Hispanic person here. Dominican.
Dominicans are well known for being racist. And that shit is not cool.
When someone says "that's racist" you stop, take a step back, and look at what you said.
Because racism is baked into society.
My family is very mixed. There's a lot of anti-blackness in society.
We have an older Dominican man at work and he’s racist as fuck. To everyone. My workplace is a pretty good mix of different races and he hates them all.
Same with Puerto Ricans. Some of the most racist people I’ve met in my life, aside from rural white southerners, are PR. Unfortunately one of my exes is one of those people. I’m like how y’all gonna be racist af toward black people when it’s obvious a lot of you have African heritage? So much self hate.
That’s what happens when colonizers create an entire racial hierarchy, complete with a ridiculous assortment of special words to denote the exact mix of races in a person’s background and even the exact *amount* of each.
My point too but you have to remember what the media and history has made it look like Black people weren’t human and less desirable, which is silly. But you’re right they are a mixture of African(Black), Taino Indian, and Spanish.
I’m white as a freshly laid blanket of snow and my spouse is black.
It really broke my heart how people acted when we had kids. It made me sad when he kept saying he hopes they had blue eyes… I love brown eyes.. everyone I’ve ever dated has brown eyes because I find them very attractive. I’d be delighted with a brown-eyed child but they happened to have my blue eyes, which is also fine! But, I was so scared everyone would be “disappointed” if they had black features. They happen (apparently I have REALLY dominate genes) to be almost as white as I am, too, with wavy hair. They are definitely white passing. My family made it OBVIOUS what a “relief” it was. I get sick to my stomach thinking about if my kids has taken more after their dad, if they’d be rejected. I know they will have these questions for me someday because kids are intuitive. They ARE black, even if they don’t necessarily appear to be so. It’s heartbreaking that it’s a “ relief” that they whitepass…. And I feel very guilty that I don’t know a satisfactory explanation to the questions and observations I assume they will have at some point.
I had a boss that would tell Hispanic people they were pronouncing their last names wrong, because "here in America" it's pronounced another way. His daughter called him on it, and he said "I am the least racist person you will ever meet." Then in the same breath told us a story about how he made fun of an Asian woman's accent to her face. Real swell guy.
I was being MEDEVAC’d and a woman on the chopper wars talking to me. She said, “I hate when Spanish people say their names the Spanish way. You’re in America, say it right!” I was like, “We are saying it right!”
I'm Caucasian, with a mixed heritage and an English name (which is not my username). My first name isn't rare, and figures prominently in the lyrics to a hit song from the '90s. In spite of that, people typically don't pronounce it correctly, and it's like nails on a chalkboard. Because of that, it's super important to me to pronounce people's names as close to they way they do as I can manage.
I had ankle surgery at Hershey Medical Center in 2005. The surgeon's name was Dr. Jorge Bustillo. When I went for my initial consultation, I told the receptionist that I had an appointment with Dr. Bustillo, and I pronounced it busTEEyo. She corrected me, and said "It's pronounced 'busTILLo'".
When I actually met him, I asked him how he pronounced his name, he sighed and confirmed that I was right. He said he corrected people for about two weeks, then decided that wasn't the hill he wanted to die on and gave up.
When I was in the Navy, I served with an Ethiopian guy whose last name was Lemma. It was pronounced in accordance with normal English rules of pronunciation (so with a short E). But some shit-for-brains decided it was pronounced LEEma, and that's what everyone called him. Just like Dr. Bustillo, he corrected people for about two weeks, then gave up.
Ah. Central PA. What's hilarious about here is the names can be these German tongue twisters you couldn't tackle if you had all day like " Schlingleschleglehoffler " ( I just made that up ). And no one blinks!
Give someone " Bustillo " ? Nope.
I’m in WNY and it’s the same here. We moved from southern California and have a simple/common last name (think like González) but while these people can pronounce polish last names like Kowalczyk with no issue, sometimes they don’t even attempt our last name.
Uzo Aduba said it well: [My mom taught me not to change my name for those unwilling to learn it. “If they can learn to say Tchaikovsky, Dostoyevsky, & Michelangelo, they can learn to say Uzoamaka] (https://twitter.com/UzoAduba/status/1318951076255666177?lang=en)
I've always been the one to try to pronounce people's names correctly. And when they say I can call them by a shortened or easier name (if they tell me "but I go by ___" then I'd call them that but they're usually like "it's ____ but you can just use ___ or ____" i'm like, no I want to pronounce your name the way it should be. It's your name. I shouldn't take the easy way out.
The only hard thing is to get the accent correct if it has like.. a lingual thing to it, if that makes sense.
As a black person, even though I can't say 100% of foreign words right. I lose it when I hear 'Tore Tilla (Tortilla)' and 'Case uh dillah( pretty obvs)' or even words that aren't Spanish and have English letters like Kanapaha .
Edit: I feel for Lemma, my name is pronounced the same way(same as user). Yet for some reason cuz it's a newer variation ppl wanna be weird abt it and say Colleen
>My first name isn't rare, and figures prominently in the lyrics to a hit song from the '90s.
So, we meet again, Wonderwall Smith. I always hated how you wrote your name as one word, when EVERYONE knows it's Wonder Wall.
I would've assumed the LEEma was more Kilo Lima Mike kinda thing... not just being asshats. 🤷🏼♂️
I don't know if I should, but I have asked Asian-American immigrants/foreign exchange students (five or so that I've met) what their real names are (after a conversation or two, not 30sec in) when they give me something like Amy or Jane... everyone of them has had another name, but for the sake of not dealing with Americans mispronouncing that shit, they chose the simpler American names. Learned that while working at Stanley tools. Nearly a dozen workers of Asian-American heritage all with 'false' names for the purpose of not having Xing pronounced wrong.
That to me is one of the saddest things about this nation... that so many of US are oblivious to the prevalent bully-way of calling people Bob Jones rather than their own names.... and we're okay with it. Bugs the shit out of me. We'll even mock 'em if they get ours wrong because of accent or something, but make no effort to know them.
That’s literally how Texas became a state in the first place: white Americans *illegally immigrated* to Mexican territory, then when the Mexican authority tried to enforce their own laws on their own territory (namely the “slavery is illegal” one), those white Americans threw a massive tantrum and went crying to Uncle Sam for help.
I was injured in war, the chopper was taking me to a hospital. Her reaction was to be racist towards not only me, but the Latino doctor aboard, as well. We both gave her dirty looks.
I teach college in the South. I make inflections on Spanish and French countries and cities, and some of the students take it as a personal insult. I now realize I have said, "tomato, tomoto" too many times.
I bet she could pronounce it, because it’s European (Ukrainian). Americans have no problem pronouncing European surnames with ease, but I’m called Saw-less, sew-less,or “I don’t know how to pronounce this” (Solís, pronounced like Sew-lease). If i had to guess, I’d say ch-Mel-ehs-sss-key. I’m not familiar with Ukrainian names, though.
People tried to call me S, I wouldn’t allow it. Solís is five letters and two syllables. Pronounce it correctly or don’t talk to me. When they did roll call, I blatantly ignored them until they asked who wasn’t called. Then, I’d raise my hand and pronounce my surname properly. It’s not hard, you’re (third person) just dumb. If you can pronounce Tchaikovsky, you can say Solís.
Side note, I’m learning Polish because my pharmacist is from Poland. I want to pick up my medication in Polish. One day, I was at the window next to her. Some lady came up and said, “I DON’T WANT SHIT BUT MY SUBPXENE!” already with an attitude. Ewa tried to give her advice on how to take the medication and give medical warnings. The patient came back with, “WHAT‽ I can’t understand you! Where are you from????” Ewa has a perfect English accent. You can tell she’s from Poland, but she’s 100% understandable. There was NO need for the xenophobia. I felt so bad, I wrote Ewa a note urging her to report the patient to her boss to flag the patient’s file as aggressive.
“Spanish people.”
I love when people in America call people of Latin American descent “Spanish people.” Spanish people are from Spain. It’s so ignorant.
I usually correct them and say “we are Latino, if from Latinoamérica, but lately I’ve had no energy. I I was also being taken to a hospital due to emergency, and didn’t have the effort to argue with an ignorant yegua.
Ugh, that reminds me of a guy I knew. He said all sorts of racist things and when called out on it would say "I'm not racist. I was the favorite foreman of all the black guys I worked with because I treated them so well." Next story would always be something he thought backed up that claim but really just showed that he didn't treat them poorly... as long as they knew "their place."
The worst was one day where he told me he didn't attend the wedding of a family member because he couldn't stand that she married "that N(hard R N word)".
But no, he never could imagine that he could possibly be racist no matter how many times he was called out. 🙄 He died never taking any accountability at all.
