The Problem with Black Lives Matter

Adder wrote: Yea, which is why I've kept explaining that ensuring the narrative shifts away from race and to discriminatory action (in this case 'Police brutality') will have a greater reach and leverage and greater change. It's not so much about education, as racist folk are not ignorant about it they are just bigoted about it... so making the narrative more relevant to more people means the bigotry looses its foundation in those who have it and can more easily be dislodged and die out within the bigot.

Unfortunately, I have to disagree. There is a bounty of evidence online that shows a deep ignorance of history with regards to race, precisely because the only ones talking about it are racists and those impacted by them. We talk to people all the time who don't think the Civil war was about slavery, don't know about when the racists switched from Democrat to Republican, think Lincoln was always in favor of freeing the slaves, etc. People think they know about racism because they heard of MLK and George Washington Carver and because they hear random things during black history month. This ignorance is so reinforced by our system of education that black students have to go looking for information about their own history because its not taught in schools. People are finally, right now, not turning away from race. And THAT is why changes are happening

You cannot fairly expect people to be subject matter experts in your particular type of suffering... it's impractical for everyone to give it the same attention you consider it deserves. If it is more about the nature of action then the reasons for the action, then you'll find that it becomes more relevant to more people because more people can relate to it from their own life and lived experiences. And no I'm not arguing for ignorance. Basically, IMO, it's also easier to normalize worldviews around common positive values then force a particular worldview to make an example of bad values.

Adder wrote: You cannot fairly expect people to be subject matter experts in your particular type of suffering... it's impractical for everyone to give it the same attention you consider it deserves. If it is more about the nature of action then the reasons for the action, then you'll find that it becomes more relevant to more people because more people can relate to it from their own life and lived experiences. And no I'm not arguing for ignorance. Basically, IMO, it's also easier to normalize worldviews around common positive values then force a particular worldview to make an example of bad values.

Okay let's use Jews as an example. Jews were hated and oppressed. Did you see Schindler's List? I was moved watching that movie. I don't know about you. I definitely wasn't a subject matter expert (not sure why you think anyone is requesting that. seems odd). But I could empathize with what they were going through; because of what was happening to them. And honestly, I know TOTJO is not synonymous with Star Wars and don't want it to be but at least everyone should be familiar with the mythology and familiar with the likenesses and history the underlying story and cultures are based on. Because obviously, the nazis are woven into the fabric of Star Wars.

That being said, why did we feel for the rebels? Why didn't we side with the empire? Were we subject matter experts? Or did we just FEEL? Did we just connect with Luke and Leia and gasp at the morality or lack thereof that allowed the Empire to destroy an entire planet, looking for the rebel alliance? You didn't have to be a wookie to care about Chewbacca. You didn't have to be a robot or an ewok.

So close your eyes and pretend that you see storm troopers kneeling on the necks of cute fuzzy brown ewoks. And whatever you feel, that's what we're asking for. And like V said, in V for Vendetta,

"If you feel as I feel"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IyuK069I-w

I loved this speech; especially as it casts blame fairly upon everyone, including the citizens that have allowed the government to commit these acts of injustice. This is part of the reason African Americans often don't have closer relationships to whites. Why does it have to happen to you in order to feel it? But when a person's dog is injured or threatened... well... sometimes its easier for people to feel empathy and compassion.

V: if you are looking for the guilty you need only look into a mirror

V: People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.

Jewish people were fought for, received reparations, received their own state. The allies fought for them. And trust, when anything even smells antisemitic Jews are all over it and people start passing out denunciations and condemnations left and right and you know it. We've all seen it. And it's important because as much as the allies fought to help right the wrongs of the nazis, the hatred of the nazis remains and if you let that go unchecked and unabated... history may repeat itself.

The hatred against black people is important because unlike Jews, African Americans are not wealthy and not in a position to protect themselves the way that Jews are able to protect themselves from Nazis today (The KKK hates them too). If the criminal justice system even dreamed of oppressing Jewish people, with all the Jewish people who are in positions of wealth and power, the world would stop spinning that day until the threat was taken out. In many ways, oppression against black people has never stopped and often people must be shamed into hiding their racism and at least pretend to get along. But then they put on badges and met after dark wearing white hoods so you couldn't see that they were cops and judges.

