Many whites - especially ones that have deep roots in this country, have no sense of their own history. So deep is their sense of entitlement as "Americans" (as white Americans), that the mythology of Great White reads like gospel truth: Whites aren't different - everyone else is. Its the reason "non-whites" are people of color (as opposed to the colorless ones: whites!)
In order for racism to change (to become unveiled, see the light), Euro-Americans must see the priviledge illustrated in our language, our sense of entitlement, our American history as invaders, conquerors, pioneers - everything.
Most whites really aren't up to that. Notice how defensive people get and start bitching about "politically correct" when this dialogue has been raised (a bitter, cynical term in my book). Couple this with the fact that America is "king of the world" - not a recipe for change.
I hear ya Jade...
hmmmm...guess i could say the same thing; call is like i see it.
the irony here is, i suspect that we agree on most points. i agree with jade as well.
america is a racist nation.
my contribution in this dialogue is to point out that as tempting as it might be to say, "racism isn't my problem, it's someone elses problem," that just isn't good enough.
i must admit, it's a pet peeve of mine when white people, or any one person for that matter, proudly boasts that he or she is free of racism, then pointing to all the other bad people who are not so enlightened.
keep calling it like you see it. what you say has truth.
all i'm doing is pointing out the rest of the story that you're leaving out.
that much of the world is racist. if we are to change this, at all, then we must look within, all of us, and do the hard work.
just calling it like i see it. and like it did in my last post. and the post before that.
and to drive home my point, again, i was just pointing out the lack of logic in your points.
you wrote that no one cared about the 41 shots fired. i remember bruce springsteen writing a song about it. hard to get more mainstream than that.
you wrote that you feel that america is more racist than europe. that's how you feel. well, that's fine if that's how you feel, but there's more to the story.
and for those whites in here who don't know there own history, let me introduce you to it. america's racist cultural heritage comes to you straight from european imperialism.
we all can write what "we feel." but we all must hold ourselve accountable for what we write.
for me, defeating racism isn't a passing fancy. it's not a matter that i push off onto others, claiming that my best friends are latino and therefore i'm imune.
many of us are looking here for the recipe for change. it is found among those who put themselves on the frontline of social change, no matter how tough the battle.
everyone who takes pride in shifting the blame around the plate like unwanted peas will be judged by history like the passive german citizens of world war II, the non-slave holding whites of the south and pre-civil war who thought it was someone elses problem.
the irony here is, i suspect that we agree on most points. i agree with jade as well.
america is a racist nation.
my contribution in this dialogue is to point out that as tempting as it might be to say, "racism isn't my problem, it's someone elses problem," that just isn't good enough.
i must admit, it's a pet peeve of mine when white people, or any one person for that matter, proudly boasts that he or she is free of racism, then pointing to all the other bad people who are not so enlightened.
keep calling it like you see it. what you say has truth.
all i'm doing is pointing out the rest of the story that you're leaving out.
that much of the world is racist. if we are to change this, at all, then we must look within, all of us, and do the hard work.
just calling it like i see it. and like it did in my last post. and the post before that.
and to drive home my point, again, i was just pointing out the lack of logic in your points.
you wrote that no one cared about the 41 shots fired. i remember bruce springsteen writing a song about it. hard to get more mainstream than that.
you wrote that you feel that america is more racist than europe. that's how you feel. well, that's fine if that's how you feel, but there's more to the story.
and for those whites in here who don't know there own history, let me introduce you to it. america's racist cultural heritage comes to you straight from european imperialism.
we all can write what "we feel." but we all must hold ourselve accountable for what we write.
for me, defeating racism isn't a passing fancy. it's not a matter that i push off onto others, claiming that my best friends are latino and therefore i'm imune.
many of us are looking here for the recipe for change. it is found among those who put themselves on the frontline of social change, no matter how tough the battle.
everyone who takes pride in shifting the blame around the plate like unwanted peas will be judged by history like the passive german citizens of world war II, the non-slave holding whites of the south and pre-civil war who thought it was someone elses problem.
SILENCE Yumako!!! You're a sniveling swine and I'm tired of your rubbish and poppycock! QUIET!!!
Anna is right! England, home of the queen, is a most wonderful land! Thank you Anna for reminding us all, ALL OF US, what a royal, beautiful land Great Britain is.
America should learn something from what Anna says. STAND UP AMERICA! Hold yourself accountable.
What you say, Yumako, that America is no worse than England?!?
Where do you live, sow, under a rock? Do you not breathe the same air we breathe? Are you not human?
America is the crippled child of an enlightened England, and don't you forget it.
Stop hiding behind your big words, Yumako! You are nothing here. Your explanations about the complexities of racism are UNWELCOME HERE!!!
Anna and I just call it like we see it! We don't need your lengthy thesis and polysyllabic words to understand what we see.
No one in America cares about racism. In England, it's different. I remember, a time when I was a boy, sitting in a park in England with my mother, and a little black boy came up and played with me. It wasn't like in America where blacks and whites don't play together.
Yumako, have you no eyes? Can you not see what Anna sees?
So what if Bruce Springsteen wrote that song! NO ONE CARES!!!
Long live the queen!
Anna is right! England, home of the queen, is a most wonderful land! Thank you Anna for reminding us all, ALL OF US, what a royal, beautiful land Great Britain is.
