A white perspective of Racism and White Privilege in the US

[MARKETWINNER]

There are people talking about racism. In my case I never met personally any racist person during my working period and my life period in western or eastern world. My colleagues and bosses were belongs to different cultures and they treated me very well. I also respected them although some were bit difficult in work wise. By looking at media and reading some study I was able to get some idea about racism, apartheid and human trafficking etc. Those days I had some idea about Lebanon crisis, South African and Zimbabwe crisis etc. Now I find some sort of crisis everywhere. Something is wrong somewhere. Racism is not limited to western world. Again not everybody is racist. It could be very small percentage.

 

[Sdajii]

There are people talking about racism. In my case I never met personally any racist person during my working period and my life period in western or eastern world.

LOL

Racism is not limited to western world.

No, it's everywhere, and the west is where it is least common.

Again not everybody is racist. It could be very small percentage.

It could be if it wasn't.

People usually on the surface say they're not racist, but have a candid conversation with them and most people are, including most of the people who believe they are not.

Humans are born with a predisposition to being racist (contrary to the recent popular myth, despite clear and obvious evidence that we are). For most people it takes indoctrination (even if you consider it to be good indoctrination, which is arguably is) to get people to grow up and consider themselves to not be racist, and to genuinely not be racist it takes an unusual thinker and the right circumstances.

The whole world has always been divided up into different groups of people based on various observable differences, and race is probably the most obvious. It takes a great leap away from easily observable reality to think most humans aren't inherently racist. Most animals are too, and the exceptions are few in number. It's only fairly recently that some cultures have put a taboo on racism.

 

[SirRumpole]

Political correctness contradicts reality by telling us that these differences do not exist and that if we act like they do we are bad.

Exactly.

 

[MARKETWINNER]

Sdjii: Thank you for the kind response.

When I study human history and their behavior, I can get some ideas. Best thing is even some don’t know that they are related to each other. People are killing each other despite speaking same languages with little difference. I found lots of languages have similarities, when they talk some words which give similar meaning. World had civilizations, different political systems and religions. Still we see crimes, wars, genocides and hypocrisy. Fortunately, we are having some peace loving people in this world. To my surprise some areas of this world have more racisms than other areas. I couldn’t believe. It may be they don’t like people with different outlook or they like to stay closer to their own culture. However, as they are internet based study I cannot take everything as right unless I see in my eyes. I was studying even animal behavior. Recently, I saw one particular bird fed food to another variety of a baby chick. In addition, historically and seasonally also there had been some conflicts among different cultures. Sad stories are everywhere. World need some sort of protection for the most vulnerable innocent people (civilians). They can be target group from their own community, their own police, arm forces or extremist groups. History is repeating in a different miner.

 

[Sdajii]

Sdjii: Thank you for the kind response.

When I study human history and their behavior, I can get some ideas. Best thing is even some don’t know that they are related to each other. People are killing each other despite speaking same languages with little difference. I found lots of languages have similarities, when they talk some words which give similar meaning. World had civilizations, different political systems and religions. Still we see crimes, wars, genocides and hypocrisy. Fortunately, we are having some peace loving people in this world. To my surprise some areas of this world have more racisms than other areas. I couldn’t believe. It may be they don’t like people with different outlook or they like to stay closer to their own culture. However, as they are internet based study I cannot take everything as right unless I see in my eyes. I was studying even animal behavior. Recently, I saw one particular bird fed food to another variety of a baby chick. In addition, historically and seasonally also there had been some conflicts among different cultures. Sad stories are everywhere. World need some sort of protection for the most vulnerable innocent people (civilians). They can be target group from their own community, their own police, arm forces or extremist groups. History is repeating in a different miner.

I couldn't quite catch the point you were trying to make there.

Yes, there are different levels of diversity and homogeneity in different parts of the world. Yes, there are different amounts of racism in different areas. I'm not sure what point you're making about languages. Yes, war, crime, etc exist. I'm a biologist and have studied animal behaviour in some detail. Yes, sometimes birds feed babies of other species, this is pretty much exclusively various species of cuckoos, which have babies which mimic the babies of other species. Their eggs hatch faster, kick the other eggs or chicks out of the nest, pretend to be the real baby of the adult birds whose babies they murder, and fool the foster parents into raising them. The parents of the murder babies go around laying eggs in everyone else's nests. This is not adaptive behaviour on the part of the adults feeding the baby of another species, this is parasitism and exploitation by the cuckoo birds. If the host species was able to recognise it (and often they do) they kill the cuckoo chicks. If this relates to human racism in any way, the analogy would be like a Chinese person pretending to be a Vietnamese person to avoid being discriminated against by Vietnamese people, because most Vietnamese people don't like the Chinese. The cuckoo birds are posing as a different species, making that species like them. I don't believe there is a recorded incidence of a bird feeding another bird without thinking that bird was of the same species. This however relates more to species than race. Whether it's fish, birds, snakes or humans, most individuals prefer to mate (or pair up) with and associate with other individuals which are similar to themselves. Humans are an interestingly polymorphic species, with some individuals, mostly males, sometimes developing a reversal of this preference. Incidentally I am one of those (and unusually, it happened to me later in life).