Racism has continued to this day because of the efforts to LIMIT the scope and view to just "infractions" that can be explained away by numbers and statistics. But it hasn't died because racists have power and the ability to get away with it. You have to take that power away and how do you know who to take it away from?

Someone shouldn't have to become Hitler and give the extermination order before someone lifts a finger to stop them.

Sorry, I'm not sure how that is in reply to my point, but you did quote me so..... it's not limiting the scope, its expanding the scope by including all groups suffering the same type of discrimination.

And to me Star Wars is a deep metaphorical structure, but Rebels didn't destroy the Deathstar because it was an Empire installation, they destroyed it because it had, and was attacking them. That logic might not stand up within the wider fiction, but I don't view the fiction as gospel so it needn't.

But I can play I guess.... I guess your suggesting the extent of feeling for different people was only proportionate to the awareness of that groups existence. Which I think is what your trying to say about being aware of the victim to feel for the victim. OK, but how much, and does that counter a manifest threatening action they might undertake? Being different, or part of a victimized group, or even an enemy group, does not mean all action against it is discriminatory. Lawful conduct should be proportional, distinct and necessary and race, gender, sex, ability etc really shouldn't come into it much at all if at all.....

Sure yes, when I said subject matter expert it was an exaggeration but how many times has a 'awareness of the history of black slavery' been thrown around to cite 'white ignorance' on this matter! I'm on the other side of the world and I've seen footage of it quite a bit. Knowledge is relative to experience and prior knowledge, which is more often then not going to be higher on both counts for African Americans then the rest. But there'd be levels of awareness; starting from the most simple of knowing African Americans exist, moving up to does one know they were victims of slavery, and then increasing in complexity through the historical details and contemporary manifestations of it among them and the rest of the community as a result. It really should require very much awareness at all to know enough to know racism is wrong, so the problem of racists seems to be not in the awareness but in the personification of the suffering, hence my point..... for IMO you don't achieve that by making other people suffer.

This is part of the reason African Americans often don't have closer relationships to whites. Why does it have to happen to you in order to feel it?

Huh? I don't quite get what you mean.... 'whites' don't need to experience something to feel something. That would be a bizarrely racist thought to have let alone say, so feel free to clarify if you like. I could presume that its part of your apparent point about what I'm calling 'awareness', but then it would seem that you might be arguing for making 'white' people suffer discrimination to end discrimination from 'white' people.

To be honest I'm sort of tired of the whole labels, people are not white or black. You can always find people who are mostly more of one then the other, but its all mixed. Racists make a point of it, because it serves their bigotry, but for everyone else its just people. If a community has a culture which they associate to a 'race', then that is fine... but it serves no purpose to think everyone else thinks that way. I'd rather just judge people on their actions, not their appearance... and no that does not mean I don't see color.

Oh, did I forget the Jews.... to me I identified with the human suffering of them, not the Jew suffering. Same way I identify with the suffering of black people etc. Doesn't take much subject matter knowledge at all, basically none for me since I (and most people I know) extend my empathy beyond humans.

Adder:

And to me Star Wars is a deep metaphorical structure, but Rebels didn't destroy the Deathstar because it was an Empire installation, they destroyed it because it had, and was attacking them. That logic might not stand up within the wider fiction, but I don't view the fiction as gospel so it needn't.

Um... sorry. Can't agree there. According to one of my favorite movies we saw how the plans for the Death Star got to the rebellion in the first place and how people fought and died just so that Luke knew where to fire those two proton torpedoes. Of course this is not about Star Wars trivia. The point is that the Death Star was recognized as a threat because of what it was and represented and whose hands that power was in. As soon as the empire was established all the power that used to be represented by the PEOPLE (we the people) was usurped and coopted by authoritarianism. And this often takes the form of making people so afraid that they believe that whatever you are doing to protect them is justified. The rebels; however, knew what was happening and what it was turning into. That's why they started as the resistance and later became the rebels. Similarly, we as a society, should always resist the slide into authoritarianism and fear and hate, before we all find ourselves on the other side; getting tear gassed while asserting our first amendment rights.

If you wait until after the death star shoots you, it's too late. You can't then prosecute them for destroying a planet because they'll just be like "where is the rebel base" until they've destroyed every threat and then they'll say "we have brought peace to the galaxy".

