To say it's mainly a 'white voice' on this forum?

[Wonderingg]

I have been on the site for a few weeks now. I have noticed that it is possibly dominated by white women. If I am wrong please let me know, however I personally do not hear any black or asian voices. Or anything relating to those communities whether it be food, culture, clothing, traditions or issues specifically found in those communities.

ComposHat wins

babybarrister

or

I'm half South African, half Irish. Colour of weak tea. Boerewors and Guiness stew, anyone?

Although this is a goady, goady thread, I do think that some people on here are confusing monetary privilege with skin-colour privilege.

If you're white, your probably won't even be aware of your privilege and I freely admit that it's only since discovering feminist writing on intersectionality that I've really thought about it. Here are some examples that, although American in origin, are things that I don't have to worry about because I'm white - that's what is meant by privilege:

I can be pretty sure that my neighbors, if I move house, will be neutral or pleasant to me.

I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented.

I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race.

Whether I use checks, credit cards or cash, I can count on my skin color not to work against the appearance of financial reliability.

I can arrange to protect my children most of the time from people who might not like them.

I do not have to educate my children to be aware of systemic racism for their own daily physical protection.

I can be pretty sure that my children's teachers and employers will tolerate them if they fit school and workplace norms; my chief worries about them do not concern others' attitudes toward their race.

I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race.

I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group.

If a traffic cop pulls me over or if the IRS audits my tax return, I can be sure I haven't been singled out because of my race.

I can easily buy posters, post-cards, picture books, greeting cards, dolls, toys and children's magazines featuring people of my race.

I can worry about racism without being seen as self-interested or self-seeking.

I can expect figurative language and imagery in all of the arts to testify to experiences of my race.

And those are just a few...

Zombie is...

just Zombie.

She must say though that she really doesn't care for the content or tone of the OP.

No cory the absent-father syndrome affects the black community more. The US 2011 census says 64% of African American households have an absent father while the figure is 25% for white households. So clearly there is a racial element here.

But you are right, a distraught mother worrying about her teen son, is not going to be dissecting her socio-economic or ethnic background in her post.

I know they affect the black community more, Amrapaali, but think you are right about the second half of the post: a worried mother isn't going to go into details about her background or think about how statistically typical she is: she is going to be looking for advice from anyone who has dealt with a similar shitty situation. Sometimes I will know (from earlier posts) that a mother has a certain background, sometimes I won't.

Posters who remember me from other sections of the forum may remember that I am foreign when they encounter me in the teen section, but it's not something I am very likely to be bringing up in my discussion of dd's CAHMS involvement.

Good summary, Lovecat.

I think this is a strange and unnecessary OP; during my time on MN I've spoken to hundreds of people. None have given an indication of their ethnicity and it never crossed my mind, because it's irrelevant. We're all just people, having a chat/argument/offering support.

I do however agree with the posters who say that racism isn't tolerated on MN - in my experience here, this is true, and if someone makes a racist comment it's stamped down, as it should be.

Why try and be goady?

Oh look the OP never came back, anyone surprised?

Actually Lovecat there are white-skinned people who do not benefit from those privileges eg gypsies; travellers. Their new neighbours are consistently unpleasant to them; there are few positive depictions of them in the media or in merchandising, etc.

However, I don't want to derail the thread.

Op some of my grandparents were Irish. My great-granddad was Indian. And I'm wearing a blue top today. What skin colour am I?

OP sounds like one of those people who think my DC should listen to Dr Dre rather than Frank Turner.

Is the tone of this post clear enough? Is that sufficient background?

It's none of the ops business how diverse or not the posters may be.

It is bloody rude to judge what people are saying on what they might look like. The words are here that's all that matters.

What I've written isn't going to magically change if the op knows I'm writing it whilst wearing a gimp mask and orthopaedic shoes.

I have been on this site for a few years now.

I have noticed that it is dominated by women. I personally do not hear any voices at all.

I have no idea what race most posters are and I don't want to know.

Lovecat, I think I love you a little bit!

I don't know, but the UK as a whole is only something like 10% non-white isn't it? So yes, I would guess there is a majority "white voice", whatever that it.

Do I type black or white?

It's hard to tell much about people by just reading posts. Some people on here even think I'm a man!

I'm a proper mongrel, as is DH, God knows what that makes DD.

My father is a 'settled traveller' (or at least his parents were) Romany rather than Irish, and no records further back than them. My mum had a dark skinned Welsh father and white blonde mother. Whenever we were on our hols German people would always speak to my mum, thinking she was German and my Dad got mistaken for a Kray brother on more than one occasion.

DH is mixed race, kinda. His bio father was from St Helena, but we don't know the make up of his family, although MIL says he was dark skinned. He didn't stay around long enough to ask. MIL is white welsh but her father was white Irish.

DSD looks like Snow White, alabaster skin with jet black hair and is fluent Welsh, DD is dark like DH and speaks with a slight country bumpkin accent.

I'm quite happy being a Mutt , but I don't think it impacts on my views at all.

(Even the mutt is a mutt - Springer or Pointer, Collie, something whippety maybe, but she barks the same as a pedigree)

Babybarrister, the fact that unconscious privilege happens in other circumstances doesn't make it somehow not happen here as described by Lovecat. Actually white privilege is so endemic, it does still apply in places where the majority are not white: for generations, black/brown children have been learning from books in which the characters are white.

It's fairly natural that we don't notice social privilege when we have it, but it's up to us to acknowledge it after it's been pointed out. Men have unconscious privileges - able-bodied, educated white men have most of all in our society - and refusal to accept that leads to pathetic whining of the "women do it too!" variety. It is churlish & mean-spirited to deny that others suffer ongoing oppression of types that don't affect us.

but that's because

It never occurs to me to wonder about ethnicity. Personally I am grey

YABVU, I would like to think that if I post something on here, you are not labelling my post as white, black or Asian unless I am mentioning my community specifically.

Guess what. Most of Europe is white.