Solsbury_Grille said:
I live in Texas, and contrary to popular belief, it is not the seething cauldron of racism everyone seems to believe it is. Mostly because Latinos and whites have intermarried so often over the last few decades that no one can really afford to be racist. You might be offending your own cousin.
I can believe that. I never fully bought the stereotype about Texas being like that anyway. However, are you so sure there aren't concentrations of racism unique to Texas, a city here or there? There aren't certain places that attract racism? You might say all states have a place like that, but you don't think there is anything unique about Texas in attracting it when it comes to certain areas?
I'm not doubting you; as I said, I don't really believe the stereotype anyway. Plus, it's not like I live there. Although, my Dad did move there for a bit and I would visit him, my step mom, and my half sister until they moved to West Virginia...then Kentucky...and now Colorado...that's a story for another thread, another time. Obviously, it's not the same as living there of course. Either way, I'm just asking because I'm genuinely curious to hear from a Texan's perspective. While I'm at it how much of Texas have you seen? What are the two most contrasting places of Texas that just so happen to be within the borders? I find those comparisons in the same state kind of funny. That's not to say I want to detract from the thread, but I'm just really curious.
OT: I don't really see racist things too much, at least in daily life versus the Internet. I grew up in a sheltered community and have gone through life in such a way that I don't seem to see that much unless it's online. So, I'll try my best to think of top contenders even though they'll be mild in comparison to far more racist things. I can't pick a "Most Racist Thing" because I'm not good at picking #1 above all else regardless of topic. This is probably going to get pretty long as I don't write concisely so sorry/warning in advance.
1) I work at McDonald's. I guess you could say I fit a certain stereotype of lazy gamer even though I'm responsible and all that. Well, early in my time working there an employee was sent from another McDonald's to help us on a night shift. We make our ice cream cones, relatively, much smaller than other McDonald's. I charged a black man for one and then made him it. He thought it was a little small and asked if I could make it slightly bigger. I agreed, it was quite small, so I made it bigger without going overboard so that any one of the numerous managers there wouldn't disapprove. If the supervisor was there, he'd flip out regardless, being more anal about that, but luckily he wasn't. Anyway, hen the black man left the employee said to try and avoid doing that especially since, "I'm not racist, but black people tend to be selfish". I didn't know how else to respond other than "Dude, everyone complains our cones are too small" and "Yeah. Sure, you aren't". Most people, of any race, who think our cones are oddly small either stare at it with a puzzled face and then leave or question us and then accept it though 1/2 the time with some last minute bitter complaints before they walk out or drive off in the case of drive-thru. In the latter case, they often remark "Oh, so that's why the cashier told me there's only one size for cones" (many customers expect there to be a kids size and an adult size because every other McDonald's does that but us).
More recently, I was at the drive-thru cash register window and a customer drove by, saw me, and exclaimed while smiling, "Oh good, a white boy!". He then said some stuff about that meaning no mistakes and stupid lack of communication, which is usually more on the customer honestly for not being able to understand what the employee meant because they often speak very good English believe it or not. He then asked if I "knew what he meant, right?" and I just sort of slightly frowned at him, took his money, gave his change, and just acted in a robotic manner because I didn't know how else to react. Didn't say anything as he left either. I think I might have accidentally slightly smiled at first because I thought he was going to say something else and tried to over-correct it with the slight frown, but I don't remember. Some of you might say he might have been joking and didn't mean it, but I could tell from his posture and tone that was not the case.
2) My old high school Government teacher posted a story on Facebook about a young black man returning to his place in line at Costco that his friend saved for him. An old man, right behind where the black man had cut in line, started acting unnecessarily angry towards him because he believed he cut in line. When it was explained he wasn't truly cutting the old man said something along the lines of, "Be careful because that's what happened to Trayvon Martin". Regardless of your perspective on that case, that comment is immensely disrespectful and I don't see how that doesn't stink of racism. You can believe what happened to Travyon was perfectly justified and not respond to something as mildly as a cut in line like that. I honestly don't think they are mutually inclusive and I don't see how that response has any justification as something not racist. Luckily, while the man was taken aback he just responded to the effect of "I'm sorry you feel that way". My teacher found it very inspiring how he responded with such class when he, who wasn't even insulted, was shaking with anger.
3) I follow somebody that I don't personally know, though this is also via Facebook, who used to be kind of known in the tech world in a unknown, but known niche way. I don't really know how to describe him any better without giving away his identity and I'd rather not do that out of respect for his privacy. I know he used to work for Facebook and that he is Cuban American and that's all I'm saying about him. That's probably going too far anyway.
I occasionally see him post his thoughts on certain matters that have a tinge of racism. While he thinks classifying entire races in a bad light has no scientific basis he does believe certain races have an overall trend to leaning towards unsuccessful lives and slightly lower intelligence. That might sound incredibly racist, but he believes in a bizarre mild effect in this regard and does attribute it more to sub-cultures that persist among certain races rather than inherent to a race itself. Or something. It can get kind of confusing.
