White people who claim racism
 

I can't be the only person who is irritated by white people who go on about racism as if they are self appointed advocates for minorities.

Seriously, these people get on my nerves - they play up the issue of race with greater frequency than those who have a genuine reason to do so and it comes across as:
a) insincere and
b) patronizing.

All of my African American contemporaries are color blind - I've never once felt as if there is a color barrier - in fact the subject of race rarely if ever comes up so when I hear of whites trying to be "right on" I find it cringeworthy and fake. Okay, so the reason I bring this up is that a white person I know made the observation that the movie "Coming to America" is racist towards Africans which tbf might have some validity but it would mean a lot more coming from a black or African person - I have never met a single black person who has made that observation.

Thoughts?

Re: White people who claim racism
 

So white people aren't allowed to say if things are racist or not? So you're saying it is only acceptable if black people say things are racist? Dumbest sh1t I've ever heard.

inb4thirtypages

Re: White people who claim racism
 

No, thats not what I'm saying. I'm saying that a black person would be better able to determine if something is offensive to them than a white person taking offense on their behalf.

Its strange to me - I've never heard a black person claim that "Coming to America" is racist, then a white person makes that observation.

Re: White people who claim racism
 

How would they be better at determining it? It makes no sense. It's like saying Asians are better at determining how fast a car is. Everyone knows what racism is, it has a set definition and pretty much everyone has been in contact with it. Like tell me how the amount of melanin in your skin magically makes you understand it more than someone else when it is something set in stone and something we've all seen and heard about. Like if you walk down the street and see a picture of like a black guy with fried chicken in one hand, a basketball in the other, and they give him whatever other sterotypes people give to black people, how can you determine that's racist better than me?

Re: White people who claim racism
 

Actually, you are saying that a person of a different race inherently is not as qualified to do something as someone of another race; IE, racism

You say there's no color barrier? Than someone's race shouldn't qualify or disqualify them from any opinion or statement, fool

Re: White people who claim racism
 

That's an extreme rarity. Consider yourself luckily.

Re: White people who claim racism
 

You're on a white forum; you can't say anything that questions the values of white people.

Re: White people who claim racism
 

white people have a privilege that manifests itself in a number of ways. OP I understand what you are trying to say. They have the agency to be able to speak and be heard, while "others" do not.

I do not think saying "color blindness" is a good thing at all, tbh I really don't think such a thing can exist. The way we see people is inherently affected by our past experiences and the discursive reproduction of race (the process of racialization, google it if you don't know what it is) We should EMBRACE the differences of other people, not sweep it under the rug.

That being said we have to be aware of our position in relation to what is being said. If you truly cared about a statement a white person makes saying "..... is racist and a denigrates (insert race) people", then why not see if that is true. That is a second hand OPINION, not a sentiment shared from first hand accounts. Yet because of the aforementioned agency I spoke of, this opinion is more quickly legitimized than that of subaltern knowledges. We should seek knowledge not only where it is legitimized, but also where it is produced. In short, I don't think it is bad that a white person would say something like that, but there are things that are problematic about it if it silences other voices that SHOULD be heard.

Re: White people who claim racism
 

This is called white guilt. They are trying to be seen as "one of the good ones", but in reality they are only showing their hidden racism.

Re: White people who claim racism
 

Also, this. White guilt is very real. Even Quentin Tarantino has succumbed to it.

Re: White people who claim racism
 

OP, that line of reasoning is clearly racist, I'm white.