And the IQ tests they used at the time included questions about baseball scores, etc. Funnily enough, a lot of people who sat them (people from countries which for example, aren’t that big on baseball), didn’t do too well at those questions. So for quite a while, it was accepted doctrine from these results that everyone outside the US was mentally inferior.

Dunno if it’s relevant or not, just thought I’d share it with you all…

Ok, I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say… whites treat blacks like crap a bit more frequently than blacks treat whites like crap. Just a guess based on, oh… pretty much everything in our culture.

Truth, the simple fact that you are white means that, whether you consciously acknowledge it or not, you are a part of the system of racism. You benefit at the expense of others; it’s a cultural institution that is inescapable. So instead of whining, “it’s not my fault that I was born white” (while still enjoying white privilege freely in your daily life), think about how you can actively work to eliminate your own WP. Don’t just point fingers elsewhere and say, “Don’t be angry with me, I didn’t make it this way.” Of course you didn’t. But you’re sure getting benefits from it.

Frankly I don’t see why you see ABW’s blog, the comics, or any of the posts on this site as something that level hostility at you. Or were you referring to something else by “outpourings of anger”? I identify white, for the most part. Other people on this site do, too. I don’t feel we’ve been attacked for it.

And frankly? White people as a whole have done and continue to do plenty to deserve anger. Admit it with me: “White people have screwed over black people. White people continue to screw over PoC.” The fact that as a race, whites have been and continue to be pretty awful towards PoC does not make you personally responsible for the institution of racism, so there’s no reason for defensiveness when people like ABW attack the actions of white people in general. She’s not attacking YOU and she’s not attacking ME, she’s attacking the institution of racism itself. And we should be just as outraged by the wrongs our race IS DOING AT THIS PRESENT TIME as ABW is.

So don’t feel as if you personally are attacked when people point out the injustices of racism. Instead, join in the fight! Take the time to listen (I’m glad you read the White Privilege post. Try looking around some more. There are many excellent posts on this site). Try to learn in what ways you might be unconsciously accepting or supporting racism. Acknowledge that racism still persists as a significant problem today, and that you benefit from it. Accepting that fact openly, without defensiveness, but with plenty of resolve to change it, is an important first step in being actively anti-racist.

However, why is it okay to treat me like I am the problem just because I’m white? Does the simple fact that I AM white, something I had no control over, mean that I deserve outpourings of anger, no matter what my actions? It’s a self-perpetuating dilemma: Whites are responsible for past mistreatment of blacks, therefore blacks treat whites like crap, so whites have a less than stellar opinion of the angry black persona. Get rid of the hostility, and a lot of racism goes away – I don’t want to be in a room with someone who is openly hostile, no matter what their skin color. This may be a bit too simplified, but it’s true.

What if the answer is “no”, or “but they just arrived”?

I always hear, “Slavery was 150+ years ago! And my relatives weren’t here (in the US) then!”
And I always retort, “But Jim Crow laws are barely 40 years ago. Were your relatives here *then*?”

Truth, can you please explain why you think blacks constantly use racism as an excuse to fail? I have never used racism to fail in anything. In fact education is very important to me. I am in college right to make myself not only a better human being, but a better woman who is also black. You have no idea how tiring it is to have to explain why black people are the way they are today, or why we have only advanced so far even with the hurdles thrown in. We as black people have a long way to go, but it does not mean we have to sit by silently and let things happen to use that should not.

Let me ask you this? How would you feel if there were those who spent their entire lives always trying to prove that whites were inferior? How would you feel if there were those who constantly told you that whites have contributed nothing to society? How would you feel if people only thought of you as a statistic? You wouldn’t feel to good would you? I do not know what it is like to be white, and I am not upset that I am black. What I am tired of are people always trying to brush racism under the rug as if it was hardly there in the first place. You claim you understand what white priviedge is and that you do in fact have it. Well then why is it so hard for you to comprehend that this system in america was built to ensure the survival of whites?