So the point is, that if we know racists are in positions of power we need to get them out. If they want to be a gas station attendant, I'm 100% cool with that. A judge? No. I don't even mind if they make a ton of money making parts for airplanes because at least the airplanes they're working on will be used by everyone and they wouldn't have a means of targeting a racial group through that job.

Sometimes I feel like Mace Windu. It's like if you see what's happening, and that thing that's happening is not going to hesitate to destroy you and use whatever power they can not just for personal corruption but for corrupting the whole social order, why not try and stop it? In the case of Palpatine it really was too late to go through regular government channels because he had already taken them over.

Adder:

It really should require very much awareness at all to know enough to know racism is wrong, so the problem of racists seems to be not in the awareness but in the personification of the suffering, hence my point..... for IMO you don't achieve that by making other people suffer.

You may be confusing me for Jane Elliot here. In no way have I ever stated, at any time, in any location, that I wanted other people to suffer. What I want is the end of racism and white supremacy and the fair and equitable restoration of justice upon those impacted. If you rob a bank for 5 million dollars, and a court finds you guilty, can you really get upset when the money is taken back? If you're suffering as a result of being "robbed" of this money you stole... is that the same thing as the suffering of those you stole the money from?

I don't want anyone to suffer. But there has to be consequences for hurting people. Otherwise, if there are incentives to hurt people and no consequences for hurting people then people will simply continue to hurt people. Even with consequences, people hurt people. So why would they stop when there are no consequences? I don't know. Maybe you mean something different by "making people suffer". Maybe I'm taking this in the wrong context. If so, please elaborate.

me:

"This is part of the reason African Americans often don't have closer relationships to whites. Why does it have to happen to you in order to feel it?"

Adder:

Huh? I don't quite get what you mean.... 'whites' don't need to experience something to feel something. That would be a bizarrely racist thought to have let alone say, so feel free to clarify if you like.

*sigh* I hope Webster changes the definition of racism very soon. Everyone wants to use this word as if it means the same thing. Anyway... different subject.

Obviously, I'm not saying white people, as a race, lack empathy. I'm talking about the PERCEPTION that African Americans have, that is proliferated by certain comments, which, if needed, I can point out to you, that indicate that a seeming majority of whites can better empathize with their pets than black people when it comes to actual systematic racism and its effects. This perception that whites don't care is not true of all whites but comes from the fact that what we are saying now is NO DIFFERENT... than what we've been saying for over a hundred years; way before you were born. And we inherit the impact and the effects of RACISM while people commonly confuse this with slavery and think we are simply trying to justify why haven't been able to thrive based on slavery when in reality our particular brand of slavery was caused by RACISM and white supremacy.

Slavery is gone, but the underlying racism and white supremacy still exist. Do you see the problem with that?

After slavery ended, it wasn't like everything was fine because black people were free. No, we had segregation and Jim Crow. We were still oppressed and when the normal oppression wasn't enough then unions were created to protect white workers. Racism isn't limited to one form of self-expression. It comes out in whatever avenue or platform you allow it to have.

Even on this site I've had to argue that black lives matter isn't racist, but rather a response to racism. It's ridiculous that should have been a debate in the first place but it always is, because people will find any reason to go against our attempts to fight and protest for equality. It's almost like that impulse to attack is programmed into people by white supremacy in order to maintain it. How many times did I have to post the statistics for people to show that this was in fact happening and that it was based on race?

People would rather think its all about poverty in order to provide excuses for the police that they believe are protecting them. But it's not true and even some ex-police officers are starting to say it too. One even called himself a pig. I know that I cannot say that because if I do I'll lose credibility on the subject. But he called himself that because of all the things, not only he's done personally, but all the things he helped others do and all the things he didn't report. They really truly do act like a gang. It's hard to believe this. I understand. But this officer recounts how he when he did try to do the right thing it was made perfectly clear that ratting his fellow cops out was never the right thing. That's why there isn't equal justice.

Adder:

To be honest I'm sort of tired of the whole labels, people are not white or black.

Bro, all black people know that "black" is a racial construct create by "whites". But whether it is a positive or negative thing... that's up to society and so this becomes part of the "culture war". I used to argue with gay people about homosexuality because I was WRONG. My Christianity caused me to be arrogant and blind. I would ask why they would label themselves by something they like to do. Never thought about how I will call myself a "Gamer" even though I don't do it professionally.

