I understand America’s history of poor treatment of minorities but what has caused many liberal white people to casually talk as if they aren’t white.
Some examples:
- A friend has an eastern European neighbor move in. He says he’s glad they are that instead of American white.
- Feeling they are individually responsible for what their ancestors and/or rich and politically affluent white people did in the past.
- Acting as if white people anything is bad.
- Making jokes at their own expense but won’t dare say the same thing to another ethnicity.
I don’t mean this post as a worm-brained right wing or political discussion, but just seeking to understand this odd internalized behavior I’ve seen recently.
Rule 3: Avoid controversial topics (politics or societal debates come to mind, though we are not saying not to talk about anything that resembles these). There’s a guide in the protocol book offered as a mod model that can be used for that; it’s vague until you realize it was made for things like the rule in question. At least four purple answers must apply to a “controversial” message for it to be allowed.
I really don’t mean this to be about politics but about how people act!
Edit Thanks for the report @lolola@lemmy.blahaj.zone I tried not to frame this in a controversial manner.
Virtue signaling. They are largely trying to impress other white people.
That’s exactly what it feels like. Like trying to signal I’m not one of the racist ones. But when that’s already established I don’t get the point.
I have this theory that if a certain amount of people start to behave a certain way like being overly racist, over time a new group will emerge that will start to behave the opposite way like overly guilty conscience and trying to prove themselves opposite. So far it has been true for every movement, when violent islamic attacks became common in Europe, quickly a group of people who were very racist to Muslims emerged. When liberals in US went hard left, conservatives went hard right. I think your question can be easily answered by this exact phenomena.
Thanks :) That makes a lot of sense. So this may be explained by trying to actualize and virtue signal (not used in a derogatory manner) what they are not.
Possibly, they are simply stating very obviously that they’re not racists but the opposites.
most terrorists in the united states are white. we should all fear white, armed males especially.
white privilege is a thing that exists because of our white ancestors and current racists, and it sucks for non white people so white people should be embarrassed regarding it.
i absolutely fear that the white people moving in are conservative racists, because at least 30% of the country are hard-core racists.
joking about your own race is just a natural thing that all races do. id kinda look sideways at people who dont understand the jokes
I think you’re taking my point in a direction I clearly didn’t mean nor want.
Honestly we feel like the only country to my knowledge that continues to imply the common person should feel guilt for what their ancestors or government did.
The treatment of minorities in the country in the past and today continues to be poorly. But that’s not my doing.
It doesn’t feel like ripping on your own race but everyone ripping on white people and somehow white people internalizing it in some odd way.
Please let me know who’s been telling me to feel guilty for being a white guy
I feel like no one is saying this, though right wingers often argue this nonsense. That’s why I’m confused why so many liberal friends think like this.
The fix for this problem you’re describing will come when white folk no longer have entrenched privilege across the vast majority of our lives.
Going “Eh, my ancestors did it not me, so it’s not my problem” is white privilege. Because white privilege and racism are still problems for folk who aren’t white, who deal with systemic racism at every level of their lives, despite it having nothing to do with them or their actions. The only people who get to say “Eh, it’s not my problem” are white folk, and white folk doing that is a basically why racism continues to remain entrenched.
That’s why some people are uncomfortable. Because they struggle with the unfairness, and don’t want to become complacent about it
Germany!?
They’ve gotten rid of their guilt by putting it all on muslims now. The far right candidate who is similar to trump almost won. They aren’t feeling guilty about ww2
Wow. This is certainly one of the takes of all time.
Locking this now as this does respect rule 3. Keeping it up as there are many comments.
Maybe they like the idea of a diverse neighborhood?
That’s not how it was said, but I’m sure that’s true too
My personal, political and probably largely incorrect take about the feel or show of guilt of people who belong to oppressing groups even though they’re not technically directly and actively oppressing people : from a puritanist moral pov, we should be fighting the system that enables the oppression with our full force, especially since we are benefitting from it and being less oppressed leaves us with more ressources to fight. But it is hard, probably dangerous to do so, and we have hundreds if not thousands of reason (simply easier, people we care about, your job, etc) to be at the very best quietly demonstrating and signing petitions. The moral feeling remains though, that we are betraying humanity, and i guess it could be linked to what you’re describing.
So you saw a couple examples of a behavior, and have thus concluded that this behavior is now prevalent amongst the majority of white Americans in the U.S.? And your constant protests in your own thread are supposed to convince us that you are not “asking this question” in a subversive effort to vilify anyone who is, or might in the future demonstrate any kind of self -awareness of their races’ role in institutionalizing racism is this country, and thus indemnifying all the actual racists who are trying to cement their newfound power? Kick rocks and get off the internet, you transparently repellant paid Russian troll.
Reported and blocked.
Personal experience can be used to ask questions. Touch grass buddy.
Edit and I’ll add I asked this question because I’m curious. Immediately being rude and calling be a Russian troll is a reddit tactic of attack. Sorry, you disagree.