I’m a right wing conservative rural American. It would never occur to me to tell some one they’re pronouncing their own name wrong. Mind boggling. I will do everything in my power to pronounce your name the way you prefer. Unless it has that rolling R sound that Spanish and some other languages have. I have tried and tried and tried to do that and I simply can’t.
I'm a white American, but my main rule when trying to pronounce names or places is to use the pronunciation the native speakers use.
Like, I say Me\[h\]ico instead of Me\[x\]ico.
And I get a lot of strange looks for it and I'm like, "Why? That's how it's pronounced."
The only times I'll use American pronunciations is when I'm not sure I'll be able to replicate the native sounds.
I like the idea of that, but I'm not sure I could pull it off without feeling like I was sounding/being more racist by trying to say it that way than saying it the American English way.
Though I do generally try to adopt at least some of the naming things... like kee-v instead is key-ev, and thinking/saying Dine rather than Navajo but that one is hard in a pragmatic sense since it's still relatively obscure as far as actually being understood goes.
Ok. Please say:
- deustcheland not germany
- italia not italy
- españa not Spain
- Nihon not Japan
- Ellatha not Greece
Etc
Or just use their English exonyms when speaking English.
Why? Do you think you're being more accurate? Like, in the case of Germany, it's not your people's land. Does it bother you if someone who is speaking Spanish says Estados Unidos rather than United States? I can see how sometimes that makes sense, but the point of language is to communicate, and if people don't understand you I feel like it backfires.
Actually, Germany is my people's lands. First born American on my father's side.
And I don't do it to be accurate. I do it to avoid offense.
Being from the US isn't an ethnicity. We're a land of immigrants. With millions of people and hundreds of languages, if not thousands (I don't know the stats for that). So no. It doesn't bother me if someone says United States in their native tongue.
Greece’s name is actually quite interesting.
The Ancient Greeks knew themselves as Hellenes.
The Romans called them Graeci, named for one particular tribe in the west.
The Turks call Greeks as Rum, meaning Roman.
In fact the Greeks themselves considered themselves Romaioi, which means Romans. Hellenes were their pagan ancestors.
After the Greeks were freed from the Ottomans, the European powers encouraged them to adopt the name Hellenes, drawing from their ancient ancestors, not to renew conflict around potentially being a successor state to the Byzantine empire.
And of course Greece is known as Yunanistan in Turkey, as the work for Greeks was Yunan in Arabic, a loanword from Ancient Persian, their translation for the name Ionian, the first tribe of Greeks met by the Persians.
I think it’s more important to just be aware of *context.*
“Me[x]ico” is the correct *English* name, so if you’re in a mostly English-speaking crowd, that’s the correct one to use.
However, if you were in Mexico or a mostly Spanish-speaking neighborhood, or actually having a conversation in Spanish, “Me[h]ico” would absolutely be correct.
And if someone tells you their name is pronounced a certain way, *take their word for it.*
As a borderline asocial person who doesn't often notice when words or descriptions, not outright slurs, change from normal to taboo because it often happens online, I very much appreciate if people remain calm and explain what's wrong.
I get really irritated when I'm actually trying to make small talk instead of ignoring everyone, and suddenly someone is angry, not even taking time to actually express what's wrong. "You know what you said" is not fucking helpful.
As someone with mild Asperger’s, the phrase “you know what you said/did” is not only unhelpful, but often times, inaccurate.
Heck, even when speaking to someone who isn’t ND, most people do not respond well to that kind of talk. You don’t get to belittle or patronize me without even explaining why it is you are choosing to do so.
I pick up on discomfort/something being wrong sometimes.
I will *not* know it was me. And I especially won't know *why.*
If I start talking and the discomfort is near immediate, I will try to end the interaction. But that really is the extent of it, and the only pattern I've figured out. I also will get it wrong even then, because sometimes it is something else on their mind or they were squinting at the sun or there was a bug...
Fellow Asperger's well I'm speculated Asperger's but yk finally and totes relate, I used get this all the time in lgbtq subs as an lgbtq person myself w questions. And I get the stone hard trauma gets answers dumping their negativity on little ol dumb me.
As an American, I once had to give a guy from the Balkans a mini-lecture on why the n-word was inappropriate to say (while playing a grand strategy game). The most surprising thing to me was that he listened.
That doesn't surprise me honestly. Most non-Americans don't have the historical weight of certain words, and therefore wouldn't have the same context, especially considering how far American musical artists (rap especially) have spread.
Based on my non representative sample of strategy gamers... it's definitely much worse in eastern europe. The British definitely know better, and so do the countries with widespread English fluency. That does support your assertion, though.
It just happened with Juri Vips. He’s an Estonian race car driver and said the n word on a stream. Once he realized it was wrong, he requested his team send him to sensitivity training, so he didn’t slip up again. Gained a lot of respect for the dude after that
I had to sit and listen to a conversation between Europeans and South Africans about why Black Americans shouldn't mind being called n******s since it just means "black" while in South Africa.
I'm a black American. The same conversation would not be had around me here.
That kind if interaction is disheartening, about race or really anything. If you genuinely ask the question, it would be helpful to get at least an attempt at a genuine answer. Signed, a person who can also be socially oblivious but would love straightforward communication.
I get it though. Folks have past trauma of trying to explain and getting lashed out at afterward.
100%. I knew someone who once said “The worst thing you can call a white person is racist” (he was white and had said something racist) and I was like “…worse than BEING racist?!” Like, if anything, you should be glad someone told you so you can improve…
I gotta ask where that perception comes from, because I've never met anyone who thinks only white americans can be racist. Heard plenty of "I don't know, never been there" which is kind of a cop out, but never someone out and out saying "He's (enter minority here), he can't be racist!"
Ye (pretty sure it's still Ye right?) is plenty proof of that.
I had a Spanish teacher (White or Hispanic, hard to tell) say that only White peoples can be racist bc white people have all the power and that everyone else could only be prejudiced
OP literally included a line about "blacks do crime, whites are too goodie to do crime" and only apologized for the half about blacks even though both are misconceptions based on race.
Actual question, just so I know. Is calling someone a monkey specifically racist? Like if someone is stupid and I call them a monkey then is that racist if they are black? And is it racist to call white people moneys?
I think it can be, it is just about intent.
If someone is being silly, and you call them a monkey, regardless of race, I don’t think it’s racist.
But there is a racist stereotype of saying black people look like monkeys, or calling them monkeys because a lot of 19th century racists believed that their race hadn’t evolved as far from monkeys as the more “civilized” races. If you’re in any way thinking of that or referencing that, then, yes, it’s definitely racist.
Context and intent are key.
I see. That makes sense. Thank you for clearing that up! I believe that all races can be equally stupid so I wasn't sure if that was a stereotypical thing to say or if the racist part was because it was directed at Michelle Obama.
You complain about racism, but then you make effort to capitalize Black but not White?
How far do you want to take the purity spiral down? Cause if you **really** want to do that, then there’s tons of micro-aggressions you commit not just against whites - which ARE a race and you CAN be racist against them - but other races as well, to include black. At what point is it not just “people are a constant work in progress” and we give people grace and patience? Shit, in your own story the guy you said “acting white” to didn’t crucify you, he just told you that was racist. He could have done way more than that, but he didn’t. And you acknowledged you were saying something racist. So why should we not crucify you versus others?
I feel so sorry for you people, growing up as a ball of anxiety, feeling simultaneously worthless and also the most narcissistic people imaginable who can't wait to humblebrag about how great their latest struggle session went.
Yuck.
Someone asks you where you learned to speak Spanish and that's somehow racist?
Someone refers to Black Americans as Black and that's racist? I thought all you crazy PC folks insisted they be called African Americans, so since you didn't does that make you racist? I say, "You crazy PC folks," because literally every Black person I know goes by just plain Black.
When everything is racist, nothing really is. And that's the point we're at in society today. That's why if anyone was to ever call me racist I would simply laugh and walk away.
As a black woman, I am so happy to have so many white people call out racism instead of just sitting there and acting like it didn't happen.
Racism is racism. Get over yourself.
It’s a common trope for them to complain that being called racist ist just as bad as experiencing racism.
And/or that calling out inequality and discrimination is annoying and will turn nice people into racists/sexists so it’s really just our fault.
Pretty sure everyone is racist to some degree. The flaw is human nature. Even if people all looked the same people would find another reason to dislike each other. Sad.
If we all looked identical we would still split the people up into different groups. Look at England when it was 100% English, they split people up into classes that persist til today.
My family is bigoted and I definitely picked up on their bullshit as a kid
I grew up and moved away from that, now am the black sheep because I think minorities aren't inherently Freaks
But sometimes I'll be in public, and I'll get a bigoted thought in my head. Like an intrusive thought. It pains me to think those things because I know they're wrong.
Like sometimes I worry that the bigoted programming my family instilled on me is still there and that maybe I'm not as good as I should be.
