^"no dignity"
Damn me for my errors, it's okay.

#339

...we are all human and bleed the same. Why is that so threatening to those who have the privileges and the power? Because it reminds them they might LOSE their power.

Exactly. Very well put.

A societal shift does not happen in one generation alone. The shift cannot happen in silence, denial, or a refusal to call things what they are.

Also well put. :)

Excellent post. I have done similar things in my classes in cultural anthropology.

Will have me students read this, this semester.

@313: "Nice trying to justify black people being racist." I was not and never will try to justify black people being hateful (or "racist" as you put it). Prejudice, bigotry, hate, and your definition of racism are disgusting and deplorable no matter who exercises it. My point was that black people do not have the power to be truly racist in that they cannot use their prejudices to define and confine people within our society.

@317: Have you ever heard of poverty or the working poor? Not everyone can afford to "assume the responsibility of home ownership." Regardless of race that statement comes from a place of privilege

@319: I do read the dictionary and I know what the definition of racism is. I have also learned how to deconstruct words, because often a lot more is lying beneath the surface of a simple dictionary definition. Who invented the idea of race? Who has ever truly been able to act upon those assumptions? Racism's presence may not be as overt now (especially if you happen to be white) but media, culture, and politics still assert that being white is the same as being "normal" or "superior," with everything else being a deviation from that normality. It isn't men running around in pointed hats, but it's most definitely racism in one of its most destructive and prevalent forms today. No other minorities have that same amount of power to accompany any prejudices (which are necessary elements of racism) they have. This isn't "redefinition," it's getting to what the word actually signifies instead of repeating what's been memorized.

Also to Lyllyth and Mink: THANK YOU

Thank you for writing this article--this type of commentary and astute observation is desperately needed! Good work! The best thing to do is to keep talking about race and to get everyone, regardless of race, to start talking about it too.

I have not yet finished reading this post. I had to stop after: "So I throw it out there: Raise your hand if you're a racist...I raise my own hand."

That sounds more like prejudice and stereotyping. If you were racist against African-Americans, you would not believe that two works, both by African-American artists, " [were] art is valuable and has to be taught."

I studied Sociology in college with an interest in race relations and inequality, and understand why 'racist' or 'racism' could easily be inappropriately defined by an art professor. An art professor could teach me a lot about terms used in art.

Ok-that was cathartic. Now back to reading.

ok, my previous comment was kinda dumb. This was actually informative but EXTREMELY difficult to read to completion. A lot of weird premises, or something going on hear. Only one commenter mentioned Tim Wise. I suggest the author and everyone that has ever discussed racism visit http://www.timwise.org/ . Check out the reading list as well.

We can work out the issues of racism and white privilege but need the tools to create an effective context.

"Anti racism", making self hating white people feel legitimate since 1965, that should have been the title for this article and this site at large.

How does it feel to be so stupid that you believe in 'white privilege' when "Affirmative Action" is non white privilege by its very definition and there is no white equivalent to that?

How does it feel to be so unintelligent that you believe whites have any power when we have lost the demographic advantage EVERYWHERE and yet still have no specific claim to any institutions of our own while non whites have entire countries they call their exclusive property?

It is time for "anti racist" groups to be destroyed, is is actually way past time. It is time to combat ASIAN privilege and yes BLACK privilege etc, the ONLY racial privileges that exist in the western world are for non white groups, and of course the only privileges in the non western world are for NON WHITES as well.

"Anti racism", making self hating white people feel legitimate since 1965, that should have been the title for this article and this site at large.

How does it feel to be so stupid that you believe in 'white privilege' when "Affirmative Action" is non white privilege by its very definition and there is no white equivalent to that?

How does it feel to be so unintelligent that you believe whites have any power when we have lost the demographic advantage EVERYWHERE and yet still have no specific claim to any institutions of our own while non whites have entire countries they call their exclusive property?

It is time for "anti racist" groups to be destroyed, is is actually way past time. It is time to combat ASIAN privilege and yes BLACK privilege etc, the ONLY racial privileges that exist in the western world are for non white groups, and of course the only privileges in the non western world are for NON WHITES as well.

I am SOOOOOOO relieved to hear others say the samething. i had no idea what a priveledged and racist life i lived as a white, country girl. I went to the city and 6 years later married an african american man - we now have a beautiful little girl. Learning all that hubby went through, experiencing all the things we have together and watching my little girl deal with her identity - wanting to be white. Broke our hearts. As we started dealing with this, and of course all the Obama drama with most white people, we have encountered SO MUCH opposition as we try to explain to both sides the reality of what is really going one. white ppl ALWAYS deny that they are racist or that racist things are happening and always point the finger the other direction "well, black ppl need to make a move too!" usually the african american IS ready to work thing out. the whites just want to cover it up and move on. some actually think we much have taught our daughter racism in order for her to have seen this already. it's been shocking to discover. THANK YOU for writing this!

(how is it that the "5th whitest city in the US" is only 66% white?)

It is too bad people continue to pretend that the US is still the same as the 1950s and in turn are causing LOADS of innocent Liberal drone kids to die from the IMMENSE racism projected at them from the actual privileged racists, the non whites.

The "progressives" on this blog will most likely meet the same fate.

Will the anti white left calls groups like the Tea Party 'racist' because they DARE to be mostly white, actual racist minority organizations like the "The Black Coffee Party" are being formed to do further harm to ANY white people who get in their way.

It seems that if you are white you are racist, at least to the rest of the American world. I am really tired of the double standard of certain words like “Nigger” is taboo for a white person to use however any African American can use it as he or she sees fit including in music and entertainment. That is crap at its lowest level if African Americans are really interested in fixing racism then practice what you preach! I am a middle age white male that came from a family that immigrated from Germany in the late 1890’s and never owned or participated in Slavery however I am lumped into the “white American” so I must be racist and owe the African Americans something. I didn’t have anything given to me in my life and my parents we hard working folks that took care of their children over everything else, we didn’t have anything but the basics growing up. My parents didn’t care what the fad were if you had clean clothes on you were good to go and if you wanted a pair of Nike’s rather than some no name gym shoe we had to work in the farm fields all summer to get your money to buy them. That gave me and my siblings a real education in what it is like to earn your own way. We all put ourselves through college or trade schools on our own dime and taking a lot longer.

I think that this country has done a greater disservice to the African American community by the way the welfare system works, rewarding women (not a shot at women) but reality having more children and to make more money. Plenty of White people have gone down this track as well but statiscly African Americans dominate in this area. This is truly a lack of education and taking advantage of that as well on the part of the system.
I don’t hold myself up as someone to fix this but who is? Change has to start from within, if you are raised to believe that everyone owes you everything then things won’t change but if the next generation just gets an opportunity to see that with hard work and an open mind that things can change but it took what a couple hundred years to get to this point let’s hope that change can come quicker.

Lastly everyone in this lovely country is racist to some level so making white people you escape goat isn’t going to further your agenda. There are several groups trying to open dialog about racism but many are scared to open their mouths fearing being labeled a “racist” especially if you are white. A lifelong friend of mine finally got me to go to a local NAACP meeting last year downtown and I was a minority in that meeting but my friend who is as he prefers to be called “Black” and is very proud of that wanted to me to see why we are such a stalemate. I was there for more than 2 hours and the only thing that was said over and over again was how much they wanted to make Whites pay and that nothing will change until reparations are paid. So it is more about money than working the problem and I understand this a some level being the son of a Holocaust survivor. Which can’t even be considered as the same thing, although many try. I am very proud of my Black friends and their accomplishments which were all done on their own with no help from hiring quotas or “equal opportunity” options. They like me never checked the “race” box on job applications unless required through the years. I applaud this article and did read it and I still don’t see myself as racist although most probably would base on what I write and that is your loss.