There's nothing wrong with labels!

Wrong only comes in when you force people to have a label they don't want and you use it against them as an attack or to assist in some sort of prejudicial or discriminatory treatment. So don't use black with the intention of any sort of negative meaning.

The LGBTQ community took the words "gay" and "queer" and took control of these labels so that they could redefine them as something no longer negative. Because whether you say "gay" or not, you're still going to have a thought (positive or negative) that comes to mind when you think of that community.

Avoiding labels is actually very meaningless because those communities still exist and they are allowed to turn a negative stereotype into a positive one. Especially when they've been mistreated for so long, it is their choice... not up to society, to take the label away only after it now means something positive to them. I don't share their experience but being black and still occasionally hearing the n-word but knowing how we've taken our own version of that word and made it positive? I'm proud. I'm proud of black people for being able to do that. And I'm proud of gay people who have been able to do that and take the stigma from that word.

My girlfriend (another useful label) and I were watching a show called "white people sh*t". And the black host smoked weed with one of the white people he was doing these experiences with and he was like "I don't normally say this, but 'my nigga'." and the white guy, who carves wood with a chainsaw, took it as a high compliment because he understood the usage of the word (and that he shouldn't use it himself). It was all love. And that's what we need. Not trying to pretend not to see the labels that have been excepted, but seeing it in the same positive sense that THAT group sees it in. That's healing. To me, the other is simply practicing ignorance.

All words are symbols. They represent something. Obviously black people are human. If anyone has trouble understanding that, then they're deeply racist. But humans come in different shapes and sizes. And that's okay. If we ignore the adjectives of all the things that make us special or different or unique then that, to me, would be a sad colorless world. And some things you just can't put the genie back in the box on. It's too late. You can't go back. You have to go forward. If it doesn't bother us it shouldn't bother you.

Imagine if people started saying they weren't going to say Jews anymore because of Hitler. Jews would say that was antisemitic. Are all Jews religious? Absolutely not. Think about that. All Jews are not practitioners of Judaism. So why not take that label away? Because it's not your call about what to call them. They had an experience, as "JEWS", so this word means something more than just a religion to them. So maybe white doesn't mean anything to you. That's understandable. If you don't want to be called that it's fine. But I want you to understand that for black people it is the same as "Jew". Who cares whether it is accurate or not?

When I think of black people I don't think of color swatches at Sherwin Williams. I think of the culture and heritage that is REPRESENTED SYMBOLICALLY by that word. And I get defensive about anyone trying to take that away. ESPECIALLY while others are still hating on it, targeting it, and while I'm still being oppressed by those who want to use it against me. And YOU not seeing color doesn't help me with that. Sorry, if I sound a bit more passionate than usual. It isn't an indictment on you as much as it is the potential of others who share that thinking.

ZealotX wrote: Adder:

And to me Star Wars is a deep metaphorical structure, but Rebels didn't destroy the Deathstar because it was an Empire installation, they destroyed it because it had, and was attacking them. That logic might not stand up within the wider fiction, but I don't view the fiction as gospel so it needn't.

Um... sorry. Can't agree there. According to one of my favorite movies we saw how the plans for the Death Star got to the rebellion in the first place and how people fought and died just so that Luke knew where to fire those two proton torpedoes. Of course this is not about Star Wars trivia. The point is that the Death Star was recognized as a threat because of what it was and represented and whose hands that power was in. As soon as the empire was established all the power that used to be represented by the PEOPLE (we the people) was usurped and coopted by authoritarianism. And this often takes the form of making people so afraid that they believe that whatever you are doing to protect them is justified. The rebels; however, knew what was happening and what it was turning into. That's why they started as the resistance and later became the rebels. Similarly, we as a society, should always resist the slide into authoritarianism and fear and hate, before we all find ourselves on the other side; getting tear gassed while asserting our first amendment rights.

If you wait until after the death star shoots you, it's too late. You can't then prosecute them for destroying a planet because they'll just be like "where is the rebel base" until they've destroyed every threat and then they'll say "we have brought peace to the galaxy".

So the point is, that if we know racists are in positions of power we need to get them out. If they want to be a gas station attendant, I'm 100% cool with that. A judge? No. I don't even mind if they make a ton of money making parts for airplanes because at least the airplanes they're working on will be used by everyone and they wouldn't have a means of targeting a racial group through that job.

