Features Aug 31, 2011 at 4:00 am

Please don’t not read this just because you’re not racist.

Seattle's racism is unlike the racism anywhere else, because Seattleites act like they're above it. Art by Sean Johnson

Comments

133
There are almost twice as many Asians as African Americans in Seattle. There are almost as many Asians as African Americans and Latinos combined. So why are Asians all-but absent from this article? The reader is left to wonder.
134
@18:
So because you may be judged honestly for your privilege, you'd rather not consider the fact that you COULD be acting out of privilege and just stick your head in the sand?

I'm not denying that I'm privileged. I'm not denying that, if people judge me based on that, they're correct. But inserting myself into a situation where I'll be judged for it is basically sticking my nose in where it's not wanted. The polite thing to do seems to be to just avoid situations where, as a white person, my presence will be unwanted and make people uncomfortable.

I've known African-Americans who said they felt alone and uncomfortable because they didn't act "black enough" to suit other people in their community. As basically the whitest person in the universe and a child of white privilege I have no hope of ever being accepted socially by people like that.
135
@133: It's an interesting question. People tend to think of Asians as never having suffered from racial discrimination, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries there was substantial prejudice against them. Seattle and Tacoma at one point both tried to evict their Asian populations en masse; Tacoma was slightly more successful at it.

I suspect, on some level, people are just subconsciously more comfortable with Asian people because they look "more white." For similar reasons we've largely forgotten the white-on-white racism that used to exist against the Irish and Italians.
136
As long as white people can look at a gathering of white people and think it's diverse, we have a problem in this country that we need to address. It may not be racism; I think it's simply lack of experience and understanding.

After being married to an African-American man for nine years, and being around his family, I have had many life-changing and attitude-changing experiences.

Any white person who wants a different perspective on race issues can try something like this:

I was the only white guest at my in-laws' 50th wedding anniversary celebration. It was in southern Virginia, where they live and where my husband is from. I was the only white person among a gathering of African-Americans. I was dressed wrong. I was among African Americans who remember getting off the sidewalk for white people, who remember hearing white people call their parents "aunt" and "uncle" when they had to say "Mr." and "Mrs," who remember "whites only" waiting rooms, lunch counters, hotels, restaurants, drinking fountains, you name it.

For one overwhelmingly relieved moment, I thought there was another white person there. Then I realized she wasn't! She was African American, but so light-complected I didn't notice.

Then I did realize that there were other white people in the room.

They were servers.

I was a guest.

But I'm white.

The other guests were African American.

I had the most astonishingly, profoundly, visceral and gut-level experience of being a minority with divided loyalties.

If any of the white people here ever have an experience like that, I'll bet you anything you like you'll change your mind about what you're posting here.

Meanwhile, there are some good ways to introduce yourself to the issues.

Read books -- you can't offend them like people could be offended. "Member of the Club," by Lawrence Otis Graham. "The Sweeter the Juice," by Shirlee Taylor Haizlip. "Slaves in the Family," by Edward Ball.

See movies. "Jungle Fever," by Spike Lee.

I'm sure there are equivalent books and movies for other communities, like Latinos, Asians, Native Americans. Anyone have any suggestions?
137
@103 - Right on.

Jen, you realize that the term "racism" is pretty loaded. Is it so hard to tell white people that they are the *beneficiaries* of institutional racism and white privilege and that by not doing anything to challenge it, they are, in their own small way, contributing to it? I just said it in one sentence and it seems to ring a little truer to me than saying "you are all racists". Also, it doesn't make people so defensive. You want people to hear you, yeah?

Talking race with white people is an uphill battle either way, but it seems like it is needlessly antagonistic to negatively label well meaning (and to differing degrees, oblivious) white folks. It seems more like a form of hazing to me -- "I was told I was a racist and I didn't get it, but now I do, and now I'm going to tell you you're a racist too, until you admit it". It could be more about compassion and caring for the people around us than simply rubbing shit in people's faces.

Lastly, it seems like equating honking at people in the street with asserting privilege is a huge reach -- seems to me like when white people get their eyes opened to racism they sometimes start seeing things that aren't really there, such as this. ANYONE of ANY RACE loping through the street when there's a car behind them waiting to get by should be (and hopefully will be) honked at. It's stupid. That's what a car horn is for, to get people's attention when they are doing something stupid! Sometimes a pipe is just a pipe.

Despite these small objections, I'm glad you wrote this article, clearly it's got a lot of people talking and thinking about race and that's a good thing.
138
@137

Talking race with white people is an uphill battle either way

You got that right.
139
As a successful black man, I find this to be incredibly condescending.

As if I can only succeed if white people would be nice enough to fine-tune their feelings. Or that you have the power to "keep me down" with nothing more than a bad attitude.

Many of us in the black community are doing really well, and we'll take the credit for that, thank you. And we'd also like to take responsibility for our shortcomings.

Sometimes I think folks like Jen need to keep thinking of us as victims for some self-serving purpose. Like we represent some spiritual self-improvement opportunity for them or something.

Anyway, whatever you do with your guilt, stop projecting it on to us.

In fact, please just leave us alone.
140
The worst hate speech I've ever heard in Seattle against gays was from African Americans.
The worst hate speech I've ever heard in Seattle against women was from African Americans.
The worst hate speech I've ever heard in Seattle against Jews was from African Americans.
The worst hate speech I've ever heard in Seattle against Asians was from African Americans.
In Seattle I've heard black folks openly (and in public) say things about white folks 10000x worse than anything I've ever heard whites say in public OR private about blacks.
Yeah, I can't take your side Jen.
141
@140: I think the strong social conservatism of the African American community is something that liberals prefer not to think about. One of the reasons Prop 8 was so shocking to a lot of people is that it forced them to confront that head on.

Being in a minority doesn't necessarily make people sympathetic to the plights of other minorities; in fact it often makes them want to pull up the ladder once they've climbed it. The negative attitude that many homosexuals have toward transgendered people is another example.
142
It's really easy to break down criticize specific points of this article, or to interpret it in a way that allows a person to easily find faults, but what I haven't much seen in the responses of "naysayers" is an earnest desire to actually explore the possibility that this author might be on to something. In the first third of the article, Jen mentions listening to and believing people of color when they share their experiences as a great start to working against racism. Absorbing this article and being willing to engage with a paradigm shift in the way one views race and racism would be a minimal effort towards making sure that reading such an article contributed to a person's growth and development as a human being. White people working against racism (that they project, internalize, and witness) should be doing it because they understand that they lose out on their humanity by not making such efforts.
143
Where I grew up a black man (who had a year earlier saved a white child in a fire) lost control of his car and accidentally hit 2 white kids who were playing. Whites saw the driver was black and immediately pulled him out of his car and badly beating him. The police saw they could not control the crowd who was trying to lynch him and they instructed the first ambulance that came to take the man away for his own safety while they waited for the 2nd for the white children (which came less than half a minute later). A rumor started that the white children were left to die because the black man was getting preferrential treatment. White racists worked the crowd into a hoopla. Over 250 whites came from all over to attack blacks and destroy their property. 2 hours after this accident a white lynch mob (about 15 people) stabbed a black guy to death while screaming racial slurs. They attaked a black man walking home with his child knocking the man unconcious and they continued to attack the child while police stood only 10 feet away. The police were instructed not to interfer when blacks were attacked to avoid further angering white people.
Later a white jury acquitted the lynch mob despite the fact they admitted doing it and took the perpetrators out for drinks, hailing them as "heros". Several jurors refused to follow the judges instructions and did their own independent "reserach"- but they were not charged. The white man who stabbed the black man had a long history of unprovoked violent crime and said he had murdered just because he was "drunk and caught up in the excitment" but white folks framed it as him acting nobley out of protection for white children.
2 years after this happened a white reporter went into this neighborhood and asked white residents their feelings about this event. Most were remorseless and without compassion. When the reporter mentioned the black man who was murdered by the mob one young white woman sneered "they're STILL bitching about THAT?"
A reporter who covered the event recently stated that the editors (who were not present) demanded it be referred to it as a "clash" and "tensions" between blacks and whites despite him witnessing it as a one way street, and they changed the story to cite examples of blacks attacking whites and cops even though it didn't happen. They also omitted all the racial slurs and calls to kill all black people that the white crowd was chanting.
One paper complained that it was racist that no blacks had been arrested by the police- despite the fact that all of the murder, assaults, robberies, and looting were being committed by whites towards blacks.
To this day whites will excuse this lynching by stating that a white child was killed in a car accident by a black driver who was protected from the community (in reality a predominately white grand jury found him innocent of any wrong doing). They will claim he was drunk (proven untrue), that he fled to Jamaica to avoid punishment (he was aquitted by a grand jury but has avoid the US because of the large amount of death threats against him). When blacks mention the black man who was lynched whites will call them racist for valuing the life of the black man and the black folks who were assaulted more then the white child killed in a car accident. They will say the car accident and the lynching are no different.
Later a white woman wrote a highly acclaimed book in which she describes this event in a way that is symapthetic to the white lynch mob and focuses on their "feelings" with little regard for facts. This is the book used in schools to educate people about this incident. She doesn't mention 2 innocent black men were murdered in hate crimes. That over 50 people (inlcuding children) were assaulted, or that the mob (who she claimed were acting out of mourning over the child killed in a car accident) committed over 250 robberies. She also doesn't mention that in this neighborhood white on black violent crime was a daily occurance, and that the group who did this (young white men) were respoinsible for almost all unprovoked violent crime in this neighborhood and surrounding areas.
Recently a white reporter for the NYT referred to this incident as simply "white people rioted because a white child was killed in a car accident" and didn't even mention that whites had killed, assault, and robbed hundreds of innocent black people. The NYT recently did an article about an art exhibit about this event. 25 artists participated, only one was black. There was no outreach to black artists. It mainly focuses on the white child killed in the car accident and focused on what frustrations whites had that made them lash out with violence. It explained what society needed to do to placate whites so they wouldn't have to react this way. The article labeled the exhibit "healing".
What do you think about this Jen, honestly?
Do you feel the same way if I told that everything in my story is true except the "whites" were black? And the "blacks" were "Jews"? Still outraged?
The Crown Heights pogrom was the worst hate crime against Jews in US history but it (like the hate crimes against Asians by blacks on both coasts) is referred to as a "dispute between communities" for only ONE reason- the perpetratos were black.
WHO is really entitled here? Ask Yankel Rosenbaum's family about "white priveledge".
144
@143

