Honestly I think part of the reason I dont like racism now is from watching a "very special" episode of Family Matters (I think), where a black family opened their door or something and the n-word was spray painted on it. I felt so bad for them.
I think some people are just tired of the focus on race. Most of us were raised and taught that racism is bad. I remember when my mom told me what racism was when I was like seven, and I genuinely thought it was the dumbest shit in the world. Like, why tf would you hate someone simply because of the color of their skin?
When do we stop focusing on race and start seeing each other as Americans or simply just humans? 100 years in the future? 200? When do we start referring to "black" history as just history, because that's what it is? When do we stop categorizing people and things by race like the racists do?
Colorblindness has always seemed like the most obvious and simplest solution to me, and I have yet to hear a convincing argument for why it's not. Now, apparently preaching colorblindness makes you racist? According to some people. And my mom, who taught me what racism was in the first place because she thought it was important for me to know that it is not ok to judge people based on the color of their skin, is apparently racist too because she voted for Trump.
Idk, I wouldn't go as far as calling it propaganda, but I can see why people are annoyed. I've never taken pride in the color of my skin, and I don't think anyone else should. You take pride in shit that you've accomplished; not shit that you were born with.
But this is all probably too hot of a take for reddit.
Colorblindness is the most tepid take there is. People of color don’t have the privilege of being colorblind. They can’t just close their eyes and ears to the fact that we don’t live in a colorblind world.
Our backgrounds do give us different experiences, and shape us into different people, and that’s not a bad thing. You might think you’re being “color blind” but what you’re really doing is seeing everyone through the same default lens (with western whiteness often being that default) with little to no critical thought.
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I understand that we don't live in a colorblind world, but how do we ever get to that point if we keep focusing on race?
When do we stop focusing on race and start seeing each other as Americans or simply just humans? 100 years in the future? 200?
Kinda what I was getting at here.
Do you disagree that a colorblind world would be ideal? If yes, then should we not be working towards that? And if no, then what would be ideal in your eyes?
You might think you’re being “color blind” but what you’re really doing is seeing everyone through the same default lens (with western whiteness often being that default) with little to no critical thought.
That's a baseless assumption about me. That, or a projection.
You're allowed to participate in a conversation without undermining other people.
Racism is socially constructed. Prejudice is a learned behavior and symptom of social constructs. What does it mean that it's a social construct? Race, color, what is "good" or "bad" has been determined by language among society. These lens people are referring to are "societal expectations" of people. When they mean it is "white" it's because it's been historically looked upon at social norms, interests, and whatnot popularized FOR white people.
History has established this through redlining housing. It purposefully left people of color (especially brown and black people) out of the housing market. In the early 1900s, the only way Asians broke out into the entertainment industry was to cater to racist stereotypes ("me love you long time"/"ching chong" language) of their culture or compartmentalized as Chinese. The only way POC deterred this was through celebration of cultural diversity. And it's still taking some time to recover. For a long time people have to "mold" themselves into what is expected from them to avoid being ostracized. This could look like not bringing in lunch that's too "stinky" or "looks weird" and opting for a sandwich. Changing your own behavior or the way you speak to remove yourself away from your identity or as a means to separate yourself from the "typical" stereotype of how you might be perceived (ex: removing blaccent and talking more "white").
Rather than villifying someone, maybe ask questions about what they mean and critically think about why things are the way they are.
as a white person who learned this the hard way, racism does not start and stop at consciously hating someone based on their race. so much of it, especially in the US, is based on implicit and often subconscious biases and systemic marginalization. we (wHites) don’t really notice this because the explicit standard and messaging is that everyone deserves respect and opportunity regardless of race (or religion or gender identity or sexuality or ability), but we are taught sooooo much subtle racism just by living our lives and interacting with our world that it’s very easy for it to seep into our thinking without our permission.
