Whiteness

The purpose of this blog is to document my quest for an accurate, modern definition of whiteness as it pertains to American classism, racism, and hegemony, and misogyny.

[reverseracism]

When a marginalized group is asked for peaceful protesting, what is really being asked is for them to “protest” in a way that those with privilege can actively and happily ignore.

[pure]

@ american liberal nationalists 📢 how can naziism be “un-american” if america turned away thousands of jewish people at the border who then perished in the holocaust Please explain

[corvid-420]

anne frank was turned away by america and now she’s quoted by american liberals who preach about free speech if someone’s “too violent” against nazis.

[socialistexan]

Only 30% of US voters in 1939 supported accepting Jewish Refugees, lower than the 36% that support accepting Syrian refugees today.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/11/17/what-americans-thought-of-jewish-refugees-on-the-eve-of-world-war-ii/?utm_term=.638a64bed057

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/291471-poll-most-reject-syrian-refugees-entering-us

[etrogim-deactivated20200109]

also, let’s not forget about Operation Paperclip, in which 1500 nazi engineers and scientists were brought to the united states and employed by the u.s. government almost immediately after german surrender in 1945 before the paris peace treaty was even signed.

[reserve]

THIS IS THE LEAST PRODUCTIVE POST I’VE EVER SEEN ON THIS HELL SITE. WHAT THE FUCK.

There is power in language, and power in rhetoric, and if we’re going to sit around and make the argument that nazism is American then we normalize white supremacists and offer them a place in our society when they should not have one.

WE RATIONALIZE THEM AND LEGITIMIZE THEIR VOICES WHEN WE SAY THAT THEY ARE AMERICAN IN THEIR IDEALS.

[pure]

White supremacists were “normalized” with the inception of America and they know this. It’s time liberals learn this fact too. The people who wrote the constitution and established the country “normalized” white supremacists. I can’t “normalize” white supremacists by rightfully pointing out that naziism has been consistent with American values; just take a look in the notes or outside of your bubble of comfort, and close the tabs of fanfiction long enough to open up a book to see how America has colluded with naziism and how the notion of America’s “values of freedom” and “opposition to bigotry” or whatever have always been hypocrisy and state propaganda.

I hate to break it to you, but you can’t fight conservative nationalism with liberal nationalism in the United States. Yes, white supremacists are indeed American in their ideals, as people have shown previously. Instead of trying to redeem the image of a nation bathed in blood, start criticizing it on those grounds instead of ignoring it in favor of clinging to these nationalist delusions of what America was “intended” or “supposed” to be. Now, run along back to writing your ugly yaoi fanfiction with no lube and three fingers in the bootyhole and leave the serious topics to grown people.

[lagonegirl]

this tread 

[black-to-the-bones-deactivated2]

the most accurate thing i’ve seen ever

[black-to-the-bones-deactivated2]

Black people are likely serving life sentences for that same crime IN PORTLAND.

A system built to destroy black lives continues to flourish.

[workingitinportland-deactivated]

California voted to release pot prisoners and offer reparations, but Oregon is not there yet.

we also just decriminalised small amounts of heroin, meth, and cocaine, but people in prison for possession of small amounts of these things are gonna stay in prison.

white supremacy.

[pure]

Told yall Portland is a portal to hell on earth

[blackfoxx-deactivated20211115]

The white male style of debate is to antagonize you until you snap. Then they win by default, because they make up their own rules in which being upset automatically invalidates your argument. The key is also to argue about things that they have no stake and experience in, so they dont snap first. Of course in the event that they do snap first, its of course passion, not anger…

White people are like little kids who make up new rules and obnoxious powers to keep themselves from losing….

At the end of it all, they are happy that you are so civil and can debate things rationally and clearly without getting upset. Everyone shakes hands and thanks everyone for being able to discuss “conflicting” viewpoints. Because after all everyone needs to hear the opposing side to truly be sophisticated. Even if you’ve heard that side all your life and it completely devalues you as a human being.

What i hear is that the mark of civilization to white people is being dehumanized and taking it like a champ. 

They also have little to no concept of power dynamics in these ‘sophisticated” discussions.

[getoutoftherobotxaviii]

Why I stopped indulging people who followed this argumentative “format”

[enterheavenalive]

This is so real and applicable to every dinner party I’ve ever been to

[eviltessmacher]

This is a particularly aggressive form of Sealioning.

Sealioning is the name given to a specific, pervasive form of aggressive and willfully intentional cluelessness, that masquerades as a sincere desire to understand.

 A Sealion is someone who, when confronted with a fact that they don’t care to acknowledge, say, the persistence of systemic racism in America, will ask endlessly for “proof” and insist that it is the other person’s job to stop everything they are doing and address the issue to their satisfaction.

The purpose of Sealioning is never to actually learn or become more informed. The purpose is to interrogate. Much like actual interrogators, Sealions bombard their target with question after question, digging and digging until the target either says something stupid or is so pissed off that they react in the extreme. The other major reason why people hate Sealioning is because responding to it is a complete waste of time.

It’s an insidious trap. Responding to questions asked reasonably is, of course, a natural thing for people to do. I like to do it myself; educating others is generally pretty entertaining, especially if they are receptive to learning. Dismissing those questions can appear condescending or rude, especially if you actually are condescending or rude.

