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> 10 Mistakes White People Make When Talking About Race
>
> Posted October 16, 2007 | 04:00 PM (EST)
> Read More: discussing race, race, Racial Attitudes, Racial Comments,
> racial identity, racial politics, Breaking Living Now News
>
> Over on SirensMag.com, we're in the midst of a race-themed issue.
> Heavy/scary, I know. But I can't tell you how much the act of
> discourse about this all-important topic has opened our eyes - and
> those of our readers. But not all discourse is good discourse (see
> idiotic political blabbermouths of late). It's easy to botch an
> important discussion about race with fear, ignorance, or just plain
> silliness. Uninformed--or even overly politically correct--white
> people are the major offenders, sure, but anyone without adequate
> information can be guilty of sounding like a racist or an idiot (wait,
> that's redundant). With the help of some favorite (and vocal)
> celebrities and writers, here are 10 things not to do when trying to
> have an intellectual discussion about race--which, to be clear, you
> should do. But first learn from these mistakes:
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>
> 1. Thinking It's Not OK to Talk About It
>
> Race is such a touchy topic because it is often associated with all of
> the negative history and oppression of minorities in this country.
> Blacks, Latinos, Asians, and Native Americans share a history of
> physical and social abuse at the hand of the white majority. Yes, that
> leads to anger and distrust, feelings so strong that they've survived
> for centuries. But the only way to bridge the gap and move forward as
> a more unified society is to talk about it: all of it.
>
> We are supposed to be engaged in a cultural conversation about race -
> a dialogue largely taking place on television and at the movies. We've
> traded unquestioned racism for a twisted multicultural correctness.
> Everything is celebrated, nothing can be discussed. We seem to want to
> live in an imaginary world without racism, where we celebrate
> differences but never base our beliefs on them."
>
> - Sallie Tisdale, author of The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Harvest Moon
> and Lot's Wife, Stepping Westward and Talk Dirty to Me
>
> 2. Using Culture-Specific Slang to Relate to Other Races
>
> K-Fed, you ain't. And you just shouldn't try to be--ever.
>
> Black people have a wide array of colorful terms that come in and go
> out of style and can be used in a myriad of different ways. White
> people, it will be extremely tempting to try and incorporate these
> terms into your everyday language. Don't. When you guys start using
> our words, that's when we know it's time to stop using them.
>
> - Nick Adams, author Making Friends With Black People
>
> 3. Assuming Biracial People Identify More with One Side Than the Other
> The majority race in America today isn't white, black, or even Latino.
> It's biracial. And this will only increase with each successive
> generation. We're a society that loves to check off boxes, but the
> greater challenge is to stop seeing people as shades and start knowing
> them for who they are.
>
> As the child of a black man and white woman, born in the melting pot
> of Hawaii, with a sister who is half-Indonesian, but who is usually
> mistaken for Mexican, and a brother-in-law and niece of Chinese
> descent, with some relatives who resemble Margaret Thatcher and others
> who could pass for Bernie Mac, I never had the option of restricting
> my loyalties on the basis of race or measuring my worth on the basis
> of tribe.
>
> - Barack Obama, Kenyan/White American, Illinois Senator, presidential
> candidate
>
> 4. Thinking Race Is Only an Issue for Minorities
>
> The tendency is to think of "race" as something that only
> black/brown/Asian/Hispanic people have - whereas "white" is the
> default setting ( i.e., we say "American" to mean white, but "Black
> American," "Asian-American," etc. to identify other Americans of
> different colors). Everyone has a race. This is a nation of
> immigrants, from England, Ireland, France, Germany, Poland, Africa,
> Asia, and beyond.
>
> To be white is to have a race and a racial perspective as well, and
> that needs much greater acknowledgment in our culture. Discussions of
> race will always be limited until white Americans can have an honest,
> open discussion about what it means to be white in America - the good
> and the bad.
>
> - Molly Faulkner-Bond, biracial Harvard grad who explored issues of
> interracial friendship in the current Sirens issue
>
> 5. Using Outdated Terms When Describing Different Races
>
> Oriental, Colored, and Indian went out of style a long time ago; in
> fact, they're considered offensive. So, too, is lumping every
> Spanish-speaking person into a general category like "Mexican" or any
> Arab-looking person as "Persian" (it's a specific country, people).
> Feeling the need to identify is a nervous reaction we have when faced
> with issues of race. Black, white, Asian and Latino/a are generally
> accepted, but when in doubt, how about you just call someone by their
> actual name. Who says we have to classify ourselves all the time
> anyway?