America should learn something from what Anna says. STAND UP AMERICA! Hold yourself accountable.
What you say, Yumako, that America is no worse than England?!?
Where do you live, sow, under a rock? Do you not breathe the same air we breathe? Are you not human?
America is the crippled child of an enlightened England, and don't you forget it.
Stop hiding behind your big words, Yumako! You are nothing here. Your explanations about the complexities of racism are UNWELCOME HERE!!!
Anna and I just call it like we see it! We don't need your lengthy thesis and polysyllabic words to understand what we see.
No one in America cares about racism. In England, it's different. I remember, a time when I was a boy, sitting in a park in England with my mother, and a little black boy came up and played with me. It wasn't like in America where blacks and whites don't play together.
Yumako, have you no eyes? Can you not see what Anna sees?
So what if Bruce Springsteen wrote that song! NO ONE CARES!!!
Long live the queen!
please, everyone stop it. can't we all get along? so much anger
everyone is making good points.
anna, you are making good points...
yumako, you are making good points...
jade, you are making good points...
ankou, you are making good points...
tylwyth, you are making good points...
i'm so proud of all of you
i am!!! !!! 
you all have such wonderful ideas for ending racism...
jade, my goodness, what a grand idea...yes!!! and yumako, youve clearly given this a lot of thought...and anna, sweetheart, i can tell what an important issue this is for you, and ankou...what wonderful ideas you have... im so luck to live in a world with such smart and lovely people... you guys should start your own gang.
..and you can be the unracist gang and go around the world in a van fighting racism whereever you go!!!! you guyes will be like the next apple dumpling gang...only better if you all just try, you wil realize yoour all saying the same thing.
racists are bad people too!!!
why are you all making yourselves so upset over who is more racist???
is america more racist?
is europe more racist? anna, yumako, please...you both come from horribly racist places, so stop fighting...okay???
enough of this silly competition already
now that we know that both europe and america are horrible, uncaring, and racist lands, can we all get along!!!
yea!!!! yea, you guys, yea!!!
the way i see it, if we want to end racism, we must all love each other.
i love you anna!!! i love you yumako!!! ilove you jade!!! i love you ankou!!! i love you tylwyth!!!
SHELLLYMOM LOVES ALL THE LITTLE CHILDREN...ALL THE CHILDREN OF THE WORLD!!!
THE 'INGRATITUDE' OF THOMAS: It would be hard to find a more
appalling example of racial animus than in Maureen Dowd's column
this morning. For some reason I guess I do understand, Clarence
Thomas isn't just opposed by many on the Left; he is hated. He is
hated because he is, in Dowd's extraordinary formulation, guilty of
"a great historical ingratitude." The good negroes, in Dowd's
liberal-racist world, are those grateful to their massas in the
liberal hierarchy: they are grateful to Howell and Gerald and
Arthur; and they know their place. For them to express the
psychological torment of being advanced for racist reasons, to
explain in graphic, brave and bold terms the complexity of emotions
many African-Americans feel as 'beneficiaries' of racial
preferences, is unacceptable. To describe such a person who has been
courageous enough to put these feelings into a powerful dissent as
"barking mad" is nothing short of disgusting. Yes, there are all
sorts of psychological inconsistencies in Thomas' journey. But that,
in part, is the point! If Dowd supports "diversity" as a good thing
in elite institutions, why isn't it a good thing for one black
Justice to contribute his own experience as part of a landmark
judicial ruling? Of course I don't know whether Dowd supports
diversity in this sense. That would require her to argue something -
of which she is apparently incapable. And then Dowd, of all people,
complains that Thomas is more interested in his own personal dramas
than "bigger issues of morality and justice." When was the last time
you read a Dowd column that grappled with "bigger issues of morality
and justice"?
http://www.nytimes.com/auth/login?URI=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/25/opinion/25DOWD.html
www.andrewsullivan.com
appalling example of racial animus than in Maureen Dowd's column
this morning. For some reason I guess I do understand, Clarence
Thomas isn't just opposed by many on the Left; he is hated. He is
hated because he is, in Dowd's extraordinary formulation, guilty of
"a great historical ingratitude." The good negroes, in Dowd's
liberal-racist world, are those grateful to their massas in the
liberal hierarchy: they are grateful to Howell and Gerald and
Arthur; and they know their place. For them to express the
psychological torment of being advanced for racist reasons, to
explain in graphic, brave and bold terms the complexity of emotions
many African-Americans feel as 'beneficiaries' of racial
preferences, is unacceptable. To describe such a person who has been
courageous enough to put these feelings into a powerful dissent as
"barking mad" is nothing short of disgusting. Yes, there are all
sorts of psychological inconsistencies in Thomas' journey. But that,
in part, is the point! If Dowd supports "diversity" as a good thing
in elite institutions, why isn't it a good thing for one black
Justice to contribute his own experience as part of a landmark
judicial ruling? Of course I don't know whether Dowd supports
diversity in this sense. That would require her to argue something -
of which she is apparently incapable. And then Dowd, of all people,
complains that Thomas is more interested in his own personal dramas
than "bigger issues of morality and justice." When was the last time
you read a Dowd column that grappled with "bigger issues of morality
and justice"?
http://www.nytimes.com/auth/login?URI=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/25/opinion/25DOWD.html
www.andrewsullivan.com