To find this offensive? No whites allowed

[chipvinegar]

www.google.co.uk/amp/www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/2018/02/12/wellness-retreat-in-costa-rica-that-bans-white-people-sparks-controversy.amp.html

I don't live an America, and I have no experience of racism in America, I somewhat understand the desire to have a "safe space" or a space to hold conversation around the issues, however the lady running it "eliminated all white people from her personal life" doesn't think white people should own passports etc

That's a lot of negativity for a "healing" retreat

The empowerment part... yeah, but the self segregation? Travelling backwards rather than forwards somewhat surely?!

I don't think it's racist, I would have no wish to gate crash a facility set up for people who feel they need a space and a retreat. I'm white, I have no idea what it's like to be black or to grow up in the shadow of overt and covert racism.
Non-white spaces have historically been set up only by white people and they've been a massive far cry from wellness centres and retreats. So it's fantastic to live in a time in history where a black woman can set up a non-white space rather than have them impossed on her, more over, a positive space and own a business that benefits her and others. It harms no one.

FFS, if you're white and have an issue with this, I feel embarrassed for you (I'm white).

Find something that's actually worth getting aerated about.

I'm white...I don't have any issue with black people choosing to have safe places for themselves to meet one another. No issue at all...black people have been and still are treated terribly and are healing as a race.

And further....black people are a MINORITY just as women are. Would you say women shouldn't have women only spaces because it's "Sexist" towards men?

Hahaha.

Racism against white people isn’t a thing:

m.youtube.com/watch?v=dw_mRaIHb-M

And further....black people are a MINORITY just as women are. Would you say women shouldn't have women only spaces because it's "Sexist" towards men?

Black people are not a minority, what tosh. They may be a minority in the UK but the retreat in question isn't in the UK. As for the world as a whole, I imagine white people are the minority.

This is about the historic racial and cultural balance of power, not skin colour and 'minorities.'

Personally I don't subscribe to the 'Racism against white people is not a thing.' I understand the sentiment behind the statement but I would phrase it differently and I think to simply insist that it does not and cannot exist is to vastly over-simplify a very complex subject.

Oh no people of colour are wanting a little space and time where they can feel they can express their frustrations or just feel at ease

In a tiny spot in the world for what a week

What could they be planning

Please someone point out a valid example of how white people are oppressed by other races. I'll wait. Not liking us white folks isn't oppression by the way.

Hint: racial discrimination around white folks from non white races is not the same as racism itself. Example, black people refusing white people entry into their safe spaces, because they're tired of our bullshit, is perfectly acceptable because we don't really have a wonderful track record. We've never been subjugated as a whole by anyone who wasn't also white.

We are not in any way oppressed, nor will we suffer as a result of being denied a place in those spaces. We will be just fine.

I don’t have an issue with a safe space for people, who have been discriminated against in history. As a pp said, lesbians have a safe space, albeit TRA’s are trying to mess that up for them. I think trying to gatecrash a no whites allowed safe space would be on a par.

As for the no white person should be allowed a passport comment. That’s a disgusting thing to say. I totally object to being categorised. I get enough of that being a woman.

Because there is no oppression from black people that white people may wish to to take a break from.
There is in lots of London schools!! Or was in the 80s anyway. Don't know about these days.

No matter how you feel on it, it is technically racism. Racism is defined as the discrimination of one race by another. There's no colour mentioned, it's not oppression. It is basically saying 'white people allowed here, not blacks' or 'black people allowed here, not whites'. It is still racist.

I get why they would want it, but it sits uncomfortably with me really. You can't expect people to not be racist to you then be racist to others. It's double standards.

Racism is not defined as discrimination of one race by another, unless you are a silly liberal who steadfastly ignores power structures.

Racism isn't just people of different races being nasty to each other. It must involve a power structure. Just like there's no such thing as misandry, there's no such thing as anti-white racism. There's just black individuals having unusual opinions.

Anti-white racism could only exist, if the majority of the world's resources and power were controlled by black people.

They are not. It's not impossible to imagine that one day, anti-white racism could be a reality. But until black people have established a power structure where they enslave and dehumanise white people and manage to infiltrate our psychology so that we associate white people with everything negative, anti white racism will be a non-existent problem.

And no, you're not unreasonable to find it offensive, but you're not reasonable either.

Do some more reading about power structures, privilege, structural inequality.

Then decide whether it's reasonable or unreasonable to have a kneejerk response that this woman is offensive.

