The following thoughts are in response to the Huffington Post article directly below, which was posted by a friend of mine on Facebook. Thanks Dan. It made me think. And I couldn’t help but to write a few words [um, yeah, a few…. 🙂 ] in response to it. This is stuff I actually find myself observing and thinking about often. So, this was a perfect opportunity to finally get a few thoughts out. Read the Huffington Post article first, then my thoughts, and let me know what you think.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/olivia-cole/catching-fire-beetee-race_b_4334585.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false#sb=3619638b=facebook
Interesting how much white guilt some peeps have. Articles like this, although they do strike valid points, mass group peoples too much. Not every white person thinks like this. Just as not every black person, or brown person or whatever person thinks a certain way, etc., etc., etc. However, the author does bring up a certain topic that is truly affecting a lot of the white population nowadays, and that’s the white guilt I mentioned above. There is a lot of that embedded into the minds of the X and Y generations’ white populace.
White guilt tends to cause the “trying too hard” factor, which I find is when whites go out of their way to be overly nice or overly polite or overly sensitive when around people of a darker skin color than theirs. It can be funny at times, especially because the peeps that are having it happen to them can obviously tell what is going on. And it’s not to say that it isn’t a good thing that many whites are more conscious of racism and prejudice. Of course, that’s great. However comical it can be at times, who’s to say it’s not needed. It often takes extremes to embed to be natural.
Nevertheless, this white guilt thing still doesn’t negate the prejudice and racism that is still quite embedded into our society, and around the world, for that matter. The same white dudes that try to act all cool around black dudes tend to be the same white dudes who, when not around black dudes, use the “N” word and say racist ass remarks. “Closet racism” when around only other members of one’s race seems to be very prevalent. I know this first hand, as many of my friends throughout my life have been this way…despite my lack of approval and often vocal fights against it.
But there is no white guilt around when this type of behavior occurs in these more private atmospheres. It’s so ridiculous and such bigotry. And this isn’t to say this just exists in white society. I’m fully confident in saying that it exists in all cultures, races and societies. Until we rid ourselves from racism and prejudice in all aspects of our lives, no matter in public settings or in private social settings, these dark nuisances will continue to exist.
How can we act one way at home or around certain friends and then act another around other groups and say we aren’t prejudice or racist? It’s a double standard we have to move past. …..Easier said than done. But here’s to moving forward.
– B