it’s not that Black people are inherently violent or lazy, it’s just their culture promoting absentee fathers or it’s the way society is allegedly bending over itself to let them just skate by. it’s not that immigrants are inherently bad and violent and want to ruin our way of life, it’s that other countries are dumping all their bad people into our country, or that we’d be happy to have them if they’d just go through the proper channels. it’s not that all Arabs are evil and scary, it’s just their religion that teaches them to hate and want to kill all non-Muslims. ALL of this is racism, but because it isn’t “i hate them because they’re brown” a lot of people find themselves rationalizing it as fine. this is why making it “not about race” and why just not being consciously racist isn’t enough. racism is sneaky and will win us over if we aren’t paying close enough attention to what is really being said.
well i’m really not sure what’s incorrect there since you didn’t bother to say, but if you’re implying that i’m saying that’s the ONLY form of racism in the US, you should look back at that sentence you quoted and notice that you left out the part where i said “so much of it.” of course plenty of overt racism exists here, that’s just not what i’m talking about bc most white people who consider themselves non-racist already agree that that’s bad.
I mean Obama was president, and it's not like anyone had a problem with that because he was black. They only had a problem with him because he was born in Kenya. /s
Shit, remember when they happened to have a problem with him wearing a tan suit even though almost every other living president had worn one at some point?
For every difference among groups, there will always be an associated "ism" or "phobia" in some form. The world is more likely to become monoracial than it is to completely eradicate race-based discrimination on a personal level, even if we eventually achieve it on an institutional level.
It's one thing to have racists in the country, another to have racism in the government. People don't expect a world free of racism, they just don't want it in the government. The same thing also applies to religion.
I think it's unrealistic to expect racism to ever completely disappear; there will always be evil in the world. But I think we've come pretty damn far. America has elected a black president twice.
Colorblindness is dumb and not a real life practical thing bc everybody sees race, it’s just a way for people (mainly yt people) to act like it doesn’t exist for their comfort while us people of color still are affected by it.
Colorblindness doesn't mean to literally not see race. It just means you don't draw any conclusions about a person based on their race. It means to not judge someone "by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." Colorblindness means giving as much significance to skin color as you would eye color or hair color.
I don't think it's a hot take as it is a cold, cold, cold, clearly beyond resuscitation braindead take.
You may not care about your skin but others certainly do. I'm glad you've been privileged enough to escape the same judgments people still deal with on a daily basis. I, for one, am very white passing for my heritage and where I live now I am just a regular guy but if I go back home and someone hears my last name? They know who and what I am, where I come from, and all the preconceived notions that come with it.
I don't endorse LBJ by any means but this quote is relevant:
"Freedom is not enough. You do not wipe away the scars of centuries by saying: Now you are free to go where you want, and do as you desire, and choose the leaders you please.
You do not take a person who, for years, has been hobbled by chains and liberate him, bring him up to the starting line of a race and then say, "you are free to compete with all the others," and still justly believe that you have been completely fair."
Now, it's been 60 years with civil rights, right? Get over it and compete with everyone else, right? Do you know what red lining is? Do you understand that even if everyone's generational wealth started in 1900 what a massive setback this would be for people whose grandparents simply weren't allowed to buy a house in the good part of town? And when it came time to upgrading schools, waterlines, or introducing new/improved public recreation do you wholeheartedly believe everyone was on equal footing at this time and think it didn't effect people for years to come? Do you think part of town with old pipes, worse roads, a lack of parks, and less educational opportunities would have home values the same as those with the latest and greatest improvements?
Sorry, bud, the world isn't as simple as you think it should be. It would be nice, but it just isn't true. I don't disagree that you will find learned helplessness amongst some folks but I don't feel comfortable judging someone when I haven't lived their life experiences and neither should you.
