WaPo Opinion: I no longer have hope in white America
- Thread starter UnpopularBlargh
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Yeah, it really is one of my favorite interviews with him. His response to Stephen's question is incredibly forthright and exactly how I would've responded.
Agreed. I had to learn how to place my faith in individuals.
There are some evils that swing on what feels like a generational pendulum. As a country, white or otherwise, we've sat on our hands about dealing with the issue that stems back to the civil war. We keep waiting for the old guard of this evil to die out, but it turns out they just sprout new ones.
I agree that hoping for white America to change is not productive. They've had since 1866, has it not been long enough? Certainly, not every member of white America is viciously conservative and racist. I don't even think it's the majority of this country, but still they have the power and the intimidation of orgs like the NRA to keep perpetuating their cause.
I think people need to find a way to disrupt these swings of the pendulum and finally address the racism and violence that has been incorrectly tolerated.
I agree that hoping for white America to change is not productive. They've had since 1866, has it not been long enough? Certainly, not every member of white America is viciously conservative and racist. I don't even think it's the majority of this country, but still they have the power and the intimidation of orgs like the NRA to keep perpetuating their cause.
I think people need to find a way to disrupt these swings of the pendulum and finally address the racism and violence that has been incorrectly tolerated.
Has anyone noticed the new paradox?
That we constantly get screamed at about "EVERYTHING IS NOT ABOUT RACE"
But now we have to "Talk about it to see change"?
Talk about a mixed message
Imagine a brown America still being run by White People. Thats where we are headed.
And the recent Supreme Court news is a total gutblow to any progressive stances for a while.
It frankly does not look good at all.
That we constantly get screamed at about "EVERYTHING IS NOT ABOUT RACE"
But now we have to "Talk about it to see change"?
Talk about a mixed message
The problem with that is that its not going to matter if White People still hold majority positions in government.
Imagine a brown America still being run by White People. Thats where we are headed.
And the recent Supreme Court news is a total gutblow to any progressive stances for a while.
It frankly does not look good at all.
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People can't hide behind "post-racial" "first black president" "MLK and Rosa Parks killed racism" anymore.
It's out there for all to see.
No, it's not wrong or misleading, I just have mixed feelings about WaPo's headline style. Their phrasing often doesn't reflect the quality and nuance of articles and op-eds like this one - they sound like Buzzfeed headlines.
Regardless, the op-ed itself is a dose of distilled reality. I hope it makes people think twice before making up a mythical Martin Luther King who supports their agenda.
I was so certain Trump would get embarrassed at the polls and we'd all just laugh about how maybe 1 percent of the world thought America would actually vote for a moron who talked about a Muslim Ban, building a giant wall to keep Latin folks out, and called prisoners of war losers. I believed that until maybe a month before the election, then from there it was a fucking spiral into November 8th. I've got NO faith in white America, and as a collective they've got a LONG way to go before they earn it back.
I don't think you need me to tell you this, but y'all keep on talking about race. Nonstop. Shout that shit from the rooftops. It'll reach more folks than you think; it certainly reached me. Fuck the idiots who want you guys to shut up. Hell, I'll shut them up myself if I get the chance. Boots to motherfucking throats.
Yup. The trick now is keeping white people from going full "protect the bloodline" mode in the meantime
how about i don't do the work because it's not my job and all those great white people do the work in talking to their shitty peers themselves?
I appreciate your thanks, but keep them. Think of my work (and others who do similar work) as atonement.
Oh, they'll just move on to women or atheists or revoke the white card from some groups or something.
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Then don't. No one's forcing you to do anything. Also the whole article is basically saying not to place hope on those "great white people".
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We're headed one of two directions IMO. Apartheid or genocide.
The racist power base will never cede their majority if they can help it.
Dude, this is fucking life. Hope is a pointless exercise. Don't pin your mental wellbeing on things outside of yourself, own it, push through, and maybe if you're lucky you might see some positive change.
There were generations of black slaves that never saw a glimmer of freedom but yet they raised their off-spring to believe in the idea of it and eventually they, not their forebears, saw it done. Sometimes life is that way.
Hoping that the racist contingent of white people change their ways is stupid. Ideas are contagious, and they can either work for you or against you, but if you sit around waiting for a messiah to appear and change everything for the better then you'll get the latter not the former.
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I don't think that either will happen, because Hispanic Americans are going to be absorbed into the majority this century. I think that the signs have been there for a while.
There are a lot of good ones as well. I wish we would call racists, racists. Rather than demonised all white people, what the fuck is that gonna do?
Are all other minorities within the white community evil as well? LGBT? Women? ect
Being a comparatively tiny minority didn't stop white people from fucking up South Africa for the longest time.
actually i'm good with absolutely no explanation or elaboration and just keeping it flowing
Yep same here. N/W Floridaman here and 60% voted Trump and over 60% of the vote always goes to Republicans around here that includes Matt Gaetz our Rep. who took a neo nazi to the state of the union address. :(
I was thinking of South Africa when I said that for that for that exact reason, but I feel following the current trajectory, and how these elections have been turning out we wouldn't have the same situation. But who knows
Great point. It's funny how White People in power take the bits and pieces they find inoffensive/a danger to the state of their power and disregard the points he made about peace in the absence of justice.
Shit, I've given up on America. Every demographic group in the country seems to have significant number of hateful reactionary people in one dimension or another. I feel massively fortunate my mother was swept off her feet by an Australian bloke who convinced her to move here so I can have dual citizenship.
That said, Australia is getting pretty shit as well.
That said, Australia is getting pretty shit as well.
I do not believe white Americans will ever lose power to the degree that minorities are currently experiencing due to the fact that white Americans will always be a plurality of the population and the various nonwhite minority groups are not similar to one another or unified by anything other than not being white. And once white people are no longer a majority, discussing race at all will likely become a faux pas, and the erstwhile minorities will lose the only sense of unity that they had with one another.
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I feel pretty damn powerless and guilty as a white dude right now who has benefitted way too much from society.
Some people don't like it when you "generalize" large issues as such, so he'd rather get mad at the author's word choice than the issue being discussed. Tone policing is an easy out. And it's a pattern with this one.
There is a lot of pessimism- but people really do need to remember:
50 years ago race relations were much worse. 50 years before that it was ever more horrid.
50 years from now it will still be shitty, but still much better than now.
Lose hope all you want, but Trump cannot stop this train.
50 years ago race relations were much worse. 50 years before that it was ever more horrid.
50 years from now it will still be shitty, but still much better than now.
Lose hope all you want, but Trump cannot stop this train.
Losing hope in white America isn't losing hope in general. It just means that largely I know longer believe they'll change until they're forced to/in a political position where they have to
Fixed.
And This.
Individually, I have met many white people who just are simple people who want to go about their lives and don't want to cause harm to anyone, no matter race creed sexuality or religion.
But Whiteness as a Institution? No. Almost everyone will fight for that till their dying breath. They will use different terminology (Free-thinking, anti-PC culture, MRA, alt-right, Civility) But it ultimately boils down to the same thing.
They want the white power structure of the world to remain unchanged and unquestioned. They don't mind giving the illusion of rights and freedoms but the moment they become even slightly uncomfortable with the conversation they want it shut down.
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