Sometimes I feel like Mace Windu. It's like if you see what's happening, and that thing that's happening is not going to hesitate to destroy you and use whatever power they can not just for personal corruption but for corrupting the whole social order, why not try and stop it? In the case of Palpatine it really was too late to go through regular government channels because he had already taken them over.

Nah, there is the intelligence collection phase which is ongoing against threats... and which is distinct from attacking something. Then the that is no Moon needed to maneuver into firing position, and have its systems ready to fire, all as part of the attack... so my point didn't require anyone to take a hit before deciding they are being attacked.

But yes, some threats are so dangerous that it's not really safe to have them floating around in anyone's hands. The 'weapons of mass destruction' such as in the real world are a nasty thing, and proliferation of them tends to be constrained as much as possible to the countries already with them, sometimes by Force. But I'd suggest if the Rebel's had a better way to take it down, they would have, but they were sorta cutting it close there.

But again with the racism; to your point I'd ask what makes someone a racist in your example... is it discriminatory action based on race because if someone is acting racist in the conduct of their duty, then its illegal AFAIK and they should already be in trouble for it. Or is it racist thoughts or beliefs? I feel like we're going around in circles because last time we were here, in this thread, it seemed like your suggestion was knowing (of thinking you know) what people believe ie thought Police. If the penalties are too light for discriminatory behaviour then the only way to deal with that is probably to get into politics, law, or join the effort to achieve organizational reform by joining the organization in a capacity to make those changes. But these things can only be in response to actual discriminatory behaviour, not discriminatory thought.... I don't think society limits thoughts, not yet.

ZealotX wrote: me:

"This is part of the reason African Americans often don't have closer relationships to whites. Why does it have to happen to you in order to feel it?"

Adder:

Huh? I don't quite get what you mean.... 'whites' don't need to experience something to feel something. That would be a bizarrely racist thought to have let alone say, so feel free to clarify if you like.

*sigh* I hope Webster changes the definition of racism very soon. Everyone wants to use this word as if it means the same thing. Anyway... different subject.

Obviously, I'm not saying white people, as a race, lack empathy.

Arrr it might be obvious to you, but your use of the labels make it at the least less obvious... and at the worst technically racist from the point of view I mentioned. Which is the opposite of how you say you meant it.... which goes to my point, that group identity politics is so wound up in racial issues in the US that often goes against its actual anti-discrimination mission.

ZealotX wrote: I'm talking about the PERCEPTION that African Americans have, that is proliferated by certain comments, which, if needed, I can point out to you, that indicate that a seeming majority of whites can better empathize with their pets than black people when it comes to actual systematic racism and its effects. This perception that whites don't care is not true of all whites but comes from the fact that what we are saying now is NO DIFFERENT... than what we've been saying for over a hundred years; way before you were born. And we inherit the impact and the effects of RACISM while people commonly confuse this with slavery and think we are simply trying to justify why haven't been able to thrive based on slavery when in reality our particular brand of slavery was caused by RACISM and white supremacy.

People can get all sorts of perceptions from all sorts of information... there is plenty to choose from. The problem with defining your struggle by your suffering is that it tends to color ones perception by the suffering such that things can be misinterpreted, or as above made unclear.

ZealotX wrote: Adder:

To be honest I'm sort of tired of the whole labels, people are not white or black.

Bro, all black people know that "black" is a racial construct create by "whites". But whether it is a positive or negative thing... that's up to society and so this becomes part of the "culture war". I used to argue with gay people about homosexuality because I was WRONG. My Christianity caused me to be arrogant and blind. I would ask why they would label themselves by something they like to do. Never thought about how I will call myself a "Gamer" even though I don't do it professionally.

Huh? Created by 'whites'....... people of different appearance have been interacting throughout human history and I assume they each have their own labels etc for each other. I think you mean the broader culture you exist within had and has racial categories in popular use... and that broader culture was mostly created by 'whites'. But 'mostly' is such a broad stroke, I'm sure someone can look up the person who first created these things and then you can put a name on it instead of a whole race. But yea, science tends to label things as a mission. As I said, people are more then white or black.... not only are they generally mixed, but they are way more then the racial designation, or their gender, or their sexual preference etc etc. Anyone can use any label, but labels can be overused and misused as much as they can be underused. They seem to be over-used in the US when it comes to discrimination, and not just racism. I think there'd be more progress over there on these issues if people focused more on the discriminatory action then the type. I wouldn't have this opinion if it wasn't such a problem there.