It seems that if you are white you are racist, at least to the rest of the American world. I am really tired of the double standard of certain words like “Nigger” is taboo for a white person to use however any African American can use it as he or she sees fit including in music and entertainment. That is crap at its lowest level if African Americans are really interested in fixing racism then practice what you preach! I am a middle age white male that came from a family that immigrated from Germany in the late 1890’s and never owned or participated in Slavery however I am lumped into the “white American” so I must be racist and owe the African Americans something. I didn’t have anything given to me in my life and my parents we hard working folks that took care of their children over everything else, we didn’t have anything but the basics growing up. My parents didn’t care what the fad were if you had clean clothes on you were good to go and if you wanted a pair of Nike’s rather than some no name gym shoe we had to work in the farm fields all summer to get your money to buy them. That gave me and my siblings a real education in what it is like to earn your own way. We all put ourselves through college or trade schools on our own dime and taking a lot longer.

I think that this country has done a greater disservice to the African American community by the way the welfare system works, rewarding women (not a shot at women) but reality having more children and to make more money. Plenty of White people have gone down this track as well but statiscly African Americans dominate in this area. This is truly a lack of education and taking advantage of that as well on the part of the system.
I don’t hold myself up as someone to fix this but who is? Change has to start from within, if you are raised to believe that everyone owes you everything then things won’t change but if the next generation just gets an opportunity to see that with hard work and an open mind that things can change but it took what a couple hundred years to get to this point let’s hope that change can come quicker.

Lastly everyone in this lovely country is racist to some level so making white people you escape goat isn’t going to further your agenda. There are several groups trying to open dialog about racism but many are scared to open their mouths fearing being labeled a “racist” especially if you are white. A lifelong friend of mine finally got me to go to a local NAACP meeting last year downtown and I was a minority in that meeting but my friend who is as he prefers to be called “Black” and is very proud of that wanted to me to see why we are such a stalemate. I was there for more than 2 hours and the only thing that was said over and over again was how much they wanted to make Whites pay and that nothing will change until reparations are paid. So it is more about money than working the problem and I understand this a some level being the son of a Holocaust survivor. Which can’t even be considered as the same thing, although many try. I am very proud of my Black friends and their accomplishments which were all done on their own with no help from hiring quotas or “equal opportunity” options. They like me never checked the “race” box on job applications unless required through the years. I applaud this article and did read it and I still don’t see myself as racist although most probably would base on what I write and that is your loss.

I grew up in Seattle and for 30 years always thought of it as progressive and diverse. I grew up in an area that was white and lower income so there was a different kind of opression - the opression of poverty. For the longest time I had little empathy for people who suffered from racial injustices because I felt like economic inequalities were the primary obstacles to be attacked.

Today I realize that things are more complex than my youthful oversimplifications.

It wasn't until I left Seattle for about 12 years that I saw and lived in more integratied cities. New York and London are extemely diverse, more integrated, more racist, yet more open in their dialog. Seattle seems to care more yet do less in terms of openly acknowledging and trying to address segregation in the city. I've been driving around the last two months reaquainting myself with Seattle and it's segregated. Fact. Weirdly, after living in Hackney in London and Jackson Heights Queens, two of the most racially diverse neighborhoods in either city, I find myself here, feeling uncomfortable in traditionally non-white neighborhoods.
Why? I'm trying to figure this out. Why is it that in Seattle, with its progressive idealism and liberal values, I don't feel like I'd be welcome in a neighborhood that doesn't have a white majority? Why is it when I mention looking at houses outside of a certain area the realtor rolls her eyes and says, "you have to think about the property values in THAT neighborhood? Why do I worry that if I bought a house where I could afford I might be looked at as part of the next wave of "gentrifiers" and am suddenly burdened with guilt.

I know the Seattle you write about that thinks that racism doesn't exist here because I was that person. Racism completely exists here and in this place where everyone is polite, non-confrontational, and guardedly friendly, I can imagine that most people find it more convenient to ignore.

Thank you for writing this article.

*Meh*
Somebody tell the author that the waiter forgot her boyfriend's entree after working a double shift...it wasn't an intentionally racist act. Her next meal is free!
Also, as much as I admire MLK, why did King County coopt his image for the County Seal? It's dishonest. King County was named after William Rufus King, a man who served briefly as Vice President and who was prolly racist, but who was prolly also gay with Pres. Buchanan at some point. Now get back to your Blue Scholars and smugness to which you're entitled as an instructor at a tiny, expensive arts college in Seattle.

Somebody tell the author that the server forgot her boyfriend's entree because she worked a double shift, it wasn't a racist act.
The next meal is free!
Also, why did King County rebrand their seal using MLK's image. It's dishonest, and occured at the tail end of the housing bubble/condo gentrification. King County was named after William Rufus King, who served briefly as Vice Prez. He was prolly racist, but also prolly secretly gay with James Buchanan. Now get back to your regularly scheduled smugness that comes with being an instructor at Cornish!

Somebody tell the author that the server forgot her boyfriend's entree because she worked a double shift, it wasn't racially motivated!
But Seriously...
Why did King County rebrand itself using MLK's image during the housing bubble/condo gentrification? It's dishonest. King County was named after William Rufus King, who served briefly as Vice Prez. William King was prolly racist, but also prolly secretly gay with James Buchanan. Does that cancel out?
In any case please get back to your white guilt, preachy Cornish smugness. I was worried that nobody was flying the flag this week up!

Nicely written article. I really enjoyed reading it.

It's also good that comments are on - the commenters are proving most of your points. ;-)

Nicely written article. I really enjoyed reading it.

It's also good that comments are on - the commenters are proving most of your points. ;-)

How very interesting that Graves bends the truth in order to make her story seem credible. She's a true Stranger reporter. I was the student that filed the complaint about her..two years ago! And contrary to her claims, I did not compare her to Hitler nor suggest she was recruiting for White Supremacy. What I did include was that she asked the "are you a racist" question in class and when she didn't get the desired result she coaxed more people into raising their hand. She wouldn't explain why she asked the question until she was pressed into an explanation. Furthermore she made racist comments not associated with the topic. For instance, in her words, she's afraid when she sees black men on her street corner at night, and figures they are dealing drugs, which according to her "they probably are". She then told the class that she desired to adopt a black baby to "piss off" her father.

Of course, the Cornish community silenced and dismissed my complaints because Cornish itself has a problem with race issues, and in a private meeting, the Provost herself admitted to being racist!

So Jen, it seems that if you are writing about this two years out it still haunts you. Good

@228 Hello Kitty, welcome to the Class Warfare Zone!
sorry but I was too busy WORKING to read any of this drivel for some time, but your 'response' is full of used kitty litter...in fact, Bullshit to your entire screed-I was fighting for my damn country while you were a burden on society and wallowing in self-pity with those shitbag junkies. I have seen men better than your entire benefactors' board of directors come back as amputees,then have to fight faceless corporate bureacracies for treatment, while you were sitting on your ass in free subsidized housing.

Now pull your head out of the sand and wake up to the fact that America has a major Oligarch Problem, and it has already damn near wrecked the country- even Warren Buffett himself has publicly acknowledged this. So why do so many impoverished Americans sound like such dupes on this subject? No ma'am, I am no communist nor some 'Richie Rich' hater as you assume, and FYI I probably made and contributed more in the past 5 years than you have in your entire life.

So why am I advocating changes to the system that mean i will eventually pay more in taxes? Because I actually give a damn about my country and still believe in upholding and defending its Constitution ,including all those hard-won amendments and Bill of Rights. And I am frankly disgusted at the current degenerating state of affairs, in which I see a shocking number of my friends and family still struggling and unemployed, among them combat veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. In fact the only current growth industry with stable employment seems to be doing the overseas dirty work of the empire. At some point one realizes, as a great USMC general and Medal of Honor recipient once observed, that he is really just a "high class muscle man for Wall Street and big business interests" enforcing our laws of market economics on unwilling overseas societies, with all the overt brutality and implied racism that entails.