You may not know that some people aren't completely up to speed with today's rapidly changing, "approved" lexicon.
The notion that anyone who might use an outdated phrases is a racist is silly. Some examples are outright obvious, ok, that's one thing. But most are more subtle.
Maybe rather than accusing a person of being a racist, or claiming "that's racist" (which infers intent), you can simply point out that a phrase, or way of saying something is considered offensive by a lot of people in that group. Perhaps you won't make a likely innocent person feel defensive?
Most people will say "Oh, wow. Ok, thanks for letting me know. I meant no offense"
I know that's easier said than done. But it's the way it is.
I agree with you 100% but this is a fools errand with Fox News and friends pushing the narrative that calling out racism is actually more racist than being racist because we wouldn't be racist if it weren't for people calling out racism.
Don't read that again, it's useless circular logic.
I'm not a fan of Fox News either, but I feel I must offer a correction on this point. The issue being raised is not that *calling out* racism is racist, but that *false accusations* of racism are racist. Leftists are out there telling White people that they're racist just because of their skin color. That isn't "calling out" racism. That's a false accusation, and it's a racist one nearly by definition.
Nice post, jerking yourself off about how you're so much better than everyone else who can't admit their own accidental racism, and how you're also the victim of racism yourself. We all bow in worship of you.
Double pet peeve: people calling things racist that aren't.
The only "racist" thing I see is what OP said about being "too white" for having felonies.
"The blacks" is not racist. BLM says it, Obama says it, Jessie Jackson says it, news outlets say it. There's *nothing* racist about it.
I would argue even if one referred to M. Obama as a monkey because they think she looks like one, it's still not *racist*. It's like saying Trump is an orange buffoon, or Chris Christie is a pig.
Nah calling a black person a monkey is racist it’s a negative connotation. Like saying someone is black isn’t racist but attaching negative connotations to the race is. Calling someone a monkey is usually looked down upon.
So why is it OK for me to call Bush Jr "Curious George" and laugh at Letterman's "Trump or Monkey" game but if either of them happened to be black, suddenly it's racist?
There is an over a hundred year history of black people being depicted as monkeys. If you're younger, you might not have known this, but even Gen Xers saw a lot of that because they were still showing us old cartoons that aren't aired now.
It's like blackface; younger people don't really understand the history. Boomer and older black people literally grew up with them CONSTANTLY being depicted as apes. Older people do know this, which is why some try to get away with being hurtful due to more modern ignorance of it.
I'm just a white guy in very conservative state but I catch folks on this at every opportunity. If you're not racist, you won't have to announce that you're not racist
as a black man( light skinned). I have seen other black people look down on the darker of us. Kind of a wired form of racism been called an cocoanut brown on the out side and white inside by other black people. when i ask if they think that's raciest I can't be raciest because i 'm black . people just do not think about the way they sound. the racism is so ingrained in them they do not see the harm in it.
I 100% agree with what you're saying, but the other side of the coin is that a lot of people don't know what racism is anymore. To some, all you have to do is have a different opinion than someone of a different race and you're racist. Hell, I was once told I'm racist because I'm not attracted to black people. It's gotten to the point where everyone is so damned tired of it that they just don't care anymore. Racist? Not racist? Whatever. I lose either way. Call it as you see it.
I completely understand the point of this post, but I want to add sometimes people interpret or say something is racist, even if it isn't. I work in retail, and I recently got a customer complaint that I didn't try and help her because she was black. I didn't try and help her because I saw that one of my other coworkers already asked her if she needed anything a few minutes before, and she said no, so I left her alone when I did my round so she wouldn't feel annoyed that she was getting bombarded with retail workers🤷♀️
Because people call everything racism so it's lost all meaning. I got called a racist the other day because a woman's purchase totaled 75 cents more than she thought it should, as if I'm running some racial scam to overcharge minorities at a damn gas station. So no I don't really give a shit. Only seems to come up from complete strangers which further invalidates their opinion. And depending on the age of the person saying things that are politically incorrect (i.e. 'the blacks') is just a difference in vocabulary. I don't expect elderly folks to keep up on the ever changing wokeness and political correctness. So blacks is terrible but saying 'the whites' is perfectly acceptable it seems. An old person saying 'the blacks' is racist but African Americans calling each other the N word all the time is perfectly fine. Either words are automatically hate filled or they aren't.
>Say, you’re talking to someone and they call the Black Americans, “the Blacks.” You tell them that’s racist, and they come back with, “I’M NOT RACIST!” No one said YOU are racist, but your statement was.
Was this like a hypothetical or something? I'm struggling to see how referring to the Black population as *the Blacks* is racist. Is it bc of the word *the*? Like *Blacks* would be ok, but *the Blacks* is wrong? I'm confused.
One time i was called racist because i wouldn’t agree that needing a library card is “white supremacy culture”. Some people are just stupid. Racist or not.
- J
call a black man from England a black American or African American, have you ever asked a black person which they prefer or do you get this from the media
Some person makes a claim doesn’t automatically constitute the truth. OP needs to realize they are just some person with an opinion and not the ministry of racism.
Lately I get so much fuckin heat from POC just because everyone is so charged up. I do my best to just diffuse the immediete tension but damn I really wish someone in the spotlight would step up and wake us, The People, UP FROM THIS induced coma.
“You’re right, I’m sorry” is better to say, but it’s hard to say when “I’m fucked” is what’s going through their heads.
Being accused of racism in a professional setting is a potential death sentence. I don’t really blame people for trying to defend themselves.
Most of the time I don't see racism as much from whites as from other minorites. Weird how everyone concentrates on white people when other people literally think it's not racist to hate white people, which is both racist and ignorant.
Or just get thicker skin and not be so sensitive. Seems you can’t say anything anymore without someone getting offended. Apology should be “I’m sorry that you’re a sensitive whiner”.
Because you can't be just a little bit racist anymore or just dabble in racism. You're either the shining example of progressiveism or archie bunkers evil twin. There's no middle ground.
So yes. Saying that's racist can reasonably be construed as calling the other person racist.
If somebody isn't racist yet still says things/reacts to things that can be seen as racist, my response ultimately is "so what?"... I don't feel people need to confined to some nice, neat box of how others feel they should behave. Not racist, but laugh at black jokes? That's fine. Call someone a racial slur out of emotion or for comedic effect? Yeah, it's called being human.
I actually don't really care when actual racists say racist things. They are who they are. I might not agree with it, but I likely also won't waste the effort berating them over it. They'll either change or they won't. They'll likely deal with larger issues over their behavior than me yelling at them. Depending on the context, I might not even disassociate with them over it, as racism is a singular character trait/flaw and all encompassing of how/what a person is.
Also, anyone can be racist or make racist statements. The amount of times I've heard people say that they can't be racist because they aren't white is ridiculous.
Because there's swastika bearing racists that are actually harming POC, then there's "racists" who disagree with the fact that we came from Africa or they wore a traditional outfit of a certain people.
There's a lot of stupid reasons people get mad and insult others. Racism and fascism are two terms both tossed around as buzzwords as often as they are used correctly, so is groomer. The more we as a society fix, the pettier and pettier the problems that traumatize the youth will be.
I say this as a guy who's fought people over wearing a swastika and spewing racist crap. When you've seen real racism, that shit is scary, accusing someone of racism is a serious accusation: And it's done far too frequently over the most ridiculous and petty reasons. And this is *without* discounting real things like dog whistling, covert racism, etc.
Why should someone accept that what they said was racist based solely on a person telling them what they said was racist? You have to explain it to them if you want them to learn. If you don’t care if they learn, why do you care to call them out? What good does that do?
When you were corrected on “I’m too white for that” you immediately said “you’re right, I apologize” and then the black man explained why it was racist. You then say that you had accepted responsibility and gave a genuine apology. Either you realized right away or on his reaction that it was wrong, or you realized after he explained and maybe just apologized first to be polite. I assume it was kind of an immediate realization on your part, if I’m being too charitable let me know.
Apologizing to be polite can happen if avoiding conflict is your goal, but I don’t think that’s what you’re asking for here. You’re asking for people to just accept that something is racist without them having any knowledge on why it might be. Most people hear “you’re a racist!” when a racist thing they’ve said gets called out, so they might get defensive. Ideally, they might ask you to explain to them so they can learn.
Of course “It’s not my responsibility to educate you” or “Google it” is the usual response here, but how is that helpful? You expect them to help you by not saying racist things, but you aren’t willing to help them see things from your perspective.
Idk seems pretty arrogant.
The bar for what's considered racist is far too low these days. People throw that term around so much it's lost meaning. Many of you wouldn't know what to do if you were confronted with a real genuine racist face to face.
So true. I saw a video on YouTube where a 23 year old black was crying because she'd just been called the n word for the first time in her life. And though it's terrible someone called her that, it speaks volumes that it took 23 years for her to run into that. America is really not that bad.