You say historically there were conflicts between different human groups, as though that is no longer the case.

In most respects, humans are just another species of animal, and like all the others, most individuals are inherently racist. A lot of people struggle to understand the distinction between what is and what would be nice, or what is and what can be. I don't advocate racism, I just understand that it is the default state, and that it is very common all over the world.

 

[basilio]

How to go instantly viral and trash yourself in 2 minutes.

Video of white woman calling police on black man in Central Park draws outrage
Woman called 911 after birdwatcher asked her to leash her dog, reigniting storm over everyday racism

Joanna Walters in New York


@Joannawalters13
Wed 27 May 2020 04.51 AEST First published on Wed 27 May 2020 04.16 AEST
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/26/central-park-new-york-white-woman-black-birdwatcher

 

[macca]

How to go instantly viral and trash yourself in 2 minutes.

Video of white woman calling police on black man in Central Park draws outrage
Woman called 911 after birdwatcher asked her to leash her dog, reigniting storm over everyday racism

Joanna Walters in New York


@Joannawalters13
Wed 27 May 2020 04.51 AEST First published on Wed 27 May 2020 04.16 AEST
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/26/central-park-new-york-white-woman-black-birdwatcher

certainly highlights that racism goes every which way, here we have a white woman obviously prejudiced against a black man.

there was that one about a jogger getting shot by vigilantes as well.

On the other hand there are many places within the USA that a white fella would fear to tread

In Asia whites are discriminated against, seems that the majority are biased against those that are different everywhere.

Put a new chook in chook pen, it will be a bloody mess the next day, if it is still a live !!

Tribalism is a survival technique inbred within most living things

 

[wayneL]

certainly highlights that racism goes every which way, here we have a white woman obviously prejudiced against a black man.

there was that one about a jogger getting shot by vigilantes as well.

On the other hand there are many places within the USA that a white fella would fear to tread

In Asia whites are discriminated against, seems that the majority are biased against those that are different everywhere.

Put a new chook in chook pen, it will be a bloody mess the next day, if it is still a live !!

Tribalism is a survival technique inbred within most living things

Exactly, everyday racism cuts both ways.

I grew up in a suburb where the neighbouring suburb was largely indigenous.

Some of us judged each other based on how we found each other as individuals. Others judged purely on the colour of the skin.

And that did *cut both ways".

Those who are trying to create a narrative that one particular group is especially racist should give themself an uppercut because they are not helping anything.

And once again that does "cut both ways".

 

[macca]

It is not just racism, prejudice against those who are different happens in many ways.

We have anti discrimination laws and I support them but the fact remains it is an inbred thing to trust those that are like ourselves before we trust those that are different.

Clusters of immigrants is the classic example, we have allowed them into our country, we give them all sorts of social and financial help yet virtually every nationality has its own enclave.

This also applies to the wealthy as well, clusters of Chinese Doctors, the same with ex South Africans, it simply tribalism and it is perfectly natural.

There are expat communities of Ozzies all over the place

It also happens with religion, those of one faith trust their own group before another, Shia and Sunni, based on the same book but different opinions.

Kookaburras don't breed with magpies, is that racism ?

 

[Humid]

Racism is like jealousy
It's up to you to show its face or choose not to
It's always there

 

[rederob]

What the video does not show is why Mr Floyd could not move.
Another officer had his knee in Mr Floyd's back, and a third officer hd his weight across his legs.
Mr Floyd was dead at about the 5 minute point of this 10 minute video.
I felt unwell when I realised this as I thought they said he died an hour later.

 

[wayneL]

It is not just racism, prejudice against those who are different happens in many ways.

We have anti discrimination laws and I support them but the fact remains it is an inbred thing to trust those that are like ourselves before we trust those that are different.

Clusters of immigrants is the classic example, we have allowed them into our country, we give them all sorts of social and financial help yet virtually every nationality has its own enclave.

This also applies to the wealthy as well, clusters of Chinese Doctors, the same with ex South Africans, it simply tribalism and it is perfectly natural.

There are expat communities of Ozzies all over the place

It also happens with religion, those of one faith trust their own group before another, Shia and Sunni, based on the same book but different opinions.

Kookaburras don't breed with magpies, is that racism ?

Yep.

Outside of the modern view of things, there are very sensible reasons in past history (and especially prehistory) for... let's call it xenophobia which are deeply rooted in our core psychology.

