that his grandfather was a slave; a white person has the right to feel angry that they were imparted with guilt their entire life when they certainly had no choice being born into the present world.  While the right is always present, the anger should be temporal, not perpuated generationally.  If there is a way for humans to both pay mindful attention to our history's lessons, and find a dispassionate view to practice egalitarian philosophies in a pluralistic society, it will be done without the resentments of past transgressions.  We have all been wronged as individuals and many of us have been persecuted over things we have no control over.  These things are immeasurable so it is fruitless to cling to the past - and I believe it is possible to learn from the past while leaving the reactive anger behind.  We are better served when we overcome fear of the other, recognize our own agency, and learn to be here now.

Thanks for your post - keep fighting the good fight...

by MsGinger on 01/19/2009 05:26:08 PM EST

I get where your coming from, (none / 0)

Hey Etch I get where ya coming from, but your are missing a few important details to your idea about white guilt.I am black by the way and take no offense to anything you posted here as your opinion dose matter and you make some valid points. The addendum is that while yes Africans did enslave other Africans, so did many other races at that time, yet the European form of slavery was not the same as Asian, or African for that matter. African tribes, not all but many of them who did take slaves from conquered tribes , they were slaves in yet only to the conquering King,Tribal Chief, leader of that group and his counsel etc..

Meaning that they were able to keep the respect of the title they held in the conquered tribe, say the would be slave was tribe doctor, he would still practice as a doctor to the conquering tribe. They were still allowed to re-tain their respect and title, for the knowledge they brought to the conquering tribe.

Now lets, examine exactly how the European method of slavery differed from African slavery. The Euro-American idea of it was to strip away everything  from the slave and to make sure and break the human, to degrade them to a point where they thought themselves animals. The thing is when you really look around this world and the peoples in it just about every other race can trace their roots back to the starting point. Black is not a race, it's a color, Afro is not a race, tribe or anything other than a hairstyle as I know it. So let's just say everyone left America and went back home to their motherland, there would be one race left on this continent and they would be Native American, and Black people, Colored People, would be asking if they could rent a room and trying to learn Cherokee, or Apache. We have had everything stripped away Language, Faith or Religion(Tribal Beliefs), heritage and knowing of where we come from truly, and on top of all this we get nothing from the FREE labor provided, which built this country right alongside white men and women. Stripped of who we are, and beaten like animals, there is a difference. And I am not saying only White people did it , but when it comes to the guilt issue this is what people should be talking about, because if this were your race having been treated like this how would you feel, and though you didn't actually beat black people yourself, We are still being treated, beaten and shot as if we are all animals. Oscar and BART example it hasn't really changed that much. I just want to tell you that I hope you can look past the little shit, cuz man we have way bigger problems than racial jokes. Peace bruh Don't become what you hate, do you.


by Solo on 01/20/2009 03:43:37 AM EST

I get where your coming from, (none / 0)

Hey Etch I get where ya coming from, but your are missing a few important details in your idea about white guilt.I am black by the way and take no offense to anything you posted here as your opinion dose matter and you make some valid points. The addendum is that while yes Africans did enslave other Africans, so did many other races at that time, yet the European form of slavery was not the same as Asian, or African for that matter. African tribes, not all but many of them who did take slaves from conquered tribes , they were slaves in yet only to the conquering King,Tribal Chief, leader of that group and his counsel etc..

Meaning that they were able to keep the respect of the title they held in the conquered tribe, say the would be slave was tribe doctor, he would still practice as a doctor to the conquering tribe. They were still allowed to re-tain their respect and title, for the knowledge they brought to the conquering tribe. Now I also don't believe that the Africans thought that these slave would be treated the way they were treated in American hands, but that's just my opinion about it.

Now lets, examine exactly how the European method of slavery differed from African slavery. The Euro-American idea of it was to strip away everything  from the slave and to make sure and break the being, (as we were considered 1/5 man I think constitutionally), to degrade the people to a point where they thought themselves animals. The thing is when you really look around this world and look at the people in it just about every other race can trace their lineage. Black is not a race, it's a color, Afro is not a race, tribe or anything other than a hairstyle as I know it. here's a thought I always have, let's just say everyone left America and went back home to their motherland, there would be one race left on this continent and they would be Native American, and Black people, Colored People, would be asking if they could stay and try to learn Cherokee, or Apache or something. We have had everything stripped away Language, Faith or Religion(Tribal Beliefs), heritage and knowing of where we come from truly, and on top of all this we get nothing from the FREE labor provided, which built this country right alongside white men and women. Stripped of who we are, and beaten like animals, there is a difference. And I am not saying only White people did it , but when it comes to the guilt issue this is what people should be talking about, because if this were your race having been treated like this how would you feel, and though you didn't actually beat black people yourself, We are still being treated, beaten and shot as if we are all animals. Oscar and BART example it hasn't really changed that much. I just want to tell you that I hope you can look past the little shit, cuz man we have way bigger problems than racial jokes. Peace bruh Don't become what you hate, do you.


by Solo on 01/20/2009 03:52:44 AM EST

Sorry it posted without corrections (none / 0)

And then posted the corrected version below.:\

by Solo on 01/20/2009 03:55:04 AM EST

[ Parent ]
I Like It (none / 0)
Whats up Etchasketch

This is Jayar of TYT, I happened to read your post this morning and liked a lot of what you had to say. I love when topics get brought up that we're too afraid to talk about just b/c of how it MAY come off.  I wish I were in today so I could bring it up on the show.  

Anyway, I think you're right in pointing out the ignorance that is said about White folks.  I would hope that people teach their kids about people, that we are all simply humans rather than teach them HOW to feel towards others...allow them to gain their own experiences and if those become skewed due to some bad ones, that's when the adjusting should occur.  The same kinds of teachings probably happened to the Black kids you had to fight with everyday.  Their parents had experienced and seen such heinous things themselves that a point of "this shit ain't gonna happen anymore" had to come up.  In pushing back, they ended up shoving too hard in the other direction.  This is why racism sucks; it only produces more of it.

By the way...I love when comedians make fun of any race.  If a White person makes fun of Black folks and its funny, why wouldn't I laugh?  I've seen some Black comedians do White folks jokes and they just weren't funny, b/c they just weren't funny!  Where I draw the line is when it perpetuates and convinces people that these things are always true.  The people that ingest that need the change of heart, not the comedians.  

by yturks on 01/21/2009 10:47:43 AM EST

White guilt | 13 comments (13 topical, 0 hidden)
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