Questions for white people

[Questionspandemic]

Why are white people offended by black people talking about racism?

Obviously not all white people are racist and name changed - in case of gaslighting.

I don't understand the guilt thing. Why do people feel guilty that someone else is racist?

IMO because they themselves are racist.

It's a bit like some people telling Muslims to do something about Islamic terrorism.
Any random muslim shouldn't feel guilty by association.
Neither should any white person for racism. Or for white supremacist terrorism.
Ultimately, though, it's everyone's responsibility to fight any of them.

And to not make things worse by perpetuating negative stereotypes.

Just how is mentioning Muslims a negative stereotype? Do Islamic terrorists exist?
Do white supremacists exist? Are white people negative stereotypes?

Maybe actually know what a stereotype is before using the word? The above are simple descriptors of sections of society not stereotypes.

I think the Muslim example was actually accurate. There were numerous situations when people said "Well they need to sort it amongst themselves. If they don't publicly condemn terrorism, they are supporting it"
I remember the "publicly" stuck with me. As if each of the 1,800,000,000 people should go on a tv and say they don't support it🙄

Absolutely @SchrodingersImmigrant

As if Muslims are one big community and know what each other are doing.

No, it's shorthand for posturing about your anti-racism on social media being worth bugger all if you don't back it up in the material world.

Some allies do. A hell of a lot don't.

Eh, quote fail.

That was to whomever quoted me last page back.

I'm not offended by it, it disgusts me, and TBH I don't blame black people if they make generalisations about white people's views on race. I'm mortified by the actions of my class

@SharonasCorona

Absolutely *@SchrodingersImmigrant*

As if Muslims are one big community and know what each other are doing.

Tbf i am pretty sure my MIL very much knows what everyone on a planet is doing😂 But I don't think it has much to do with her being a muslim😂

@tornadoalley

It's a bit like some people telling Muslims to do something about Islamic terrorism. Any random muslim shouldn't feel guilty by association. Neither should any white person for racism. Or for white supremacist terrorism. Ultimately, though, it's everyone's responsibility to fight any of them.

And to not make things worse by perpetuating negative stereotypes.

Just how is mentioning Muslims a negative stereotype? Do Islamic terrorists exist?
Do white supremacists exist? Are white people negative stereotypes?

Maybe actually know what a stereotype is before using the word? The above are simple descriptors of sections of society not stereotypes.

What on earth are you talking about? I wasn't saying the poster was perpetuating stereotypes. I was adding to the "Ultimately, though, it's everyone's responsibility to fight any of them" statement. Many white people across these threads have been perpetuating negative stereotypes of white people, with all their bitterness and whataboutery.

I was the one who first mentioned the comparison to Muslims and terrorism your post is very odd.

@AMemeByAnyOtherName You were saying Lweji example was listing stereotypes it wasn't

@tornadoalley no, that's not what I said at all. And I literally just explained it, so even if you misconstrued it the first time, perhaps you should listen to what I'm saying now.

[quote tornadoalley]@AMemeByAnyOtherName You were saying Lweji example was listing stereotypes it wasn't[/quote]
I didn't read it like that.
I read it as adding to my post.

[quote VivaMiltonKeynes]**@PatricksRum

"No.

Only if one says ALL white people are they including all white people.

Eye roll"

So when it says Black Lives Matter then it means only some black lives matter ?[/quote]
@PatricksRum

You can't chop and change your language to suit .... ......you know your white people title is offensive !

@joystir59

Because most white people have been raised within a racist societal and cultural framework and are therefore racist but unwilling to acknowledge this and/or unable to recognise the nuanced and subtle manifestations of their racism

Do we villify all Germans for what happened to Jews in WWII? Or the Egyptians for how their ancestors enslaved their own people and made them build the pyramids? Or people in far-flung societies for having ancestors who were cannibals? Or Italians for having thrown Christians to the lions 2,000 years ago? No, we don't. We don't blame the children for the sins of the fathers. Those people all know that what happened in the past was appalling and wrong.

Racism is not ingrained in the psyche of all white people.

@SkyinthePie How do you think black people whose ancestors were slaves feel?

Actually I do remain very concerned about Germans

[quote flatnightmare]@SkyinthePie How do you think black people whose ancestors were slaves feel?[/quote]
Now there's a loaded question if ever there was one. Why do you think I would know how they all feel? Which black people do you mean? Those currently living in the Caribbean and the USA whose ancestors were taken there against their will, or those slaves whose descendants who chose to leave there to come to the UK?

Their life experiences and feelings will all be different, surely?

The ones that chose to leave the Caribbean to come to the UK were literally told that the streets were paved with gold, and that it would be a massive opportunity for them. That slavery was over and that they would earn good money to send back home to loved ones. Then they came here and were treated like dirt. It was just another way to get cheap labour. The people (like my mother) who fell for this, are angry and resentful not only about their own experiences, but at the constant nagging reminder that nobody has ever respected them or their families for the contributions made, starting from (or even well before) slavery. And no matter how much progress has been made in the world since those times, there is no possible way I would expect my mother or anybody else to let go of that anger without feeling vindicated. Which will never happen, so long as people keep chanting "well things have changed now, why are you still so angry". It beggars belief that anybody would expect anything else from people who have been treated so poorly for decades.

@AMemeByAnyOtherName So why did she stay if things were so bad?

[quote FreekStar]@AMemeByAnyOtherName So why did she stay if things were so bad?[/quote]

Oh, wow.

@AMemeByAnyOtherName That's dreadful, your poor mother. I used to work with a chap who left Dublin and went to Liverpool, he said all the boarding houses had signs outside saying "Vacancies - no blacks, no Irish". That was probably some time in the late 1950's.

@flourbroach yes, my mother came to the UK in the seventies, when the signs were gone but the sentiment was still there. She got a job as a telephone operator and quickly developed an accent that could rival the queen, so the only 'giveaway' was the obvious. Everything she experienced was substandard by comparison to her white counterparts, including health and dental care. But when you pick up everything you have to move somewhere and start a new life, it's not easy to just 'go back where you came from' as some people may think. Especially when you're working doubly hard for less in return. I imagine you know this too because of your friend. It's a sorry state of affairs and I'm glad that things are slowly changing, but I would never expect anybody who lived through that along with all the other abuses we suffered as a family, to just move on.

Not all white people are like this but yes I accept alot are. People do not like to feel like they're being chastised for something they feel they have not personally done however systemic racism is complex, not always obvious to those with privilege and you can admit it and try to do something about it without accepting it's your fault. It would be silly to do nothing at all to help change it out of some stubborn act of denial incase to do something might make you feel or be seen to be guilty

@AMemeByAnyOtherName

The ones that chose to leave the Caribbean to come to the UK were literally told that the streets were paved with gold, and that it would be a massive opportunity for them. That slavery was over and that they would earn good money to send back home to loved ones. Then they came here and were treated like dirt. It was just another way to get cheap labour. The people (like my mother) who fell for this, are angry and resentful not only about their own experiences, but at the constant nagging reminder that nobody has ever respected them or their families for the contributions made, starting from (or even well before) slavery. And no matter how much progress has been made in the world since those times, there is no possible way I would expect my mother or anybody else to let go of that anger without feeling vindicated. Which will never happen, so long as people keep chanting "well things have changed now, why are you still so angry". It beggars belief that anybody would expect anything else from people who have been treated so poorly for decades.

Agree with you. People should put the shoe on the other foot and think about how they would feel if that were their history

You ask a very bigoted question. Many, possibly most, white people are not offended by black people talking about racism.
Most people I know want to live in a world free from racism, prejudice and bigotry.