Holy sh*t. Where did this happen? I'd like to learn more.
145
Crown Heights NY 1992. Look up Yankel Rosenbaum, Lemrick Nelson, Al Sharpton

The Amsterdam News complained that everyone who was arrested was black, despite blacks being the ones murdering, assaulting, and robbing.
Anna Deavere Smith, a black woman, wrote "Fires in the Mirror" about this incident. She brings up slavery and every little slight blacks in the neighborhood felt they'd ever had but convienantly omits that 2 people were murdered in hate crimes by black people, 50 (including children) were assaulted in hate crimes by black people, and that this crowd (which she claims acted out of anguish over a child dying in a car accident committed over 250 robberies (facinating way to mourn, eh?). She also omitts that black on jewish violent crime was already epidemic (still is in this neighborhood) and that this group (young black males) she claims were soooo anguished over the death of a child were responsible for close to 100% of all homicide in that area.
New York Magazine was the one that went there 2 years later and found the black residents were mostly apologists for the lynch mob (this article is avialable on their online archieve).
It was the NYT which purposely skewed coverage of this. Read Ari Goldman's Telling it Like it Wasn't (can be found online).
And NYT's only article about the 20th anniversary of this hate crime was about a art exhibit in which black artists depicted this Black on Jewish hate crime in a way that was mostly sympathetic to themselves. The NYT lavished praise on the exhibit, calling it "healing" (when were people ever so concerned about the healing of white folks when whites committ hate crimes?). Only one Jewish artist (out of 25). There was no outreach to those who had actually been victimized by this hate crime.
Look for "Crown Heights Gold" in the NYT art section. Ask yourselves what the reaction would be if white artists put on exhibit about Jasper TX in a way that made the whites who did it look like the victim. I don't think the NYT would be all the sympathetic. And the general public would be disgusted.

146
Deeply Embarrassed White People Talk Awkwardly About Race??
http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/new_yo…
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/0…
147
You mentioned a cop punched a black girl in the face but neglected he was defending himself after the black girl and her friend continued to assault him. His only other options were use pepper spray or a stun gun. Having seen both used, the girl got the most gentle of the 3 options. And it was 100% legitimate use of force. If racism was really that bad in Seattle why are you forced to use such invalid examples? How about using the example of the 7 white kids who stomped an elderly black man to death and only got a slap on the wrist? Isn't that an example of racist? Oh, that's right, it was 7 black kids, an elderly white man, so talking about this injustice and how it pertains to race is of no interest to you
148
@Andrew S.

Thanks. Yes, I remember that. I'll look it up.
149
It is absolutely sickening the way the Stranger's writers will push this garbage on the Jon Stuart Leibowitz-educated readers. Go walk down MLK at midnight, Jen. See what happens.
150
First, i commend the good intentions of the writer. Like many self described liberals and progressives, she seems to be honestly and eanrestly stuggling with our American obsession:race. I am one of the people she champions, and it's interesting to me that the inherent assumption is that i need championing.Again, i applaud her innate sense of justice and fairplay, however i think it's somewhat misguided. While i agree that America was founded for the benefit of Western Europeans, and for the vast majority of it's existence, continues to be a place designed for such benefit, i believe so strongly in equal opportunity and meritocracy, that it is enough for me that we cling to what James Brown said:(I paraphrase) "You don't have to open any door for me, you don't have to even lead me to the door, just let me know what direction.." in other words, i agree with her historical and cultural critique, but i disagree with what seems to be her solution: Non-white people suffer from a lack of equal opportunity, but many of my friends also suffer from self-discipline and proper organization, long range planning, and understanding the immediate sacrifices needed to eventually lead a middle-class existence. I am much more interested, as Barry Gordy said, in learning how to fish than well intentioned libs and progs giving out free fish. What i hope is that we continue our slow, but perceptible, movement toward an equal opportunity society. For me, that is enough. Let our discussion and efforts focus on providing quality public education, color blind assistance to the socially/economically disadvantaged(which will be heavily minority focused, anyway)..and make sure all these programs focus on self-reliance, learning self discipline, and personal accountability...thus, all the well meaning anti-racist sentiments of this article will bear fruit.
151
I'm a culturist, not a racist. In the Seattle metro area "race" is self designated and there is no basic cultural difference between white trash culture and black trash culture.

White people don't make excuses for white trash. People who self-designate as African-Americans will not join the main stream until they stop making excuses for black trash.
152
Do I think White Privilege exists?
Most definitely.
Have I benefited from it?
Surely.
Have I done anything to further this?
Not to my knowledge.

So why should I sit around feeling guilty and/or apologize for something I had no control over?

Do NBA players have group therapy sessions where they sit around, navel gaze and discuss the privilege of being born tall and naturally athletic?

I'm not going to lose any sleep over things I have no control over. Instead I'll focus on what I DO have control over, my own thoughts and actions and doing what I can to reduce/remove the institutional racism in our system.
154
I reeeeeeally like this article. As a white girl growing up in Snohomish, I remember thinking racism was totally over and that affirmative action was the stupidest thing ever. Why did minorities deserve more of a chance at a job or school than I did? Of course, my high school had roughly "two and a half black people" (as I remember my half-black classmate joking), and was in a small, fairly conservative town. That changed a tiny bit when I went to UW, just because I at least met a few more people of color. But still, race was NOT an issue that I ever heard discussed, especially by white people. After graduation, I moved to Harlem to teach in the South Bronx, and I suddenly became very aware of my whiteness, and I started thinking about race in a much deeper way than I had ever really considered. Even New York is almost comically segregated- I don't remember seeing an Asian person during my first few months of living here until I went to Chinatown to satisfy a craving for pho, and after 3 years in various classrooms, I have never taught a white student. So I think discussions like this are a good way to open a few eyes. Seattleites tend to be passive agressive on almost everything; it shouldn't be surprising to think some racial tension is boiling under the surface of this "progressive" city.
155
jen, please keep the race thing going on slog. the context of art is perfect of course, no matter how loose. we dont talk race enough on here, only subtext or socioeconmic (which i think is better placed).

its art and culture because of its tentativeness. they dont have quite the same conversation in europe or south africa or any fucking country. shades eh?

this is old so maybe noone is reading but damnit.. more on race here. the internet is the perfect place to let it out and this is a great spot for the letting out.

more more more!
156
The Bush School? THE BUSH SCHOOL?!?! Can someone please enlighten me to why the Bush school was quoted in this article? It costs $25,000 A YEAR to send an elementary kid to that school. As you can imagine, it's a pretty white school. I've been to the school. It's lily white. I saw a few Asians there. That's it. I met Eddie, the dude is really nice. But he was the one and only black person that I saw during my visit.

I just don't get why anyone would quote the Bush school in this article (and a quote that is talking about diversity). Blows my mind.
157
@TheCHZA

'African-American' is a term that African-Americans use as a way to reclaim our history and our past, and how we got to this continent in the first place. I think some people are uncomfortable with the term, because it reminds them that slavery DID exist, and that millions of Africans were uprooted from their homes in order to be brought here and treated as property.

Yes, there is a difference between 1st/2nd/3rd generations Africans who have recently moved to America and 40th generation Africans who came as slaves. But a 1st/2nd/3rd gen African would obviously know their origin, and wouldn't even use that term, they would instead say that they're Ghanaian, Ethiopian, etc. We use African-American as a blanket term, and as a painful reminder that our history was erased. We're reclaiming it.

I always think it's interesting when people say, "You shouldn't call yourself African-American, because you didn't come from Africa." And to that I say, "Oh, really, so where did I come from? Italy? France? Japan?" And they say, "No, you're just black." What does that mean? Just "black?" That's like you're insinuating I'm a person with no origin, that just appeared out of thin air. NO, I'm reclaiming my past, and if it makes you uncomfortable, that's not my problem.
158
@TheCHZA

'African-American' is a term that African-Americans use as a way to reclaim our history and our past, and how we got to this continent in the first place. I think some people are uncomfortable with the term, because it reminds them that slavery DID exist, and that millions of Africans were uprooted from their homes in order to be brought here and treated as property.

Yes, there is a difference between 1st/2nd/3rd generations Africans who have recently moved to America and 40th generation Africans who came as slaves. But a 1st/2nd/3rd gen African would obviously know their origin, and wouldn't even use that term, they would instead say that they're Ghanaian, Ethiopian, etc. We use African-American as a blanket term, and as a painful reminder that our history was erased. We're reclaiming it.

I always think it's interesting when people say, "You shouldn't call yourself African-American, because you didn't come from Africa." And to that I say, "Oh, really, so where did I come from? Italy? France? Japan?" And they say, "No, you're just black." What does that mean? Just "black?" That's like you're insinuating I'm a person with no origin, that just appeared out of thin air. NO, I'm reclaiming my past, and if it makes you uncomfortable, that's not my problem.
159
@TheCHZA

'African-American' is a term that African-Americans use as a way to reclaim our history and our past, and how we got to this continent in the first place. I think some people are uncomfortable with the term, because it reminds them that slavery DID exist, and that millions of Africans were uprooted from their homes in order to be brought here and treated as property.