He has also endorsed Amy Chua's/Tiger Mom's book
The Triple Package, which is full of a subtle tinge of racism. It's not as overt as some of the racism examples on here are because it's coated in acceptance of certain subgroups of races (If you define black very broadly, she thinks Nigerians are great, just for example) and ambiguous clarifications. I admittedly haven't read her book and some of it does have evidence when it's not being subtlety racist. For example, did you know if your culture aggressively encourages hard work you'll be hard working?!? Gasp. *Roll eyes* Sorry, that came off kind of patronizing. I have read her opinions in depth that relate to the sociopolitical issues addressed in the book however and read certain excerpts published freely online with her blessing that the full context there. With all that in account, there is just so much flimsy evidence and weak anecdotes. Luckily, as I said, this is mild racism: Nothing compared to the my Government teacher's experience or examples cited and to be cited in this thread by other posters and future posters respectively.
I do find it odd that she speaks highly of Jews. I can't help wondering if her husband, who is Jewish and co-wrote the book, influenced that aspect. As a Jew, I just find a lot of silly assumptions and beliefs about the successful lives and intelligence of Jews. Yes, you see a lot of Jews become successful entertainers, doctors, lawyers, and programmers and there is a lot of truth to that stereotype, but people can't seem to separate these Jews apart from the majority of Jews. I mean, how many of them self-identify as a Jew? For those that do, do they self-identify seriously, religiously, culturally, and/or by some sort of need, necessity, or peer pressure? Did they convert? How much of their success can be directly attributed to any Jewish values or bias towards Jews in a particular profession's typical hiring procedures? These aren't considered and it bothers me because, from my point of view, I see a lot more Jews who either aren't successful or are successful and don't deserve it. Of course, when you're part of a group you might be more critical of it when others outside the group are not.
Nonetheless, I enjoy following the guy as he is sometimes quite pleasant (though more often he confronts those he disagrees with very disrespectfully), has an interesting perspective, gives me insight on matters I don't know much about, and argues in a very intriguing matter. Plus, the dissonance it causes me to see him express his subtle racism and slightly conservative leaning viewpoints and then post articles from Salon or Huffington Post is kind of entertaining. Of course, he often posts articles not related to social issues, but it's still interesting to see considering many people who share beliefs in line with his shun those sites though Huffington Post really is garbage. It's fascinating to see as I'm used to seeing people with his beliefs in regards to social issues (though he has a better stance on the state of the poor than many conservatives I know do) shun sites generally considered more liberal. His take on so many varied things and his willingness to go to many sources just interests me to so end. For someone so polarizing, he is also so non-polarizing. I just try to steer clear and resist commenting whenever he is being subtlety racist.
4) People in my family have expressed some subtlety racist things as well.
For example, my sister has a black friend who commented on how she worked hard to get where she is, but she still sees so many capable black people, particularly males and particularly in her family lazying around and blaming the racist system. This black friend wonders if there's something different about Jewish culture that makes this not happen to that extent. My sister was relaying this story to my Mom for some reason I can't remember and my Mom commented how true this is, but you're not allowed to say this. I found this shocking because, while my Mom has her prejudices, I've always considered her pretty accepting and my sister has even less prejudices. Never mind how this is just one successful black person's perspective versus what the stats say. Or how she might be cut off, to an extent, from the experience of black males because, well, she is not a black male. It could be a coping mechanism to not face the reality of what her unsuccessful black family members are going through. It could be a lot of things, but my sister didn't even mention these possibilities. That's not to say there might not be truth to some of this, but it's a lot more minor of a culture issue than my sister's anecdotal conversation would imply. I don't say of this to act as a white knight as is so often the go-to response, but because it comes off to me as close-minded to not wait for more evidence or be more open about the possibilities. As I said, it's not like there isn't truth to this to a certain extent, but all stigmas have a small grain of truth that are irrelevant in the end.
5) Friends have done this too, but they've all grown out of it or had some sort of revelation. Although, my autistic brother has a friend, who is also somewhere on the autism spectrum, that expressed some irrational and disturbingly anti-German sentiments on Facebook, not directly but via comments and posts to others' profiles, pages, and groups that showed up in my news feed. He deactivated or deleted his account though to dedicate himself more to his commitment to Orthodox Judaism. What made it so disturbing at the time is I knew he helped young kids and I knew he was passing some of this on to them.
The reason I mentioned he is autistic is because that might have influenced his opinion somewhat. I'd explain how, but it's been a long time since I saw those statements he made and talked to him, so I can't coalesce my theory clearly without it coming out incoherent and lacking detail. I don't say any of this to beat down on autistic people just to be clear. This is a circumstantial thing especially since his family didn't exactly know how to raise an autistic child. There's always the possibility his family believes what he does as well and just passed it on to him, but I don't remember them every expressing such sentiments.
I actually brought this up to my sister and brother and she got really mad. I believe she said something along the lines of how I don't know what he's going through. That may be true, but his sentiments and his influence on children, neither of which I know if he still holds since it's been a while since I have seen or talked to him, are dangerous all the same and his unfortunate life problems don't excuse that.
