“
Denial supports this “non-racist” racism. A poll by the Washington Post in 2001 showed that half of all white people believe blacks in the U.S. are just as economically well-off and secure as whites.
But economic and social distance between blacks and whites is far from closed, except in the minds of many white Americans.
Six in 10 whites—61 percent—say the average black has equal or better access to health care than the average white, according to the poll.
In fact, blacks are far more likely to be without health insurance than whites. In 2000, the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey found that blacks were nearly twice as likely as whites to be without health insurance.
The survey in fact notes that half of whites have convinced themselves that African-Americans and Euro-Americans are educated equally well in the U.S. The empirical evidence, of course, points to a contrary conclusion. This misperception by whites is based on two things: (1) the need to believe that race as an issue is “all in the past now” and (2) the association of middle-class whites with middle-class African-Americans, which lends anecdotal support to the idea of equality-achieved, by exclusive exposure to a non-representative sample of the black population. Half of all whites believe that African-Americans enjoy economic parity with whites, another staggeringly wrong impression (the poverty rate for blacks is double that for whites, as just one example).
http://www.truthdig.com/dig/page2/200601003_white_supremacism_sexism_militarism/
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
My friends Inspire me:
So, basically I have been pretty bad about blogging. But I'm gonna get back on it, because my friend living in Berlin has a great blog: http://mylifeintheb.tumblr.com/
I miss them so much and now their blog gives me something to feel inspired by. I now see how easy it is to use videos and images within a blog and how nice it can be...
But now I have a cold. So I will do it more later.
I also think they are just more skilled than I am...
<3
I miss them so much and now their blog gives me something to feel inspired by. I now see how easy it is to use videos and images within a blog and how nice it can be...
But now I have a cold. So I will do it more later.
I also think they are just more skilled than I am...
<3
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Shivers
http://www.smartlyrics.com/Song632662-WillIAm-SOS-lyrics.aspx
When an eskimo gets bit by a mosquito
Somebody in Miami will get swept by a tsunami
Rastas in Jamaica will get hit by a quake
That registers somethin like eight point eight
When an eskimo gets bit by a mosquito
Somebody in Miami will get swept by a tsunami
Rastas in Jamaica will get hit by a quake
That registers somethin like eight point eight
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Are White's victims of racial oppression?
This morning a friend of mine sent me an article titled "Are whites racially oppressed" posted over at CNN. I have been seeing/feeling this kind of thing coming and it is really really annoying.
One thing is that most White people I have met don't even understand a lot of the foundational ideas around Systematic Oppression. It's like, they have no idea what it means, and that to them, it isn't even a relevant thing to define. Which is all fine and good, of course that is, until they start claiming to be victims of it.
To start off with, one indicator that a group is marginalized the their access to wealth: the Forbes richest people in the USA, top ten, all white. What about political representation: The Supreme court is majority white, 7 white judges, 2 non-white judges. The vice president is white, the majority of the house is white, and it goes on.
I've witnessed that there is some sort of debate around the idea of what racism is. If racism means pre-judging people on the basis of their skin color, than sure, racism can apply to just about everyone, because we all have some kind of coloring to our skin. If racism means, pre-judging people on the basis of their skin color, having the power to influence their daily life as your judgement see's fit and actually using that power against them, than the scope of racist actors and victims is a little bit more narrow. Racism begins to be something that belongs to the dominant party, whereas the oppressed other can think whatever they want but has not power to do anything. And then we have another definition of racism, which is the systematic oppression of a peoples based on their skin color, meaning that not only does the discrimination or prejudice find itself present in singular and individual situations, but it is omnipresent, like a wave that washes over every aspect of life. This type of racism is not dependent on the views of individuals, but rather supported by a power systems that is essentially built on the backs of those that are oppressed. This, is the definition that I ascribe to.When racism is definied as a systematic oppression against a given race, it can from another angle be considered a system of privilege. A system that rewards and benefits those who are Not members of certain color groups. In the context of the US, and in my opinion the world, because of the spread of it's media, and a long history of european imperialism, the term ``Racism``, can be easily interchanged with the term ``white supremacy``.
