TRYING TO SUPRESS THE WHITE SUPREMACY SUBCONSCIOUS IN AMERICA
It has been said that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. In conversations with seemingly well meaning whites, it becomes obvious that they are “trying” not to be racist. Such represents a conscious effort either to be or to appear void of this traditional American infection upon our nation.Trying not to be racist is not the same as not being racist. It is like trying to be anything. If you have to try, it means that you are not there yet. However, trying does deserve praise. If the effort of trying is not rewarded, in spite of its lack of complete success, going forward the act of offering an effort will seem fruitless.
Whites seem to fool themselves into believing the effort, in and off itself, exonerates them from being guilty of racism. As long as they remain cognizant and seek to act in such a way that is deemed fair or neutral, they like to assume success from that effort. This also involves introspection of their intentions. Thus, if they have no intentions to be racist and are cognizant, they feel pretty good about themselves.
The fallacy in white thinking is that they are using the wrong metrics to gauge the success of their efforts. Whites do not use the metrics of effect or black response to gauge whether or not they are being racist. There like a person stepping on your feet and then not saying excuse me because they had no intentions of doing it. Then they insult you further by suggesting that it should not or does not hurt in the way that you say it does.
Implicit in much of whites effort to try and not be racist is the racist act of disrespecting or discrediting black thoughts or reactions. Racism cannot be defined by the oppressor. Whites cannot use their working definitions of racism to determine if they are racist or not. That would be like having the police department review and police itself for wrong doing. There is an egregious conflict of interest in such an act as few human entities will self incriminate itself.
In order for whites to truly measure their racism, they have to be able to see into their sub conscious, which is not easy to do. The subconscious contains the TRUTH of what you really believe. The conscious represents what you WANT to believe. If a person does not want to see the truth, if the truth is damaging to the psyche of self image, then the conscious sometime distorts reality in order that the mind can feel good about itself.
This society has been successful in making racism a taboo among whites. Thus today, one of the worst things that you can call a white person is a racist. There are few terms that will incite the emotions that this term does. Consequently, whites are making an effort to “try” and not appear racist, to avoid the label and stigma. Surprisingly, whites are less concerned with trying to convince blacks that they are not racist than they are trying to convince themselves and other whites that they are not racist. This is because whites simply have less respect for black thought than they do white thought or their own.
Whites realize that evidence of continued racism only works against their desire to see programs such as Affirmative Action come to an end. If more whites were openly racist or did not try to convince themselves and other whites that they are not, then Affirmative Action would and should never end under such a racist white power structure in America. Consequently, trying not to be racist could in part be a strategy that is driven by racism, because it wants to preserve white privilege by eroding programs like affirmative action.
In conclusion, the people to be wary of are the one who must “try” to be nice to you. Such shows a person who is saying that there natural inclination is to dislike you and be mean to you. These are the type of people who will jump on the opportunity to “be themselves” as soon as you provide them with the excuse or opening.
America is full of white folks “trying” to be nice and “trying” not to be racist.
posted by Noah TA @ 10/24/2004 01:17:00 PM
14 comments
14 Comments:
How can you try to be not racist? In my mind, either you are or you are not. There is no in-between.
If you think that you are - and you are unhappy with your status, you can work toward changing your mind and your opinions. Plenty of effort can be done here.
But being a racist means that you think one race is superior to another.
I do not believe that. I am not a racist.
I do, however, do what I can to disabuse racists of their beliefs ... and I also do what I can to help those who have been injured by racism. (Could I do more? Yes. I am a long, long road away from perfect.)
Peg K
Your words do not reconcile with your works, Peg K. A glaring example of this is how you fail to respect black intellect in regards to voting overwhelmingly democratic. The fact that you cannot come to accept that the masses of blacks know what is best for themselves, better than you, a white person, is racist. It is obvious that people vote based upon what is important to them…in other words there interest. You assume that you are better able to know what is important to blacks and hence what is in our interest, in the binary option of voting for democrats or republicans. It also assumes that you have a better intellect to decide between two options as well.
Ignorance is a big part of racism, Peg K. You often lament about the injustice against blacks in regards to sentencing, and a few other things. How did you learn about these injustices? Was there not a period of time that you were not aware of them? If a tree falls in the forest, and a white person does not hear it….does it make any sound? Apparently not, even if blacks can bare witness to the sound. The absence of evidence of a truth is not evidence of absence of its truth. Thus, racism is not limited to what a person like you can witness Peg K. Hence, if you are ignorant that the effects of some of your actions are racist, then how can you be confident that you are not racist?
It is like a person “trying” to be a good parent. The ultimate measure is not upon ones intentions, but the effect upon the children. Regardless of how much you try, if you are ignorant to what the best approach is for any given situation, you can still be a bad parent by making the wrong choices based upon your lack of knowledge.
Peg, your simplistic approach to who and what a racist is, is the reason many whites you know and white folk in general do not appear to be racist to you. A white person does not have to believe that white folk are superior to Black folk to be racist. In fact a white person action does not have to be racist by motive or intent for the end result of their action to be racist.
