My thoughts on racism (and white or middle class people in particular):
People's investment in not being racist can be very dangerous. I think most people have this "I am not [a] racist" identity and due to that investment/identity they avoid thinking or talking about race. On the other hand, an "everyone is racist" attitude can also be dismissive.
I think issues related to race/racism in our society are extremely complex and perhaps require many years to really understand. I like to think of it as a journey of perpetual education rather than there being some ultimate "not-racist" point that could be reached.
The defensive thing is quite true, though I am training myself to do it less. I'm on the "ap_racism" message board and often my initial reaction to posts is to somehow be defensive so I try to be aware of and self-critique that defensiveness.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2006-07-20 05:55 pm (UTC)People's investment in not being racist can be very dangerous. I think most people have this "I am not [a] racist" identity and due to that investment/identity they avoid thinking or talking about race. On the other hand, an "everyone is racist" attitude can also be dismissive.
I think issues related to race/racism in our society are extremely complex and perhaps require many years to really understand. I like to think of it as a journey of perpetual education rather than there being some ultimate "not-racist" point that could be reached.
The defensive thing is quite true, though I am training myself to do it less. I'm on the "ap_racism" message board and often my initial reaction to posts is to somehow be defensive so I try to be aware of and self-critique that defensiveness.