DISQUS

Baratunde T · 3 years ago

testing the open comments. Don't forget to go to the FRONT PAGE! Lotsa good ish there.

www.baratunde.com/blog

Nadine · 3 years ago

Hey Baratunde, found a link to your podcast bout a month ago and since then been addicted. You're funny as hell man, and I promise to one day phone in a comment.

Just a few all-over-the-place comments re: race.

Context. I'm a Haitian woman born and (unfortunately once again) living in Canada. Been actively involved in radical / anarchistic / queer / feminist activism for about 10 years. In an open polyamorous marriage with a blue-eyed male devil and mama to two little devils who are PERSONIFICATIONS OF PERFECTION. period.

One thing blacks and people of colour like to say up here in kkkanaduh is "at least in the States folks are in-your-front racist" - just to let you know how low key things are up here. Racial profiling and police brutality exists, but the all-out slaughter of people of colour is (thankfully) more a matter of exception than the nearly monthly occurence it seems be in the States.

Arabs and muslims are being secreted away here too (google security certificates) and unfortunately I suck at being an ally and can't even comment on the organizing on that from afar. But those who are interested check out Solidarity
without Borders or No One is Illegal for more info.

But to answer one of the most nagging questions: can a person of colour be racist. No. Period. Contextual power (like in the bus incident) should not be confused with institutional power (which the white man always had, despite being temporarily outnumbered). If he had ever been more than spooked (intentional!), and decided to press charges, whaddaya think the outcome woulda been?

To make another analogy, on a much larger scale - Haitians kicked white supremacy's ass 200 hundred years ago, and we went on many a giddy white-massacaring spree (Madison Smart Bell's "All Souls Rising" just about relishes in depicting obscene violence on the part of rebelling Africans which really annoyed me but its a very worthwhile read nonetheless).

Well, we've been paying back that debt, with interest, I'd say.

Frantz Fanon analyses it well: the sometimes violent and irrational hatred of the oppressed for their oppressor is never oppression in the reverse. Its an unfortunate (but logical) response to mental and physical abuse.


Now, as far as how people of colour are biased amongst each other - well, OBVIOUSLY. We're as intentionally miseducated about each other then whites are (even more so, since most of us don't have as easy access to information that would widen our knowledge and understanding). So of course people all over the planet think black americans are violent criminals, cuz whitey says so and has been saying so for 500 years. Instead of simplistic admonishment (that's racist) - you're right, its a teachable moment where you should try to bring folks through a process of deconstructing stereotypes and drawing parallels about how their own social exclusion is upheld by stereotypes and how its the same for folks from other communities.

Racism's divide and conquer is always in effect, and white people will unknowingly try to give you honorary (and oh so temporary) white status while they're engaging with you and put you in a position where you're seemingly part of the in-crowd but in reality you're upholding *their* power over some *other* group (us vs. them). Buffalo soldiers, anyone? Blacks vs. Vietnamese, anyone? Blacks vs. Arabs, anyone?

Believe you me, I deal with this often enough as I try to beat the racism and sexism out of my partner every day for nearly 9 years now. But I love him anyway.

When I have the energy, and when I want to challenge this without being too confrontational (not cuz I don't like confrontation, but only cuz its bad strategy to call someone racist cuz it just shuts down all communication - its kinda like an IRL Godwin's Law) I find an innocuous way to question or challenge what they say.

So to the smelly Indian people comment I'd just say something like:
--"Oh really? I never really noticed."
Notice the I, which is really saying "Fuck you! I ain't part of your effin' white supremacist plot. Leave me the heck out your shit." Which I assume is something you want to say to the Bushies everyday but I'm straying. Then you lie if you have to with a follow-up:
--"I lived in a South Asian neighborhood / with a South Asian family for a few years and never smelled anything funny and never got any comments from friends who'd come over either."

Now, sometimes the person will leave it at that (usually cuz the very subtle strategy passes over their head). Or repeat the very offensive and obnoxious statement again. And I'll admit, this technique is a bit passive-agressive, or manipulative, and is usually very good at instilling guilt and shame in the folks who do get it (but hey, we use the means at our disposal). Sometimes, when they *do* figure out in some deep-down way that what you're *really* saying is "You're a racist asshole" they'll say something like "I'm sorry if I offended you, I'm not racist or anything. I just think that (insert racist comment here)."

At this point (again, if you have the energy and your social capital at the time allows for it) you say: "I hear what you're saying, but I really don't feel its necessary to demean other peoples cultures that way."

(which will probably leave Racist Asshole blathering about political correctness and freedom of speech and at that point I usually tune out cuz I feel there's only so much one little black girl can do and I'm not a professional at this shit anyway and goddamit its white peoples own fault if they're so friggin' racist anyhow so they should fix their own shit).

Ok. I'm going to bed now.

Nadine · 3 years ago

Okay, I said I was going to bed but have to mention Colors of resistance as one of may good sources of radical anti-racist and anti-oppression analysis, with contributions by yours truly and many a partner in crime.

