More trolling instead of something better, featuring Netflix :)

[Timsup2nothin]

Concern about whether something will "help get rid of the divide" is only useful if one thinks there is a real possibility of getting rid of the divide. When the concern is expressed by someone who benefits from the divide it makes it hard to take seriously.

 

[warpus]

Maybe that's the point.

If that's the case I am right to call it out and oppose it.

But hopefully you are wrong and it's just misguided people doing misguided things

Concern about whether something will "help get rid of the divide" is only useful if one thinks there is a real possibility of getting rid of the divide. When the concern is expressed by someone who benefits from the divide it makes it hard to take seriously.

I'm not even American, so I'm not a part of any of this.

I don't really take you seriously either, i've seen pictures of you, you are way whiter than I am

 

[Kyriakos]

I think it is an unavoidable part of the web exposing us all non-US people to particular US issues, which do lack context here, and usually are seen as kneejerk-y and trolling or "sjw".
Then again, it seems that this sort of trollfest-based notoriety/celebrity is a little more pronounced in the US still, probably also due to the larger market there. It is not a helpful phenomenon, though. It will lead to even worse things there and elsewhere.

That said, local types of the same exist in other countries too. They do exist here too, i just avoid them by not watching tv

 

[Sommerswerd]

FWIW I watched a youtube editorial on the series... apparently the show is not really about what the trailer suggests, and in many cases is about the opposite of what the trailer suggests... Ironically (again based on the editorial I saw) the show would actually be more appropriately titled "Dear black people"... This would bolster my suspicion that the show is focused more on educating/enlightening/reaching black people, and the title is just bait.

 

[Narz]

As a white person I'm just annoyed I have to be seen as accountable for the worst among 'my people' (and god knows there are some dumbass white people). I mean, I'm all for ending black sterotypes and white ones as well.

The worst white people aren't dumbass ignint young ones, they're the old ones who run this show & make tons of money off the backs of the rest of us and as for them, I doubt they're really racist, deep down, they just fan the flames of anything that will keep the little people suspicious & divided.

 

[Sommerswerd]

I can empathize. To some extent, everyone gets lumped in with their groups and judged according to the stereotypes of the group and blamed for stuff individuals in their group do.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

In order to not be lumped into a group you just need to demonstrate your individuality. That's why so many racist white people "have a black friend," etc. Just be aware that such demonstrations of individuality don't necessarily produce any shift in how the group is perceived, or prevent you from being perceived as probably sharing the traits of the group by the next person you run into.

 

[Farm Boy]

When you lay eyes upon somebody, the first determinations your brain makes are age and gender. Barely later comes "how similar is this person to me" based entirely upon appearance and presentation. Race is pernicious once learned, you can't take off "those clothes."

Unless, of course, my readings on that are dated. Actually, it was probably NPR. It all sort of runs together. Blah, can't find it atm.

 

[Manfred Belheim]

In order to not be lumped into a group you just need to demonstrate your individuality. That's why so many racist white people "have a black friend," etc.

These two sentences taken together seem to imply that the best way to avoid being catagorized as a racist is to actively avoid making black friends. I'm sure that's not what you meant though

 

[Timsup2nothin]

These two sentences taken together seem to imply that the best way to avoid being catagorized as a racist is to actively avoid making black friends. I'm sure that's not what you meant though

Good call. I don't really think it was a tough one to make out though.

 

[warpus]

In order to not be lumped into a group you just need to demonstrate your individuality.

Sorry, but the onus of me not being lumped with billions of other people is not on me, it's on the person doing the bigoted grouping.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Sorry, but the onus of me not being lumped with billions of other people is not on me, it's on the person doing the bigoted grouping.

Why? More importantly, how? If you don't do anything to differentiate yourself from the group, how am I supposed to do it for you?

 

[warpus]

Why? More importantly, how?

Stop saying "All people who have black skin ___________" or "All people who are homosexual ___________" and similar statements, unless it's a statement of fact such as "All people who have white skin have white skin"

That's how.

Why? Because judging a group of people on the colour of their skins is bigoted and racist.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Stop saying "All people who have black skin ___________" or "All people who are homosexual ___________" and similar statements, unless it's a statement of fact such as "All people who have white skin have white skin"

That's how.