So then, are you telling us you are a "koder" as in trying to work in the software industry, yet
"I love the rich, and I'm a happy content poor person, very poor, below poverty level even"
...no doubt you are aware that not so long ago, any software job was a golden ticket well out of poverty in this town
(before the billionaires running the industry decided to export jobs by the ton and import cheap immigrant labor, by spending millions lobbying the U.S. Congress for massive increases in H1B visas, special interest legislation and massive tax breaks)
so one can assume you are now either unemployed,or barely getting enough work to survive...and who exactly do you think trashed the economic system to the point you can't get work, and are now reduced to barely surviving in special subsidized low-income housing?

Well i'll give you a hint- it wasn't the guys like me who do the real work and pay most of the taxes: it wasn't the firefighters,or the soldiers,or the truckers...
that's right-your local, national, and global economic system was trashed by your favorite oligarchs, and yet when some plutocrat-types throw you a stale bone you fairly slobber their praises. Do you really think Tully's , or Vulcan, or the benefactor of your choice really do any do-goody-good BS out of the goodness of their downsizing, bottom line cost-cutting hearts? Have you ever seen a corporate budget spreadsheet, and what it reveals about how much more the same corporations budget for PR firms, lobbyists, lawyers and marketing? A few pennies on the PR dollar occasionally tossed toward the poor is some of the best public relations marketing corporate America can buy.

@361: Oligarchy is the main reason I have zero faith in mega-corporations. "Trickle down economics", since the Reagan years, have proven ineffective. Yet they still push it, like drug dealers.

And they're the ones cutting education, laying off the teachers and college professors so that none of us in the general 99% catches on.

Thank you so much for writing this. And thank you so much to CARW. Here's to hoping more chapters open up around the country, because we sorely need it. As a PoC, I feel saddened that it's necessary to have white people on my side to make other white people understand their privilege, but I'm glad that there are people willing to do it and to understand where they fit in. This was eye opening for me and my own racial prejudices, too.

This was a great article, but why are race issues always about black and white? Contrary to popular belief Asian people do deal with racism in the area also. By leaving us out of this conversation, you just perpetuate the idea that asians are not effected by white privilege.

Excellent article. And for all of you uncomfortable with being labeled racist, consider a quote by author Tim Tyson, "we are all recovering white supremacists". Tyson wrote the book "Blood Done Sign My Name" about a racially motivated murder in Oxford, NC in the 70's. We all need self-examination about our beliefs, fears, and prejudices, but be honest about the power white privilege gives you. Just because you don't acknowledge it, doesn't mean you don't have it.

I think this is a very good piece, as somebody who has just begun a journey into white antiracism (and definitely I relate to that "conversion" sentiment).

But I read the comments and just think over and over and over again that it is extremely hard for people (e.g. Tricky in comment 6 and 8) to unlatch from the very weak, simplistic definition of racism that we're usually taught as children. If racism is nothing but personal prejudice and bigotry based on race, then we can become non-racist by having parents who campaigned for civil rights, as suggested by the well-meaning and defensive comment 233. It takes a lot of work to start to understand how racism is institutionalized and built into the power structures that make life easier for white people, REGARDLESS of whether we want it, like it, or even know it.

It also takes a lot of personal work to get past the blame game, and realize that we can benefit from some evil shit that we didn't intentionally establish, and we still should be accountable for it.

As a simple example, if my grandfather made a lot of money as a mobster, and then passed it onto my parents, paid for an excellent education for me, and gave us an inheritance of real estate and business connections, then that means I'm sitting on a lot of ill-gotten wealth. It's not my fault, and I can't undo it. But that doesn't make it okay for me to just sit on it, say it's mine now, and I wasn't in the mob, so leave me alone and stop calling me a mobster.

The way we benefit as white people from the long years of institutional racism is harder to pin down than the mobster example, because it's in the air we breathe. We don't notice it, because it just is the environment in which we live. But if we benefit from it, we are responsible for it. That doesn't mean we're bad people or are deserving of blame. It just means our inheritance is complicated and messy, not clean and pure. And we're still responsible for it.

@319

The dictionary definition of racism doesn't mean shit to people who are actually affected by it. What else should we call it if people of color are systemically excluded and held back for no other reason then race, an invented cultural construct with no basis in biology, whether the white people are aware of it or not?

I agree that anti-racist work is more difficult because anti-racists ask us to consider a different definition of racism than the standard dictionary one that we're raised with. So if it will make it easier for you to understand, copy and paste the text of the article into Word or Google Docs or whatever you've got handy. Do a find & replace, changing "racism" to "the oppression of people who are not white through a variety of legal, institution, systematic, personal, sometimes violent, often non-violent means." The re-read.

As a working class stiff type white guy, I get to work with "people of color" (they would all burst out laughing if I called them that)every day. We talk about, acknowledge, and joke about race and cultural differences all the time.

I thank God daily that I was born white. In many ways, what little I have has been handed to me in great part because of my race. As lazy and no account as I am, were I any other race, I'd be screwed.

And, by the way, there is still plenty of "genuine" racism out there - you just have to know where to look and what code speak to begin the conversation. Being white, I have the keys to this club, and can join in at any time.

an excellent article. I have not waded through all of the comments, but add my own. As an exhibiting artist at 619 Western, i came to notice that hardly any African Americans attend art events. There is next to no art produced or shown by them. The entire art scene is irrelevant to 'people of color'. I had a painting in which an African American was depicted in a necessary but subsidiary role. Early in the evening a well-dressed white lady gave me a stern evaluation -why and how dare I? And then later in the evening the only African American attendee, chewed me a fresh one for what I thought a neutral depiction. No one objects to whatever distortions or vulgarities I may subject the 'white folks'

I don't care about if it hurts people's feelings if they are called racist, or really any of this minor stuff. I'm in NYC and I see a city where depending on race and class people live in vastly different worlds: some worlds those of blacks, latinos, Asians, Native Americans, gay people, trans-gendered people, the disabled and others are filled with more PAIN and SUFFERING and that makes me angry! Why is it unfair? Is all of this talk about equality and freedom just a buch of feel-good make-believe talk? It seems like it is.

I tried reading the comments here and it was hard so many of them are so self-absorbed. Who cares if you personally have been identified as racist? Why is it so important to say that it's "really class" that causes the problems? It isn't just "class" --just because class can insulate a tiny fraction of minorities from prejudice (but not completely) dosen't mean that race isn't one of the primary factors that prevents people from moving up economically and socially. Don't you give a damn aout the way that the construct of race and the privilege that goes with it is hurting people? Saying it's just class shuts down a critical conversation.

I'm a young black woman, I'm straight, I have more education than average and I was pretty lucky growing up. I have so many childhood friends who are smarter than than most the white people who are all around me with the best jobs and the most opportunity. But these minds are trapped in poverty or caught-up in dead-ends. Some of them are in regular physical pain. Some of them live with the inadequacy of wasted potential and dreams and the suffering that goes along with that. It sucks. It sucks for all of us because if these brilliant people were where they are supposed to be we'd have a better nation. I'm certain there are other scattered in Latino communities, and elsewhere too. Racism cripples the potential of our nation.

I escaped that fate, but not because I'm the very best, Mostly because my grandfather owned his own farm and we had the privilege that came with land ownership that, and some hard work, and some luck.

But, people work harder than I ever have, harder than many of the people people reading this article ever have, they have good minds and good hearts, they are the people our nation is missing in clinics and board rooms in classrooms and government and we never know about them and they still end up suffering-- since the sorting mechanism in our nation for who will suffer sorts the black and browns ones in to the suffering pile more often than not.

The mechanism is white privilege and racism.