ZealotX wrote: There's nothing wrong with labels!

Wrong only comes in when you force people to have a label they don't want and you use it against them as an attack or to assist in some sort of prejudicial or discriminatory treatment. So don't use black with the intention of any sort of negative meaning.

They can be unproductive if used inappropriately or unnecessarily, as they can add context which is not required or actively unhelpful to the process... so I'd disagree that there is nothing wrong with labels. I would suggest labels have a purpose, and there use can be good and useful, or bad and counter-productive. If someone says a label is not useful, it doesn't mean they are saying labels are useless.

ZealotX wrote: My girlfriend (another useful label) and I were watching a show called "white people sh*t". And the black host smoked weed with one of the white people he was doing these experiences with and he was like "I don't normally say this, but 'my nigga'." and the white guy, who carves wood with a chainsaw, took it as a high compliment because he understood the usage of the word (and that he shouldn't use it himself). It was all love. And that's what we need. Not trying to pretend not to see the labels that have been excepted, but seeing it in the same positive sense that THAT group sees it in. That's healing. To me, the other is simply practicing ignorance.

Yea, weed does that I guess, but it could have been taken many ways in theory... I'm presuming it was taken in the spirit it was given.

ZealotX wrote: All words are symbols. They represent something. Obviously black people are human. If anyone has trouble understanding that, then they're deeply racist.

This is the problem, it's not that racists don't see their target group as inhuman, they see them as less human. Is it deeply racist, yes, it's deep racism, and it's the root of the problem that needs to be addressed - hence why its important to find ways to lift them out of it because it doesn't serve them to do it themselves, that is part of what makes them bigots. Yelling at them and burning stuff just makes their bigotry worse.

ZealotX wrote: Imagine if people started saying they weren't going to say Jews anymore because of Hitler. Jews would say that was antisemitic. Are all Jews religious? Absolutely not. Think about that. All Jews are not practitioners of Judaism. So why not take that label away? Because it's not your call about what to call them. They had an experience, as "JEWS", so this word means something more than just a religion to them. So maybe white doesn't mean anything to you. That's understandable. If you don't want to be called that it's fine. But I want you to understand that for black people it is the same as "Jew". Who cares whether it is accurate or not?

Labels have meaning in so far as they are required to differentiate attributes, but if those attributes don't need to be differentiated then it's unnecessary group identity politics which may not serve the actual problem. Like I said earlier its not a black and white thing, there is no absolute labels must be applied to all people that can have them versus no labels can be used at all. It's just sometimes they serve the issue and sometimes they don't.... and when trying to alter the way people might think it usually easier to minimize their use where they don't serve to help fix the problem.

If you choose to use a label which might continue a problem because it helps you identify with the problem, then to me that is perpetuating a victim mentality at the cost of the real struggle. I'm not sure you can have it both ways unfortunately. But again, it's not an argument for removing anyones identity, its about the best use to achieve progress, real progress.

ZealotX wrote: When I think of black people I don't think of color swatches at Sherwin Williams. I think of the culture and heritage that is REPRESENTED SYMBOLICALLY by that word. And I get defensive about anyone trying to take that away. ESPECIALLY while others are still hating on it, targeting it, and while I'm still being oppressed by those who want to use it against me. And YOU not seeing color doesn't help me with that. Sorry, if I sound a bit more passionate than usual. It isn't an indictment on you as much as it is the potential of others who share that thinking.

But I said it's not that I don't see color, it's just that I see a human before I see color. I've said this many times and you seem to either ignore it because you like repeating this point, or disagree with what I'm saying. Can you be more specific as to which it is so I can understand?

