Sadly 45 is the just the most obvious syphilitic symptom; this state of racist misogynistic White supremacist fuckery has been going on since the country was first “discovered.”
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I already posted a fairly long explanation of the impact in real life in answer to a prior post of yours. Others have also done that. So at this point, you are ignoring those who have come up with fact-based reasons to contradict your points, and just trying to stir things up more. That’s driving trollies.
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Does anyone remember the supreme court case with the dolls research that ended separate but equal? I can’t find it but it’s not just a matter of opinion it’s science that racism has negative effects on emotions
Look at that video and tell me how that could possibly be a first offense. The first one which has been caught by adults, maybe. But go ask the African American students at that school if this was a first time, one-off thing, and if they have been treated as equals, with normal respect, by these two until now.
There is no way that this was a first offense.
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Thank you. I knew my friend wasn’t making it up, and I knew someone here would know what she was talking about.
That was a good read, and I hadn’t known about Affinity before.
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Do we know for a fact this was their first offense? For all we know, there could have been several academic suspensions prior to this incident.
It certainly doesn’t seem like a first-time attempt to me.
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Probably didn’t have the best role models at home either. I don’t think their parents were showing them Mr Rogers…
There is literally no reason to care imo. So what. Boo hoo. Many of us had shit childhoods and still managed not to be racist jerks towards others. Being unfortunate is not an exemption from responsibility. Sympathy is a finite resource because it represents other people’s time and energy.
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For all we know, they could have stolen a juice box from the cafeteria! The horror!
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Yeah, like the way scientists redefined the word “fish” to exclude whales. Fuckers.
Language evolves. One way it evolves is through the adoption and adjustment of words by technical fields to meet their own needs, and by the subsequent circulation of these adjustments into common language. It happened with “fish”; it’s happening with “racism”.
Incidentally, the definition that you give for racism is itself comparatively new: in my copy of the Shorter OED (3rd edition, 1985 printing), the word doesn’t even show up in the main body, only in the addenda, where it’s defined as:
The theory that distinctive human characteristics, abilities, etc., are determined by race
Nothing about antagonism or superiority: those are associated instead with the word racialism, which is hardly heard these days.
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Since it’s come up yet again, some modern definitions for those who wish to have a more than superficial understanding of racism in the real world:
Prejudice. A bias for or against a group of people based upon cultural criteria. May or may not be justified on a stochastic basis (for example, it is not unreasonable for an American Black person to be prejudiced against cops).
Racism. The systematic privileging of one socially-defined racial group over another.
In modern America, it is possible to be prejudiced against white people. It is not possible to be racist against them.
Racism = prejudice + power, and the most important part of that equation is the power.
Fighting racism is not about purging yourself of all unjustified prejudice. That’s useful too, but it’s not the main game.
Fighting racism is about actively dismantling your own privilege.
Surrendering allegiance to white supremacy means working to bring about a world in which you are just as susceptible as a Black person to being shot by the cops, a world in which the schools your kids go to are no better than those available to any other group, a world in which your own safety and comfort are inextricably linked to the well-being of Black people. If you want a decent society for yourself, it must be a decent society for all.
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Say it again, louder please, for the intentionally obtuse people “in the cheap seats:”
Racism takes POWER combined with prejudice, and most Black folks and POC in the USA have NO power.
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Your post is great, but this framing bothers me:
Basic human rights shouldn’t be privilege, right? Is it privilege not to worry about getting shot by cops, or is it oppression that makes you have to worry you will?
Or is not being oppressed itself privilege?
I know it amounts to the same, but I would rather work to bring about a world in which poor people of color are as unlikely to get shot as white people, than one where white people are as likely to get shot.
On the last hand, I do recognize that saying “white people should get shot as often as black people” is very powerful rhetorically - that “OMG, No” reaction from white people is a great starting point for critical reflection. So maybe that makes this framing the better one.
Then the next question in the progression is, “who?” Because white people use privilege to outsource the oppression of POC to the police, so they can claim their hands are clean. And when I say “they,” I also mean “me.” Because I’m part of the problem, sitting here in my house drinking coffee while there is blood on my hands. 
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Having due process under the law is a basic civil and human right. Getting off with a warning when you are in possession of a drug (for example) because you’re white is not. That’s a white privilege, when the black man would most certainly be arrested and then end up jailed. That’s what we mean by dismantling white privilege. Not ending human rights, but extending those rights to all of us.
Yes. Racial minorities in america are treated differently than white men, as are LBGQT+ people and women.
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Absolutely. But I would argue that oppression is bad rather than the lack of oppression.
Right. White people have to not enjoy the fruits of the oppression and white supremacist society.
Ok - my initial reaction: If the black man were just as likely to get off with a warning… Which lead me to, well, drugs laws are BS anyway, and designed to target POC, which lead me back to @DukeTrout’s outsourcing of oppression…
Thanks to you both for helping me think this through.
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Go forth and do good. Socially distantly, of course.
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This goes well beyond basic human rights.
Bingo.
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Privilege is a basic human right, and we should aim to maximize it for everyone.
ETA: I guess that’s the idea that “under-privileged groups” was trying to get at.
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Semantics.
Respect and ACKNOWLEDGEMENT as a human being, affordable housing in safe neighborhoods, the ability to earn a living wage and a universal safety net for anyone who is unable to, easy access to good health care and nutritious food/clean water - these are basic human needs and should be considered essential RIGHTS.
Anything short of that is not truly a civilized society which is sustainable - it’s just a poor facsimile.
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