Yes, there is a difference between 1st/2nd/3rd generations Africans who have recently moved to America and 40th generation Africans who came as slaves. But a 1st/2nd/3rd gen African would obviously know their origin, and wouldn't even use that term, they would instead say that they're Ghanaian, Ethiopian, etc. We use African-American as a blanket term, and as a painful reminder that our history was erased. We're reclaiming it.

I always think it's interesting when people say, "You shouldn't call yourself African-American, because you didn't come from Africa." And to that I say, "Oh, really, so where did I come from? Italy? France? Japan?" And they say, "No, you're just black." What does that mean? Just "black?" That's like you're insinuating I'm a person with no origin, that just appeared out of thin air, with no history, no culture, no accomplishments. I feel like that's a blatant attempt at whitewashing history.
160
@brunomars

Go walk down MLK at midnight, Jen. See what happens.

What will happen?

Would it be the same thing that would happen if a black person walked through Broadmoor at midnight? Or Medina?
161
“White people in Seattle are more likely to own rather than rent. White people are more likely to have health insurance and a job. White people are more likely to live longer. White people are less likely to be homeless. White people are less likely to hit the poverty level. White people are less likely to be in jail. White kids are nine times less likely than African Americans to be suspended from elementary school (in high school, it's four times higher; in middle school, it's five times, according to the district's data). Nonwhite high-school graduation rates in Seattle are significantly below white graduation rates—even if you're Asian, regardless of income level.”

You’re repeating yourself Jen. If someone is more likely to be to have a job then they’re less likely to be homeless and less likely to be to be below the poverty line. They’re also more likely to have health insurance. It’s the last point that is interesting. Instead of repeating how badly someone has it if they don’t have a job, why not explore why Nonwhite high-school graduation rates are significantly lower than white graduation rates? This is probably one of the root causes why white people are more likely to have a job and the benefits that go with it. If you do write another piece, please more substance.

Also in your summary of how white Seattle is, you’re over looking an important fact. Seattle imports a lot of people from different countries for its high paying jobs. Most of these people come from countries that don’t have a big black population, so they’re most likely to be non-black. It’s normal that these people who aren’t American’s would want to try to live in the safest neighborhoods (your crazy Americans are scary with your guns!) which tend to be populated with similar people in similar income brackets.

Finally, an interesting flip side of the “white people are the cause of all evil” article you wrote, http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arch…
162
One more thing, if you want to start a conversation with white people about race, it’s best not to use “white” as a pejorative. It’s never a good way to start a conversation by insulting the other side. As an (Canadian) educated white person I understand that there has been 300+ years of systematic racism in the USA, and that it was only 50 years since the civil rights movement and the affects of segregation are still lingering. And it doesn’t even take an education to see that white starlets get slap on the wrists for drinking and driving/drug possessions, while black rappers are doing serious jail time for the same crimes. Also anyone who’s read anything about the drug war knows the racism that was behind both it and the mandatory sentences (i.e. powder cocaine having a lower mandatory sentence then crack cocaine). But hearing “white” being used a pejorative just makes me cringe. I can’t do anything about the skin colour I was born with any more than a black/asian/brown person can, so please stop using my skin colour as a negative. It’s insulting. Instead of talking about how easy the white-man’s had it, why not talk about why the other side’s had it hard and what the causes are (Yes I know many of the causes are from policies created by white-men, but talking about the policies/history is something much more tangible and is a better way to start the conversation then attacking everyone born with a certain skin colour).
163
This entire article is a demonstration of its title, and won't do a thing toward ending racism in Seattle. How about stories about the bull&$@# people of color put up with every day, in their every day lives, at their jobs, in their neighborhoods, in their kids' schools, every time they go out to a concert or restaurant. Those stories would do more than make a white person cringe, they make my stomach hurt.

If white people knew the truth about what people of color put up with everyday, here and now, maybe then we'd all be outraged enough to do something about it, to look at and for all the ways we're perpetuating the inequity, poverty, disrespect and abuse, and allowing it to happen right under our well-intentioned noses.
164
@163 Sorry, no sympathy from me. FYI, "white" is a color to, the old "people of color" was a derogatory label created by racists, so using it only demonstrates a racist mentality. Key here, racism doesn't mean what many people think it does. Back to the no sympathy angle though, my life has been hell, for being different, and guess who treats me like shit the most for being different .... yep, darker skinned folks. So really, if you want equality, you have to give it first. I don't treat anyone different based on how they look, dress, act ... or how dark their skin is .... so to treat me different they are proving themselves to be worse people than me. My life has not been easy either, I live in low income housing now, was homeless for almost a decade, had to steal to survive, been in jail for it even, but even after all that, I am now a law abiding citizen, I found an alternate route, the same route afforded to all regardless of "race". So if you want sympathy, talk to the rich darker skinned folks, ask them how they succeeded instead of whining about your failures.

Racism does exist, but the bigotry is on all sides, and in order to stop one, the others have to stop to, it all has to stop at once or it will never end.
165
@162 -- Yeah, agreed. This article offers a bunch of statistics but fails to analyze them, then concludes, "all white people are racist".
166
I am not sure how I feel about this article at all. I realize change begins with recognition and discussion. My experience of Seattle, however, as an East coaster who moved there at the age of 30, was that things get talked to death and even when specific actions have been called for, demanded, even voted on - NOTHING WOULD ACTUALLY HAPPEN. (Hello, Monorail anyone?). It seems to me that Seattle should be way beyond "let's start a conversation about our racism problem" in the year 2011.

Moving to Seattle from Brooklyn, NY I was astonished at how white and segregated Seattle was (is) and more astonished that a place that considers itself a city, and a progressive city at that, is so incredibly provincial and in many ways in serious denial about just how provincial it is. And I say all this as someone who loves Seattle. I don't find the two things contradictory. There are things I love about Seattle and things I find downright distasteful. I believe Seattle could be better if it changed in certain ways. ..."Niceness" and "politeness" and "passive-aggressiveness" prevent change. You can't change something you refuse to publicly acknowledge and discuss OUT LOUD. The fact that white students who didn't get into Ballard High cried reverse racism and WON in the city of Seattle speaks volumes to how far from understanding racism and the reality of the racial divide in privilege is.
167
A good article, but long.

I want to make a couple points. First, young Black, White, Hispanic, etc. people who saunter across streets in neighborhoods like the CD aren't doing it for any other reason than to say, "F' you, my life sucks. You have a car and I don't!" They don't discriminate, trust me.

This speaks to my second point, over analyzing "gentrification". All kinds of people enjoy things like new parks, coffee shops, and even Trader Joes. The problem occurs when the affordable housing disappears, not when white people move into a neighborhood.

Again, good article but long. The length and some of the content suggest you have too much time on your hands to think about this kind of stuff. But then, you are an academic and that's what they do - think about this kind of stuff.
168
I had an earlier point about homophobia and racism, I'm not suggesting any behavior for anybody, but rather pointing out that it is not possible for a black man to appear as anything else in our society, not even for a moment. That, in my mind, is a key difference between homophopia and racism.

I'm now curious about the difference between racism and bigotry, as I read comments many of the things labeled as racist or racism appear to me to be bigotry. The two ideas seem pretty similar and very different all at the same time.
169
Ok, so I shouldn’t call an eloquent African-American person "eloquent" and I shouldn’t call an African American boy a "boy". (I was once instructed by an African American woman that I shouldn’t say "May I help you?" to African American customers because that term was used to scare black people out of white stores). I should tolerate black men walking in the street and refusing to let me pass because they are "claiming ownership". I should scorn certain grocery store chains because they’re "stuff white people like". I should avoid buying or renting in a black neighborhood lest I "gentrify". I should experience my own accomplishments in life through a lens darkened by the shadow of white privilege. I should accept the label of "racist" applied to me by somebody else without objection. I should build a different vocabulary, and use a different set of behaviors and hold to different expectations the African Americans in my life than other groups. Most importantly, since I lack the intellectual integrity to understand and define my own intentions, behaviors and feelings about race, I should accept somebody else’s definition of what I am, what I intend, what I stand for and how I interact in the world. And this is the level of accommodation and self-reproach that white people must voluntarily provide in order to for America to move forward on race??? Really??
170
@166 Uuuuuh ... no .... "reverse racism" is a catch phrase to demonize people who really are against racism, in all form. It does this by lumping us all with the idiots who want actual forced segregation. Naturally occurring segregation cannot just be forced out of people, it happens on both "sides" a lot. Try visiting a shelter, where there are a hundred people, evenly populated by various "types" or "races", you will see a majority will congregate with others who look like them, but how they treat each other depends on the subclass, not the appearance. Homophobic people will treat those who they know as gay very badly, regardless of their physical appearance, junkies will generally try to befriend everyone by treating them nice while not regarding them as equals. The once wealthy ones will typically treat everyone else with too much respect (strange but true, there is such a thing) but you can see the guilt and regret in their eyes. Now many will say "but these are homeless people" .... hate to break it to you, but homeless people are just like you, there is no difference, and a shelter is a great place to see a very large number of different types of people forced to co-exist in a small space. The psychological dynamics of this situation should be studied much more than it is, it's mind boggling to see, and these are not all Seattleites, many are from other areas of the country as well, transplanted for various reasons. They don't have the luxury of avoiding a neighborhood they fear.