I apologize. We talk about racism in my community so often that it's easy to forget that many people don't experience it as we do and scarcely even know what it is. The dictionary definition is inadequate. The definition we widely use comes by way of Dr. Frances cress Welsing.

quote:
As a black behavioral scientist and practicing psychiatrist, my own functional definition of racism (white supremacy) is as follows: “Racism (white supremacy) is the local and global power system and dynamic, structure, maintained by persons who classify themselves as white, whether consciously or subconsciously determined; which consists of patterns of perception, logic, symbol formation, thought, speech, action, and emotional response, as conducted, simultaneously in all areas of people activity (economics, education, entertainment, labor, law, politics, religion, sex, and war); for the ultimate purpose of white genetic survival and to prevent white genetic annihilation on planet Earth – a planet upon which the vast and overwhelming majority of people are classified as non-white (black, brown, red and yellow) by white-skinned people, and all of the non-white people are genetically dominant (in terms of skin coloration) compared to the genetic recessive white-skinned people.”

simplified translation (mine):
It is a power dynamic designed to empower the dominant race to the detriment of other races.

As you see, she does include thought but thought cannot be policed, nor should it. If this bothers you, consider that almost every crime is preceded by the idea/thought to perform that crime. That doesn't mean that crime should be fought like in the movie Minority Report. It simply means that the people who tend to think that their race is superior tend to be the ones to act on that belief. You can't act on a belief without having the belief. If you were a Christian in Salem maybe you believed that witchcraft was satanic. This belief could be utilized by others who believed it and by more still who wanted to use that belief against women they didn't like.

In my opinion it is important to understand why those women were tortured and murdered by their local society. It was because the beliefs of the people were mobilized into action. If men had underlying biases against women and wanted women to "stay in their place" and not venture outside a certain ROLE that they had prescribed for them, then they might be motivated to call them a witch. Depending on the severity of their hatred this motivated thought might actually become speech, causing that thought, LIKE A VIRUS, to spread to others. Once it hits a critical mass then they could murder that woman while the townsfolk sat back and watched and maybe even participated.

Make no mistake. This is a lynching and shows the mentality behind how it becomes possible for a society to abdicate their morals once hatred takes over.

Now substitute the woman for black people in general, but even more so the black man. Racists take the place of Christian extremists, also wanting their target to "stay in their place" and not venture out of the ROLE (permanent servile underclass) prescribed by their racist ideology. They become motivated to call them the N-word and denigrate them with stereotypes designed to paint them as lazy criminal minded people lacking inherent value. By reducing them to cattle, this enables them to be treated as such; treated as 3/5 human.

Many people have this idea but do not act on it. They are simply law abiding citizens. Yet they help form the masses that sit back and watch black people suffer. Like the officer who stood there facing the crowd while the crowd kept telling him that George Floyd wasn't breathing and to check his pulse, much of the US population has a certain level of racist bias because they have been infected with some racist ideology. It is only those who develop a more burning/passionate hatred, that tend to do the worst crimes (like lynching or other acts of terrorism). As individuals they usually don't act at all. In small groups however, their ideas are reinforced and they feel powerful enough to act. But as a society, individuals, even without the passionate hate, can also act because they believe it is acceptable to the greater social contract they have with other white folk who also believe as they do. So then you might have a judge that treats black men unfairly in relation to whites. And statistics (in the US) bear this out. Then you also have those carrying biases informed by the stereotypes. They are not actively racist. They're passively racist. They're not going to get to know you, invite you over for dinner, etc. And for most of these things you don't care because it doesn't affect your life. But then the same people will think that someone else would be better for the job, someone else is more deserving of a promotion, someone else should become the new manager, etc. Part of this is that in their imagination they can't see that black person performing as good a job as the white.

If it is hard for you to fathom all this, understand that this is not part of the "White experience". These views are not nature. They are nurtured. Where you live matters a lot. Where you live often determines your religion, your politics, the echo chambers in which your mentality and behavior patterns evolve and adapt. Kids may start out hearing racist jokes. They laugh because they don't yet have any connection to the subject. Over time, what starts out as being funny can become more serious; especially when they are faced with survival and need jobs. That's when they start talking about Affirmative Action and think black people are getting jobs they should be getting. This can build resentment because they think black people have some kind of privilege. In reality, a bare minimum was done to help protect black people from ongoing racism and a system of white supremacy that impacted people's ability to survive based on the color of their skin.