I don't care about if it hurts people's feelings if they are called racist, or really any of this minor stuff. I'm in NYC and I see a city where depending on race and class people live in vastly different worlds: some worlds those of blacks, latinos, Asians, Native Americans, gay people, trans-gendered people, the disabled and others are filled with more PAIN and SUFFERING and that makes me angry! Why is it unfair? Is all of this talk about equality and freedom just a buch of feel-good make-believe talk? It seems like it is.

I tried reading the comments here and it was hard so many of them are so self-absorbed. Who cares if you personally have been identified as racist? Why is it so important to say that it's "really class" that causes the problems? It isn't just "class" --just because class can insulate a tiny fraction of minorities from prejudice (but not completely) dosen't mean that race isn't one of the primary factors that prevents people from moving up economically and socially. Don't you give a damn aout the way that the construct of race and the privilege that goes with it is hurting people? Saying it's just class shuts down a critical conversation.

I'm a young black woman, I'm straight, I have more education than average and I was pretty lucky growing up. I have so many childhood friends who are smarter than than most the white people who are all around me with the best jobs and the most opportunity. But these minds are trapped in poverty or caught-up in dead-ends. Some of them are in regular physical pain. Some of them live with the inadequacy of wasted potential and dreams and the suffering that goes along with that. It sucks. It sucks for all of us because if these brilliant people were where they are supposed to be we'd have a better nation. I'm certain there are other scattered in Latino communities, and elsewhere too. Racism cripples the potential of our nation.

I escaped that fate, but not because I'm the very best, Mostly because my grandfather owned his own farm and we had the privilege that came with land ownership that, and some hard work, and some luck.

But, people work harder than I ever have, harder than many of the people people reading this article ever have, they have good minds and good hearts, they are the people our nation is missing in clinics and board rooms in classrooms and government and we never know about them and they still end up suffering-- since the sorting mechanism in our nation for who will suffer sorts the black and browns ones in to the suffering pile more often than not.

The mechanism is white privilege and racism.

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon typing quotes from Harvard University's Professor Western's "Punishment and Inequality in America" into Google Docs. If anyone doubts that irrefutable racism exists they should pause to read the following facts:

• Among black male high school dropouts aged twenty to thirty-five, we estimate that 36 percent were in prison or jail in 1996....

• We also found that black men in their early thirties at the end of the 1990s were more likely to have been to prison than to have graduated from college with a four-year degree....

• Between 1970 and 2003, state and federal prisons grew sevenfold to house 1.4 million convicted felons serving at least one year behind bars, and typically much longer. Offenders held in county jails, awaiting trial or serving short sentences, added another seven hundred thousand by 2003. In addition to the incarcerated populations, another 4.7 million people were under probation and parole supervision. The entire correctional population of the United States totaled nearly seven million in 2003, around 6 percent of the adult male population.

• The basic brute fact of incarceration in the new era of mass imprisonment is that African Americans are eight times more likely to be incarcerated than whites....

• The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that in 2004, over 12 percent of black men aged twenty-five to twenty-nine were behind bars, in prison or jail. Among black men born in the late 1960s who received no more than a high school education, 30 percent had served time in prison by their mid-thirties; 60 percent of high school drop outs had prison records.

• By 2000, over a million black children - 9 percent of those under eighteen - had a father in prison or jail. In around half of all cases, these fathers were living with their children at the time they were incarcerated....

• So marginal have these men become, that the most disadvantaged among them are hidden from statistics on wages and employment. The economic situation of young black men - measured by wage and employment rates - appeared to improve through the economic expansion of the 1990s, but this appearance was wholly an artifact of rising incarceration rates....

• Perhaps more than adding to inequality between blacks and whites, the prison boom has driven a wedge into the black community, where those without college education are now traveling a path of unique disadvantage that increasingly separates then from college-educated blacks....

• In the federal system, three out of five prisoners by 1997 were drug offenders....

• In 2001, Britain still recorded the highest incarceration rate in western Europe, but the American imprisonment rate was more than five times greater.... Indeed, to find close competitors to the American penal system we must look beyond the longstanding democracies of western Europe, to Russia (628 per hundred thousand) and South Africa (400).

• High incarceration rates among less educated, less skilled, financially disadvantaged, and minority men are unmistakable. The 1997 survey of state and federal prisoners shows that state inmates average fewer than eleven years of schooling. A third were not working at the time of their incarceration, and the average wage of the remainder is much lower than that of other men with the same level of education.... Black men are six to eight times more likely to be in prison than whites....

This is an important article. Thanks to Jen Graves for taking the time to write it.

Ari Kohn
Seattle, WA 98145-0007

@Comment #363

"I feel saddened that it's necessary to have white people on my side to make other white people understand their privilege"

To the saddened white people who are troubled by "white privilege" I wonder how much of history have you actually read. I put "white privilege" in quotes because in historical context white privilege disappears into the abyss.

Savagery, ruthlessness and hatred has been demonstrated in all the peoples of the world. And that is truly sad. But.why single out whites?

White people - Stop apologizing!

patrick

@Comment #363

"I feel saddened that it's necessary to have white people on my side to make other white people understand their privilege"

To the saddened white people who are troubled by "white privilege" I wonder how much of history have you actually read. I put "white privilege" in quotes because in historical context white privilege disappears into the abyss. It's a pale cloud in the sky.

Savagery, ruthlessness and hatred has been demonstrated by all the peoples of the world. And that is truly sad. But what is the serious argument for singling out whites?

White people - Stop apologizing!

I live in Portland, and I am appalled each time I note the racial demographics of the passengers on the #6 bus as it heads down MLK Boulevard to North Portland. During rush hour, there are almost never more than 1-3 white people in a bus with so many people that there is no standing room. The Alberta neighborhood and others are growing more and more gentrified, yet when I told a family friend that I lived in North Portland, his eyes grew wide and he asked me if there are a lot of black people in that area of town. I was shocked. Portland has an ugly history of racism and segregation, as does all of America.

Thank you for the amazing article! I especially appreciated your comment about green being a less controversial color to talk about. This is also very true in Portland. I wish that there was more of a conversation about race in Portland. And while in Portland and Seattle we see many subtle expressions of racism, there are also many Neo-Nazi groups in the Pacific Northwest. Visit the beautiful Olympic Peninsula to find trucks and houses proudly sporting Dixie's flag.

I think it's important to create a less harsh word than 'racist' to describe the blindness to racism that is so prevalent in this decade. Racism is a form of ignorance. But shocking people into listening by calling them racist might not be an effective way to get their attention. Offended people rarely listen, and therein lies the problem. Citizens of all races, classes, and creeds need to listen to one another. Yes, it takes more time than making a snap judgment based on complexion, accent, or labels, but this is what is needed to get rid of the erosive damage that passive aggressive PC culture inevitably leads to. (Case in point, re-segregation of American schools while no one was noticing).

"And across all measurable strata, white people in Seattle have it better."

And unspoken is the reasoning - white people have it better because of their subtle racism.

It couldnt possibly be that white people have what it takes to make it better and that non-whites dont.

Why do national patterns of migration tell only one story non-whites trying to live amongst whites.

Why are white countries better places to live than non-white countries?

so what if I am half white...half non-white....

but raised in a single home by the non-white half

but I look white as snow....

not everyone is racist...everyone is a bigot to a point but the bigotry may have nothing to do with ones culture or race..but ones lifestyle choice..

so many people that feel guilty for doing nothing wrong...

I thought back to this essay after reading the NYT today

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/18/opinio…

I loved this article... however, your blatant prejudice of any so called "right winger" hurts your credibility and my respect for you as a progressive and anti-racist because you yourself, a pioneer of racial equality are judging people based on their political affiliations? Not cool.