I grew up in a mostly "white" neighborhood for the last portion of my childhood, Covington. Spent a lot of my childhood in Tukwila as well, the rest I can't remember. I honestly had no feelings about this whole race issue, and still don't. All humans suck, it's human nature to suck. But we all suck equally, just in different ways. The part that's hard for people to admit is that granting special privileges to any one group is prejudice, no matter how you spin it. No law should be prejudiced, ever, in any way, at all, period. The "white privilege" idea is a myth, it's an old concept that went out, it's the same as saying "straight privilege", which I could claim exists but I know that would be a lie. For one, it would have to be a conspiracy to accomplish this, since there are a lot of the "other" side in positions of power they would have to somehow be in on it as well, which just destroys the "white privilege" and "straight privilege" and any other "... privilege" claim.

As for your claims that Seattle doesn't know, very wrong, most of us grew up going to forced desegregated schools, and the schools suffered a lot for it having to bus kids in from all over, our buses were almost never on time and the budgets were spread so thin, the teachers had too many students as well. It was a mess then because of it, every student suffered, and it wasn't the "white" folk who pushed to end it there.
171
Awesome article. I'd also give a shout out to the Minority Executive Director's Coalition, who also have (had?) an amazing anti-racism training. It was mind blowing.

172
"And it doesn’t even take an education to see that white starlets get slap on the wrists for drinking and driving/drug possessions, while black rappers are doing serious jail time for the same crimes"

And in Seattle a white man was sentenced to more time in jail (9 months) for calling a black person a racial slur (he was charged with a hate crime) then black men were sentenced to for stomping an elderly man to death (the TubaMan). I have been threatened unprovoked by black folks on several occasions in Seattle, and have seen similar things happen to other people, and on some occasions anti-gay slurs were used. Never were they arrested even though threatening someone is actually a crime.
White men in Jasper TX are on death row for killing a black man in a hate crime, the dozen black men who killed a Jewish man in a hate crime in Crown Heights got off scott free, with the blessing of the "civil rights" "anti racist" activists. Black folks DO get away with a lot, it's just considered racist to notice it.
173
If white people were attacking black people unprovoked left and right it would be considered a hate crime and blacks would be openly talking about it.
Blacks attack white people unprovoked left and right and it is practially considered a hate crime to notice it.
The latest example in someone who was stomped in Belltown the beginning of August. His throat was stomped on. How is 5-6 black folks stomping on a white person's throat not a hate crime, but the other way around is?
174
I usually ignore the comment sections of articles. That people can express openly is fantastic, but that it may be anonymous is another piece of evidence that we have soooo much farther to grow in learning about and accepting eachother. If this kind of conversation would happen in the open to the people you are speaking about, dear commenters, then maybe we could dissolve a little of this wall between us!! I want to thank you, Jen, for writing this. though I am in NY now (a place where diversity thrives, and where people tell you straight up what their problem with you is [hmmm]), my family is still in seattle, i grew up there, am half white and half black, i went to cornish 15 years ago and Seattle didn't have a satisfying audience for my work then. The repression Seattle has always had is what pushed me to find my audience and my home elsewhere. Confusion is a hhhuge step in the right direction! I admire that you were able to leave your students with that. It is so so so refreshing to see glimmers of exposure and hope and self-consciousness emerge in seatown!
175
I usually ignore the comment sections of articles. That people can express openly is fantastic, but that it may be anonymous is another piece of evidence that we have soooo much farther to grow in learning about and accepting eachother. If this kind of conversation would happen in the open to the people you are speaking about, dear commenters, then maybe we could dissolve a little of this wall between us!! I want to thank you, Jen, for writing this. though I am in NY now (a place where diversity thrives, and where people tell you straight up what their problem with you is [hmmm]), my family is still in seattle, i grew up there, am half white and half black, i went to cornish 15 years ago and Seattle didn't have a satisfying audience for my work then. The repression Seattle has always had is what pushed me to find my audience and my home elsewhere. Confusion is a hhhuge step in the right direction! I admire that you were able to leave your students with that. It is so so so refreshing to see glimmers of exposure and hope and self-consciousness emerge in seatown!
176
@6 & 8

I've got to say that any professor, much less an art professor, asking students to raise their hand if their racist is so stupid to me that it is such a turn off that I would have a very difficult time getting into any conversation about race no matter how interesting and/or societly necessary it was. I almost didn't read the article because it struck me, too, as a lame professor trying to be edgy and "thought provoking".

As it was, the article was basically fine if not way too long. The points that it brought up were largely valid. I read the author's comment @7 and can buy that this question was a painfully ackward stumbling attempt at leading into a potentially worthwhile discussion of race, but I think a lead-in that lame is highly at risk of dooming the conversation to failure.

What I don't get are the number of comments telling @6 & 8 how she's too dumb to understand anything in the following coversation.

"Racist" is indeed generally defined as holding one race as being superior/inferior to another. If you want to have a conversation about the legitimate issues of white priviledge or forcing a shift in perspective to minority view, then fine, but the whole "everyone's a little racist" lead in is just so vacuous sounding pseudo intellectual day time talk show host wisdom spewing I would have been deeply pained to have felt academically obligated to stay in that room- especially for an ART class.

I think that, in many ways, the fact that people are so unused to discussing these subjects that they suffer *and* inflict pain in just trying to discuss things in relatively uncharacted waters is as much a part of the story as any other aspect that was discussed.
177
@166: What you have to remember is that Seattle was pretty much a backwater until the 1990s. So it feels provincial because in a way it *was* until quite recently. Seattleites are a bit schitzophrenic about this -- they often talk longingly of a desire to return to a "lesser Seattle" without the traffic and housing problems brought by all the newcomers, but at the same time they're painfully self-conscious about wanting to be a "world class city."
178
Thanks for writing this, Jen! This is a conversation that needs to be on-going.
179
Glad you wrote this article. Happy to see all of the discussion here. People need to think about this more. I'm mixed race so I experience different aspects of race perception.

Don't assume you know everything about someone based on appearance. It's pretty simple. When you generalize, you limit your understanding and experience.
180
We came across this blog and decided to chime in. It's good that You have organizations of European Americans that are against racism but from our experiences across the United States, European Americans don't really ever have to experience racism so they never have to nor truly understand how to fight it.
Unfortunately because so man European Americans are still enjoying the benefits and opportunities that European Americans get from it i.e access, jobs, privilege, power, opportunity, preferred treatment and reasonable doubt.
Ya see what so African American see are what European Americans see & are just truly don't want to admit are the aforementioned facts that racism brings to European Americans which makes African Americans want to now reinforce their own, just like European Americans do. It's not just the horrific history that's between the two cultures, but its' the denial by European Americans that they have the benefits that the world over knows comes directly off the backs of African Americans.
If European Americans really want to end racism and not just be against it, then they need to make racists and bigots uncomfortable to be the way that they are. 1)This would mean busting them out when you see European Americans discriminating and or giving preferential treatment to other European Americans over African Americans 2)stop acting like you don't SEE IT when it's been right before you for a while now, then expecting DOUBLE A's to be cool with you after you just ignored what just went down...cause that ain't gon happpen!
When European Americans are serious about fighting racism, they will be Proactive in removing advantages that whites give each other ALL THE TIME based off of race.
Then we'll deal with the stereotypes and false perceptions later. If not then you should expect and accept that African Americans will actively follow suit in using the same measures that you do, but more in the form of protection because this is something that European Americans would have forced into the American atmosphere for centuries now.
181
Great article, Jen! One thing I love most about visiting other cities like Austin is the diversity that's everywhere. When I mention it to people here, they don't seem to know what I'm talking about...it's pretty sad. I would LOVE if capitol hill would turn into more of a Mission-style place to live.
182
Jesus Christ, the "walk slow in the middle of the street" is the biggest racist "fuck you" I see every time I drive in Rainier Valley.

This article needs a follow-up, called "Blacks Are Racists, Too." I have directly experienced plenty of overt racism from blacks. I've lived and worked downtown (in a different, Southern city), ridden the bus for years, and worked with plenty of black folks. Fine people, lots of them. But some of them are just as racist as the KKK, and no one ever has the balls to call bullshit on them.

Want racism to end? Confront it, everywhere. No excuses. I'm fine with spending public money on education and jobs for minorities, the poor, etc. But I will NOT be guilted about being white, and I will not be put in the "you're the only racist" box.

I agree with the sentiment that we are all racists. However, a previous poster nailed it -- I'm a culturist. As long as black Americans stick to their culture of worshiping the Thug, celebrating thug life and gang life, then fuck'em. Fuck that culture. If they abandon it, and want to grow out of it, then I welcome them with open arms. Marry my daughter. Run my schools. But I'm not going to hold my breath -- I see the seething hostility of young black men where-ever I go, and I will not pretend it does not exist, I will not excuse it, I will not be held hostage by white man's guilt.
183
As I mixed race person, I will admit that honestly I am kind of racist. I prefer to live in gentrified neighborhoods, I have one of two black/mixed race people I know, but really I've just sort of fallen, settled into white society, and I'm most comfortable with it.

When I take the metro home, and I hear someone speak in African American vernucalur, I discount them. When I walk home, and I see an "urban" person, I do think, is he going to mug me.

I don't look black (if anything I look Greek or Turkish). There are all sorts of privelages I have, that I know if I was tradinally black, I wouldn't. I don't have a job, but I live in a nice enough apartment, and I'm finding myself, I'm not unemployed, but I'm one of those young people finding what they want to do, I'm in a period of transition, I'm trying to self actualize. I'm taking a break from school, and just finished an internship, and plan on spending the next year abroad.

If I were "black" I'd be an conisdered a college drop out, unemployed. Why don't I get myself a job? Because my parents have means, I don't have to work, and can take time off, but somehow I'm consdiered better than someone on welfare trying to get started on their rap carrer, cause I'm trying to write short fiction, cause I may want to work in government.