A perfect example of the mob mentality is what happened in Tulsa, OK; which is why it is such a slap in the face that Trump wanted to have a rally their on Juneteenth. Remember, most white people were perfectly happy being segregated from black people. This isolated state allowed the echo chamber to turn into a room full of megaphones. Any little thing a black man did, could end in his death. If you looked at a white woman, that was sometimes all it took. White women had tons of power because at any moment they could scream and a black man's life would be over as he was turned into a witch. Young black man trips walking into an elevator one day. To try and stop himself from injury he reached out and committed the unpardonable sin of touching a white woman. Just like some modern encounters with the police, lies were told. The store manager reported it as an assault possibly rape attempt. Once the news got out, some of the white folk sought to apprehend the young man but the black community believed him when he said he was innocent and they protected him. And because they did that, white folks rioted and burned down their entire business community; probably the richest and most thriving black community in the US. The black community there even had their own airplanes which the whites stole and used to bomb them from the air. It was the only such bombing in US history.

As some whites acted, MANY others did not. They didn't say "hey maybe he didn't do it". Or... "let's wait until after she presses charges". They didn't stop it from happening. They just let it happen because it wasn't their problem.

This is why Jane Elliot is important to the conversation because she experimented with this, and she, a white educator, concluded that all whites (at least in America) are some level of racist. I don't know if I fully believe this as I like giving everyone the benefit of the doubt, but... again... every racist isn't a homicidal lunatic or a liar or willing to actively work against the survival of black people. Many people could have caught this virus, by nurture, to some small extent but then their life experiences acted like a vaccine. And some kids, based on their life experiences and where they grew up, were "vaccinated" against racism from a young age. That's my theory.

But again, I'm not interested in policing thought. This is not what black people are after. And I don't mean to speak as though we're a monolith. It's just that I've been part of thousands of conversations with black people from different groups and different walks of life. I've been an organizer and, to a much lesser degree, a "leader" of sorts. I grew up on black forums especially, but I've always had white friends and have tried to see things from both sides. And like people on drugs, I understand that it isn't always useful to blame the addict. Therefore it isn't useful to blame the racist necessarily. The ones I blame are the ones that openly display overt hatred and disdain. I also blame the ones who use their positions of power do commit acts of racism in ways they cannot be caught or proven to be racist. But the masses are victims too; they're victims of propaganda against black people that's put out there by racists in order to maintain and boost their numbers. They're always trying to recruit and change opinion. They are fighting a culture war. THEY SAY THIS. Not me. When we try to oppose racists working in numbers, as individuals, it's like a pawn trying to defeat the entire chess board. So when we see one person get killed, we understand its not just one person who's being killed by just one racist cop. That racist cop is part of a system and is supported by other racists. It's not a singular effort. It's a group effort. Sometimes groups work together in an organized way. Other times groups simply do similar things and work individually towards the same goal. Racism has a mix of both. But the propaganda constantly pumps negative images of black people in order to provoke a certain response. And that response is either fear or hate.

If a white person doesn't hate a black person but is afraid of them... that can accomplish the same goal because when she screams or calls the cops, then racists with guns and badges can shoot that black person and then use the law to protect them from prosecution. And even though it happens often the masses think they're heroes. Racists whites do understand the mechanics of this. When the white woman in the park with her dog off the leash, was confronted by a black man there to watch birds, she threatened him with calling the cops because she knew there was a possibility they would execute him on the spot. Please watch this video and note how her voice changes when she calls the police. And then I want you to ask yourself if you think this is the only time in history this has ever happened. Is she the only woman who ever thought to lie on a black man in order bring the wrath of white society down upon him. I don't want you to answer. I want everyone who might see this video to ask themselves the same question.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKk_TBumdCw
(note: this was also my first time seeing this video)

This video is why understanding racism is so important. Fear, envy, and hate. These negative emotions are nurtured by racists so that they can act as triggers for racist action. This woman understood what she was doing. She could have gotten the man killed for having the nerve to tell her what to do. Not everyone is so cavalier with human life. In my opinion, what she did was attempted murder. Because if you can do suicide by cop then you can do murder by cop. Not everyone is even conscious of their biases. And not everyone announces, on camera, their evil intentions. She was being stupid. There are far more people who aren't. So when you think about what racism is and what it looks like, please understand that the idea of simple "discrimination" is just one symptom of a much larger construct, maintained by belief systems that penetrates all areas of life. It starts with seeds planted in the mind but the harvest is how those beliefs impact the lives of black people. And does it happen enough to significantly oppress an entire race? Many people doubt this but the fact that people do is simply a testament to how effective it is. It wouldn't be effective if everyone knew about it which is why we protest and say

BLACK LIVES MATTER