My kneejerk reaction was to downvote your comment, but then I started thinking. My wife and I were talking about racial issues last night (disclaimer; I am a white American male of northern European ancestry). She had received in a facebook feed from a family member 11 Things White People Need To Realize About Race. I expressed frustration at the tone of the article with its implication that if white people were to change their attitudes then racism would be cured. In hindsight I realized that my emotional response to that article is similar to yours.
For me when I engage in the dialog around race I feel there is an expectation that white people need to take on the burden of guilt. I don't really know how to feel about this. I acknowledge the fact that I have been the beneficiary of better treatment because I am a white male, but I don't feel any particular guilt about it nor am I convinced that I should feel guilty about it. I don't even know if people are really expecting me to feel guilty about it and I'm just being hypersensitive. The atmosphere surrounding this issue is so toxic that I don't know if I'm capable of viewing it objectively. When I read about some of the more divisive issues like the Michael Brown shooting I'll admit that I get defensive. I don't know if that defensiveness in me is racist. Some would certainly say it is and they might be right.
I think the biggest problem preventing society from making real progress towards racial equality is that it's such a loaded issue. I don't see any way there can be an large scale open and transparent dialogue, at least not in the near future. Look at yourself; you gave us a frank assessment of your feelings about the issue and are being torn apart because of it. I think we all need the freedom to air our grievances, legitimate or not, before we can have a meaningful conversation about our experiences with race. And if we can't be truthful without fear then what's the point? You're not addressing racism, you're just suppressing it.
Now I don't agree with your sentiment. But I don't think you need therapy as some have suggested, and I think I understand where your frustration is coming from. My struggle is trying to resist my defensive reaction to racial issues and I think it's helping me see the issues with a little more clarity. Because it's impossible to open yourself up to the experience of others if you're constantly in a defensive posture.
In hindsight I realized that my emotional response to that article is similar to yours.
Actually, my response was not emotional. At least not wrt. the article itself. I meant to imply that the article serves no real purpose, because it's basically just stirring up White Guilt even though there's no reason for the vast majority of Westerners alive today to feel any.
White people in today's Western societies are most decidedly not racist. We're so hypersensitive about racial issues, and will ostracize anyone for showing even a hint of racism that it's simply absurd to suggest that we are the problem.
For me when I engage in the dialog around race I feel there is an expectation that white people need to take on the burden of guilt.
Yes, this is the problem I was snarkily bringing up.
I don't really know how to feel about this.
How about.. annoyed and frustrated by the irrationality and double-standards etc?
I think the biggest problem preventing society from making real progress towards racial equality is that it's such a loaded issue.
Well, in a way we already have racial equality. Except maybe for the "affirmative action" stuff, where black people are given advantages over white people, for example. But in the way people usually mean "racial equality" (implying that white people should not be "higher class"), we're already there.. and perhaps even past that, into non-equal territory again.
Because it's impossible to open yourself up to the experience of others if you're constantly in a defensive posture.
My kneejerk reaction was to downvote your comment, but then I started thinking. My wife and I were talking about racial issues last night (disclaimer; I am a white American male of northern European ancestry). She had received in a facebook feed from a family member 11 Things White People Need To Realize About Race. I expressed frustration at the tone of the article with its implication that if white people were to change their attitudes then racism would be cured. In hindsight I realized that my emotional response to that article is similar to yours.
For me when I engage in the dialog around race I feel there is an expectation that white people need to take on the burden of guilt. I don't really know how to feel about this. I acknowledge the fact that I have been the beneficiary of better treatment because I am a white male, but I don't feel any particular guilt about it nor am I convinced that I should feel guilty about it. I don't even know if people are really expecting me to feel guilty about it and I'm just being hypersensitive. The atmosphere surrounding this issue is so toxic that I don't know if I'm capable of viewing it objectively. When I read about some of the more divisive issues like the Michael Brown shooting I'll admit that I get defensive. I don't know if that defensiveness in me is racist. Some would certainly say it is and they might be right.
I think the biggest problem preventing society from making real progress towards racial equality is that it's such a loaded issue. I don't see any way there can be an large scale open and transparent dialogue, at least not in the near future. Look at yourself; you gave us a frank assessment of your feelings about the issue and are being torn apart because of it. I think we all need the freedom to air our grievances, legitimate or not, before we can have a meaningful conversation about our experiences with race. And if we can't be truthful without fear then what's the point? You're not addressing racism, you're just suppressing it.
Now I don't agree with your sentiment. But I don't think you need therapy as some have suggested, and I think I understand where your frustration is coming from. My struggle is trying to resist my defensive reaction to racial issues and I think it's helping me see the issues with a little more clarity. Because it's impossible to open yourself up to the experience of others if you're constantly in a defensive posture.
If I get it all figured out I'll let you know.
Actually, my response was not emotional. At least not wrt. the article itself. I meant to imply that the article serves no real purpose, because it's basically just stirring up White Guilt even though there's no reason for the vast majority of Westerners alive today to feel any.
White people in today's Western societies are most decidedly not racist. We're so hypersensitive about racial issues, and will ostracize anyone for showing even a hint of racism that it's simply absurd to suggest that we are the problem.
Yes, this is the problem I was snarkily bringing up.
How about.. annoyed and frustrated by the irrationality and double-standards etc?
Well, in a way we already have racial equality. Except maybe for the "affirmative action" stuff, where black people are given advantages over white people, for example. But in the way people usually mean "racial equality" (implying that white people should not be "higher class"), we're already there.. and perhaps even past that, into non-equal territory again.
Good point.