I can give you many examples if you do not understand what I am saying.
Even thought I have used the terms interchangeably, I have written essays in the past highlighting what I believe are distinctions with a difference. White supremacy is simply the belief that whites are biologically superior, most notably in regards to emotional and cognitive intelligence. Subconsciously, most whites believe this because of the relative world order of white dominance and black poverty. The subconscious simply takes in all the input that reveals this, unemotionally and stores it. It is much better for the white ego to see black poverty to not be the resultant of slavery, colonization, cold war policies and other actions of whites that produced obvious reactions. That would create an evil self collective image and make lead to self loathing. Instead, the white ego chooses to reconcile the inequalities with black inferiority or white superiority. Every action produces a reaction, despite this fact, whites fail to qualify, quantify and identify the reaction upon black people around the world from over 400 years of their negative activity upon black people. Instead, they will have blacks look to “internal”, for the true cause of the current situation.
Racism, on the other hand, is either rooted in emotions and or ignorance. Most emotional racist are also white supremacy believers. However, not all white supremacy believers are emotional racist. Given that the belief in white superiority is ignorance, most white supremacy believers are thus racist by virtue of ignorance.
Noah said "A glaring example of this is how you fail to respect black intellect in regards to voting overwhelmingly democratic. The fact that you cannot come to accept that the masses of blacks know what is best for themselves, better than you, a white person, is racist. It is obvious that people vote based upon what is important to them…in other words there interest."
That is rediculous logic, you know that voting democratics has not helped black people in the last 20 plus years but you call Peg a racist for also knowing that fact. You know most voters of all races know very little about the facts about their cadidates and their policies or evern how the governemt is run.
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=2372
"The American electorate does not have adequate knowledge for voters to control public policy. Scholars have long documented the limits of voter knowledge about the institutions and policies of the government. That ignorance is not a moral failing. The rational voter has little incentive to gain more knowledge about politics because his or her vote is unlikely to affect the outcome. Since gaining more knowledge offers few benefits and substantial costs, the average citizen remains ignorant, though rationally so."
I think what you are saying is that only black people are allowed to criticise black people. Would you call her racist for pointing out that most black people should watch thier salt and eat less junk food.
I think you should decide if you want peg to participate on you blog, if you don't just ask her not to post and I am sure she will stop posting. Though I doubt she will stop reading since you are interesting guys.
If you do want her input, please stop calling her a racist every other post because it doesn't add to the discussion.
Here we ago again with the partisan politics B.S. that the Negro-Cons are notorious for.
Scott wrote “you know that voting democratic has not helped black people in the last 20 plus years but you call Peg a racist for also knowing that fact.”
Let’s just say this is true and I believe it and Scott believes it accordingly. Now Scott I asked this question once before when you was spouting off this same garbage. If voting Democrat has not helped Black men and women in the last twenty years how do you juxtapose this with your knee jerk reaction on things having got increasingly better for Black men over the last forty years and definitely the last twenty. Negro-Cons play the political game with Black men and women. One minute you are hollering how better things are for Black folk and that America is the great bastion of love but it is not perfect and then you holler that voting Democrat has not done anything for us. You can not have it both ways Scott, either things have not gotten better for us over the last twenty years and we are in a worse position than we were twenty years ago, or things have gotten increasingly better and it got better during the time in which Black men and women were voting predominantly democratic.
Scott, a mind is a terrible thing to waste, my friend. The fact that you point out that the electorate is ignorant to most of the facts is a truth for all races…is it not? Thus, the question remains as to why ignorant whites feel they know what’s best for ignorant blacks. Obviously, there has to be a presumption upon a white person like Peg K to think that she is less ignorant than the black masses. Moreover, most people only make enough time to investigate the issues that are important to them. Rarely do people take the time to try and figure out what is best for other people. Thus, it is simply arrogance and a sense of intellectual superiority for a white person to have the audacity to think that not only do they know what’s best for them, but in their spare time they have actually figured out what is in black’s best interest, contrary to what the black masses conclude is best for themselves.
Faheem : "You can not have it both ways Scott, either things have not gotten better for us over the last twenty years and we are in a worse position than we were twenty years ago, or things have gotten increasingly better and it got better during the time in which Black men and women were voting predominantly democratic."
This is rediculous so any improvement that happens in our world is because of how we voted. Give me a fucking break. I work on internet so my life is better, has nothing to do with how I voted, nor do cellphones, nor does legal enforcement of laws passed in the civil rights movement 40 years ago.
http://blackintrospection.blogspot.com/2004/09/people-died-so-that-we-can-have-right.html#comments
"I think that the tactics of Unions, though much of this nations history, is a good analogy for a strategy for getting the Democratic Party to come to the bargaining table with blacks for concessions."
I took this comment from Noah to mean the democrats have not been delivering for black people.