She might be, but without meeting her I can't be sure. She might have a coherent, sober worldview that rests on a political analysis which the white-owned mainstream media is not that interested in reporting very thoroughly.

TBH I'd be sceptical about any white-owned institution which reports on any liberationist black activity.

It would be better if the owner of the retreat had said that the purpose of the retreat was for WOC to explore the issues that affect WOC and as such she was endeavouring to create a safe space for WOC.

Then I really doubt any white women would have especially wanted to go anyway. It's akin to asking to be accepted into a refuge for abused women when you haven't been abused, you just fancy hanging out with some new women in a group environment, or applying to join a golf club when you have zero interest in playing any golf.

The assertion up front that white women are the enemy, banned and not welcome is unnecessary and aggressive and has elicited negative responses over something that would have otherwise been a non-issue.

I don’t like her tone and some of her comments, but the existence of this retreat is NOT racist. As a woman of colour, let me tell you it’s hard to get to my place of zen if someone’s making a racially ignorant comment nearby. In the same way I might want to attend a women’s only retreat. So it can be a safe space. I really think white women don’t understand how much tongue-biting minorities do in certain environments. Maybe these women don’t want to have to do it for a week.

There's no colour mentioned

But common sense, an understanding of history and how the world works should prevail.

Do these things really need to be explained over and over again?

Wow. That is extremely offensive and racist.

I've always had a rule that I don't visit 3rd world countries so that woman's ban means nothing to me.

Oh, and I think it's incorrect to suggest that racism doesn't exist against white people.

Perhaps I have a huge chip on my shoulder about this, but I felt it characertised my entire childhood.

I grew up as one of the few white people in a very Pakistani area. I was not invited to friends' houses, told by my friends' parents that I wasn't allowed to play with them, not allowed to come round unless I dressed a certain way etc etc.

I spent most of my youth feeling marginalised and unaccepted. And I consider that to have been because of my race.

So you can go on about power imbalance and history, but aren't my feelings legitimate?

Hi, OP.

Firstly, here are a few things maybe for you to think about (in a non-patronising way).

For what it's worth, I do think her words were OTT, because as we know, most white people aren't like that. But the system is like that, for a lot of people, and that it what, she, and others like me, would be retreating from; the countless micro-aggressions to the overt racism..it is exhausting and affects your self-worth.

And these women (is it just women?) will be coming together with similar experiences, similar stories. And they will be able to empathize with each other, rather than just sympathize.

Ironically, those who seem less prejudice, are the ones who seem to understand exactly why places like these are wanted, and I believe more so, in the future.

We, as black people, are constantly marginalised. In this instance, we want to marginalise ourselves, to 'come together', that should not be a problem.

Besides, there are plenty of retreats which cater for your surroundings, your culture, look around you.

I haven't wanted to come across as snippy or as a "them" and "us". But just lately, whether it's Brexit, Trump, whatever, the divide does seem to be noticeable.

Oh, and I think it's incorrect to suggest that racism doesn't exist against white people.

Perhaps I have a huge chip on my shoulder about this, but I felt it characertised my entire childhood.

I grew up as one of the few white people in a very Pakistani area. I was not invited to friends' houses, told by my friends' parents that I wasn't allowed to play with them, not allowed to come round unless I dressed a certain way etc etc.

I spent most of my youth feeling marginalised and unaccepted. And I consider that to have been because of my race.

So you can go on about power imbalance and history, but aren't my feelings legitimate?

Racism is not defined as discrimination of one race by another, unless you are a silly liberal who steadfastly ignores power structures

Er....yes it is. Go to any dictionary and you'll see it defined as discrimination on the basis of race and /or colour.

So you can go on about power imbalance and history, but aren't my feelings legitimate?

Heron98, yes, your feelings are legitimate. It's an awful experience to go through.

It's not racist. This is like men bleating that the women only marathon is exactly the marathon they wanted to run, not any of the hundreds of others. There are countless other resorts for white people. Setting aside some of her questionable remarks (quite possibly made because she knows it will get her press) it's understandable that some people of colour may want a space where they don't need to worry about the various forms of racism they may encounter in daily life.

I agree with Gatorade and co.

AjasLipstick - And further....black people are a MINORITY just as women are.

Erm ... No, to the first. (Wherever do you live and have you no access to information on the rest of the world?)

As to your second assertion, here are live population figures countrymeters.info/en/World. You are technically correct but the difference is so tiny as to render the word 'minority' factually misleading. (Male oppression is a different matter.)

I can't find a single thing to say about the substantive topic of the thread ...