GrumpyCatFace wrote:ooky wrote:
Ooky... you're one of the smartest posters on here. But you know that woman's an idiot.
I agree with all of your points, but Trump's insult wasn't racist, simply because she's black. You're extolling the virtues of hyper-sensitivity right now.
And why on earth would that be a "racist" gesture to dress her adopted kid as a monkey, if that's what he wanted to be for Halloween?? SHE'S RAISING HIM. She's obviously not a racist, and anyone taking offense would be a damned fool to think so.
It all goes to context. And yes, things you say or do to a black person may be racist, when saying the exact same thing to a white person would not be. Because of that context of what people of different races are exposed to
that is not shared. Black people in this country have been compared to monkeys in unfavorable, racist ways historically. Just because that mom didn't actually KNOW that, and her racism was entirely unintentional, she meant absolutely no harm, and her self image in being a good mom to her adopted son is very heavily dependent on her not thinking she is a racist person (the kid was an infant, by the way, and didn't choose his costume) -- all of that still doesn't mean it's not racist. A clothing company recently put a catalog picture up with a black boy wearing a shirt that said happiest monkey in the jungle or some similar shit, and the response was so huge and swift that several people stopped advertising for them, boycotts were initiated, etc. So yes it is a "thing", and is widely considered straight up racist, and it is the job of that white mom to learn this stuff to be the best mom to her kid that she can be, even though she may feel uncomfortable at times.
When black people to tell white people, this is racist behavior/connotation/dog whistle, even if you didn't know before, now you do, and then white people tell them they are wrong, that's both stubborn and counter productive. We cannot tell black Americans their experience, that is the height of hubris. None of us white Americans will never know exactly what it is like to go through life in this country being black (or a person of color, period, but there is a special history for black americans that makes things especially bad for them). We can strive for maximum empathy, to understand as best we can, but that doesn't include, for example, just telling a black woman she is
wrong to explain that a white person commenting on her hair is racist (yes this is also very much a thing and it makes total sense once you understand where they are coming from).
I think part of what the issue with race is in this country is that we all know racism exists. But we imagine it is perpetrated only by really bad people who hate other races. Yes, some of it comes from that, but much more of it is way more subtle, and enacted by honestly good people. Death by a thousand cuts stuff. A challenge to white people in America is to listen and try to learn when a person of color tells them something is racist without getting defensive and aggressive about the POC's inability to determine what they are experiencing- honestly i think that is the really widespread hypersensitivity.
I also have to say now I don't think Maxine Waters is an idiot. I haven't agreed with everything she ever said, but I also agree with her on a lot of stuff. And you can't beat her moxie. I think for a sitting president to say that about a sitting senator is disgraceful, and if he really thinks that he should back it up with exactly what he is talking about.