It's not expected I'll ever perminatlly be in the service industry, if I was I would have failed, but if I were "black" look at him, he's making a living. The rub of it is, I'd be lying if I said, I don't consider myself better than that guy, because I do. I don't feel any kinship really. I expect certain things out of my life, others do, because socially I'm white, my physcal affections, my speech patterns, how I think, how I act, and really how I look. I don't look black. My nose is a little wide, and my lips a little thick, but nothing that really says what I am. I have a light tan, but some english people are darken than me, and I can part my hair. I could easily be Italin, or from Potragal, or Greece.

I have friends who are promiscous, and it's bohemian cause they are white, and for the most part well to do. If they were black, some other choice words would come to mind. I drink hard, but it's craft beers, and the bars are full of young proffesinals, so it's a sort of endering drunkenss.

In college I'd horse around, it wasn't look at those hoodlums, no, it was college boys being college boys (I knew a guy who stole a sign, you know things like that), if it were a black guy the same age, well you wouldn't think of it the same. It would either be criminal, or look what society does, look they act out because of oppression, not because it's an animal house-esque prank.

That's racism. Holding one group to a lower standard, for what is successfull, and a different standard for whats just having a good time, versus being a problem.
184
Instead of white people meetings (CARW), why not go out of your way to befriend a people of color. Get to know other cultures. You may feel awkward, but everyone will have to feel uncomfortable for a while to truly see change.

All this worry and guilt covers up the fear that maybe people of color are just as smart and capable as white people.

Don't expect other cultures to act like you.

185
Instead of white guilt meetings (CARW) if you're so concerned, make friends with people of color and people in other cultures.

White worry and guilt hide the fear that people of color are just as smart and capable as caucasians. Enabling p.o.c. to depend on the system is a vile form of racism.

Make quality education free and available, and this becomes a non-issue.

...also, don't expect other cultures to act like your own. There are plenty of white cultures I don't want to be around (loud bike people, drunk homeless white men, hipsters), and I don't judge them because they don't think as I do. I just don't befriend them, and that's ok.
186
@182: Racism is about social privilege, not bigotry on an individual level. That's the whole point of the article: "Awash in its racial conundrum, America has delightful people who are perfectly comfortable with widening segregation and yawning socioeconomic inequality that often breaks along racial lines." You've experienced anti-White bigotry, not racism.
187
Actually, the definition of "racism" stipulates a belief in the inherent superiority of some races over others or abusive behavior based on such a belief. It can be a person (of any color), a government or an institution that's racist. To suggest, as this teacher did, that having a single racist thought makes you "racist" is like saying that having a single homosexual fantasy makes you "gay": this attitude trivializes and oversimplifies a deeper orientation to the world. The class of educated, liberal, middle-class white suburbanites the author so snidely dismisses are, as a group, the least racist people you’ll meet. They have probably observed and interrogated their own racial attitudes and, if they attended a typical liberal arts school, endured their fair share of derisive swipes about the shortcomings of their own middle-class white American culture. If they’re naïve about the latest trend in white culpability, it's probably because they’re unconflicted about race and, therefore, less likely to seek discourse about it. They’re also easy targets for academics and activists with a philosophical axe to grind because, unlike the racist Latinos, racist Asians, racist blacks and racist Native Americans in Seattle, the white kids’ culture doesn’t come shielded by a narrative of oppression that deflects criticism from outsiders. Speaking from personal experience, the most corrosive racist comments I regularly hear come from Asian immigrants, and the only people I have heard use the so-called “N word” in the past 20 years have been Cubans. So, racism is a much more complicated problem than just the attitudes of whites. I think it’s perfectly natural to notice racial differences and the impact of race on culture and class and, considering our national heritage of discrimination, it’s also natural to entertain ideas of racial superiority or inferiority: whether or not you’re a “racist”, however, depends on whether you stay stuck in those ideas.
188
So. Only white people can be racist? Is that the theme here?

Or we going to have an actual honest discussion about race? Because that's what the article said it was about. But it's apparently not about honest discussion. Not if most of the comments in this thread are any indication.

Because, while I really liked the article over all, if we're going just stop at the purely academic definition of Racism — which is now a simplistic "WHITEY IS EVIL" kind of cartoonish view of racism — nothing is going to change. Outside of these echo chambers constantly resorting to overused ill-defined reactionary buzz words like "privilege" won't do shit.

Racism is deeper than that. And so far most of what I see here is same old shit that hasn't accomplished a fucking thing in making peoples lives on the ground better.
189
Wow! You're very articulate!

(Great piece. Essential threads for further discussion if Seattle is to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.)
190
@#188:

In answer to your first question: No. I don't think that's what the author is expressing. Furthermore, I have begun to recognize this question as a bit of a counterproductive mechanism--when one answers the question and says, "Of course not--people of other ethnicities can be racially-prejudiced, too," certain people take that answer and go, "So everybody's racist, no further discussion, the end." And cosmic order is restored.

To speak more colorfully (but to stay on topic), that question has become an invasive "loop" of sorts, a weird mini-vortex endlessly collapsing and folding into itself while preventing the progression of the conversation. Some people intentionally use this as a mechanism in debate (I forget the actual term), if only in the interest of obtaining some sort of self-satisfying "victory" without having to go further down the road. Down the road, there lies the danger of having to put one's true self in the picture--that danger simply cannot be afforded, so...throw in a quick logic-loop to shut the whole thing down.

Anyway, I would guess that you enjoy a substantial amount of exposure to current events. With that in mind, and with such a large degree of access to information at your disposal, I find it difficult to grasp that you would--with a clear mind and conscience, I assume--present to rational and informed human beings the idea that Americans of non-European cultural origin (read: black, Asian, Latino, whatever) are astonishingly incapable of accepting the possibility that they, themselves, are capable of racial prejudice. This implies that they are incapable of thinking for themselves. That is a scientifically-incorrect; furthermore, it creates that same logic-loop that prevents conversations from progressing into more remarkable areas.

What I'm saying is that you're walking into a twenty-first century conversation with twentieth-century ideas. Move OUT of that, into a more potent and effective level of discourse about the topic.
191
Good piece. I think that Jen's artical goes a long way towards promoting racial integration because it made me realize that I'd rather be stuck in a room full of black people than to be stuck in a room full of guilt-ridden, self-loathing white people. But lest ye think I discriminate, I would rather be stuck in a room full of rednecks than to be stuck in a room full of guilt-ridden, self-loathing white people.
192
Hopefully, this wont be taken as trolling but I am tired of this type of talk. It's pure ignorance. I find it so strange that the biggest enemy to white equality are whites themselves. Whites are the biggest victims of hate crimes, over the past 30 years, the average cost to every white family to affirmation is in the thousands, now it's into the tens of thousands. It's a race tax.

People talk of this white priviledge but does your heart weep for the thousands of whites who are discriminated against in Africa? The peace workers gangraped anually or the whites being genocided. Do you ask Africans or East Asians about their so called priviledge? No you don't. You openly complain about ''whiteness'' and want to ostracize it without talking about the negaitves of this diversity.

You understand races self segregate. This isn't social, this is biological, it's genetic. It's self determination. 90% of black voters voted for Obama. Black areas vote for black politicians. You claim it as harmful, it isn't. It's self determination.

I don't believe either races are superior but we are different. It is people like you who assume superiority by claiming that races have to play along to OUR level. We are different genetically, biologically. It doesn't mean people don't have constitutional rights or citizenship or even the act they are American. But in reality, the US, Europe and Australia are lands made for and by white people. It should remain that way. But it isn't and because of people like you, we are now openly discrimianted against by law and socially. We are told our culture, race are naturally bad and need to be stamped out.

I do hope that when this great divesication happens that your egalitarian dream comes true but it wont. South Africa, Haiti, Zimbabwe and everyother multi cultural/ multi racial community ends up with one side annhilating the other or the natons break apart.

It never works, it never will work and the only time, THE ONLY time it ever works is under totalitarian governments.

I prefer Liberty and TRUE equality.
193
Hopefully, this wont be taken as trolling but I am tired of this type of talk. It's pure ignorance. I find it so strange that the biggest enemy to white equality are whites themselves. Whites are the biggest victims of hate crimes, over the past 30 years, the average cost to every white family to affirmation is in the thousands, now it's into the tens of thousands. It's a race tax. Whites commit less crime per capita. Why don't you check the crime statistics of California for example. Is this so called discrimination an excuse for monumental rape crime %? How can 5% of the population commit 40% of the rape crime then say that it is THEY who are discriminated against?

People talk of this white priviledge but does your heart weep for the thousands of whites who are discriminated against in Africa? The peace workers gangraped anually or the whites being genocided. Do you ask Africans or East Asians about their so called priviledge? No you don't. You openly complain about ''whiteness'' and want to ostracize it without talking about the negaitves of this diversity. Where is this priviledge? Are added taxes based upon race and entitlements really a priviledge? Sounds more like punishment.

You understand races self segregate. This isn't social, this is biological, it's genetic. It's self determination. 90% of black voters voted for Obama. Black areas vote for black politicians. You claim it as harmful, it isn't. It's self determination.

I don't believe either races are superior but we are different. It is people like you who assume superiority by claiming that races have to act like us. We are different genetically, biologically. It doesn't mean people don't have constitutional rights or citizenship or that they aren't American but in reality, the US, Europe and Australia are lands made for and by white people. It should remain that way. Noone should claim that they aren't. You don't go to Africa and say it isn't for Africans. It is because of people like you, we are now openly discrimianted against by law and socially. We are told our culture, race are naturally bad and need to be stamped out.

I do hope that when this great divesification happens that your egalitarian dream comes true but it wont. South Africa, Haiti, Zimbabwe and every other multi cultural/ multi racial community ends up with one side annhilating the other or the nations break apart.