Baratunde · 3 years ago

YO. NADINE. you are OFF THE HOOK! Thank you soooo much for these comments.

I'm gonna try and respond to some of them, but dayam, that's a lotta words.

Thanks for breaking out Contextual Power from Institutional Power. I think you're dead on about that. What happens is, in the next train car, a group of rowdy young white men was harrasing a black kid, but it was the black kids messing with the white man that got arrested, charged, prosecuted and sent to jail. That is, indeed a different level of power.

divide and conquer... is definitely always in effect. You can feel the hints of it with the immigration debate. Black v Brown is on the rise. The Man has already got me thinking that Mexicans are trying to take my job. I'm a frigging COMEDIAN!! No Mexican is going to steal my gigs! But dammit they're scarin me anyways.

I also dig the manipulative, passive-aggressive reaction. No one likes to be called a racist, and I guess I shoulda listened to my own advice with the kids. If you want to enlighten someone, you can't just charge them with racism cause they WILL shut down. I might take your queue and just LIE more often: "Uh, mr. rental agent, my Dad is Indian, and when he was busting his ass to get me through college with just one leg and a prayer, I never noticed the smell." Bam!

Ooh, finally back to the hating other ethnic groups. It is definitely learned. On of my biggest pet peeves as a young, self-righteous, afro-wearing high schooler in DC was the fact that this ENTIRE city of black people was cool with the name of that football team: Washington REDSKINS. But as the abused child is more likely to grow into an abusive parent, so are oppressed people likely to adopt the methods and attitudes of the oppressed.

Thanks again for reading, writing and listening to the podcast!

peace.

Ray Taalib-Deen · 3 years ago

Don't call me black, because white ain't.
Not people anyway.
Black cats, white clouds
Maybe
Brown earth, yellow flowers,red lights
Sometimes.
Not people. Don't call me black, because white ain't.
As long as american institutions define the European-American as the white American and the descendents of the enslaved Americans as the black American,they perpetuate the racism, we, as a nation, should systematically be eradicating from our institutions.That tribe of people the institutions define as black, represent in actuality the autochthonous American.They are the only Americans whose culture has been exclusively shaped by their American experience. Prior tribal knowledge,was systematically eradicated.The European-American started calling himself the white man to establish in the minds of the other peoples of the world his superiority. The Southern European-American being free to have slaves only reinforced their notion of superiority.To support this notion, the European decided to divide the peoples of the world into races.This division is an arificial way of classifying mankind and goes against how mankind has evolved. Social evolution for mankind begins with a man and a woman to form a family.Families come together to form tribes. Tribes come together to form states. States come together to form Nations. Nations expand to empires. Look at the social order of mankind today ane they constitute one of these levels of development.Under European hegemony and by teahing the world's people that it is divided into the white, black,red, yellow "races",the European was able to become a world power. The European-American has been masterful in masquerading as the white(superior) man and the autochthonous American, the world,s newest tribe of people,still without a clear knowledge of who they are or what to call themselves remain black(inferior) and vulnerable in a world of people who know their identity.
Foundation for the Abolition of Color Definition for Human Beings

Joel · 3 years ago

Hi Baratunde!

Just listened to your public radio show - good gig!

But I disagree with you (and Nadine) about whether black people can't be racist.

From where I sit, in Africa, it is clear to me that black people certainly can be racist, and that certain leaders (e.g. Robert Mugabe) make their political careers out of reinforcing black racism.

Black people can be racist against other black people (e.g. Rwanda), against Asians (e.g. Uganda), and against white people (e.g. Zimbabwe).

In every single case of black racism, black people eventually become the victims. This is true of all racial hatred--e.g. Nazi Germany, for example.

Now--we might choose to judge racism differently depending on the context. A black person whose land was taken away from him/her by the apartheid government might hate all white people, and that might be understandable. A Jewish person whose family was killed in the Holocaust might hate all Germans. Et cetera.

But this kind of hatred reaches its sell-by date within a generation or two. Not only does it become immoral, but it is totally self-defeating. Have Palestinians ever gained anything by hating Israelis?

I'm living in Cape Town, where the political party I work for has just taken over the city in a free and fair election. The ANC, whom we replaced, had run a generally corrupt administration. Now we're auditing the books to figure out where all the money went, and the ANC cries "racist!"--never mind that it is the poor black majority that suffers most from government corruption.

The racism of victims of past persecution almost always extends and expands the damage of that persecution to new generations, and prevents the victims from re-asserting control of their future.

The lesson of Nelson Mandela--unfortunately, a lesson forgotten by some of his successors--is that reconciliation is more powerful than retribution, and that people must ultimately be judged equally as human beings, and held to an equal standard for their actions on this earth.

dewfish · 2 years ago

great post. will definitely check for more articles in the future.

female roommate · 11 months ago

Couldn’t be written any better.
Reading this post reminds me of my old room mate! He always kept talking about this.
I will forward this article to him. Pretty sure he will have a good read.
Thanks for sharing!