This article reminds me of the time a too-cool-for-you co-workers had a discussion about how equal we all were. One of the people there was a gay, black man who was raised in inner city Detroit. When a hip white woman, well meaning, I am sure...said that we Are All Alike, or some other PC silly statement, I laughed and and said of course we weren't....I was a white woman raised in rural Norwegian South Dakota where there is nary a black person. How could we be the same? You'd think I had just announced that I had become a member of the KKK. Mouths dropped open. Of course we are different. People mistake that for being not good enough, not equal or whatever other label you want to use. How could a white straight woman raised in a rural midwestern town have the same set of experiences as a black gay urban raised guy? We do need to have these awkward conversations. Keep' em coming.

I am a big proponent of separating racism from the label "racist" -- part of what blinds people to their own racist assumptions and biases is the idea that they couldn't possibly entertain any racism, because they are not a racist. It's an artifact of the history of the civil rights movement: The earlier battles were against easily identifiable bad guys like lynch mobs and klansmen and segregationists, and as such we are too easily convinced that racism takes only that form. People clench up and resist when they feel like they're being called racists, because that's a term they identify with this sort of overt antisocial behavior, and justifiably so. I find it much more helpful to understand that one can make a racist assumption even if one is not a "racist" under such broad definitions, and that such an approach is much more conducive to active examination of one's own thoughts and actions.

I look forward to all you hand-wringing pussies being beaten half to death by a black flash mob that couldn't give two shits about your good intentions.If one were to do a demographic breakdown of which part of the taxpayer base spends the most on charities and "community enrichment"programs,then juxtapose that with the percentages of white-on-black crime as opposed to black-on-black crime,one might reasonably conclude that NO ONE,not even other black people,are nicer to black people than white people.

This comment was made by Orv: "I actually tend to avoid interacting with people who are minorities because I know that they'll perceive me as racist, as privileged, as someone who doesn't understand their world."

So you avoid us?? That is more disturbing than overt racism.

This comment was made by Orv: "I actually tend to avoid interacting with people who are minorities because I know that they'll perceive me as racist, as privileged, as someone who doesn't understand their world."

So you avoid us?? That is more disturbing than overt racism.

You know it's a good article when it's still getting comments this many months later. I read this when I first came out and was impressed by it. Race is a conversation more of us need to be having.

I strongly agree with @382. I do feel that perhaps Ms. Graves was going a bit far in requesting her students accept the label of racist. It's true that most people have had racist/homophobic/sexist thoughts, but racism is a conscious doctrine. Most people not only don't want to be perceived as racist, they want to be less like racists -- to have fewer racist tendencies or thoughts.

Great article! I hope that the most riled up detractors to this article walk away from this with the seed of an idea that their world is one made up of utter unchecked privileged.

If unable to see through the misinformation from the liberal atheist liars at ABC, NBC, NPR and CBS (Comedy Central, NYT and more), then you are wayyyyyy too naive for teaching people anything beyond mechanical stuff like auto repair.

I am putting in a link to my 3-minute video about the lies revolving around the Trayvon Martin reporting. Please take a look. Then peek at my other video about NBC News trying to get white people killed in their doctoring of the 911 call so that dumb liberals will reinforce their false belief in whitey being more racist than or even as racist as many many in the black population today.

Racist black violence and a media coverup vs the Trayvon Martin propaganda frenzy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7vNsTi6S…

I am not embarrassed to be white at all, even when in consideration of having gotten the shit kicked out of me by racist blacks and threatened on other occasions.

I am embarrased, however, about my years being ignorant enough for the liars in the elite media to convince me that their fake world is real. My hope is to some day read a column about your own embarrassment over the same issue.

If unable to see through the misinformation from the liberal atheist liars at ABC, NBC, NPR and CBS (Comedy Central, NYT and more), then you are wayyyyyy too naive for teaching people anything beyond mechanical stuff like auto repair.

I am putting in a link to my 3-minute video about the lies revolving around the Trayvon Martin reporting. Please take a look. Then peek at my other video about NBC News trying to get white people killed in their doctoring of the 911 call so that dumb liberals will reinforce their false belief in whitey being more racist than or even as racist as many many in the black population today.

Racist black violence and a media coverup vs the Trayvon Martin propaganda frenzy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7vNsTi6S…

I am not embarrassed to be white at all, even when in consideration of having gotten the shit kicked out of me by racist blacks and threatened on other occasion.

I am embarrased, however, about my years being ignorant enough for the liars in the elite media to convince me that their fake world is real. My hope is to some day read a column about your own embarrassment over the same issue.

"Whites" grow sick of "blacks like you" shamelessly guilt-tripping them, blaming them for your group's pathetically self-created problems. We encounter to many "yous" in life... to many hostile, hateful little shits who do nothing but create tension and chaos and blame us that less than 1% of our ancestors had any involvement in 150 years ago. Oh, and your other "non-white" friends (not, they all hate your group and you all hate their group more than you all pretend to hate us, the ritual punching bag, also sometimes engage in this vile behavior.

The (reluctant) Enemy Tribe.

"Whites" grow sick of "blacks like you" shamelessly guilt-tripping them, blaming them for your group's pathetically self-created problems. We encounter to many "yous" in life... to many hostile, hateful little shits who do nothing but create tension and chaos and blame us that less than 1% of our ancestors had any involvement in 150 years ago. Oh, and your other "non-white" friends (not, they all hate your group and you all hate their group more than you all pretend to hate us, the ritual punching bag, also sometimes engage in this vile behavior.

The (reluctant) Enemy Tribe.

PS... did you white mama do all the work in raising you, like most ingrateful Mulattos? Ah, hem, Barack Hussein Obama comes to mind.

"Racist is the new nigger."

Haha, that's a great line. Not true though.

I sometimes point out racism when I see it, because that's something I do, and while it might bug the racists I do it to (OK, it does tend to), it doesn't bug them nearly so much as it would if I called them 'nigger' or some equivolent (depending on ... whatever, any bigoted slur).

Also, the sentiment associated with saying to someone, "that's racist" is a lot different from the sentiment associated with saying "You're a nigger (or whatever.)" The former is to offer insight or to attempt to educate (and the fact that it rarely works doesn't seem to stop me, I still do it, will always do it, for reasons which are at the heart of this article), the latter is just generic, pointless hate speech, serves no purpose, fills no need; I dont get it, never did.

I just stopped over here, this is my first comment here ever, this seems to be a seattle place, I don't live in Seattle but Cali. I like your article but a lot of the comments are very similar to those I'm trying to get away from...elsewhere...as in, places I'm trying to get away from, haha, is this going to be possible? Time will tell.

I get accused of "white guilt," which is a kind of bizarre concept I saw mentioned in comments here, too, but that's not what it is that drives my behavior. I do not feel guilty, I simply grew up witnessing RIDICULOUS, rage driven, disgusting and mind boggling anti-black racism, and I see that it continues in America still (even though I live in Cali now and not in the heart of back SEastern America), I see it in this written trend of 'reverse-racism' silly talk and FOX whining; I see it for what it is and call it out from time to time.

I do not believe there is any such thing as anti-white racism but there is anti-white bigotry, of course, because there is anti-everything bigotry, depending on who is angry and who is talking and who likes to generalize as an excuse for being pissed off and feeling superior, assuming someone does, and someone often does.

However there is a big difference between the terms bigotry and racism, but the difference isn't really all that complicated.

The writer you quote sums it up nicely right here:

"Americans love to reduce racial politics to feelings and etiquette. It's the personal and dramatic aspects of race that obsess us, not the deeply rooted and currently active political inequalities."

While it might not feel that way at the time, the latter problem is the real problem, it's pervasive in America and pernicious and, feels like to me, quite conspicuously is just that and it's willful ignorance, seems like to me, when people decide there is some epidemic of reverse racism they want to get on a rant about (Hannity, O'Reilly or whoever). That latter matter is a lot more important than the former transient matter of feeling offended because somebody calls you something you don't like being called that day, and that's for sure.

People like Jen are a bunch of sado-masochistic intellectual-masturbation artists...