So are white people being targeted by racism, by some definitions, at some individual moments, according to some people, perhaps. But are white people a group that are oppressed systematically to the point that they need to motivate as a racially solidified group moving towards a common liberationist cause? If anything, maybe what the majority of Whites in the US are facing is a loss of privilege, a disillusionment of what race promised them. But surely the problem white's today are having is not with race, it is with class. Affirmative Action is being attacked as a privilege for people of color in the US. But I have to whole heartedly disagree with that. Affirmative Action laws are simply way's to prevent groups from being stonewalled when it comes to employment and education, not to insure their dominant position. One has to only look at how hard communities of color have been hit by this economic downturn to understand that it is not non-whites who are keeping whites out of work. Rather, the economy just stinks, and wealth is being centralized at the highest level.
The promises that whites have been given by race is that they will prosper. That they will own and they will have comfort. The construction of the white race was initiated when higher classed whites wanted to control their worker. For fear that Whites and non-whites would band together for workers rights, better treatment, higher wages. What happened is that the rights of whites were levied against the degradation of non-whites. The elite at the moment, land owners, company owners, employers, "beg(a)ns to give certain carrots" as Tim Wise would say to poor whites, in order to win their alliance. These `carrots` came at the cost of racial division, and the total subjugation of non-whites.
Now, the division between working class whites, and elite whites is being shown for what it is. Race and racism have been given to whites to help keep them down, and to help poor whites be complicite in the role of helping the elites keep everyone else down. Now, race is the thing some whites are grabbing on to in order to salvage what they feel they have lost. The economy, the unemployment rate, the lack of fanancial security has not been caused by non-white people, but rather by a callous elite that has no qualms around bankrupting the exact countries they were founded in. What the elites would want us to forget is that the best way to face this problem is to unify, rather than divide.
I see similarities going on in relation to the different kinds of oppressions. Men feel that they are victims of sexism, and nationals feel that they are being marginalized in their own countries. Why is it that when peoples comfort in being the dominant group so quickly turns into victimization when a touch of that dominance feels out of reach? Usually the problems that men feel target them can be resolved by feminism, and the problems that nationals feel threaten their sense of life can be fixed by accepting and intergrating new people, and similarly to other ethnically/racially motivated conflicts the issue is really at the root of it about class, and those who are used to enjoying a certain level of class security feeling as if suddenly it is being challenged by the other, rather than their own old good friend the elite.
If we want to talk about why people are not having the quality of life we would like, let's look at government spending, instead of each other. If we want comfort, and security, it has to be something we all share. Yes, I hope(but don't quite believe) the days of white privilege are over in the US. Not in hopes that it will be replaced by non-white supremacy as some might fear. But so that we can begin recognizing the equal citizenship of all members of society. Maybe then people in the US, and everywhere will be able to build a system in which all people can enjoy the same kind of safety and security that laid off and angry white folks who feel they've become the nation's unsung victims of racism, had grown accustomed to.
One thing is that most White people I have met don't even understand a lot of the foundational ideas around Systematic Oppression. It's like, they have no idea what it means, and that to them, it isn't even a relevant thing to define. Which is all fine and good, of course that is, until they start claiming to be victims of it.
To start off with, one indicator that a group is marginalized the their access to wealth: the Forbes richest people in the USA, top ten, all white. What about political representation: The Supreme court is majority white, 7 white judges, 2 non-white judges. The vice president is white, the majority of the house is white, and it goes on.
I've witnessed that there is some sort of debate around the idea of what racism is. If racism means pre-judging people on the basis of their skin color, than sure, racism can apply to just about everyone, because we all have some kind of coloring to our skin. If racism means, pre-judging people on the basis of their skin color, having the power to influence their daily life as your judgement see's fit and actually using that power against them, than the scope of racist actors and victims is a little bit more narrow. Racism begins to be something that belongs to the dominant party, whereas the oppressed other can think whatever they want but has not power to do anything. And then we have another definition of racism, which is the systematic oppression of a peoples based on their skin color, meaning that not only does the discrimination or prejudice find itself present in singular and individual situations, but it is omnipresent, like a wave that washes over every aspect of life. This type of racism is not dependent on the views of individuals, but rather supported by a power systems that is essentially built on the backs of those that are oppressed. This, is the definition that I ascribe to.When racism is definied as a systematic oppression against a given race, it can from another angle be considered a system of privilege. A system that rewards and benefits those who are Not members of certain color groups. In the context of the US, and in my opinion the world, because of the spread of it's media, and a long history of european imperialism, the term ``Racism``, can be easily interchanged with the term ``white supremacy``.