Of course, these questions are not asked because the person asking them genuinely wants to know the answer. If they did, they would do their own digging based on your statements, and only ask for obscure or difficult-to-discover information. This is the “debate principle”. It is best explained thusly: When you go to a debate, you educate yourself on the topics at hand, and only request evidence when a claim is either quite outlandish or unflinchingly obscure.

No, these questions are asked to make a responder waste their time. It works, too; I’ve responded to Sealions before, answering all their questions and claims for evidence, only to be greeted by even more willful ignorance. It’s a way to force people into responding to questions phrased neutrally but asked in bad faith.

The name “Sealioning” comes from a most splendid webcomic, “Wondermark”, by David Malki.  

It can be found here: http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/873260-sea-lioning

Sealions are just “asking nicely” but they are asking questions that have been asked and answered fully many times, and are unwilling to so much as open a new tab to look up the answer, nor will they recognize the validity of your sources, your experience or expertise no matter what you do. It is impossible to satisfy a Sealion.

Make no mistake.

Sealioning is a specific form of harassment. You may not explain their inquiry has already been address. You may not cite a source. You may not refer to a previous answer. You definitely may not ever point them to a link. You must spend all your time and energy responding as much as you can to every little details of every innocent, polite little question they ask. Sealioning isn’t a sincere attempt at anything. It’s a calculated technique to grind an opponent down.

[bellygangstaboo]

good thing you don’t look like Sandra Bland..  

[theforce]

name one native american intellectual off the top of your head, name one native american actor or actress off the top of your head, name one native american senator, one native american news anchor, or an author or a tv personality or a singer or a poet or a comedian, name a single native american teacher you’ve had, can you? probably not 

ok so now think of one native american cartoon character you know of or a sports team relating to native americans whether it’s their actual name or their team logo, or a town you live in or near with a “native” name bet a lot of these things came to you right away i bet you didn’t even have to think 

needing native representation in media, education and government are not decoy issues, the commercialization and appropriation of native cultures are not decoy issues, the lack of native representation is institutional oppression at work 

[savedbythe-bellhooks]

Source: Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope by bell hooks

[bellygangstaboo]

[msladyjay]

GO 👏 THE 👏 FUCK 👏 OFF. Also, the American educational system is trash. I applaud this child’s parents for giving her a voice and standing up against bias authority.

[fridakahloblvd]

(Can someone caption this?)

[lookdifferentmtv-deactivated201]

5 Ways To Use Your White Privilege To Help Others

1. Educate yourself. Learning about what white privilege is – and what it isn’t –       is the first step.

2. Talk to other white people about race. Educating your own family and                 community is one of the most important things you can do.

3. Amplify the voices of people of color. Follow hashtags like #blacklivesmatter       and turn up the volume on people of color sharing their own lived                       experiences.

4. Challenge racism when you see it. It’s often safer or easier for a white                 person to speak up in these situations.

5. Get involved in organizations doing anti-racist work.

For more ways to use your white privilege for good, visit MTV News.

[whiteness]

[odinsblog]

BETTY SHELBY IS A MURDERER WITH A PAST HISTORY OF DRUGS, ASSAULT AND THUGGERY

Even before they killed him, the police were already composing their alibi with statements like, “That looks like a bad dude.” And, “It looks like he’s on something.”

Those statements aren’t just deeply racist stereotypes, they’re also prefabricated character assassination, meant to poison the well against Terence Crutcher, an unarmed man who’s only crime was having a broken down car and being black.

Even though he had his hands raised above his head and was complying with their commands when they shot him, the police are now trying to justify their actions by claiming they could see (from a helicopter) that Crutcher was high on drugs. If being high on drugs was an offense punishable by death, how many white people would have been executed by the police before even graduating high school?

Inflammatory statements like the those made by the police are intentionally spoken & recorded into their “official” police records to smear the victim’s name; to influence how mass media frames the story; and to pre-bias any possible grand jurors by reinforcing their (unconscious?) racial stereotypes of “Big scary black guy on drugs.”

Instead of “serving and protecting” a stranded motorist, Betty Shelby murdered Terence Crutcher in cold blood and denied him of his Civil Liberties. She needs to be arrested and prosecuted immediately. (source)

[harikondabolu]

Great interview on @npr about comedy, race and how funny Hari Kondabolu’s mother is (and not because of her Indian accent).

[king-emare]

Shit

[sensitiveblackperson1-deactivat]

And if yall wanna bring up wage gap

this is your wage gap

[daecay-deactivated20161213]

legalizing pot is 100% worthless if we as white people aren’t going to 1. release and forgive the sentences of those thrown in jail for pot, 2. actually allow black people into the legal pot industry w the same ease white people enter it and the same ability to get rich off it, and 3. stop fucking arresting black youth, not allow it to go up by 58 fucking % 

[doughnutcrow]

Marijuana arrests have gone up in colorado for black and latino people http://www.vibe.com/2016/05/marijuana-arrests-colorado-skyrocket-black-latino/

[huffpost]

Watch Muhammad Ali’s Perfect Response To ‘Not All White People Are Racist’ – In 1971

Saying not everyone is racist doesn’t make racism go away.

(GIF Source: deehenn via Tumblr)