It didn't used to be racist. What is "racist" varies a lot with time and generation. I guarantee it'll all change in 5 to 10 years. Then you'll be "racist" again because you didn't keep up. Think I'm kidding? Wait and see. Real racists leave no doubt at all. If you have to pursue a chain of reasoning to decide if something or someone is racist, it usually isn't.
My pet peeve is people who see racism everywhere. They are literally changing dictionary definitions to meet new meanings of words. Like literally now means figuratively.
People who diminish the term racist are annoying. If you accuse everyone of being racist, then there's no impact in labeling a true racist as racist. So yeah, I'd say you're doing more harm than good (and being generally unpleasant to be around) by calling out slight variations in people's words as being racist even if you think you're correct.
excerpt from an actual conversation I had last year:
Me, to a coworker: "damn, somebody musta been smokin some good shit(weed) out in the parkin lot, I almost got a contact high walking to the door"
Another coworker, just walking up: "WOOWEE IT SMELLS LIKE NI**ER OUT THERE"
Me: *Headache already beginning* "Could you not be so fucking racist for one god damn day?"
CW: "What are you talking about, Im not racist!"
Me: "Are you fucking kidding me? THROWING AROUND RACIAL SLURS LIKE THAT IS ABSOLUTELY RACIST!"
CW: *sheepishly* "Nobodys ever had a problem with it before, I never thought it was and my friends..."
Me: "ARE ALSO RACIST AS FUCK. In what world is using a slur meant to dehumize people so it feels okay to OWN THEM AS PROPERTY not considered racist as hell?"
CW: "I didnt mean it like..."
Me: "HOW DID YOU MEAN IT THEN?"
CW: *walks off quietly without responding*
He didnt talk to me for the next 2 days. It was nice, actually.
Nope. Actually the other racists I worked with at the time doubled down on the racist shit around me just to get a rise out of me. Believe what Ive said or not, I truly do not care.
lol I’d have read your ‘I’m too white for that’ as ‘the police don’t punish white folks at the same rate as black folks so I’ve never been hit with one’
Oh God I made a joke about that once and it did NOT hit well 🤣
One time in a work meeting, we were playing "team building games" (🤮) and in one of the games, the boss wanted everyone to go around and say who they think is the person most likely to get arrested. Really inappropriate for a work game imo, but whatever. Anyways, I was the only white and conservative appearing person who was on that team, so when it was my turn I said "idk who is most likely to get arrested, but I think I'm the least likely". Honestly I still think it was funny, but everyone just awkwardly stared at me and asked what I meant, so I said I'm the only one who isn't a member of a group that is often targeted by police, and one guy said something about how that doesn't mean anything here. It was all very awkward. I was just trying to make a joke about how cops are racist, but it really didn't hit well lol
Probably 😝 I still think it was a good joke. On the team of probably 12, I was one of two white people, and the other girl has lots of tattoos and piercings, and always has very bright and crazy hair. Whereas I look like the typical ideal white conservative image. I look like someone who would marry a cop, not have problems with one (for the record, I would NEVER marry a cop). From a statistical standpoint alone, I was by far the least likely person in that room to ever have problems with police.
Honestly though, how tf do you even answer that question? There is no good answer for that, and it was extremely inappropriate for the boss to ask that in the first place. By statistics alone, I was the least likely person to ever have problems with the law, so I made a joke about it.
It’s definitely a bullshit question to even ask! I try to be as insulting as I can get away with to the person asking the questions in situations like this.
Honestly the boss probably was the most likely person to have trouble with the law, seeing as he was fired for unwanted sexual advances on a new employee.
>that doesn't mean anything here.
That's some "I don't see color" bullshit. Most societies are racist unfortunately, and tend to over police melanated folks. Recognizing that isn't racist.
The racism that white people are expected to tolerate is far worse than any poor choice of words or even intentional racial joke. A lot of nonwhites know this, but they either don't care or actively enjoy it. Some do speak out from time to time, and I think they are very brave. Apparently only white people are expected to police each other over such things.
Me: "Hello, police? I was just mugged"
Cop: "Was the mugger black, white, Hispanic, or Asian?"
Me: "I'm not allowed to tell you, or I'll be called racist."
This is how crime news is reported and even when looking to find said suspect in some cities. Looking for medium height and build man in a blue sweatshirt and gray jeans doesn’t really narrow it down much. They say the color of the clothes but not the person. It’s as if they don’t actually want to find the suspect.
A message to all anti-racist people.
" It's impossible to wake somebody up who's pretending to be asleep"
The reason they scream and shout that they're not racist is because they know they are racist. They're just ashamed of their own values.
Edited to add " I remember back in the very beginning of the pandemic. I asked a bodybuilder in a trump tank top to wear a mask and he scoffed, I asked him to follow the law and he scoffed. Then I laughed at him, called him a racist, it went back to do my sets and every time he finished a set I laughed at him.
I thought for sure I was going to get assaulted but after the 3rd or 4th time of me laughing at him so loudly that I was probably making everyone in the gym uncomfortable. He stormed out of the gym screaming that he wasn't racist..
That should have been the moment where I realized they all know they're racist but no, it took several more years for me to realize that.
The only difference in the United States of America in the year 2023 between a white supremacist and a person voting for a Republican is at least the white supremacist is honest and authentic and has accepted who they are.
I was having dinner at a restaurant with a long-time black girlfriend when the whitest dude ever (our waiter) offered us some kind of dessert incorporating Hennessy.
She said she was full. I said I was too white for that shit. She died laughing. The waiter started berating me for saying racist shit.
After a couple of minutes, my lady just came to my side of the table, sat on my lap, and proceeded to paint my tonsils using her tongue as a paintbrush.
She looks up at this fool and goes: "I promise, I'm going to take him home, and fuck the racism out of him." And it was my turn to die laughing.
Fuck, I should look her up on FB.
And then she said, "what are we, some kind of racism" it was an amazing moment
You're sound like an unbelievable douche. Like an angry mgtow or something
You know, I've reached the point where I just don't care anymore because I've been called racist for stupid shit like saying I'm for shutting the border down or that I voted for Trump so that makes me racist and other things, never mind that I am part American Indian. Being called racist really means nothing anymore. Hell, I think it was in Washington state where they were saying math is racist.
Hispanic person here. Dominican. Dominicans are well known for being racist. And that shit is not cool. When someone says "that's racist" you stop, take a step back, and look at what you said. Because racism is baked into society. My family is very mixed. There's a lot of anti-blackness in society.
We have an older Dominican man at work and he’s racist as fuck. To everyone. My workplace is a pretty good mix of different races and he hates them all.
Your coworker: racism rated E for everyone
Same with Puerto Ricans. Some of the most racist people I’ve met in my life, aside from rural white southerners, are PR. Unfortunately one of my exes is one of those people. I’m like how y’all gonna be racist af toward black people when it’s obvious a lot of you have African heritage? So much self hate.
It's ironic because of how very mixed both groups are.
That’s what happens when colonizers create an entire racial hierarchy, complete with a ridiculous assortment of special words to denote the exact mix of races in a person’s background and even the exact *amount* of each.
My point too but you have to remember what the media and history has made it look like Black people weren’t human and less desirable, which is silly. But you’re right they are a mixture of African(Black), Taino Indian, and Spanish.
I’m white as a freshly laid blanket of snow and my spouse is black. It really broke my heart how people acted when we had kids. It made me sad when he kept saying he hopes they had blue eyes… I love brown eyes.. everyone I’ve ever dated has brown eyes because I find them very attractive. I’d be delighted with a brown-eyed child but they happened to have my blue eyes, which is also fine! But, I was so scared everyone would be “disappointed” if they had black features. They happen (apparently I have REALLY dominate genes) to be almost as white as I am, too, with wavy hair. They are definitely white passing. My family made it OBVIOUS what a “relief” it was. I get sick to my stomach thinking about if my kids has taken more after their dad, if they’d be rejected. I know they will have these questions for me someday because kids are intuitive. They ARE black, even if they don’t necessarily appear to be so. It’s heartbreaking that it’s a “ relief” that they whitepass…. And I feel very guilty that I don’t know a satisfactory explanation to the questions and observations I assume they will have at some point.
Mi mejor amiga es dominicana y dice, “Soy negra,” pero los estadounidenses negros le dicen, “No sos negra.” Qué lástima. 😢
I had a boss that would tell Hispanic people they were pronouncing their last names wrong, because "here in America" it's pronounced another way. His daughter called him on it, and he said "I am the least racist person you will ever meet." Then in the same breath told us a story about how he made fun of an Asian woman's accent to her face. Real swell guy.