.
Please feel free to work to inform Americans that ....
the ETHNIC term of "African-American" (AA) is NOT
a 'Synonym' for the RACIAL term of 'Black American'
(BA) -- the two (2) terms are actually referring to two
(2) entirely DIFFERENT GROUPS of people -- AND that
many of the true AAs find it to be very offensive that
our society works to force them to "carry the statistics"
(particularly the 'negative' ones -- ex. AIDS / HIV Rates,
STD Rates; Crime Rates; Out-Of-Wedlock Birthrates;
Higher-Education Drop-Out Rates, STD Rate; etc.) --
for all of the many, many, many diverse BA groups
and communities that are currently living in the U.S.
.
https://www.facebook.com/allpeople.gifts…
.

This article is a lot of "no, you don't get it" without ever explaining what it is that we don't get. In particular, no one explains why a white city is automatically a racist city. Are we just to accept this logical fallacy without question?

Re: Post #373:
"Yesterday, I spent the afternoon typing quotes from Harvard University's Professor Western's "Punishment and Inequality in America" into Google Docs. If anyone doubts that irrefutable racism exists they should pause to read the following facts:"
...followed by a bunch of redundant facts about the incarceration of black men.

When you put forth incarceration as evidence of racism, one can't help but wonder if you're disingenuous or just myopic. Yes, it could be racism that causes this, but that is not the only possible explanation that would cross most people's minds.

Reading the comments and amazed that in all the ones saying, "It's not racism you should be talking about, but class," there's only 1 comment so far (#240) that mentions intersectionality. It sure is possible to have problems along multiples axes.

This is a great 101 piece not on racism, but on how to just start talking about it among other white people and examining our own micro-aggressions.

But I'm also fascinated by the repeated negative example of Philadelphia in the comments. In the part where I live, at least, there's a lot of work on talking about privilege and addressing our issues. Check out the Theater of the Oppressed for just one example.

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I stopped reading reading at "tea partyer". You write this tome about your struggle to feel better about your whiteness and then make absurd, racist assumptions about whites.

Two wongs don't make a white.

You won't find Asians wasting their time writing self-loathing garbage like this.

To me the racists are the ones who bring it up. MLK taught me to judge a person on the content of his/her character. This is natural for me. People who look at groups who don't perform well as a group need to realize that everyone paves their own road in their lives.

Dr. Benjamin Carson, a leading world renown brain surgeon is black and grew up in a poor uneducated neighborhood. He rose up, got a good education, was a moral man, and suceeded. Why is it that the people who focus on this "white priveledge" discount personal responsibility these days? Regardless of color, Dr. Benjamin Carson made it big time, Condoleeza Rice, Eric Holder, and countless others showed us all that racism is thing of the past. Things are as they are. Whites have a higher IQ than blacks on average, Africa is pathetic..can anyone acknowledge these facts? Rome 2000 years ago was beautiful with great architecture, art etc, while in many parts of Africa, people live in giant birds nests. With the lower IQ, on average, this means that blacks will need to study and perservere. My father wasn't too bright. He told me that he had to study much harder to get through veterinary school, but he had a strong will to succeed.
If some refuse to even learn to speak English properly, drop out of high school, fail to control themselves morally, and end up losers, whose fault is that? Whitey's? Please...this article is pathetic. There isn't one decent African nation to live in. Do you think we would be better off in Sudan? Ethiopia? Somalia?

Stop all of this nonsense. If someone drops out of school, they should pick fruit, live in a shack with an outhouse, and get a chance to go to nightschool to learn a skill to better themselves. Then they can move out of the shack and earn..(is "earn" racist?) their lifestyles. I think welfare and all of this nonsensical coddling of the losers just perpetuates the problem. We need tough love. We need to return to virtue, high moral standards, and dump this insane liberal progressive, Marxist poison mentality. Others have "made it" by their own efforts. If someone happens to have a 70 IQ, then they will have limitations because they just weren't born with high intelligence, so they can take jobs working on oil rigs, crab boats, welding etc..All very high paying jobs.
So there you have it. Smart people of any color have nothing to feel guilty about. If we create a neighborhood of thugs, drug dealers, morally deficient, lazy people..a slum, then we can get out of it by our own efforts, or live with our bad decisions.

Seattle has statues of communist leaders in the middle of town. Go read the communist manifesto then you`ll know what all this BS is about.

Stumbled upon this and posted on my Facebook page for my site - http://www.transracialparenting.com. I lived in San Francisco for 16 years (I'm from New Orleans and am back home now) and I was having a FB conversation on race with a former colleague there who said, "Thankfully I live in San Francisco where racism isn't an issue." I almost fell off my desk chair - are there any blacks living in San Francisco, um, no, most people of color live on the other side of the Bay. The Hispanics are ghettoized in the Mission and has anyone heard of Asian Privilege? It really floors me that the U.S. thinks that New Orleans is the ONLY place with a race problem after seeing images from the 2005 Federal Flood. I'm happy to see there are like minded white people in the PNW who are actually taking the charge on this very serious issues in our country. Bravo.

How can you just dismiss anti-racial-preference like that? When I see compelling data showing that, apart from socioeconomic status, race in and of itself has a significant effect on who succeeds in education and there is nothing besides racism to blame, I'll support racial preferences. I'll want them to be standardized, of course, but I'll support them. So far, socioeconomic preferences look fine to me, and because of minorities (except Asian and Jewish people) having lower incomes than non-Jewish whites, such measures would disproportionately help them out anyway.

Foisting a bullshit concept of "white-male-ness" onto every indicator of success in life, however, doesn't do it for me.

Racism is terrible. I've seen it, I've broken up fights based on it, and I've even experienced it, and yes, I'm white (no, it wasn't just a fancified "check your privilege"; it was actually racism). It's dehumanizing to everyone involved. But you can't blame everything on it.

In my opinion it's more about behavior than anything.There's a reason that areas that are mostly color are higher in crime that areas that are mostly white.Studies prove this is true with few exceptions.I don't have dislike for anyone based on skin color.I moved from an area that was dominantly black and hispanic,as i got sick and tired of hearing the boomcars and observing people hanging out all hours of the night,not to mention the high amount of crime and just all around bad behavior/I'm now living in a small rural area,mostly white,quiet and serene.my white flight is considered as being racism,but i'm around people like myself and have lost the stress i was drowning in when living in my previous location.so what is racism and what is logical preference.Should i have remained where i was and tolerated the behavior for the sake of diversity?should i have searched out a quieter,crime free but equally as mixed area in the name of diversity?i believe racism is often times incorrectly redefined.

I don't enjoy being around Black people, especially Black women. Their manners and behaviors are unpleasant. I wish I didn't have to work with them.I don't believe race is just the color of your skin.

I think White people should figure out a way to seperate from other races. We don't do well around them and they obviously don't do well around us. We are happier on our own. I dont think 1000 years of affirmitive action would be enough.

This article is so idiotic I don't even know how to start debunking it.

In the first place, this sort of "aren't we all really racist" guilt-tripping is nothing new. The piece shows neither insight nor originality.

If "racism" - whatever that means to Jen Graves - is really so universal, so pervasive and so durable, then perhaps "racism" is a part of being human, and we should embrace it, not fear it. What is wrong with feeling kinship towards your kinfolk?

RDeW

This post was great - the struggle continues!

I lived in China and guess what, everyone on TV and everyone in management or government was CHINESE despite the fact that many foreigners live in China. Some of them (like the, ironically, "white" Russian minorities whom my Chinese boss called "uneducated peasants and whores") for multiple generations.

I think this is the case everywhere -- the dominant ethnicity has structural privileges. Within Africa, some tribes are more privileged than others within the same country. It's something that a lot of people keep getting uptight about, but besides having awkward conversations, I'm not seeing a whole lot of practical solutions offered aside from trying to "educate" people about their privilege - how's that working out for you? LOL! Why not work to reduce it instead of empty moralizing?

