Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2014/12/01/all-you-need-to-know-about-rac.html
Racism in America, defined succinctly by comedian Chris Rock: “White people were crazy. Now they’re not as crazy.”
7 Likes
It seems like something touched a nerve with Chris where before he has spent quite a bit of time scolding black people in his comedy act. Maybe his kids are an age where he is worried about them being randomly blown away by a rookie cop.
But that field has gotten pretty crowded, as Fox keeps a whole stable of conservative blacks to scold other blacks. I recently checked the salary information on one guy who grew up in Watts and he now makes well over $500 K a year from his charity that advises blacks to be super positive and they will succeed. Hey it worked for him.
1 Like
Blaming all white people for what some other white people have done in the past will not help race relations.
All i can do is treat people equally, and I am in good conscience.
//Grandfather is half Mohawk, and I don’t blame anyone alive for what was done to American Indians
1 Like
Thanks for your insightful defense of all white people. Have fun while driving white!
11 Likes
Nice strawman you got there. What’s its name?
“Grandfather is half Mohawk” – next you’ll tell me you have black friends!
8 Likes
I know that. For example:
I was driving with a childhood friend, D., in my 2000 convertible Trans Am with the top down. He asked to drive. I asked if he had a licence. He said no. He said let me drive anyways, and I said, “No, your black and they will pull you over.” He said, “You’re prejudice!” I said, “No, you know damn well I’m not prejudice. You also know damn well that the police are, and a black man in a do-rag in Springfield MA driving a convertible Trans Am with NC plates will get pulled over.”
I was being truthful, which is a fault of mine. Perhaps I shouldn’t have pointed out he was black, but I am certain the police would notice and all the hassle that comes with a driver without a licence being pulled over would come.
From the interview:
Grown people, people over 30, they’re not changing. But you’ve got kids growing up.
Thank goodness things can get better without convincing you of anything.
12 Likes
OK I missed that. Still, I’m over 30 and I have always been this way. I grew up on St. Thomas, which is 75% black, so I know what prejudice is, as it was practiced against me.
I wonder if there is a difference between state level institutionalized racism lasting hundreds of years which effected everyone in your family tree and the prejudice a white guy feels in certain neighborhoods?
18 Likes
Like with anything progress, it’ll have to come from all directions. Gay people aren’t sitting around going, “Well, it’s all on you straight jerks to figure it out and make the world a better place.” Instead, they have been organizing and getting smarter and smarter about effecting change over many decades, culminating in what we are seeing now with marriage equality. OF COURSE, straight people aren’t off the hook; they have to mend their ways and stop being so mean to people who are only slightly different. Same for race and gender and transgender and ability and every other kind of variation of humanity. It’s never the other people who have to do all the work. Everyone’s gotta chip in.
2 Likes
Since the interest in my grandfather, I learned not to be racists from him through my mother. He road the bus lines in Selma to protest and walk the Million-man.
Even though I was a minority and my skin color was questioned by some, there were others who were so kind to me, including two TRUE Rastafari (it’s not Rastafarian, that is an insult to them, it’s the whole I and I of body and soul) who taught me the first religion I ever was taught about…
I don’t think that Rock is a civil rights movement denialist. Yes, black people are active in dealing with racism, gay people are active in dealing with homophobia. But that doesn’t make his comment wrong at all. When he talks about white people who would be unwilling to take their pet to a vet if they knew those tools had been used on black people, he is talking about crazy fucking white people.
It took a lot of work to get from people that pants-on-head stupid insane to get to the kind of crazy fucking people we have today who say things like, “Well, Michael Brown was a big guy, it doesn’t make sense to call him ‘unarmed.’”
But that’s what we are talking about, we are talking about the fact that white people are crazy. Rock knows full well that black people did a lot of heavy lifting to point out to white people how crazy they were being.
12 Likes
Prejudice is not the same thing as racism. People can be prejudiced for all sorts of reasons. It takes a structure to create and perpetuate racism.
2 Likes
Well there is a structure in the USVI that promotes racism.