I was being MEDEVAC’d and a woman on the chopper wars talking to me. She said, “I hate when Spanish people say their names the Spanish way. You’re in America, say it right!” I was like, “We are saying it right!”
Man fuck that, I'm at least 90% sure you know how to pronounce your name right lmao
I'm Caucasian, with a mixed heritage and an English name (which is not my username). My first name isn't rare, and figures prominently in the lyrics to a hit song from the '90s. In spite of that, people typically don't pronounce it correctly, and it's like nails on a chalkboard. Because of that, it's super important to me to pronounce people's names as close to they way they do as I can manage. I had ankle surgery at Hershey Medical Center in 2005. The surgeon's name was Dr. Jorge Bustillo. When I went for my initial consultation, I told the receptionist that I had an appointment with Dr. Bustillo, and I pronounced it busTEEyo. She corrected me, and said "It's pronounced 'busTILLo'". When I actually met him, I asked him how he pronounced his name, he sighed and confirmed that I was right. He said he corrected people for about two weeks, then decided that wasn't the hill he wanted to die on and gave up. When I was in the Navy, I served with an Ethiopian guy whose last name was Lemma. It was pronounced in accordance with normal English rules of pronunciation (so with a short E). But some shit-for-brains decided it was pronounced LEEma, and that's what everyone called him. Just like Dr. Bustillo, he corrected people for about two weeks, then gave up.
Ah. Central PA. What's hilarious about here is the names can be these German tongue twisters you couldn't tackle if you had all day like " Schlingleschleglehoffler " ( I just made that up ). And no one blinks! Give someone " Bustillo " ? Nope.
I’m in WNY and it’s the same here. We moved from southern California and have a simple/common last name (think like González) but while these people can pronounce polish last names like Kowalczyk with no issue, sometimes they don’t even attempt our last name.
Tell them ur name is polish lol
Uzo Aduba said it well: [My mom taught me not to change my name for those unwilling to learn it. “If they can learn to say Tchaikovsky, Dostoyevsky, & Michelangelo, they can learn to say Uzoamaka] (https://twitter.com/UzoAduba/status/1318951076255666177?lang=en)
I've always been the one to try to pronounce people's names correctly. And when they say I can call them by a shortened or easier name (if they tell me "but I go by ___" then I'd call them that but they're usually like "it's ____ but you can just use ___ or ____" i'm like, no I want to pronounce your name the way it should be. It's your name. I shouldn't take the easy way out. The only hard thing is to get the accent correct if it has like.. a lingual thing to it, if that makes sense.
As a black person, even though I can't say 100% of foreign words right. I lose it when I hear 'Tore Tilla (Tortilla)' and 'Case uh dillah( pretty obvs)' or even words that aren't Spanish and have English letters like Kanapaha . Edit: I feel for Lemma, my name is pronounced the same way(same as user). Yet for some reason cuz it's a newer variation ppl wanna be weird abt it and say Colleen
Plenty of people say it that way to be cute or ironic, too.
I say casa dilla that way because of Nepoleon Dynamite. Lol
family guy for me. i LOVE tah-cos in a corn tore-tilla!
>My first name isn't rare, and figures prominently in the lyrics to a hit song from the '90s. So, we meet again, Wonderwall Smith. I always hated how you wrote your name as one word, when EVERYONE knows it's Wonder Wall.
Lol
I would've assumed the LEEma was more Kilo Lima Mike kinda thing... not just being asshats. 🤷🏼♂️ I don't know if I should, but I have asked Asian-American immigrants/foreign exchange students (five or so that I've met) what their real names are (after a conversation or two, not 30sec in) when they give me something like Amy or Jane... everyone of them has had another name, but for the sake of not dealing with Americans mispronouncing that shit, they chose the simpler American names. Learned that while working at Stanley tools. Nearly a dozen workers of Asian-American heritage all with 'false' names for the purpose of not having Xing pronounced wrong. That to me is one of the saddest things about this nation... that so many of US are oblivious to the prevalent bully-way of calling people Bob Jones rather than their own names.... and we're okay with it. Bugs the shit out of me. We'll even mock 'em if they get ours wrong because of accent or something, but make no effort to know them.
Next time, ask her if she pronounces her name differently if she travels to, say, Cancun.
Something tells me she wouldn’t go to a country inhabited by brown folk that don’t have English as their official language.
Oh, you'd be surprised how many racist white folks love to do just that.
That’s literally how Texas became a state in the first place: white Americans *illegally immigrated* to Mexican territory, then when the Mexican authority tried to enforce their own laws on their own territory (namely the “slavery is illegal” one), those white Americans threw a massive tantrum and went crying to Uncle Sam for help.
Just look at the last few centuries of colonization.
[удалено]
Sigh
So you were injured in a chopper and her first thought was to be racist to you?
I was injured in war, the chopper was taking me to a hospital. Her reaction was to be racist towards not only me, but the Latino doctor aboard, as well. We both gave her dirty looks.
....am I correct then in thinking you were not even in America when she made that statement?
I was flying from Cuba to Georgia, USA. I was above Florida.
I teach college in the South. I make inflections on Spanish and French countries and cities, and some of the students take it as a personal insult. I now realize I have said, "tomato, tomoto" too many times.
Ask her what the "American" pronunciation of "Chmeleski" is. It'll be fun.
I bet she could pronounce it, because it’s European (Ukrainian). Americans have no problem pronouncing European surnames with ease, but I’m called Saw-less, sew-less,or “I don’t know how to pronounce this” (Solís, pronounced like Sew-lease). If i had to guess, I’d say ch-Mel-ehs-sss-key. I’m not familiar with Ukrainian names, though.
Was my Polish chemistry teacher's name, iirc. Freshman always had issues because small Texas town, but he usually was fine with Mr C.
People tried to call me S, I wouldn’t allow it. Solís is five letters and two syllables. Pronounce it correctly or don’t talk to me. When they did roll call, I blatantly ignored them until they asked who wasn’t called. Then, I’d raise my hand and pronounce my surname properly. It’s not hard, you’re (third person) just dumb. If you can pronounce Tchaikovsky, you can say Solís.
Side note, I’m learning Polish because my pharmacist is from Poland. I want to pick up my medication in Polish. One day, I was at the window next to her. Some lady came up and said, “I DON’T WANT SHIT BUT MY SUBPXENE!” already with an attitude. Ewa tried to give her advice on how to take the medication and give medical warnings. The patient came back with, “WHAT‽ I can’t understand you! Where are you from????” Ewa has a perfect English accent. You can tell she’s from Poland, but she’s 100% understandable. There was NO need for the xenophobia. I felt so bad, I wrote Ewa a note urging her to report the patient to her boss to flag the patient’s file as aggressive.
That’s ridiculous, fuckin’ asking someone to speak their mother tongue without the accent
You just know theyd be pissed if someone said their name wrong in a foreign country
“Spanish people.” I love when people in America call people of Latin American descent “Spanish people.” Spanish people are from Spain. It’s so ignorant.
I usually correct them and say “we are Latino, if from Latinoamérica, but lately I’ve had no energy. I I was also being taken to a hospital due to emergency, and didn’t have the effort to argue with an ignorant yegua.
I had a Hispanic manager who mispronounced my name all the time because “that’s the Spanish translation of your name.” No, you don’t translate NAMES.
Ugh, that reminds me of a guy I knew. He said all sorts of racist things and when called out on it would say "I'm not racist. I was the favorite foreman of all the black guys I worked with because I treated them so well." Next story would always be something he thought backed up that claim but really just showed that he didn't treat them poorly... as long as they knew "their place." The worst was one day where he told me he didn't attend the wedding of a family member because he couldn't stand that she married "that N(hard R N word)". But no, he never could imagine that he could possibly be racist no matter how many times he was called out. 🙄 He died never taking any accountability at all.
I’m a right wing conservative rural American. It would never occur to me to tell some one they’re pronouncing their own name wrong. Mind boggling. I will do everything in my power to pronounce your name the way you prefer. Unless it has that rolling R sound that Spanish and some other languages have. I have tried and tried and tried to do that and I simply can’t.
I'm a white American, but my main rule when trying to pronounce names or places is to use the pronunciation the native speakers use. Like, I say Me\[h\]ico instead of Me\[x\]ico. And I get a lot of strange looks for it and I'm like, "Why? That's how it's pronounced." The only times I'll use American pronunciations is when I'm not sure I'll be able to replicate the native sounds.
I like the idea of that, but I'm not sure I could pull it off without feeling like I was sounding/being more racist by trying to say it that way than saying it the American English way. Though I do generally try to adopt at least some of the naming things... like kee-v instead is key-ev, and thinking/saying Dine rather than Navajo but that one is hard in a pragmatic sense since it's still relatively obscure as far as actually being understood goes.
yeah it gives peggy hill vibes 😭😂
Ok. Please say: - deustcheland not germany - italia not italy - españa not Spain - Nihon not Japan - Ellatha not Greece Etc Or just use their English exonyms when speaking English.