It never works, it never will work and the only time, THE ONLY time it ever works is under totalitarian governments.

I prefer Liberty and TRUE equality.

This is coming from a Londoner who sees first hand the changes and dangers in this egalitarian dream. I see the crime rates sky rocket among immigrant populations, mainly african populations but of course, whites say it is discrimination. But I ask, where is the crime rate by Europeans in Africa? Why don't Europeans commit such radical crime in such heavy discriminatory enviroements and can anyone truly dare claim that Britain was ever discriminating? We gave chances they never had, laws, rights, housing, welfare, affirmation, boundless and endless leaps of faith. Where has it got us? When was the last time a group of white males kidnapped and gangraped an african girl for hours then poured bleach inside her to destroy the evidence? Never, the opposite on the other hand happens more often that people dare talk about.

Now we even have zones being claimed by Jihaddists placing their ''Sharia Controlled Stickers'' wherever they can daring to enforce their foriegn laws on sovereign soil. A land that invited them without the permission of its people yet still accomodated and taken care of.

Look at London. That is your Egalitarian dream. Look at Detroit, was that discrimination too? Like you say, only whites are racist because of our ''priviledge.'' Egalitarianism is cultural and racial suicide.
194
I see a lot of posts about it being "class" not "race" that's the real issue. It's not either/or. The two go hand in hand. I'll be anyone claiming it's ONLY the former, is probably white. Hence the term white privilege!
195
#193: You seem disturbingly obsessed with crimes of rape.
197
yeah- let's tap this powder keg hard enough to hear the hollow part...

Seattle is about the most hand-wringingly half-assed racist city I've ever been in. The most dishonestly 'pro-diversity' town too. At least down south in Miami or up north in Boston, people are more honest about not much liking your white/black/brown ass around here (i.e. in 'their' neighborhood).

One thing you will learn traveling, whether civilian or military, is that almost every major city in the world has areas where people will try to kill you because of what you look like(and whatever the locals, rightly or wrongly, perceive that represents). It makes no difference in combat whether you are being attacked for your 'ethnicity' or not. The more unevenly distributed the wealth,the more dangerous the city, except in outright police states like China and parts of the U.S. and A. for example.

If you want greater safety and peaceful coexistence in your city-state-nation, either distribute the wealth more evenly, or pay the price of Police statehood. Unfortunately, America has chosen the latter. This includes the American subcultures who worship Wall Street tycoons,as well as those that promote the virtues of bling, gun-toting and Thug Life.
198
@182: And I see your points, too.

While this article was indeed, an eye-opener for me, and yes, like others have already mentioned, a bit long, I don't and won't feel ashamed about being white, just as nobody else should be made to feel about their origins, either.

This sure opens up a panel for discussion, though, doesn't it?
200
yay jen! this piece is excellent and really valuable. I've shared elsewhere. thanks for writing it! <3
201
I hate that "white" is the operative term here. I hate that the relevant adjectives continue to be about skin color and not culture, and that it continues to be presented as a simple problem of personal attitudes rather than a complicated issue of cultural inertia. I hate that the descriptors used are so simplistic and that that leads to assholes like "TikofTok" sounding like they're just sane dickheads, not utterly cracked, when they launch into "white rights" screeds.

I hate that the condition of this whole cultural dialogue has led to this piece leaving a bad taste in my mouth, instead of just letting me appreciate a good editorial.
202
meh.
There is a lot in this article that smacks of self-congratulatory philanthropy among noblesse oblige-ridden whitey guilt groups. A great deal more would be accomplished by a few simple changes to the tax code to reverse the grotesque hoarding of wealth by those who now purchase Picassos and commission Chihulys. Then we could proceed to abolition of the overseas slave trade promoted by many of the same hyper-privileged individuals, and their insistence on the forced deporting of American jobs without regard to the societal consequences. This is what has affected racial tensions among Americans of all colors, more than any other factors you can name.

Spend enough time out of the comfort of your coffee-talk salons,and you will realize that all the humans out there are racist to varying individual degrees. Except the liars of course- they are "Not Racist". The various tribal subgroups are all judging each other, all the time, every day. Racism is a universal and omnidirectional phenomenon, rendering terms like 'reverse-racism' redundant and misleading.

As Nelson Mandela observes in an on-air PSA "No one was born hating another person for the color of their skin, religion, or background. Hatred has to be learned..."
But all humans are born with a brain that has evolved into a wonderful pattern recognition engine,that excels at categorizing and assigning causality to a lifetime of inputs, experiences, observations. Social conflicts and all sorts of toxic thought processes seem to arise when the higher-order pattern recognition engine becomes enslaved to the lower-level primitive 'reptilian brain' that deals with the instincts, impulses and snap judgments so vital to survival and earlier evolution.
204
thank you, this article is heartening. not surprisingly, so many of the comments confirm or illustrate the very points made by the author. so much defensiveness. so much refusal to see.
205
One thing I cannot stand is this distrubute the wealth screeds. A person ought to have a right to do with his money as he wished, and not have to "do good". Some of you really imagine the rich, twirling the moustaches, cackling "No how can we maintain control"
206
@205 I share the same observation all the time, people need to stop demonizing everyone, the "white", the "rich", the corporations, etc. in order to see progress, otherwise their minds will inherently find them as an aggressor even when they are trying to help.
207
On MLK Jr Day last year KUOW had a program where black folks were encouraged to call in and talk about their experiences with racism in Seattle. Ironically enough not ONE of them who claimed Seattle was soooo racist had anything close to the abuse from whites that I've had from blacks. Blacks are encouraged to vent about whites, whites are called racist if they do the same. How many blacks have ever been physically threatened or verbally abused in Seattle by whites while walking down the street minding their own business? Not many. Most white folks I know have.
208
"so many of the comments confirm or illustrate the very points made by the author. so much defensiveness"

If I don't agree with the author it proves I'm racist, or perhaps I think my life experience is as valid as those disagree with me? I would get defensive and offended if someone suggested I was a child molester, that doesn't mean I am one? The only "non-racist" whites are the ones who admit they are racist?
209
Speaking of ignorance and refusal to see, no amount of soft-headed pollyanna wishful thinking will change the verifiable, objective facts that contribute to the poverty and violence all around you. Educate yourself- you can start by Doing The Math. Ask yourself: do you actually have any clue how the current maldistribution of wealth in this country looks compared to other industrial societies,and the connection to our current high unemployment rate (which has reached 1930s Depression-era levels for several industries and demographic groups.) Your job may be next.

As our modern-day robber barons twirling their mustaches, Steve B**mer and his fellow billionaires cackle with satisfaction at the obedient wage-slaves, dutifully parroting standard-issue press release responses("don't demonize us"-"it's their Money" hear hear good show). The corporate PR hacks on Fox news are proud of you all.

Oh and by the way, we are giving your coder job to a new H1B visa hire next month. Please show your team spirit in training our newest employee, then clear out your desk and Security will escort you off the premises. Good night and good luck.
210
@count no'count

It might suppose you that I'm not some right wing, fox news listener, nor am I an "obident wage slave". Niether are most people who don't agree with socalism.

Are there evil rich people, yes, same way there are evil poor people. Do some people have more money that I ever will, yes, the same way some people have talents I'll never have.

It's simplistic to demonize though, all rich people, all buinesses, and all capatlism beliefs. You probably think people who don't agree with you are brain washed, and that we are all "parroting standard issue...responses", but if I had a nickel, being from the east coast, every time I've heard something similar to your post above, well maybe then I too could hire my own PR staff.
213

To be 'brutally honest',
"It might suppose" me ? No, that merely amuses me.
When you simplistically label my argument "demonizing all rich people and all businesses" you are demonstrating the typical intellectually lazy American knee-jerk reaction that is such a piss-poor excuse for rational thought. Another lazy, canned response is labeling any position that doesn't follow some Grover Norquist-approved Tea-bagger Party line as "Socialism". You show a fundamental misunderstanding of what socialism is,and probably of other ideologies, such as fascism for example.

It might surprise you to learn that Benito 'il Duce' Mussolini endorsed some of the views you expressed here. Yet I do not accuse you of being a Fascist, just of being yet another lazy,ill-informed, poorly-educated American who blatantly mischaracterizes the positions of his fellow citizens.

The prevalence of such non-thinking in this country has led us to what Gore Vidal called a One-party system(to paraphrase): in America there is only one party, the Property Party, and it has two right wings, the Republicans and the Democrats...
214
Thank you for this. So very, very well-written. I'm white (+), female (-), older (-), disabled (-). That one + trumps the three minuses. When I became homeless, after becoming disabled, that whiteness, that middle-class upbringing, got me back out of homelessness, into SSDI, into Section 8, much faster than others I saw who were not white. Very strange, to be disabled, to have well below poverty-level income, to be in low-income housing, and still feel so very grateful, because I know how privileged I am, in comparison with so many others.
215
Is Trader Joe's too white? Sheeeeiiiiittt! I don't know. Is Popeye's Chicken and Bicuts too black?

The Downtown Y is absurdely Anglo? What's so absurd about Anglo architecture. Myself, I like gothic, epecially the gargoyles on the ledges.

Loping? To me loping says: I will go out of my way to make your day a little bit shittier. I live in Renton. If I loped in the middle of Ranier Ave, white motorists would be honking and cussing me out, but so would blacks, asians, mexicans and just about everyone else. And they would be justified. I think that anyone caught in a traffic jam, which is all of us, could agree that loping is an asshole move, regardless of one's skin color.