The same people who like to go around shaming others and feeling holier-than-thou would probably strongly object to practical solutions that would increase racial equality -- such as, say, real hate speech laws (jail for using the N-word) and nationalizing public schools (no more of this community schools, community property tax b.s.). and ending the racist jury system.

Why attempt to turn every discussion of race into a discussion about class?Because then we won't have to face it in ourselves. It's another way to deny that systemic racism exists. Who is MORE likely to be poor and homeless in America? Blacks. Period. End of discussion.

Now why is that?

Apart from the fact that the U.S.A. was originally predicated on the conquest, subjugation, and mass expropriation of cultural heritage and basic human rights of the people who already lived here, those who were forcibly brought here, and those who were not white male "landowners," it might be well for an academic such as Eddie Moore Jr., the Bush School's outgoing director of diversity, to avoid such stereotype-perpetuating phrases as "There's really no skills [sic] being developed to shift the conversation."

David Alan Grier and Keenen Ivory Wayans fans must love that quotation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Izpa9D7c7…

A Short History of Racial Segregation in American Housing:

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-ar…

And, a longer one - phenomenal and absolutely worth your time:

http://isabelwilkerson.com/

While most people find it awkward to talk about race, I talk about it openly. Some people, even my teachers, have told me not bring up that "subject," because it makes them uncomfortable. Because of growing up in a dominantly white suburb, race was an issue that almost no one, including my "friends," wanted to talk about. My school isn't exactly what you call diverse. About 55% of the kids are white, 40-42% of he kids are black, and 5-3% other. When I first called my self biracial, I was told I wasn't by white, black, and half white and black people. To those people, the only races that existed where white and black. Even the teachers do nothing, or are even racist themselves towards the 45% of people that make up our school. I get called "chink" and "jap." People ask my why I'm always squinting or why I don't open my eyes. I'm asked if I speak English in my school. Because people are afraid to bring up the topic of racism, nobody does anything about it. The first step to solving your problems, is to address them.
-- a half asian, half white, racially offended girl

Trying to listen through the automatic tendency to become defensive and angry is frustrating, and also difficult. But when you ask yourself why you're so angry at someone for having something horrible happen to them, it really brings home the point that oppressions really are systemic, and that all of us are molded by those systemic forces to react in utterly illogical ways.

How much sense does the idea "The bad things repetitively happening to you in consistent ways are not the only bad things happening. All kinds of things happen. Many things happen in consistent and measurable patterns. Because this is a common metaproblem, it is not a bug, but a feature of the universe, and fixing it would probably break some metaphysical (if not actual, down to the quantum level, really physical) so the only thing to do is ignore it."

Much of this thread is devoted is devoted to one of these two reactions; it's terrifying.

Its amazing how poorly commenters read the articles before commenting. For example, there must be 50 posts from people (including someone who was supposedly in her class) who think that when she says racism she means a worldview predicated on the belief that there are various races with distinct traits and with some that are "better" than others. That is a definition of racism, but clearly not the one she meant. She just meant prejudice based on race. I.e., an unfair or illogical feeling of dislike towards someone based on race. So anyone who has ever had an unfair thought about someone that was at least partially because of their race meets that definition of "racist." And really, everybody meets that definition.

I wish I could remember who said it or find the exact quote, but someone somewhere said something that I thought was illuminating. Basically, that most modern racism is not a patently racist worldview (like the klan) but simply being more likely to give the benefit of the doubt to someone like you and more likely to be suspicious of someone not like you.

You talk of non-whites not making it to your block party... imagine being in a newer suburban development in New Jersey... and imagine non-whites(Asians) hosting barbecue and dinners at home for several years for all residents in the development... much to the chagrin of this wonderful suave Indian family, not a single white family reciprocates with an invitation to their homes and all we have now left is very much of these Indian parties for non-whites in an upper middle class neighborhood.. So what gives?

It's OK that you feel that way (coming from a middle aged Black woman). Racism is weaved into the fabric of this nation and unravelling those threads may create a much deeper problem. By that I am referring to the fact that identities in this country, for the most part, were based on lies. I love my country for all the freedom it allows (which could change at any moment) and most Americans, I believe, have good/well meaning intentions towards those individuals perceived different from themselves. However, talking about how race (which is a game) affects those who are oppressed by it would make anyone uncomfortable. If you get an opportunity to talk openly and honestly with a Black person, please give it a try. In most cases, you'll find that Blacks are willing to talk with you in a civil manner and you might just learn something. God Bless you for having an open mind and more importantly, an open heart.

In regards to the OP's blog above:

Your thoughts are exactly the mentality that I, an African American female, have both seen and experienced. Racism is hideous, it is evil, and it is of darkness. The taught and embraced nature of one's race being "better" than another, to view others of a different race as a property, the arrogance and wicked agendas is all but a downright filth on the entirety of the human race. No race, judging from history is truly 'better' than the other. If it is taught as that through your race, it is a lie. All have murdered, all have done evil, even people with degrees have used their intellect for wickedness. Name me one race that has never done these things above and I will believe you. But when on the news I see, particularly done by whites, leaving their children to die in cars, or as a child molester, or as a white-collar or murder or going off into shooting rampages when they don't get what they want it solidifies the very prevalent issue. Racism is a deception, and white men believe this deception because there are other whites who agree to the deception. In the end, all are lost. Lost, in their own darkness and they make others suffer because of the darkness.

For years Europeans have architecture advancement in the world. Yet they have also stolen, defiled, and smitten others to get to where they are today and of course, purposely leaving out people of other nationalities from the history book, so that only whites are displayed as the prosperous in America. These acts of thievery are injustice, racism at the tip of the iceberg. To be entirely not only jealous but vengeful towards a race of people who have done nothing to the level let-alone 'deserve' the type of treatment that they've received based on their skin-tone or genetics is absolutely disgusting.

I grew up in a white suburban neighborhood and had the unfortunate experience of your white men using racist remarks towards me, your white females arrogant and down-casting like a loathsome vile cat, your parents harassing my folks out of jealousy of a black family having a decent home instead of renting a shack to live in. Your paragraph claiming the "United States was made by whites for whites" is also historically incorrect. The United states did not belong to whites. The original owners were the Native Americans before your ancestors stole and killed the people for the land, sending them to concentration camps on the undesirable parts of the country, then later made laws claiming the North America as one's own. The God Complex is a reason why so many national issues are happening and terrorism running amuck. One bully believes they own the playground while in the meanwhile other bullies come into power and play. If whites were as good as you say you are, then why are they relying on the Middle-East and China for resources and monetary values. It is all mental and pyschological poison, and I know there are those out there that will happily eat the poison because it makes them feel good to do so. Regardless, let us see how one's skin-tone matters when they stand before the judgment of God who created all which so vainly is claimed by others, who hath made nothing.

There are more whites in hell, than there are of any other race. Why? Because of arrogance and evil, that is why.

In regards to the OP's blog above:

Your thoughts are exactly the mentality that I, an African American female, have both seen and experienced. Racism is hideous, it is evil, and it is of darkness. The taught and embraced nature of one's race being "better" than another, to view others of a different race as a property, the arrogance and wicked agendas is all but a downright filth on the entirety of the human race. No race, judging from history is truly 'better' than the other. If it is taught as that through your race, it is a lie. All have murdered, all have done evil, even people with degrees have used their intellect for wickedness. Name me one race that has never done these things above and I will believe you. But when on the news I see, particularly done by whites, leaving their children to die in cars, or as a child molester, or as a white-collar or murder or going off into shooting rampages when they don't get what they want it solidifies the very prevalent issue. Racism is a deception, and white men believe this deception because there are other whites who agree to the deception. In the end, all are lost. Lost, in their own darkness and they make others suffer because of the darkness.