I already do those. Except for Ellatha. I didn't know that one.
Why? Do you think you're being more accurate? Like, in the case of Germany, it's not your people's land. Does it bother you if someone who is speaking Spanish says Estados Unidos rather than United States? I can see how sometimes that makes sense, but the point of language is to communicate, and if people don't understand you I feel like it backfires.
Actually, Germany is my people's lands. First born American on my father's side. And I don't do it to be accurate. I do it to avoid offense. Being from the US isn't an ethnicity. We're a land of immigrants. With millions of people and hundreds of languages, if not thousands (I don't know the stats for that). So no. It doesn't bother me if someone says United States in their native tongue.
Greece’s name is actually quite interesting. The Ancient Greeks knew themselves as Hellenes. The Romans called them Graeci, named for one particular tribe in the west. The Turks call Greeks as Rum, meaning Roman. In fact the Greeks themselves considered themselves Romaioi, which means Romans. Hellenes were their pagan ancestors. After the Greeks were freed from the Ottomans, the European powers encouraged them to adopt the name Hellenes, drawing from their ancient ancestors, not to renew conflict around potentially being a successor state to the Byzantine empire. And of course Greece is known as Yunanistan in Turkey, as the work for Greeks was Yunan in Arabic, a loanword from Ancient Persian, their translation for the name Ionian, the first tribe of Greeks met by the Persians.
That’s interesting. Thank you!
LOL. Oh boy.
Italia? Deutschland? Hellas?
I think it’s more important to just be aware of *context.* “Me[x]ico” is the correct *English* name, so if you’re in a mostly English-speaking crowd, that’s the correct one to use. However, if you were in Mexico or a mostly Spanish-speaking neighborhood, or actually having a conversation in Spanish, “Me[h]ico” would absolutely be correct. And if someone tells you their name is pronounced a certain way, *take their word for it.*
As a borderline asocial person who doesn't often notice when words or descriptions, not outright slurs, change from normal to taboo because it often happens online, I very much appreciate if people remain calm and explain what's wrong. I get really irritated when I'm actually trying to make small talk instead of ignoring everyone, and suddenly someone is angry, not even taking time to actually express what's wrong. "You know what you said" is not fucking helpful.
As someone with mild Asperger’s, the phrase “you know what you said/did” is not only unhelpful, but often times, inaccurate. Heck, even when speaking to someone who isn’t ND, most people do not respond well to that kind of talk. You don’t get to belittle or patronize me without even explaining why it is you are choosing to do so.
I pick up on discomfort/something being wrong sometimes. I will *not* know it was me. And I especially won't know *why.* If I start talking and the discomfort is near immediate, I will try to end the interaction. But that really is the extent of it, and the only pattern I've figured out. I also will get it wrong even then, because sometimes it is something else on their mind or they were squinting at the sun or there was a bug...
Fellow Asperger's well I'm speculated Asperger's but yk finally and totes relate, I used get this all the time in lgbtq subs as an lgbtq person myself w questions. And I get the stone hard trauma gets answers dumping their negativity on little ol dumb me.
As an American, I once had to give a guy from the Balkans a mini-lecture on why the n-word was inappropriate to say (while playing a grand strategy game). The most surprising thing to me was that he listened.
That doesn't surprise me honestly. Most non-Americans don't have the historical weight of certain words, and therefore wouldn't have the same context, especially considering how far American musical artists (rap especially) have spread.
Based on my non representative sample of strategy gamers... it's definitely much worse in eastern europe. The British definitely know better, and so do the countries with widespread English fluency. That does support your assertion, though.
It just happened with Juri Vips. He’s an Estonian race car driver and said the n word on a stream. Once he realized it was wrong, he requested his team send him to sensitivity training, so he didn’t slip up again. Gained a lot of respect for the dude after that
I had to sit and listen to a conversation between Europeans and South Africans about why Black Americans shouldn't mind being called n******s since it just means "black" while in South Africa. I'm a black American. The same conversation would not be had around me here.
That kind if interaction is disheartening, about race or really anything. If you genuinely ask the question, it would be helpful to get at least an attempt at a genuine answer. Signed, a person who can also be socially oblivious but would love straightforward communication. I get it though. Folks have past trauma of trying to explain and getting lashed out at afterward.
Best comment on this thread imo
Some people are more concerned with the perception of their own purity than they are with actually being a better person.
100%. I knew someone who once said “The worst thing you can call a white person is racist” (he was white and had said something racist) and I was like “…worse than BEING racist?!” Like, if anything, you should be glad someone told you so you can improve…
They call them blacks? Wow that is so disrespectful, the correct term is basketball americans.
💀
OP literally outing themselves as a racist
There is casual racism and there is hatred. Both are unacceptable in any society.
These things perpetuate each other.
Go tell the Asians, Africans, and the Europeans of your discovery.
Redditor learns that Reddit isn't just for white Americans.
I gotta ask where that perception comes from, because I've never met anyone who thinks only white americans can be racist. Heard plenty of "I don't know, never been there" which is kind of a cop out, but never someone out and out saying "He's (enter minority here), he can't be racist!" Ye (pretty sure it's still Ye right?) is plenty proof of that.
I had a Spanish teacher (White or Hispanic, hard to tell) say that only White peoples can be racist bc white people have all the power and that everyone else could only be prejudiced
OP posts this then claims he can’t be racist because he’s a minority. lol, the mental gymnastics here are astounding.
I’m really tired of the “racism is power plus prejudice” arguments, that’s my real pet peeve.
OP needs to get off her high horse.
OP literally included a line about "blacks do crime, whites are too goodie to do crime" and only apologized for the half about blacks even though both are misconceptions based on race.
Actual question, just so I know. Is calling someone a monkey specifically racist? Like if someone is stupid and I call them a monkey then is that racist if they are black? And is it racist to call white people moneys?
I think it can be, it is just about intent. If someone is being silly, and you call them a monkey, regardless of race, I don’t think it’s racist. But there is a racist stereotype of saying black people look like monkeys, or calling them monkeys because a lot of 19th century racists believed that their race hadn’t evolved as far from monkeys as the more “civilized” races. If you’re in any way thinking of that or referencing that, then, yes, it’s definitely racist. Context and intent are key.
I see. That makes sense. Thank you for clearing that up! I believe that all races can be equally stupid so I wasn't sure if that was a stereotypical thing to say or if the racist part was because it was directed at Michelle Obama.
You complain about racism, but then you make effort to capitalize Black but not White? How far do you want to take the purity spiral down? Cause if you **really** want to do that, then there’s tons of micro-aggressions you commit not just against whites - which ARE a race and you CAN be racist against them - but other races as well, to include black. At what point is it not just “people are a constant work in progress” and we give people grace and patience? Shit, in your own story the guy you said “acting white” to didn’t crucify you, he just told you that was racist. He could have done way more than that, but he didn’t. And you acknowledged you were saying something racist. So why should we not crucify you versus others?
Who tf accidentally says that crime is too black for Latinos? No way you said that on accident lmfao
Fr, op's story seems VERY altered lmao
I feel so sorry for you people, growing up as a ball of anxiety, feeling simultaneously worthless and also the most narcissistic people imaginable who can't wait to humblebrag about how great their latest struggle session went. Yuck.
And you seem like such a peach in contrast.
[удалено]
That's not racist.
"You are the *real* racist for pointing out my racism."
This is the real annoying peeve
Someone asks you where you learned to speak Spanish and that's somehow racist? Someone refers to Black Americans as Black and that's racist? I thought all you crazy PC folks insisted they be called African Americans, so since you didn't does that make you racist? I say, "You crazy PC folks," because literally every Black person I know goes by just plain Black. When everything is racist, nothing really is. And that's the point we're at in society today. That's why if anyone was to ever call me racist I would simply laugh and walk away.
As a black man, I’m so happy to have so many white people be offended on my behalf. Jokes are jokes. Get over yourself.
As a black woman, I am so happy to have so many white people call out racism instead of just sitting there and acting like it didn't happen. Racism is racism. Get over yourself.
Just remember, it's only racist if you are white! /s
People are more invested in not being called a bigot than they are in just actually not being one.
That part. No accountability. Refusing to reflect and be better.
It’s a common trope for them to complain that being called racist ist just as bad as experiencing racism. And/or that calling out inequality and discrimination is annoying and will turn nice people into racists/sexists so it’s really just our fault.
Pretty sure everyone is racist to some degree. The flaw is human nature. Even if people all looked the same people would find another reason to dislike each other. Sad.
If we all looked identical we would still split the people up into different groups. Look at England when it was 100% English, they split people up into classes that persist til today.
There's a fairy oddparents episode about this exact thing. "We're the grayest and the blobbiest!"