>
> I had to deal with my prejudices. I had to learn to ignore the
> taunting labels of other blacks who had everything figured out,
> including how I should act according to the color of my skin. I am
> human first, and that's where my efforts have gone.
>
> -- Donna Leonard Conger, author of Don't Call Me African-American
>
> 6. Believing Stereotypes
>
> Yes, black Americans dominate most sports, more Asians are accepted
> into MIT than any other race, and Latinos have been known to tear up a
> dance floor. Though some race-specific stereotypes seem like positive
> assumptions, imagine yourself on the other end, with high expectations
> placed on your shoulders simply because of a scrutinized minority.
> White people don't have the pressure to be the best in math or sports;
> they just have to be good enough. Everyone else should get the same
> slack.
>
> One could say (I don't) that stereotypes are benevolent: All Asians
> are smart and hard-working. All Asian men are geeky engineers with
> high-flood-water pants and calculators on their belts. All Asian women
> are either passive, submissive chrysanthemums or seductive,
> manipulative hotties. I suppose it's true that these aren't hugely
> destructive stereotypes, but they are stereotypes nonetheless, and
> they can have hurtful consequences. I think to get rid of these
> stereotypes, Asian Americans are going to have to be more vocal and
> political. The same goes for other races.
>
> -- Don Lee, author of Yellow: Stories
>
> 7. Thinking Affirmative Action Has Anything to Do With Someone's
> Success
>
> One of the most controversial issues of the past 20 years is
> affirmative action, a term widely over-used and often misunderstood.
> It was supposed to explain educational and hiring policies put in
> place to encourage more diversity on college campuses and in the
> public sector. The naysayers made it sound like minorities were given
> hand-outs, which has resulted in an assumption, even years after most
> of those progressive policies have been killed, that a successful
> minority must have been given an easy ride. How about you ask Oprah if
> she was given an easy ride when networks constantly told her she
> looked and sounded too "ethnic" early in her career? Do you think the
> late CBS anchor Ed Bradley was given a break when he accidentally
> became the first African-American White House correspondent, a result
> of his network sending him to cover what they thought would be a Jimmy
> Carter loss? And of these two "View" hosts, who do you think earned
> their coveted role more: Lisa Ling, a trained journalist, or Elizabeth
> Hasselbeck, a "Survivor" contestant?
>
> A white boy that makes C's in college can make it to the White House.
>
> -- Chris Rock
>
> 8. Assuming One Man's Success = An Entire Race's Progress
>
> It's commonplace to celebrate the breakthrough successes of
> minorities, the firsts, the bests. These people deserve our accolades,
> certainly, but the success of a few doesn't mean an oppressed minority
> is triumphant. We still have a long way to go. The day we stop
> clapping for the minority in a "good for you, kid" condescending
> manner is the day we've made real progress.
>
> I never thought I was going to be a success. I was the
> longest-produced comedy at Warner Bros. and I don't feel special. When
> you have to work harder just to break even, it's hard to feel special.
> I got cancelled so they could put Cavemen on the air. It doesn't make
> sense.
>
> -- George Lopez, whose The George Lopez Show was the longest-running,
> most profitable all-Latino show in the history of network television
>
> 9. Thinking Cultural Exclusion Is Racism
>
> White people are in a difficult situation in this struggle to talk
> about and understand race. On the one hand, they are reprimanded for
> being the majority that alienates all other races. But are minority
> races guilty of the same exclusion by keeping to themselves? Or is
> such elective segregation the only way to preserve community and a
> strong racial identity?
>
> I don't even like the term 'self-segregate.' Kids group together on
> common lines of interest and experience. If Hispanic kids want to sit
> together and speak in their mother tongue, that shouldn't bother
> anyone, but they should have the same opportunity to meet other kids.
> My decision to sit with people who I share things in common with is
> not the same as legalized imposition of segregation.
>
> -- Beverly Daniel Tatum, Ph. D, author of Why Are All the Black Kids
> Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? and Can We Talk About Race?: And
> Other Conversations in an Era of School Resegregation
>
> 10. Declaring You Are "Colorblind"
>
> There is no such thing as colorblind (in fact, it's a long-running
> Stephen Colbert gag for just that reason). It is not a racist stance
> to see color, but a fact of life. Ignoring it promotes ignorance.
>
> You cannot live in this country and not see color. We all need to step
> out of the naiveté box and stop pretending it really doesn't exist. We
> need to understand that ...
>
> read more »