One last thing, one of the things that I respect about both blacks and rednecks is that they are a proud people, and I like proud people. I wish that some of these white "anti-racists" could learn to take pride in their culture, heritage and themselves.
216
I hate this headline. WHY should white people be "deeply embarrassed"? Why should I be embarrassed by the color of my skin, or the origin of my ancestors?
217
Your headline was so offensive that I almost didn't read the article. Why should white people be "deeply embarrassed"? There is nothing embarrassing about the color of my skin, or my ethnic heritage from Northern Europe. I don't have to fucking apologize for it, and neither should anyone else. I also am too busy trying to keep my head above water and keep my life together in this economy to give a shit whether people choose to self-segregate or not. it's true - most people feel most comfortable interacting with other people with whom they identify. People identify with other people on MANY different levels, only one of which is race. Take a look at some wealthy zip codes on the Eastside - only 60% of the residents are white. I think your view of how the world works is pretty outdated.
218
Racism will continue to exist as long as it is over simplified as a black/white issue- as per the photo of the black/white chairs and most of the article.

Why can't we just be people without all the labels: black, white, gay,lesbian, Muslim, etc.? Why can't we just be whoever we are - just people!? It starts with the forms when my kids started school - picking a race every year was a real challenge for them since they are half Asian half white. (I think the forms have changed by now to mixed - or hopefully it has) This was the beginning of being labeled and also the start of a lifelong identity problems.

The one and only time in my life that I felt accepted for who I was in the sixties when I was a UW student - the hippie era. I marched on the Administration building with the Black Student Union (and consequently lost my job- working in the Ad. building!) I marched in Olympia for the Indian Fishing Rights and of course the anti-war marches..No one cared then what race you were. (there were no Asian causes then or I'd be part of that too!) I dated many blacks and others- my parents didn't care.

Terrible Asian stereotypes that still exist - I hated watching the old Buck Rogers show where the evil woman was the Asian Dragon Lady or whoever she was.
Watching an episode of Friends (a show I never liked but watched a couple times when there was nothing else on) there was a line by one of the main characters "She looks like an Asian hooker!" It seemed-all Asians were the bad guys. I wrote in protest of the Life cereal commercial showing Mikey (even he likes the cereal) and a bunch of other kids loving the cereal including a little black kid) BUT when it goes to the Asian little girl = she turns up her nose and makes a face at eating the cereal and the ad says All kids like Life cereal,unless they are weird!" My kids were little at the time and although most wouldn't see the harm in the ad and may even think it cute, I found it offensive and wrote and it went off the air - although doubtful it was due my letter alone. This shows how insidious racism is -

Recently took 5 trips to the DOL for my adult daughter to get an enhanced ID card since she didn't have a utility bill (she lives with me) I think they thought she might be an illegal Alien because she doesn't look like me and could be mistaken for Mexican. I doubt if this would happen if she were all white.

My son was kicked and beaten & arrested by police when he was in high school because he was Asian while the white boy with him was not touched, even though he was the boy who was accused of throwing apples at cars from the pedestrian bridge in the Arboretum. (they were onlookers - the boys who were the culprits all ran away - my son and the other kid didn't run because they hadn't done anything- but were assumed guilty. The other kid was wearing red shorts which the woman who called in the incident had identified one of the boys as wearing red shorts. My son spent the night in jail with his hands handcuffed behind his back. The other boy slept overnight in Juvenile center in a bed. Anyone who knew my son in high school knew he was the gentlest of kids. He did not resist the arrest. This was a racist act on the part of the police. I filed a complaint & they did an "internal investigation" (what is with that anyway!!??) and they "didn't do any wrong" of course. The police are racist. (yet another story!) Actually the police are bullies which is an even bigger problem I believe than being racist. There are many other times where race made a difference with the police and or where they were the bullies.

I lived through a very bad racist era - post WWII - coming out of Manzanar internment camp where we were forced to live for 4 - losing our homes,businesses,etc. Then after the horrendous train ride from Calif. to Seattle,where my mother grew up (attacked by whites on the train) and then after returning to Seattle and then rented a house near Woodland Park where the neighbors all petitioned to get us out of their precious all white neighborhood. They thew rocks through our front window with messages "Get out or else" written on them. My mother refused to move - (she was feisty- born in Seattle she never considered herself Japanese) so we stayed for 14 years during which time the neighbors never once spoke to us! The unfortunate part was that 2 of the 3 kids in my family had to suffer through tremendous racism in what was then all white schools: West Woodland,Hamilton & Lincoln. I was beaten up on the grade school playground for being 'a Jap". No one would dance with me in the social dance class in high school.(except for the new kid who just arrived from England and didn't know it was not acceptable to dance with the "weird Asian girl" - that is a whole different story!) I was called names galore... ALL by white kids by the way. (no blacks were at any of the schools I attended back then and there were only 2 other Asians in junior high and high school and NONE in grade school) I could not transfer to Garfield because back then you HAD to attend schools in your exact zone and I lived across the street from the dividing line to go to Ballard where my classmates from West Woodland went. That was unfortunate as I was in the same class group from lst through 6th grade and we all got along very well (it was the other kids in the school who picked on me) I was so lucky to be in that great group of kids and one is still my best friend. There was no racism in my class in part because we were together from age 6 until junior high when we separated and because I just happened to be in a wonderful group.

My oldest sister went to Garfield because she was a live-in nanny to a OB doc with 6 or 7 young kids in exclusive Broadmoor. She had a great HS experience- was in the Fun Fest (annual music production) with Quincy Jones (says he was quite ladies man even then) and she marveled at the diversity - the rich kids from Broadmoor and Montlake and the rest -the Asians and Blacks - and they all got along she recalls. It was the same for the kids I met at the UW in the sixties who went to Garfield. (their classmate was Jimmy Hendrix. My famous classmate was Rick Kaminski,the Mariner's peanut guy)

Of course it all changed at Garield after the forced bussing and also when the APP program turned the school into the 2 schools in one that still exists today. The sister 5 years younger had the opposite experience than her older sibling at all white Lincoln HS. She so hated school that she never went to a single reunion until her death.

Growing up was the line I hated "Why don't you go back where you came from?! Of course it was assumed I CAME from Japan even though I was a 3rd generation American! There were times I really wanted to go back to Manzanar,Calif.- but it no longer existed - it was just some rubble and tumbleweed in the middle nowhere in the Mohave Desert I found out when I did go back.

The real problem with racism is it is visual. I would not be targeted as the enemy growing up if I were German and if my parents were Nazis - because European immigrants couldn't be visually separated. Chinese-Americans had to wear buttons that said "I am Chinese" during the war years. I have worked for years in Seattle Schools and I found racism still exists. Interestingly one of my most recent racist experiences involved a Japanese-American district administrator.(another lengthy story)

My final story is not so much racism as preferencial treatment. When I try to cross a busy street after getting off the bus after work - at a corner without a light - if it is just me, or me and another older woman (of any race) no one stops for me/us, but if a tall young blond girl walks up to the corner - the cars ALWAYS come to an immediate screeching halt!

And yes,I believe we all are at least a little racist - My mother was anti-Japanese and refused to visit Japan when my father wanted to visit his family. She was born in Seattle. (the lst and only time he returned after arriving here in 1920 -was after my mother died) It makes me so mad when people want to keep America for the whites (what ever happened to David Duke anyway? )because the only REAL Americans are the Native Americans and everyone else is a foreigner. (and there is another story...)

PS this may be a repeat story because my lst attempt at a reply somehow disappeared midway and I don't know where it went!


219
I was with you until here:
"But I noticed that often, white drivers would honk at the men to move aside. It seemed to me the reason they honked was that they were irritated at having an experience that people of color know well: that you're not just entitled to live anywhere you please, that there might be consequences. Honking was an attempt to reassert privilege."

Are you seriously trying to defend assholes swaggering nonchalantly down the middle of the street, blocking traffic? That's dickish behavior, no matter what race you are. It has less to do with racial tension and more to do with people having places to go and being blocked. If you're going to transpose your white guilt onto every situation where white people react unpleasantly to a black person (even when they fucking deserve it), you're damning your own cause and tainting an otherwise worthwhile, urgent message.
220
We all make presumptions based on appearance, mannerism, etc, mostly viewed from afar. Race is a huge component of this. So is dress, speech, what you carry, where you buy your food, etc. In this moment in history, race often drives a kind of "look" on average. But I judge people based on skinny jeans, flip flops, and whether i see them reading on the bus or eating a bag of funions.

Sure, I'm racist. And jeanist and funionist, bookist, starbucksist, and every other kind of judgment based on appearance. If the only bar I have to meet is "you've made a judgment based on x," then I'm the most whateverist motherfucker in history. And that has taught me nothing.

But honestly, I liked this a lot the good parts were better than the bad parts and it took balls to write in this passive aggressive town filled with weak ass pansies when it comes to talking about race.
221
I was with you until I read this:
"But I noticed that often, white drivers would honk at the men to move aside. It seemed to me the reason they honked was that they were irritated at having an experience that people of color know well: that you're not just entitled to live anywhere you please, that there might be consequences. Honking was an attempt to reassert privilege."

Are you seriously trying to defend assholes swaggering nonchalantly down the middle of the street, blocking traffic? That's dickish behavior, no matter what race you are. It has less to do with racial tension and more to do with people having places to go and being blocked. If you're going to transpose your delicate white guilt onto every situation where white people react unpleasantly to a black person (even when they fucking deserve it), you're damning your own cause and tainting an otherwise worthwhile, urgent message.

Black people are allowed to be evil, or irresponsible, or ignorant too. Because they're fucking people.
222
it is not just white privilege. there is pretty privilege, skinny privilege, girl priv, etc...

also there are a fair share of vocal people from any race that expounds their own virtues to the point of racial superiority and exceptionalism.