"The same principle and strategy holds true for blacks and the Democratic Party. It may be time to have a vote stoppage, to force the party to come and bargain with black people over our interest and needs. This can never happen if leaders keep preaching that everyone must vote."
And this is what the black commentor has to say about tradiditional black leadership.
http://www.blackcommentator.com/110/110_cartoon_dangerfielded.html
Nmaginate said: "FAHEEM,
A big problem with SCOTT's logic is the presumption that if Blacks would not have voted for Democrats over the past 20 years things would have been better. This is weak because it is speculative at best. As far as we know it could have been much worst."
That is not my assumption at all. I don't think the party of reagan was ready to take black people seriously, nor did they have a plan that could help us. The Bush republican party is significantly different and can help us. 20 years ago people weren't seriously thinking about vouchers, Lifetime saving accounts, or privatizing social security so we get a better return on our money.
Scott, man I don’t know what to say for you…bro? At one point you are suggesting that how you vote and things getting better do not matter, then you suggest that it does saying that blacks should vote republican. However, if it doesn’t matter it doesn’t matter, regardless of choice. So why the hell you even bothering to vote?
It is correct that I suggested that Democrats have taken the black vote for grated. The democrats are a party that caters to the middle-middle the lower middle and lower classes. The majority of that demographic group is racially white. Class issues and race issues are not synonymous. Thus, blacks do get some benefit from the democrat’s class platform, but they failing to address the uniqueness of our racial issues as black people, such as reparations. On the other hand, the republicans cater to the wealthy (white wealth Is 14 times that of blacks) and the white racist. Hence, blacks receive little benefit from Republican issues.
Both parties cater to a majority white base, thus blacks simply benefit from the overlap of class issues and race issues from the democratic platform. But no party is really addressing our issues a black people under a system of white supremacy.
Scott, what does the internet and cell phones have to do with things getting better for Black men and women? Those thing have benifited all, what I am speaking to is the knee jerk reaction from Negro-Cons about how much better things are in America for Black folk when they hear us "bashing" America. Your kind is quick to say how much better things are now than they were just twenty years ago for Black men and women. However, when it comes to voting and partisan politics all of a sudden you and your kind are in agreement with us that things are bad, the political system in America has failed us and continue to fail us. You see Scott our position is consistant regardless of the arguement or debate, however you flip flopping Negro-Cons positions change depending on the subject. One minute things are better, the next minute things are not better because if they are better that means the Black folk voting Democrat made it better.
Well look at it this way Scott, If things have gotten better for us under Bush as you say it have, then it did not come by way of us voting for him, thus he had to do things to court our vote. If that is so, then why should we vote for him now? We keep voting the way we have and things will continue to get better right? if we start voting for the Repubs, it is only a matter of time before theyh start to treat us as the Democrats do now.
Unless you are seriously involved yourself in politics, I have never seen the benefit to pledging allegiance to one party or another.
Why not analyze each election cycle as an entity unto itself? Clearly, the parties DO change over time, and two administrations from the same party can differ greatly.
Today I view it in the best interests of our nation to vote Republican. In 2008, I may feel that the Democrats have better answers.
Whoever said, "won't you have the same problem with the Republicans if blacks start backing them completely" - I would agree. Make BOTH parties listen to you and meet your needs! Whoever does the better job - vote for THAT party.
Peg k
"If things have gotten better for us under Bush as you say it have," I have never said this. You guys need to stop pretending to have read what I have said. You are attributing what you believe are negro-con positions to me.
As Nmaginate said, you need to be specific about what I say, and not group me with other.
Our vote it currency. If we always buy from Sears then Sears doesn't have to offer us sales and value because we always shop there. But if sometimes we shop at Sear and Sometimes at Target they both have to compete for our vote.
Its not about loyalty to either party its about becoming swing voters, because swing voters get paid. Base voters do not. Especially when they are black.
http://blacksforbush.blogspot.com/2004/03/malcolm-x-ballot-or-bullet-malcolm.html
Malcolm said it 40 years ago:
As they see these new political trends, it's possible for them to see that every time there's an election the races are so close that they have to have a recount. They had to recount in Massachusetts to see who was going to be governor, it was so close. It was the same way in Rhode Island, in Minnesota, and in many other parts of the country. And the same with Kennedy and Nixon when they ran for president. It was so close they had to count all over again. Well, what does this mean? It means that when white people are evenly divided, and black people have a bloc of votes of their own, it is left up to them to determine who's going to sit in the White House and who's going to be in the dog house.
But we never learned the lesson. Its time for a change. The black vote must stop selling out Black America by giving away the milk for free.
KERRY can't get elected without the black vote and he hasn't even offered us SHIT. He doesn't deserve our vote. BUSH has already delived NCLB he deservered our vote. Bush also delivered vochers for kids in DC. Bush also gave up to 15 BIllion for Aids in africa and carrbean (sp).
To not vote for someone who is helping your people is stupid. Name one thing clinton did for black people.
Post a Comment
<< Home