Why? Because judging a group of people on the colour of their skins is bigoted and racist.

While these statements are agreeable, what do they have to do with what I said?

The way to not be treated as "just another human" is to demonstrate your individuality. No one can make the time to do that for seven billion people, so everyone should expect that a vast portion of those seven million people are going to look at them as "just another human."

Now, there is practically no one out there who can afford to literally treat every human the same, and since they also don't have time to get every human to reveal their individuality they will in fact base their actions on trivial cues. Can those trivial cues be misleading? Of course, but we gotta have something.

And there are in fact trivial cues that have been turned to advantage...one of them being a white skin. We can agree that this is a trivial cue that fails to indicate any significant difference. However, that doesn't change the fact that it is a trivial cue that does have a wide influence on behaviors, and that wide influence is measurably net positive. Which in turn has actually made this trivial cue into a significant difference.

 

[warpus]

While these statements are agreeable, what do they have to do with what I said?

Well, you were responding to this

To some extent, everyone gets lumped in with their groups and judged according to the stereotypes of the group and blamed for stuff individuals in their group do.

I am assuming we are talking about "skin-colour" groups here, meaning the only thing I have in common with everybody else in "my" group is that the colour of our skin happens to be the same or at least of a similar shade.

Stereotyping based on groups like that is bigoted and racist, so.. That's why I said that the onus should be on the person making the stereotypical/bigoted/racist statement, and not the person being grouped in with other people based solely on the colour of their skin.

Isn't this what is called "victim shaming" ? The onus is on the person saying the stereotypical/bigoted thing, i.e. they should stop making statements like that, and not on the victim who is the target of the statement.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

I am assuming we are talking about "skin-colour" groups here, meaning the only thing I have in common with everybody else in "my" group is that the colour of our skin happens to be the same or at least of a similar shade.

Stereotyping based on groups like that is bigoted and racist, so.. That's why I said that the onus should be on the person making the stereotypical/bigoted/racist statement, and not the person being grouped in with other people based solely on the colour of their skin.

Isn't this what is called "victim shaming" ? The onus is on the person saying the stereotypical/bigoted thing, i.e. they should stop making statements like that, and not on the victim who is the target of the statement.

There is no "victim who is the target of the statement." Yes, if you do absolutely nothing to distinguish yourself then you are "just a white guy" and will be treated as such, since there is no basis for treating you as anything else. No one is going to just assume you are just like Mother Theresa, and no one is just going to assume that you are just like Donald Trump. If you want to be treated as an individual, you have to demonstrate your individuality.

 

[Kyriakos]

Virtually all countries in Europe are some tone of white, and we had endless wars and abuse of group by group. Often it is between very similar groups, eg serb and croat.
I think that, in the US, the tension probably is less due to "race" and more due to culture, cause "black" people didn't control their own country there and thus had/have to tie to other culture.
The only solution is a black-and-creole country with its capital in New Orleans, and an official voodoo religion

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Virtually all countries in Europe are some tone of white, and we had endless wars and abuse of group by group. Often it is between very similar groups, eg serb and croat.

I read an excerpt from an anthropology textbook used at the university of Oxford. It distinguished nine races of humans, despite classifying the bipeds of Africa and Asia as not human at all. So all nine races were white. Times change, usually faster than people.

 

[Kyriakos]

I read an excerpt from an anthropology textbook used at the university of Oxford. It distinguished nine races of humans, despite classifying the bipeds of Africa and Asia as not human at all. So all nine races were white. Times change, usually faster than people.

Must have been a really great book. Maybe Pewdipie can feature it in his new videos!!!

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Must have been a really great book. Maybe Pewdipie can feature it in his new videos!!!

Don't give him any ideas.

The same course that provided that excerpt provided another one, from a slightly later text, with this incredibly harsh condemnation full of "inherently lazy," "must be closely supervised in performing labor" and on and on. The expectation, which was met, was that the students would react to this obvious racist crap cribbed from some pamphlet decrying abolition in 19th century USA. The shocking reveal was that it also came from an Oxford university textbook, and was a scholarly (in its day) description of the Irish.