223
#218

Amen to all that. When a Chinese friend of mine moved with her parents and brothers to West Seattle in 1973, they had to get an unlisted phone number because they got so many hostile calls from white people who didn't want a Chinese family in the neighborhood.
224
#195: You seem disturbingly ignorant of such crimes.

So becuase I actually care about crime rates and the racial hatred that erupts everyday agianst white populations, I'm supposed to shut up and blame this bull crap priviledge?

Why do they commit such incredible amounts of rape? Why do the Black 5% population of California commit 40% of the rape crime?

How is socio economics an excuse for that? All I hear are the same excuses. It's da white mans fault, look at this liberal diversity author spouting the same rhetoric we have heard for decades. It's rubbish and it has always been rubbish. Noone here dares refute my points because they are the truth. They will keep blaming racism, discrimination and the old excuse... SLAVERY AND COLONIALISM.

Like no other civilization ever conquered or enslaved. Like the africans didn't sell their slaves to the Americans. Spain was subjugated for 700 YEARS as was Eastern Europe. What did Spain do? They took back their land and became conquerers themselves.

Wheres the North African reparations for Spain? Wheres the apologies for what the mongols and muslims did to Europe?

I dont want an apology or excuses. I want Liberty and I am sick and tired of authors like this spouting the same anti white crap over and over. They hate their race, they hate their culture and they hate themselves. They push this agenda to feel good. They have been brainwashed by white liberal guilt for things they never did or ever do.

But of course, they will ignore the crime statistics. Statistics which are mimiced EVERYWHERE even in countries like Britian which has no history of discrimination. We invite these people in, take them fromw are torn areas. Areas that WE for once didn't invade for some ridiculous reason illegally. We give them things they never had, so many possibilities and they squander it. They rape, murder and steal more than the natives and continue to do so. Now they out breed us and within a few decades we will be the minorities in our own countries. And when that happens, we truly will be in danger. We have fallen so far... we have let corrupt politicans both left and right use us, we continue this unsustainable fiat currency and this social welfare which exceeds our own income. We could be in space, mining gas giants, digging deep into asteroids with conceptual dieas we have had for 4 decades but no, we have to be the worlds lifeboat and commit national suicide for some agenda that has never made any sense.

And you wonder why I worry about this.
225
@224: Holy SHIT, Batman!!! That is morbid!

Okay, while there is some truth to your long rant about the history of world hatred, take some deep breaths.....breathe deeply......let it all slowly back out...and repeat....for the next 30 years.

Peace.
226
@187 - That's one of the most cogent things I think I've ever heard anyone say on the topic.
227
What a compelling reflection on whiteness and racism. I wish that I had time to read all of the comments l, which appear to be equally compelling. I appreciate very much Jen your honesty and your research. Thanks for opening this box and tackling the tip of a very large iceberg. Your point in class was well taken here and if students were offended and confused, I say, "Bravo!" Then they are feeling, thinking, and beginning to learn. Apparently, no one has yet challenged them and I applaud your authenticity and courage. As a Latina and a professional, I have encountered so much ignorance and hubris among many of my fellow healthcare professionals, civilian & military, regarding the care of 'non-white' people. For example, they see all Spanish-speakers as one monolithic group and there is such ignorance regarding the struggles of Latinos native & non-native to this country and how that colors their experience and perceptions. The erroneous and damaging conclusions derived by non-racist healthcare professionals, researchers, and policy makers would fill infinite volumes, not to mention the fallout left in the wake. Keep on doing whatever you're doing! You can count on me to support your struggle for awakening! Your original Tacoma fan, Ana
228
@Count No'Count .... I love the rich, and I'm a happy content poor person, very poor, below poverty level even. I love rich people because two of the richest in Western Washington paid to have the building I can afford to live in remodeled so many of us poverty level or lower people have a place to live. These giant corporations all started out as mom and pops, just like Starbucks is ... oh yeah, they're a huge corporation now to, okay, Tully's .... erm .... big corporation now. You see, you know rich people are not evil, you just don't like people being wealthier than you, you thrive on finding someone to hate, and you choose the one demonized the most so you can do it guilt free. Want to know what I hate? I hate junkies, yep, a few friends from when I lived in the shelters are junkies, and I hate them for it, but I do know that some of them are okay folks. How do I hate without guilt? Simple, I give them a chance to prove me wrong in my assumptions before I decide to write them off. That's the difference between protective hatred and truly evil hatred. You will not give them a chance, yet the ultra wealthy in this state have done more for the homeless and poverty level people than ANYONE else, a LOT more than you have ever done and will ever do because you are spending all your time hating instead of doing something.
230
Thank you, Mrs Graves; great article.
231
Many of us in the black community are doing really well, and we'll take the credit for that, thank you. And we'd also like to take responsibility for our shortcomings.

Well there's the kicker, isn't it? The shortcomings part. Blacks are far, far more likely than other races to engage in self-destructive behavior.
232
The point is to ask yourself what you're going to do after you've gotten angry over a discussion such as this one. It's the anger of being singled out and put on the spot; the way I, born an American of African descent, feel angry at being singled out by conservative politicians for taking advantage of public resources, since the American dream has eluded me for all of my life because I HAVEN'T enjoyed privilege. The truth is: only former slaves and their descendants can know that the struggle to overcome this lack of privilege continues through the generations, or how hopeless that reality can feel. When you're behind coming out of the starting blocks, you usually don't catch up to the other runners, and get further behind rounding the curve. And yet, in order to finish, to survive, you have to push and keep running anyway. Therefore, I have to own my tiny part of the track and keep going, although it might seem futile to do so, to improve my position. @THECHAZ, I hear you on that.
233
Ms. Graves, I appreciate the article. But let me tell you something. There are actually non-racist white people out there. I don't know about your generation, but some of us had parents in the civil rights movement, and instead of getting latent racism from them as you may have from yours, we got a foundation in tolerance and respect. Are we perfect? Of course not, but do we have any problem at all with Blacks/Latinos/Asians/Indians/whatever in our neighborhood, being our bosses, dating our daughters? No. Do we think they simply want to be white people? No. Do we think racism is a huge problem and every Black person gets an unacceptable amount of it? Yes. We are still shocked at the amount of racism in our society, in police profiling, sentencing inequalities, discrimination in home and farm loans, job applicants, you name it, but just because it hasn't gone away already does not mean every white person is part of the problem.

Some people get mad at being called a racist because they ARE racist, and nobody likes to be thought of as a bad guy, but some people get furious at being called a racist because they've gone through hell not to be and someone like you just, without knowing them, says it's not enough, or they've missed the point somehow.

You can't go around with this Zen koan type of paradox that if you think you're not racist, you're racist, or that everyone is whether they try to be or not. It doesn't open peoples' minds, it makes them angry and defensive, and I know from personal experience it may actually create racism.
234
If someone asked me if I was racist I would ask them if they thought any of the follow were "anti racist" activists: Malcolm X, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, the NAACP. If they said yes to any of these I would then let them know that I talk about black folks the way they talk about Jews. (I included the NAACP because they have given a platform to Louis Farrakhan on numerous occasions). Then I would ask them if they consider me a racist, which no doubt the answer would be yes. Sick of the hypocrsy
235
In case you are an embarassed white person, just thought I would list some white achievements that people can be proud of, just as there is a long list of black achievements, and other races' achievements that people can be proud of.

1. When everybody else decided to stay home, white people explored and charted the four corners of this world. That took courage, tenacity and intelligence - all things to be proud of.

Other white accomplishments to be proud of: movable type printing presses, 1st to create realistic looking paintings, numerous advances in architecture, calculus, physics, 1st to chart periodic table of elements, numerous medical advances, nymerous agriculture advances, invented the steam engine, internal combustion engine, deduces the laws of electricity, first to create advanced musical harmony, the symphony-orchestra and most of its instruments, first to build a flying machine, automobile, rockets, first man on the moon and on an on.

If some of you are embarassed to be white, speak for yourselves because I'm not. I would just like to encourage people to be proud of theirselves no matter what race they are.
236
If you are a white person in America, then you benefit from the racist systems that give you privilege.

So unless you are actively undoing racism, you are a racist.

You might not be a bigot, but you are a racist.

This is a critical shift for all white people to make.

All white people are racists.

In the face of this, you can reclaim your humanity, by actively working for racial justice.
That means working actively with people of color to undo the institutional racism in our community. And doing the hard work to understand and undo internalized racial superiority.

Or you can be complacent.

But your non-action is what defines you...not your professed liberal values, or the number of friends that you have that are people of color.
237
@236
Emmet Till's murder and the subsequent injustice is called a travesty.
Yankel Rosenbaum's murder and the subsequent
injustice is called a dispute between communities based on legimiate grievences.
Recently a group of black artists in NYC commemerated the 20th anniversary of the Crown Heights Pogrom by holding an exhibit that was more sympathetic to the black perpetrators then the Jews who were lynched, assaulted, and mugged.
I don't want to minimalize how upset blacks were over the child who died in the car accident- they committed 2 murders, over 50 assaults, and most importantly, over 250 muggings.
When black folks stop calling the hate crimes they committ "disputes between communties" and use it for a shake down then I will start paying attention to their gripes.
As long as Rosenbaum's lynching is spoken about as a "clash" between blacks and Jews while Emmet Till's is called a barbaric hate crime- I will have no sympathy for those who whine about "white priveledge". Only blacks can get away with openly sympathizing with those who lynch innocent people. RIP Yankel Rosenbaum and Emmet Till. Hopeful America will one day see you both as equal. Until then, our civil rights movement remains in ashes, because there is only one group of people who can act like the KKK and still be openly defended without outrage- people of African decent.
238
#227

Hear hear!

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