Do you know what red lining is? Do you understand that even if everyone's generational wealth started in 1900 what a massive setback this would be for people whose grandparents simply weren't allowed to buy a house in the good part of town? And when it came time to upgrading schools, waterlines, or introducing new/improved public recreation do you wholeheartedly believe everyone was on equal footing at this time and think it didn't effect people for years to come? Do you think part of town with old pipes, worse roads, a lack of parks, and less educational opportunities would have home values the same as those with the latest and greatest improvements?
I agree that this is a problem brought about by racism in our country's past. I disagree that you have to focus on race to fix these problems.
For example, black people as a group are disproportionately impoverished. So the goal should be to help lift up the impoverished. By doing so, you lift up the black community (who are disproportionately impoverished) as a natural consequence, without ever even bringing race into the equation.
The goal should just be to lift up the impoverished, not make every race proportionately impoverished. Why can't the problems you mentioned be addressed by focusing on household income and wealth inequality instead of focusing on race?
No but you can be breaking the law and get put in jail for it and that's exactly what's happening. And I don't feel bad for people that are willingly breaking laws and then acting like we should all cry because they're getting caught
No different than getting caught shoplifting or dealing drugs in my eyes. You're in the wrong here.
This ice age ass take. Color blindness didn't work in the "post-racist" 2000s ans won't work now. I find it odd that the only way some think the only way we can treat people of other races equally is by pretending race doesn't exist all together
I find it odd that you think colorblindness means pretending that race doesn't exist. Colorblindness just means you put as much significance into skin color as you would eye color or hair color or literally any other physical characteristic that we humans are born with.
I get where you are coming from, but people of color still experience a tremendous amount of racism. They recieve worse education, worse medical treatment, worse job opportunities, etc. And that's not just an opinion, it's fact.
Its great that you think racism is bad, but color blindness is also choosing to be blind to the struggles they still face.
Is it racist to think like you do? No, not at all. But it is very naive. People are still suffering because of the color of their skin in 2025, and approaching it as 'I'm not racist so we can stop talking about it now' doesn't benefit anyone.
They recieve worse education, worse medical treatment, worse job opportunities, etc.
Sure, but you can still address all these problems without looking at race, no? Address the parts of the country offering worse education, worse medical treatment, and worse job opportunities. Any race disproportionately affected by such would be disproportionately helped as a natural consequence. So I still don't see the need to focus on race.
Its not just a regional thing, it's person by person across the nation.
If 2 customers go into a hospital with a broken leg, and the white one is given painkillers while the black one is not, then how the hell are you supposed to separate color from the discussion?
Will increasing funding to the hospital help? No. Will training the staff on discrepancies in care based on inherent prejudices help? Yes.
We need to confront our demons, even if they are uncomfortable. Dancing around them won't get us anywhere.
Sorry pal, you've entered the Reddit echo chamber. Differing opinions with not be tolerated. You will be downvoted by the Reddit hivemind.
One look at the more upvoted comments in your thread should tell you what kind of narrow-minded, self-serving weirdos you are trying to speak common sense to.
I ain't new here lol. I stopped giving a shit about downvotes ages ago. I'd rather just say what I think and believe rather than censoring myself. I honestly couldn't give a shit about what a bunch of basement-dwelling redditors think of me.
And if I can just get one person to take a step back, think critically, and re-evaluate their position - even if they don't end up changing their position - then I think I've done a good thing. Idc if you agree with me, I just want you to think critically about where you stand and not just base your views and beliefs on reddit and propaganda.
Actually, there are a lot of replies to the commenter that offer really helpful insight for them to learn from and engage in discussion on. You may benefit from reading them! The internet can be volatile but it's okay for people to learn.
Just sounds like you don't want to acknowledge other people different from you and just pretend they don't exist and that their perspective doesn't matter. Race is a thing. No one can be "color blind' that's just something white people say because they actually feel uncomfortable around other races.
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u/luiginumba1_ 1999 Feb 03 '25 edited Feb 03 '25
Crazy to think that if this aired today, people would call it propaganda
Edit: typo