Blaming me for what some other people of the same color as I have done doesn’t make me want to help.
I do not like the current structure of racism against people of color or sexual orientation as it stands in at least the USA. I do what I can to be fair, and that is the best I can do.
I speak out when I see racism. I was involved in an argument over Brown’s innocence on another board where I feel he was murdered because of his color, for example.
What else can I do? Again, blaming me for the problem is NOT going to make me want to help.
He’s not wrong - just going in a uni-directional direction. That’s a comedian for you. He’s definitely been over how crazy black people are - that’s his whole first act in a nutshell. But doesn’t laughing about it all get tired to you after a while? Black people are crazy, white people are crazy, etc. OTOH, Americans in general are crazy. Doing stupid stuff to each other and to themselves and trying to justify it. And then, after pointing out other people’s faults and having a good laugh… here we go again for more of the same old stupid actual reality shit.
1 Like
Gay people can still be legally fired for being gay, and Trans folks are still getting murdered at an alarming rate. You seem to have a bit of a Pollyanna view of the gay movement. Yes, things have gotten better, but just like the classic civil rights movement, it is far from perfect. Far. Especially if you take into consideration other countires and cultures (on both fronts - racism and homophobia).
1 Like
Why are you making this all about you? And I feel suspect toward someone who has to spend time getting defensive and having to convince others that they are not, in fact, racist. “I know black people!” and “my grandfather did some positive stuff!” is essentially what this all comes down to.
BTW, not acting racist and not being racist isn’t something you should have to brag about, or bring up in defense of yourself. It really should just be a given, and a part of who you are. Obviously, humans make mistakes, but you’re not apologizing for a mistake. You’re just trying to reassure us that you’re totally a good, decent human being and not racist like all good, decent human beings should be. Do you think you deserve a cookie for that?
Part of the POINT is that it shouldn’t be “special” that someone is not racist. It should be the default.
And interestingly, up-thread you went #NotAllWhitePeople and #NotMeISwear – but if that weren’t true, would you really need to spend this much time explaining to us how not-racist you totally are?
Blaming me for what some other people of the same color as I have done doesn’t make me want to help.
So if you aren’t treated exactly how YOU, as a white man, want to be treated, you refuse to “help”? How self-centered can you be? This isn’t about you!
ETA: And have you considered that maybe your idea of “help” is neither wanted or needed? If you need it to be totally on YOUR terms, then, well, you’re not much of an ally.
What else can I do? Again, blaming me for the problem is NOT going to make me want to help.
And are you serious with this self-made martyr bullshit??
NO ONE BLAMED YOU. This isn’t about you. But good job making this entire discussion about YOU and YOUR experiences and how you think the oppressed should treat YOU.
11 Likes
If only I had a dollar for everyone who claims to have a Native grandparent or great-grandparent and then is furious when the DNA test shows they don’t, and to add insult to injury often indicates a small amount of Sub Saharan African instead…in other words, their mixed race ancestor was passing as part Native to avoid being classified as black.
6 Likes
So let me guess: Straight, white, probably male, and cis.
Nope. As a queer lady, it does not, in fact, ever get old to speak out against the hate that still permeates our country (and I can’t imagine how black American must feel right now, really, so I’m just going from my perspective). Must be nice and cushy for you, though, if you can so easily dismiss such a serious topic as “getting old”.
Not everyone has that luxury. Not when black men are still getting murdered by police for no other reason than being black men. But hey, sure, if you’re so tired of the discussion, go do something else and leave those of us who are still in the fight to it.
4 Likes
To coin a phrase from Chris Rock… 'I am not a racist." “You’re not supposed to be a racist, what do you want a cookie, you low-expectation-having motherfucker!?”
From this routine:
“I take care of my kids.” You’re supposed to, you dumb motherfucker! What kind of ignorant shit is that? “I ain’t never been to jail!” What do you want, a cookie?! You’re not supposed to go to jail, you low-expectation-having motherfucker!
3 Likes