Interestingly and topically, many of the answers lay in epidemiology... protecting one's tribe from disease.

 

[Knobby22]

The use of smart phones is making overt racism much more difficult to take place.

The white police officers deliberately executing a black man in broad daylight and the white woman with the dog post show the imbalance is real. It is interesting that he was dead at 5 minutes but they made sure of it by keeping it going an extra 5 minutes.

It shows that they feel they have the power to get away with this. In both cases if someone hadn't videoed what happened then it is pretty obvious that they would have.

As an aside, the white officer controlling the crowd will be in big trouble with his fellow officers for letting the videoing happen. Also for this to occur, I reckon there must have been some history with the guy they executed which may come out later.

 

[SirRumpole]

The use of smart phones is making overt racism much more difficult to take place.

The white police officers deliberately executing a black man in broad daylight and the white woman with the dog post show the imbalance is real. It is interesting that he was dead at 5 minutes but they made sure of it by keeping it going an extra 5 minutes.

It shows that they feel they have the power to get away with this. In both cases if someone hadn't videoed what happened then it is pretty obvious that they would have.

As an aside, the white officer controlling the crowd will be in big trouble with his fellow officers for letting the videoing happen. Also for this to occur, I reckon there must have been some history with the guy they executed which may come out later.

Will be interesting to see if the ex officers are charged with murder or manslaughter.

Compare the case of Justine Damond vs the death of a black person.

 

[qldfrog]

Will be interesting to see if the ex officers are charged with murder or manslaughter.

Compare the case of Justine Damond vs the death of a black person.

Not denying the last guy was murdered/manslaughtered, what i do not like is that if you do any poll on death by police in the US, you would get the answer than most deaths are black , whereas the true figures are white men are the main victims of death by police.
I was surprised by the stats
Which says a lot as white are underrepresented vs black in crime
Do your own research, does not have to be on Fox news or believe me
It is a sign of a police force turning into vigilantes
And want to add that Australia is not perfect as it seems any mentally ill person with a kitchen knife ends up dead when meeting the force..as if a bullet had to be fatal...
And they do not need to shout Allah hackbar
Police forces now feeling they need to play SAS forces every where..

 

[SirRumpole]

whereas the true figures are white men are the main victims of death by police.

Do you have a link to those figures ? What about in proportion to the population figures ?

eg say 40% of the population is black, do they make up 40% of the deaths by police ?

 

[rederob]

Not denying the last guy was murdered/manslaughtered, what i do not like is that if you do any poll on death by police in the US, you would get the answer than most deaths are black , whereas the true figures are white men are the main victims of death by police.
I was surprised by the stats
Which says a lot as white are underrepresented vs black in crime
Do your own research, does not have to be on Fox news or believe me
It is a sign of a police force turning into vigilantes
And want to add that Australia is not perfect as it seems any mentally ill person with a kitchen knife ends up dead when meeting the force..as if a bullet had to be fatal...
And they do not need to shout Allah hackbar
Police forces now feeling they need to play SAS forces every where..

Please do not insult the intelligence of readers with poor data analysis.
If you are black in the USA an expected death rate would be one in 8 from a police shooting. Instead, blacks are killed 25% of time, so they are actually twice as likely to be the victim.
If you are white in the USA an expected death rate would be 7 out of 10. However, using 2020 data as a guide, as of March 30 there had been 42 confirmed white deaths and 31 black deaths.

 

[wayneL]

Please do not insult the intelligence of readers with poor data analysis.
If you are black in the USA an expected death rate would be one in 8 from a police shooting. Instead, blacks are killed 25% of time, so they are actually twice as likely to be the victim.
If you are white in the USA an expected death rate would be 7 out of 10. However, using 2020 data as a guide, as of March 30 there had been 42 confirmed white deaths and 31 black deaths.

A deeper look is required than that. Blacks are involved in violent crime at a rate of 3 to 1 per capita. Therefore one might expect a higher level of police shootings.

We can go deeper again and analyse the reasons for that second order of disparity, but one must be careful how they apply first order statistics.

 

[rederob]

A deeper look is required than that. Blacks are involved in violent crime at a rate of 3 to 1 per capita. Therefore one might expect a higher level of police shootings.

We can go deeper again and analyse the reasons for that second order of disparity, but one must be careful how they apply first order statistics.

One might wonder why police are more likely to kill an unarmed black person.
US studies also show that white suspects were more often armed and more often the attackers in police incidents than non-white suspects, so bias must form an important consideration.

 

[qldfrog]

Do you have a link to those figures ? What about in proportion to the population figures ?

eg say 40% of the population is black, do they make up 40% of the deaths by police ?

I will if i can find the time, but if you are really interested, to either know or try to proof me wrong feel free, i got interested in that a year or so ago when we had the black lives matters pc crap.
Lives matter.