For years Europeans have architecture advancement in the world. Yet they have also stolen, defiled, and smitten others to get to where they are today and of course, purposely leaving out people of other nationalities from the history book, so that only whites are displayed as the prosperous in America. These acts of thievery are injustice, racism at the tip of the iceberg. To be entirely not only jealous but vengeful towards a race of people who have done nothing to the level let-alone 'deserve' the type of treatment that they've received based on their skin-tone or genetics is absolutely disgusting.

I grew up in a white suburban neighborhood and had the unfortunate experience of your white men using racist remarks towards me, your white females arrogant and down-casting like a loathsome vile cat, your parents harassing my folks out of jealousy of a black family having a decent home instead of renting a shack to live in. Your paragraph claiming the "United States was made by whites for whites" is also historically incorrect. The United states did not belong to whites. The original owners were the Native Americans before your ancestors stole and killed the people for the land, sending them to concentration camps on the undesirable parts of the country, then later made laws claiming the North America as one's own. The God Complex is a reason why so many national issues are happening and terrorism running amuck. One bully believes they own the playground while in the meanwhile other bullies come into power and play. If whites were as good as you say you are, then why are they relying on the Middle-East and China for resources and monetary values. It is all mental and pyschological poison, and I know there are those out there that will happily eat the poison because it makes them feel good to do so. Regardless, let us see how one's skin-tone matters when they stand before the judgment of God who created all which so vainly is claimed by others, who hath made nothing.

There are more whites in hell, than there are of any other race. Why? Because of arrogance and evil, that is why.

boy howdy.



then wtf am I poor? lame. lame. lame.

Unfortunately, I think you are right. I think it is convenient to avoid a touchy subject since white people are sitting in the privileged seat and therefore don't really NEED/WANT to solve things for anyone else. Easy to ignore, easy to make "someone else's problem". Which is why it is usually white people in blended family situations who feel moved to make some noise.

The author claims to be an Antiracist yet she still feels the need to generalize and marginalize any individual the MSM identifies as "tea partiers" or "right wingers". How can you be antiracist and yet harbor so much hate. Since I don't identify myself as a progressive (or conservative or liberal, etc.) does that automatically mean i am a "right winger" to be despised by the antiracist community? I socialize with people of many different political tendencies and I can tell you they all agree racism is bad. I'm glad to see there are organizations dedicated to helping the problem but how can an antiracist movement be both antiracist and bigoted? The antiracist strategy needs to be rethought to reach and include the hated "right ringers". Else your just propogating the problem of groupism/racism.

This article was written in 2011, and I hope the writer is now aware, "This is legal color blindness" is considered a "racist" comment. To be "color-blind" is NOT to acknowledge the different cultural identity of another person, and the ignorant assumption "you're just like me, only a different color which I do not see."

The argument that "everyone is racist" ruffles feathers because many people like me were raised to appreciate, and to be curious about other people and their cultures. Many people have been raised NOT to judge ANYONE by the color of their skin! I'm a BRAT and we got to experience cultural diversity... I understand this concept very well!

I became aware in my young adult years that the generation who raised my parents, some of which were racist. I was shocked when I heard some of the words that came out of their mouths. They are no longer here to share racist comments, so I would have to say this belief that "being white the superior race" is no longer being passed down to another generation in my first family.

Do I judge people? As hard as I try not to be judgemental I admit that I am far from perfect. I make judgements about the behavior and character of some people, but I DO NOT discriminate or make judgement based on the color of someone's skin. It is human nature to make sense of our world by naming and classifying people, places and things! Do I let someone know if I find their comments offensive. Yes, I speak up and I can also make the informed decision whether I want to associate with someone who I find offensive, no matter what the color of their skin may be. If I say that all white people are racist, am I not being racist?

I understand my "white privilege." I've never experienced what it's like to be a woman of color because I am white. I have learned, and now understand I will not experience certain racial injustices, like racial profiling. I have also been the recipient of hurtful judgement because I am white, from people who had no idea who I am except for the color of my skin. It's painful, frightening and humiliating. However as a single mother I have struggled to make ends meet, living at or below poverty levels. I have not been afforded a college education based on the color of my skin. I'm finally able to return to school, and now I'm finding myself in debt like never before! Where is the financial assistance for a woman like me, who has also suffered, and the only privilege she can identify with is her whiteness? I do not not consider myself a person "of privledge." The word itself is insulting to a woman who has struggled her entire adult life, and suffered great emotional and some physical abuse! I'm paying good money to learn all about what I owe society because of the color of my skin. Some of my forefathers may have been predjuduce people. Is that my fault? I ALSO know that not one of them ever was a slave holder, and they FOUGHT to ABOLISH slavery!

So now I'm not only privledged, but I'm also guilty as charged of being a racist because of the color of my skin? Please tell me why I should feel guilty, when I've worked very hard to grow above intense feelings of shame that are personal, and wrecked my ability to believe I deserve more than the hand I was dealt?

I had to heal myself before I had any esteem to even think about these things! I have always been grateful for what I have, because I know many many people have experienced far worse abuses! Am I guilty because I haven't? I'm trying to enter the professional field of Human Services, because I want to help ALL people who have lives that have been torn down for whatever reason. All people deserve to believe in themselves, and to be lifted up! Learning cultural diversity, shouldn't have to be so painful, as to induce unjustified guilt in students who are paying good money to learn how to be better, more open people to the diversity that surrounds us all. Instead we're teaching collective "white guilt" which in my opinion only creates more division. The conversations absolutely to need to happen, but being singled out and being called "privileged and racist" shuts people down, and enforces what is suppose to be torn down.

I would be angry too, if I were in an Art History class and the conversation turned to students being asked to admit their own racism! I'm an artist at heart, and typically artists feel deeply, and empathetically about every social injustice in the world! The art professor was introducing subject matter that stirs deep emotions in all of us, no matter our color! Art stirs deep emotion! Instead of name calling, why not allow students to come to their own feelings honestly, and open the discussion around what comes up for each individual student? Art History does teach diversity, however this conversation belonged in a setting that explores the entire difficult issue of cultural diversity and not just the professor's own "spiritual enlightenment" about the subject....

There was plenty of white liberal guilt in mid 1800s America, it never translated into 40 acres and a mule though. There's no real point in feeling guilty for something your ancestors may have done. What matters is justice in the here and now. Most white Americans are not descended from slave owners anyway. Seattle is a city with a long legacy of racism and segregation but I think the mechanism that is perpetuating that segregation is more economic these days. Gentrification, displacement, talk of cleaning up neighborhoods. Plenty of very PC "progressive" white politicians and even some politicians of color are fully on board with this pro wealthy agenda. Doubling down on identity politics or trying to get people to repent for the sin of whiteness at sensitivity workshops in no way prevented the banks from stealing homes out from under hundreds thousands. of African American families who were given predatory loans, neither for that matter did Obama or Eric Holder. Most of these very PC academics steeped in all these identity politics accuse people who want to talk about socioeconomic class of class reductionism, of not caring about the issues of people of color or women or LGBT people. But when you don't talk about poverty or the working class and merely focus on making a few chairs available for more affluent "representatives" of those groups out you are leaving out a lot of people of color women and lgbt people, as well as a quite a few white people. These rich yuppies are mostly white sure but they are not neccessarily the same white people that used to live around here. The idea that racism is beneficial to all whites regardless of their class interests is false, it's the propaganda of the ruling class, and yet nowadays that notion is considered "radical".

I don't know what to do about segregated neighborhoods either. It's not all about being surrounded by people who look like you. People with the means want to be where it is safe and where the good schools are. We barely had the means but we made it a priority because we didn't want our kids in the schools with police guards and metal detectors. Who would want that? Hey here's an idea: make all the schools great schools. That would help.

In the meantime, I found a way to make a diverse group of friends outside of your own neighborhood: Meetup groups - depending on the type of group, of course. Karaoke seems to draw people equally from all races and ethnic backgrounds. I don't know which other interests have the same effect, but you can try some out to see.