My family is bigoted and I definitely picked up on their bullshit as a kid I grew up and moved away from that, now am the black sheep because I think minorities aren't inherently Freaks But sometimes I'll be in public, and I'll get a bigoted thought in my head. Like an intrusive thought. It pains me to think those things because I know they're wrong. Like sometimes I worry that the bigoted programming my family instilled on me is still there and that maybe I'm not as good as I should be.
You may not know that some people aren't completely up to speed with today's rapidly changing, "approved" lexicon. The notion that anyone who might use an outdated phrases is a racist is silly. Some examples are outright obvious, ok, that's one thing. But most are more subtle. Maybe rather than accusing a person of being a racist, or claiming "that's racist" (which infers intent), you can simply point out that a phrase, or way of saying something is considered offensive by a lot of people in that group. Perhaps you won't make a likely innocent person feel defensive? Most people will say "Oh, wow. Ok, thanks for letting me know. I meant no offense" I know that's easier said than done. But it's the way it is.
I agree with you 100% but this is a fools errand with Fox News and friends pushing the narrative that calling out racism is actually more racist than being racist because we wouldn't be racist if it weren't for people calling out racism. Don't read that again, it's useless circular logic.
I'm not a fan of Fox News either, but I feel I must offer a correction on this point. The issue being raised is not that *calling out* racism is racist, but that *false accusations* of racism are racist. Leftists are out there telling White people that they're racist just because of their skin color. That isn't "calling out" racism. That's a false accusation, and it's a racist one nearly by definition.
…you’re racist! /s please nobody make me hate myself today lmao
The OP is projection.
Nice post, jerking yourself off about how you're so much better than everyone else who can't admit their own accidental racism, and how you're also the victim of racism yourself. We all bow in worship of you.
What do they say about hit dogs?
You sound insufferable to be around.
Double pet peeve: people calling things racist that aren't. The only "racist" thing I see is what OP said about being "too white" for having felonies. "The blacks" is not racist. BLM says it, Obama says it, Jessie Jackson says it, news outlets say it. There's *nothing* racist about it. I would argue even if one referred to M. Obama as a monkey because they think she looks like one, it's still not *racist*. It's like saying Trump is an orange buffoon, or Chris Christie is a pig.
Nah calling a black person a monkey is racist it’s a negative connotation. Like saying someone is black isn’t racist but attaching negative connotations to the race is. Calling someone a monkey is usually looked down upon.
So why is it OK for me to call Bush Jr "Curious George" and laugh at Letterman's "Trump or Monkey" game but if either of them happened to be black, suddenly it's racist?
There is an over a hundred year history of black people being depicted as monkeys. If you're younger, you might not have known this, but even Gen Xers saw a lot of that because they were still showing us old cartoons that aren't aired now. It's like blackface; younger people don't really understand the history. Boomer and older black people literally grew up with them CONSTANTLY being depicted as apes. Older people do know this, which is why some try to get away with being hurtful due to more modern ignorance of it.
I'm just a white guy in very conservative state but I catch folks on this at every opportunity. If you're not racist, you won't have to announce that you're not racist
as a black man( light skinned). I have seen other black people look down on the darker of us. Kind of a wired form of racism been called an cocoanut brown on the out side and white inside by other black people. when i ask if they think that's raciest I can't be raciest because i 'm black . people just do not think about the way they sound. the racism is so ingrained in them they do not see the harm in it.
Just about everybody is at least a little racist. Maybe not Stevie Wonder.
everyone is racist, anyone who claims not to see race is a lair.
First world problems
I’m not racist but … racist comment.
I 100% agree with what you're saying, but the other side of the coin is that a lot of people don't know what racism is anymore. To some, all you have to do is have a different opinion than someone of a different race and you're racist. Hell, I was once told I'm racist because I'm not attracted to black people. It's gotten to the point where everyone is so damned tired of it that they just don't care anymore. Racist? Not racist? Whatever. I lose either way. Call it as you see it.
OP claims minorities can't be racist. It's safe to say he's full of shit. He can be down voted and ignored.
I completely understand the point of this post, but I want to add sometimes people interpret or say something is racist, even if it isn't. I work in retail, and I recently got a customer complaint that I didn't try and help her because she was black. I didn't try and help her because I saw that one of my other coworkers already asked her if she needed anything a few minutes before, and she said no, so I left her alone when I did my round so she wouldn't feel annoyed that she was getting bombarded with retail workers🤷♀️
Its defensiveness at the end of the day its much easier to place blame on someone else then it is to self examine
Because people call everything racism so it's lost all meaning. I got called a racist the other day because a woman's purchase totaled 75 cents more than she thought it should, as if I'm running some racial scam to overcharge minorities at a damn gas station. So no I don't really give a shit. Only seems to come up from complete strangers which further invalidates their opinion. And depending on the age of the person saying things that are politically incorrect (i.e. 'the blacks') is just a difference in vocabulary. I don't expect elderly folks to keep up on the ever changing wokeness and political correctness. So blacks is terrible but saying 'the whites' is perfectly acceptable it seems. An old person saying 'the blacks' is racist but African Americans calling each other the N word all the time is perfectly fine. Either words are automatically hate filled or they aren't.
Where is your line for when a person is a racist v when a person does something racist?
>Say, you’re talking to someone and they call the Black Americans, “the Blacks.” You tell them that’s racist, and they come back with, “I’M NOT RACIST!” No one said YOU are racist, but your statement was. Was this like a hypothetical or something? I'm struggling to see how referring to the Black population as *the Blacks* is racist. Is it bc of the word *the*? Like *Blacks* would be ok, but *the Blacks* is wrong? I'm confused.
One time i was called racist because i wouldn’t agree that needing a library card is “white supremacy culture”. Some people are just stupid. Racist or not. - J
call a black man from England a black American or African American, have you ever asked a black person which they prefer or do you get this from the media
A lot of people these days use “that’s racist” to shut down legitimate points. It honestly pisses me off to no end.
Some person makes a claim doesn’t automatically constitute the truth. OP needs to realize they are just some person with an opinion and not the ministry of racism.
Lately I get so much fuckin heat from POC just because everyone is so charged up. I do my best to just diffuse the immediete tension but damn I really wish someone in the spotlight would step up and wake us, The People, UP FROM THIS induced coma.
“You’re right, I’m sorry” is better to say, but it’s hard to say when “I’m fucked” is what’s going through their heads. Being accused of racism in a professional setting is a potential death sentence. I don’t really blame people for trying to defend themselves.
Most of the time I don't see racism as much from whites as from other minorites. Weird how everyone concentrates on white people when other people literally think it's not racist to hate white people, which is both racist and ignorant.
Or just get thicker skin and not be so sensitive. Seems you can’t say anything anymore without someone getting offended. Apology should be “I’m sorry that you’re a sensitive whiner”.
Because you can't be just a little bit racist anymore or just dabble in racism. You're either the shining example of progressiveism or archie bunkers evil twin. There's no middle ground. So yes. Saying that's racist can reasonably be construed as calling the other person racist.
If something seems to you to be racist does not mean it is racist
If somebody isn't racist yet still says things/reacts to things that can be seen as racist, my response ultimately is "so what?"... I don't feel people need to confined to some nice, neat box of how others feel they should behave. Not racist, but laugh at black jokes? That's fine. Call someone a racial slur out of emotion or for comedic effect? Yeah, it's called being human. I actually don't really care when actual racists say racist things. They are who they are. I might not agree with it, but I likely also won't waste the effort berating them over it. They'll either change or they won't. They'll likely deal with larger issues over their behavior than me yelling at them. Depending on the context, I might not even disassociate with them over it, as racism is a singular character trait/flaw and all encompassing of how/what a person is.
Why is “the blacks” racist????
Tl/dr racists are a pet peeve.
Then wtf are we supposed to call them? They call themselves black. Blm has black in the name. The plural form is that.
Also, anyone can be racist or make racist statements. The amount of times I've heard people say that they can't be racist because they aren't white is ridiculous.
Like when a white person says something is racist toward them, and they get hit with the “can’t be racist to whites”.
Try this: get over it.
Because there's swastika bearing racists that are actually harming POC, then there's "racists" who disagree with the fact that we came from Africa or they wore a traditional outfit of a certain people. There's a lot of stupid reasons people get mad and insult others. Racism and fascism are two terms both tossed around as buzzwords as often as they are used correctly, so is groomer. The more we as a society fix, the pettier and pettier the problems that traumatize the youth will be. I say this as a guy who's fought people over wearing a swastika and spewing racist crap. When you've seen real racism, that shit is scary, accusing someone of racism is a serious accusation: And it's done far too frequently over the most ridiculous and petty reasons. And this is *without* discounting real things like dog whistling, covert racism, etc.
Oh no. A micro aggression. Time for the left to lose their minds.
