White People and the "Diversity Olympics"

I'm a minority in my own state, if that helps.

Or at least if you're talking about how alienating it can be to be one of only a small percentage of your area with that ethnicity, there's like 4 other white people in my whole neighborhood.

Though it's done something weird to my state of mind.. Sometimes I'll see a white guy walking down the sidewalk out front and the first thing I'll think is "What the hell is he doing here? He certainly doesn't live here."

I can't recall ever seeing this in real life.

@Barkey Well, you're lucky, most Caucasians will never experience anything of that nature.

The only time I've ever been in a racial minority is at math related events. I'm white

What's wrong with being white? I don't see why anyone cares enough about race to wish they were something else in that department.

I realize that feeling bad for what your ancestors did is retarded, but I come from what was once a slave-owning family. The racism has trickled down through the generations, and I really don't want to fall into that, because fuck those people. I just feel bad about it. I don't think it's really all that logical, in fact, I know it isn't. Because I know people of every other skin color have done bad things too, it just seems like all the world's evils come from Europe, to be figurative.

Whenever I hear someone talk about "white privilege" it makes me feel even worse because I think they're right, at least to some extent. And one thing I absolutely hate is people who get put above other people. By being Caucasian, I feel like I belong to an entire race of such people, and it's distressing. Even if it is complete bullshit, and frankly, I don't know if it is.

@Spain Sun It's the truth...but only in the Western world. Even so, your guilt is useless if you don't do something about it.

^^

I don't know about that being any sort of lucky or unlucky, but I guess it adds some perspective.

But it does make me kind of want to move to a white neighborhood on some days, when my neighbors are cranking their mariachi music up to eleven.

I feel like a minority in all my upper level math classes. I'm a girl.

Also: white people are never discriminated against? What about white gay people? What about white women? What about white atheists?

edited 25th Feb '11 9:51:28 PM by zoulza

What about white rappers?

@zoulza No one said white people weren't discriminated against, but not on the virtue of their being white. All the examples you mentioned are related to things other than race.

Even so, your guilt is useless if you don't do something about it.

Like what? Ideally, I'd like to live in a world where skin color matters about as much as eye color. But, there's only so much I can do. Unless you know of some across the board anti-discrimination groups you'd suggest I join. But I've looked into several, and they're all either really radical, or specialize too much.

I don't know about that being any sort of lucky or unlucky, but I guess it adds some perspective.

I guess.

But it does make me kind of want to move to a white neighborhood on some days, when my neighbors are cranking their mariachi music up to eleven.

Trade ya for bad Country. :P

(also, what you're hearing is most likely Calypso or Samba of some sort. Though Mariachi's not an impossibility, they're very different styles, people confuse them a lot for some reason)

KCK: I'll let you know that I suffered a LOT of racism in elementary school for being white. It's the main fucking source of my psychological problems. Your statement is blatantly offensive.

Actually, there are plenty of white rappers who are generally well-respected in their scenes

edited 25th Feb '11 9:56:27 PM by Wicked223

KCK: I'll let you know that I suffered a LOT of racism in elementary school for being white. It's the main fucking source of my psychological problems. Your statement is blatantly offensive.

Slow down there, tiger.

Keep in mind this was in elementary school.

@Spain Sun You don't have to be a member of any group to fight against racism; just keep yourself informed on the issues and don't be a obstacle.

@Chagen 46 Wait, aren't you biracial?

Yes, I'm half-black/half-white, but I look so white people often didn't believe me and assume I was white.

Obstacle?

Also it's possible to be biracial and white-looking, I think. Just not all that likely.

@Chagen 46 You showed a picture of yourself in the Photos thread, right? You didn't look that white in my opinion.

@Spain Sun Don't be stubborn and refuse to understand that minorities typically see the world in a different way from the majority; try to be understanding and see things from their perspective.

edited 25th Feb '11 10:01:27 PM by KCK

That pioture that you posted didn't seem all that white to me.

edited 25th Feb '11 10:00:18 PM by Wicked223

Yeah I mean, I realize I might have a skewed perspective coming from an area of so much white it's practically a Wonder Bread bakery, but I think I remember that picture you posted a while back and you were sorta on the darker side of things, Chags.

What about backlash against whites by other races?

Whenever I hear someone talk about "white privilege" it makes me feel even worse because I think they're right, at least to some extent.

All it does is piss me off, especially since my family came here off the boat only a decade before WW 1, thus slavery was already abolished, and my family didn't own any slaves, and imagine how much of them felt being Russian during the Cold War era? Or how scared they were when Mc Carthyism was rampant?

Nobody in my family has really held a grudge over it though, and they were treated pretty damn badly. But nonetheless, I don't like the backlash and I get personally offended when people bring it up. My family has never owned land or slaves, the last time we were wealthy was about a decade before the fall of the last Tsar of Russia, and to be honest, I'm proud of my ancestry, and proud to be white. I just have a rampant dislike for the fact that being proud of being white is somehow automatically taken as looking down on everyone who is not. My family scrabbled their way up from poverty at several different junctures, and thus I have a huge bug in my craw about white guilt.

I used to look a little more white, Wicked/KCK. I also didn't have my dreads, which are how most people identify me as half-black.

I don't think how white/not white Chagen looks to us is really relevant in relation to events that happened to him in grade school.

Unless we were all in his class and don't know it.

All it does is piss me off, especially since my family came here off the boat only a decade before WW 1, thus slavery was already abolished, and my family didn't own any slaves, and imagine how much of them felt being Russian during the Cold War era? Or how scared they were when Mc Carthyism was rampant?

Nobody in my family has really held a grudge over it though, and they were treated pretty damn badly. But nonetheless, I don't like the backlash and I get personally offended when people bring it up. My family has never owned land or slaves, the last time we were wealthy was about a decade before the fall of the last Tsar of Russia, and to be honest, I'm proud of my ancestry, and proud to be white. I just have a rampant dislike for the fact that being proud of being white is somehow automatically taken as looking down on everyone who is not. My family scrabbled their way up from poverty at several different junctures, and thus I have a huge bug in my craw about white guilt.

Well. This is a valid point, I'm not saying that you or anyone should feel bad, I'm just saying that I do despite the lack of any real reason for it.

edited 25th Feb '11 10:04:18 PM by SpainSun

You wouldn't be, my school was 99% hispanic. And 1% black.

That one percent was me.

edited 25th Feb '11 10:04:04 PM by Chagen46

@Barkey Again, you're special and every other white person does not share your experience.