So are white people being targeted by racism, by some definitions, at some individual moments, according to some people, perhaps. But are white people a group that are oppressed systematically to the point that they need to motivate as a racially solidified group moving towards a common liberationist cause? If anything, maybe what the majority of Whites in the US are facing is a loss of privilege, a disillusionment of what race promised them. But surely the problem white's today are having is not with race, it is with class. Affirmative Action is being attacked as a privilege for people of color in the US. But I have to whole heartedly disagree with that. Affirmative Action laws are simply way's to prevent groups from being stonewalled when it comes to employment and education, not to insure their dominant position. One has to only look at how hard communities of color have been hit by this economic downturn to understand that it is not non-whites who are keeping whites out of work. Rather, the economy just stinks, and wealth is being centralized at the highest level.
The promises that whites have been given by race is that they will prosper. That they will own and they will have comfort. The construction of the white race was initiated when higher classed whites wanted to control their worker. For fear that Whites and non-whites would band together for workers rights, better treatment, higher wages. What happened is that the rights of whites were levied against the degradation of non-whites. The elite at the moment, land owners, company owners, employers, "beg(a)ns to give certain carrots" as Tim Wise would say to poor whites, in order to win their alliance. These `carrots` came at the cost of racial division, and the total subjugation of non-whites.
Now, the division between working class whites, and elite whites is being shown for what it is. Race and racism have been given to whites to help keep them down, and to help poor whites be complicite in the role of helping the elites keep everyone else down. Now, race is the thing some whites are grabbing on to in order to salvage what they feel they have lost. The economy, the unemployment rate, the lack of fanancial security has not been caused by non-white people, but rather by a callous elite that has no qualms around bankrupting the exact countries they were founded in. What the elites would want us to forget is that the best way to face this problem is to unify, rather than divide.
I see similarities going on in relation to the different kinds of oppressions. Men feel that they are victims of sexism, and nationals feel that they are being marginalized in their own countries. Why is it that when peoples comfort in being the dominant group so quickly turns into victimization when a touch of that dominance feels out of reach? Usually the problems that men feel target them can be resolved by feminism, and the problems that nationals feel threaten their sense of life can be fixed by accepting and intergrating new people, and similarly to other ethnically/racially motivated conflicts the issue is really at the root of it about class, and those who are used to enjoying a certain level of class security feeling as if suddenly it is being challenged by the other, rather than their own old good friend the elite.
If we want to talk about why people are not having the quality of life we would like, let's look at government spending, instead of each other. If we want comfort, and security, it has to be something we all share. Yes, I hope(but don't quite believe) the days of white privilege are over in the US. Not in hopes that it will be replaced by non-white supremacy as some might fear. But so that we can begin recognizing the equal citizenship of all members of society. Maybe then people in the US, and everywhere will be able to build a system in which all people can enjoy the same kind of safety and security that laid off and angry white folks who feel they've become the nation's unsung victims of racism, had grown accustomed to.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Go Rosario! Go!
Today was a pretty normal day outside of this blog post I found on Racialicious about how Paul Rudd grabbed Eva Mendes boob for a little too long and as protest Rosario Dawson stabbed him with a fork and grabbed his balls. Lol. Too funny, and too awesome at the same time. My favorite part is the quote where Rosario say's
"I was like, I’m really sorry, Paul, I don’t mean to be offensive. But you’re kind of being offensive."
On a sad note there was a movie I wanted to watch that was available the first time I clicked it and then wouldn't let me watch because I am outside of the USA. Damn IP.
The weather is pretty nice today, the snow is still on the ground but it isn't very cold. The sky is calm and there is a bit of breeze. I feel homesick though anyway. Getting dressed this morning was annoying. Layering last minute can be hard, and I seem to have a habit of putting my leggings on inside out. Every other day I find myself walking along the street and at some point looking down and wondering why I can see the seam. : / oh well.
I'm feeling sort of romantic today, it's a pisces new moon. Hopefully it works in my favor!
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Back in action, again...
Hello!
Okay so I am writing again and I plan to do some v-blogs and get things going with a little more excitement.
I am back in Finland and things are going, well you know they are going. I have tons of things I want to update on and it is just overwhelming, but I will try.
I'm happy to be blogging again and look forward to creating some nice content for whomever might be reading : / lol.
Ciao!
Okay so I am writing again and I plan to do some v-blogs and get things going with a little more excitement.
I am back in Finland and things are going, well you know they are going. I have tons of things I want to update on and it is just overwhelming, but I will try.
I'm happy to be blogging again and look forward to creating some nice content for whomever might be reading : / lol.
Ciao!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