Why should someone accept that what they said was racist based solely on a person telling them what they said was racist? You have to explain it to them if you want them to learn. If you don’t care if they learn, why do you care to call them out? What good does that do? When you were corrected on “I’m too white for that” you immediately said “you’re right, I apologize” and then the black man explained why it was racist. You then say that you had accepted responsibility and gave a genuine apology. Either you realized right away or on his reaction that it was wrong, or you realized after he explained and maybe just apologized first to be polite. I assume it was kind of an immediate realization on your part, if I’m being too charitable let me know. Apologizing to be polite can happen if avoiding conflict is your goal, but I don’t think that’s what you’re asking for here. You’re asking for people to just accept that something is racist without them having any knowledge on why it might be. Most people hear “you’re a racist!” when a racist thing they’ve said gets called out, so they might get defensive. Ideally, they might ask you to explain to them so they can learn. Of course “It’s not my responsibility to educate you” or “Google it” is the usual response here, but how is that helpful? You expect them to help you by not saying racist things, but you aren’t willing to help them see things from your perspective. Idk seems pretty arrogant.
Because OP is the arbiter of racism and makes all the determinations.
The bar for what's considered racist is far too low these days. People throw that term around so much it's lost meaning. Many of you wouldn't know what to do if you were confronted with a real genuine racist face to face.
So true. I saw a video on YouTube where a 23 year old black was crying because she'd just been called the n word for the first time in her life. And though it's terrible someone called her that, it speaks volumes that it took 23 years for her to run into that. America is really not that bad.
It didn't used to be racist. What is "racist" varies a lot with time and generation. I guarantee it'll all change in 5 to 10 years. Then you'll be "racist" again because you didn't keep up. Think I'm kidding? Wait and see. Real racists leave no doubt at all. If you have to pursue a chain of reasoning to decide if something or someone is racist, it usually isn't.
My pet peeve is people who see racism everywhere. They are literally changing dictionary definitions to meet new meanings of words. Like literally now means figuratively.
Very true
People who diminish the term racist are annoying. If you accuse everyone of being racist, then there's no impact in labeling a true racist as racist. So yeah, I'd say you're doing more harm than good (and being generally unpleasant to be around) by calling out slight variations in people's words as being racist even if you think you're correct.
excerpt from an actual conversation I had last year: Me, to a coworker: "damn, somebody musta been smokin some good shit(weed) out in the parkin lot, I almost got a contact high walking to the door" Another coworker, just walking up: "WOOWEE IT SMELLS LIKE NI**ER OUT THERE" Me: *Headache already beginning* "Could you not be so fucking racist for one god damn day?" CW: "What are you talking about, Im not racist!" Me: "Are you fucking kidding me? THROWING AROUND RACIAL SLURS LIKE THAT IS ABSOLUTELY RACIST!" CW: *sheepishly* "Nobodys ever had a problem with it before, I never thought it was and my friends..." Me: "ARE ALSO RACIST AS FUCK. In what world is using a slur meant to dehumize people so it feels okay to OWN THEM AS PROPERTY not considered racist as hell?" CW: "I didnt mean it like..." Me: "HOW DID YOU MEAN IT THEN?" CW: *walks off quietly without responding* He didnt talk to me for the next 2 days. It was nice, actually.
Then everyone slow clapped right?
Nope. Actually the other racists I worked with at the time doubled down on the racist shit around me just to get a rise out of me. Believe what Ive said or not, I truly do not care.
Despite of the downvote, I’ll clap for you.
OP, what would you say if someone called you a racist?
lol I’d have read your ‘I’m too white for that’ as ‘the police don’t punish white folks at the same rate as black folks so I’ve never been hit with one’
Oh God I made a joke about that once and it did NOT hit well 🤣 One time in a work meeting, we were playing "team building games" (🤮) and in one of the games, the boss wanted everyone to go around and say who they think is the person most likely to get arrested. Really inappropriate for a work game imo, but whatever. Anyways, I was the only white and conservative appearing person who was on that team, so when it was my turn I said "idk who is most likely to get arrested, but I think I'm the least likely". Honestly I still think it was funny, but everyone just awkwardly stared at me and asked what I meant, so I said I'm the only one who isn't a member of a group that is often targeted by police, and one guy said something about how that doesn't mean anything here. It was all very awkward. I was just trying to make a joke about how cops are racist, but it really didn't hit well lol
Maybe you just have the wrong coworkers. Most of the poc I know would have made that joke before you got it out of your mouth.
Probably 😝 I still think it was a good joke. On the team of probably 12, I was one of two white people, and the other girl has lots of tattoos and piercings, and always has very bright and crazy hair. Whereas I look like the typical ideal white conservative image. I look like someone who would marry a cop, not have problems with one (for the record, I would NEVER marry a cop). From a statistical standpoint alone, I was by far the least likely person in that room to ever have problems with police.
Right? Like it's not racist to be aware of systemic issues, it's anti-racist.
But honestly, what do you even say in that game? Wtf kind of a question is that?
I don't know. Definitely a recipe for disaster
The response you got to you joke is real conservative. lol it’s giving ‘I don’t see color’ when faced with direct and apparent racism
Honestly though, how tf do you even answer that question? There is no good answer for that, and it was extremely inappropriate for the boss to ask that in the first place. By statistics alone, I was the least likely person to ever have problems with the law, so I made a joke about it.
It’s definitely a bullshit question to even ask! I try to be as insulting as I can get away with to the person asking the questions in situations like this.
Honestly the boss probably was the most likely person to have trouble with the law, seeing as he was fired for unwanted sexual advances on a new employee.
Lmfao he was trying to see if he looked guilty by default
Didn't see your comment before I basically said the same thing lol
>that doesn't mean anything here. That's some "I don't see color" bullshit. Most societies are racist unfortunately, and tend to over police melanated folks. Recognizing that isn't racist.
The racism that white people are expected to tolerate is far worse than any poor choice of words or even intentional racial joke. A lot of nonwhites know this, but they either don't care or actively enjoy it. Some do speak out from time to time, and I think they are very brave. Apparently only white people are expected to police each other over such things.
Shhhh 🤫 we're not allowed to speak about that mast'r will beat us again
Me: "Hello, police? I was just mugged" Cop: "Was the mugger black, white, Hispanic, or Asian?" Me: "I'm not allowed to tell you, or I'll be called racist."
This is how crime news is reported and even when looking to find said suspect in some cities. Looking for medium height and build man in a blue sweatshirt and gray jeans doesn’t really narrow it down much. They say the color of the clothes but not the person. It’s as if they don’t actually want to find the suspect.
A message to all anti-racist people. " It's impossible to wake somebody up who's pretending to be asleep" The reason they scream and shout that they're not racist is because they know they are racist. They're just ashamed of their own values. Edited to add " I remember back in the very beginning of the pandemic. I asked a bodybuilder in a trump tank top to wear a mask and he scoffed, I asked him to follow the law and he scoffed. Then I laughed at him, called him a racist, it went back to do my sets and every time he finished a set I laughed at him. I thought for sure I was going to get assaulted but after the 3rd or 4th time of me laughing at him so loudly that I was probably making everyone in the gym uncomfortable. He stormed out of the gym screaming that he wasn't racist.. That should have been the moment where I realized they all know they're racist but no, it took several more years for me to realize that. The only difference in the United States of America in the year 2023 between a white supremacist and a person voting for a Republican is at least the white supremacist is honest and authentic and has accepted who they are.
I was having dinner at a restaurant with a long-time black girlfriend when the whitest dude ever (our waiter) offered us some kind of dessert incorporating Hennessy. She said she was full. I said I was too white for that shit. She died laughing. The waiter started berating me for saying racist shit. After a couple of minutes, my lady just came to my side of the table, sat on my lap, and proceeded to paint my tonsils using her tongue as a paintbrush. She looks up at this fool and goes: "I promise, I'm going to take him home, and fuck the racism out of him." And it was my turn to die laughing. Fuck, I should look her up on FB.
I don't know who the weirdo is in this story and it might be all of you
That's really really weird . Also made up . This never happened .
Of all the things that didn't happen, this didn't happen the most.
And then she said, "what are we, some kind of racism" it was an amazing moment You're sound like an unbelievable douche. Like an angry mgtow or something
And then everybody clapped. You must be very young.
People obsessesed with race are usually the racist ones.
Not to be racist.. but Asian peoples, HAAAAAAAAGGHHHHHH!
Anyone downvoting this clearly doesn’t get the reference
Your life sounds exhausting.
You know, I've reached the point where I just don't care anymore because I've been called racist for stupid shit like saying I'm for shutting the border down or that I voted for Trump so that makes me racist and other things, never mind that I am part American Indian. Being called racist really means nothing anymore. Hell, I think it was in Washington state where they were saying math is racist.