Tell me how this is not racist?

I’ve wondered the same thing. Why isn’t there a White History Month. And a White Entertainment Channel.

I think I might agree, I think you could re-phrase all that so people can understand it better.

But I think each race still does have a bit of racism. I think it shows with Networks, and movies being entirely centered around one group of people.

Asked a question like this , it got pulled think this might go the same way

@sandystrachan I did the same thing awhile back, never got approved.

I wouldn’t call it racist….I don’t see any discrimination. Rather I see it as a pride rallying thing that espouses a group mentality just like we see in nationalism and religion and more.

Probably because the Whites never did have to fight for their freedom…

Because white people weren’t enslaved by black people for 400 years. If you honestly think we live in a society that doesn’t discriminate against black people every single day, you have some serious denial going on.

Let’s look at the specific aim of the documentary:

This July, CNN continues its investigation of the most challenging issues facing African-Americans with “Black in America 2.” Soledad O’Brien reports on people who are using ground-breaking solutions to transform the black experience.

What are challenging issues that are unique to white people that deserve special attention? Skin cancer?

It’s not racist. They are highlighted because they are a race that has overcome obstacles set before them by another race. Whites have not had a major obstacle such as cultural oppression put upon them.

The program is merely about the cultural achievements of that race.

Didn’t a lot of Africans sell people to become slaves?

@willbrawn

They sold them to whites. Supply and demand. People are turncoats, that’s a common denominator in all races.

It’s not racist. Unnecessary, but not racist.
It’s kind of like how there are HBCUs but not WBCUs. Some would say every other college is a WBCU.

link

Huh?

HBCU?
Healer Bee Cow Udder?

WBCU?
Warrior Bee Cow Udder?

Don’t mind me too much.. I’m delirious right now..

HBCU

@BBSDTfamily

There could be a White Entertainment Channel. No one says it can’t exist, but no one wants to do it.

Blacks discriminate against blacks.
In some nations, lighter skinned people will discriminate against the darker skinned and this is nothing new.
Blacks have enslaved other blacks and not just for the sale to whites.
The same thing happens in Asian countries where lighter skinned people are favored over darker skinned.
This is not just a present day phenomenon, but has happened throughout history.

@Dorkgirl

It makes me wonder: why is that? Why is there a universal favoring for lighter skin? Some may say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but only to a certain extent, I guess.

@Facade Ah… Thanks so much for that….

Way to go for modern segregation

@DominicX “the blacker the berry; the sweeter the juice” haha

@DominicX I have wondered the same thing, and don’t have an explanation for it.
It does baffle me.

@DominicX: I’m not sure there is a universal favoring for lighter skin. After all, people do go out and tan themselves occasionally.

@Saturated_Brain Not sure if that was sarcasm but whites sure as hell fought for their freedom, American Revolution a ring a bell…

It’s true it would be nice to see more of our entertainment culture honor white/european heritage as well, something like the Irish exodus to the U.S. during the potato famine maybe, i admit to some bias here however.

the blindness so many white people have to the ubiquity of their own culture is effing astonishing.

@Rsam care to expand on that…

One Race, many Types, many Kinds, but One Race.

No its not racist. It is ‘type-specific’ and ‘setting-specific’. It doesn’t negate the possibility of a similar thing being done for other ‘types’ and nor should it. Bring on the same kind of programmes about other ‘types’ as well. I’m sure that they would be equally interesting.

Let me clarify that i believe having a white history month to be abusrd as we are not the ones whose culture needs preservation. I believe as a minority like the black community they feel as though through black history month they can preserve and honor their culture and the struggles that have taken them this far and hopefully even further. However, many white people are quite unaware of the trials and tribulations of their own ancestors and something that could help to remedy this would not be seen as “white power” i hope, but rather a recognition of the different backgrounds we all come from and instead help to instill a greater general pride in all being Americans together.

I’m not sure I understand what it is you are asking
are you talking about the “black pride” and the “white pride” deally thingys that go on in the media and stuff?

People always bring up the point of “why dont we have ‘White Entertainment TV’?”

It’s ALL white entertainment TV with very few exceptions.
How many minorities were regulars on Friends or Seinfeld?

You act as if white ethnic groups do not promote the same type of community and cultural awareness. There really is no such thing as the white race, or American culture. Since the first settlers, ethnic groups have congregated and expressed cultural pride.

You are operating from a false premise: there is no such thing as “white America”.

@lloydbird is right—we are one race. The human race. There are different ethnicities and different cultures, but we are one race.

The reason why there are such things as Black History month is because before the 1960’s every month was White History month.

And until Bill Cosby (I Spy) and Diahann Carroll (Julia) came along, all network television was the White Entertainment Network.

In addition, whites don’t tend to clump together as one unit. They separate by things such as ancestry (“Kiss me, I’m Irish” shirts), religion (Catholics vs Protestants), and other things.

In any case, since America is made up of people from just about every culture in the world, why not have all sorts of celebrations and networks?

@mm20 to be perfectly honest. no. ive learned theres no point in arguing with the ignorant.

I have reached the conclusion that people should strive more to find similarities rather than hanging onto and preserving their differences. I don’t think separate but equal is possible nor viable. My surname has an ethnic identity but I personally see no point in claiming an alliance with it. We are all humans, in a perfect world, that would be the determining factor.

Black Engineer of the Year

Asian Engineer of the Year

Hispanic Engineer of the Year

White Engineer of the Year

Caucasian Engineer of the Year

I don’t understand why the people who complain about the lack of a white history month aren’t out there creating it. You want it to just come to you or something?

@Jeruba Or German American Engineer of the Year! (Perhaps)

I think that if Black people really didn’t want to be singled out because of their race, they wouldn’t have all these specific black things. I think that if we really wanted to rid the world of racism, no one should be allowed race specific organisations or TV slots.
Is that gonna happen? Probably not because people are proud of where they come from. That’s fine, but they gotta be prepared to be slandered for it. We are all humans, I can’t even comprehend why difference of race is even a problem. But it is, so if you wantt a White Pride month or whatever go make one, but be prepared to be slandered for it, just like you are slandering the Black one.

I’m seriously waiting for the Guys that Like Goats in That Special Way Month. Now that would be progress. :-)

I don’t think it is racist. I think minorities sometimes feel misunderstood, and so these types of programs try to explain life from their perspective. When you are part of the majority, many times you don’t understand what life is like from the minorities point-of-view. I also think it opens dialogue which is good.

Just looked at @Jeruba post…those types of honors I actually disagree with. That is different than a show trying to explain your experience in America.

@JLeslie The absence of what should be there should not detract from what is there, if the latter does not restrict the other. It can’t be right to decry the achievements of some because others have done well in their given circumstances.

@lloydbird Can you put that in other words, I’m not sure I follow. I think you are saying that you think it is fine to have a black engineer award. I think it is better not to separate, it just leads to more separation. And, it implies that the minorities might not be competeing as well as the whites. So, if a black person is Engineer of the year, if there is such a thing, is he also the black engineer of the year? Two awards for him. Seems like that is logical. But, I might have misinterpreted your statement.

@jleslie It is fine to have a ‘Black” category in engineering award circles, but it also seems unfair that there is no “White” category or “Brown” category or any other kind of category. However, because a ‘Black” category does exist, it should not be held up as a worthless example of ‘Unfairness’. Rather it should be viewed as a permissive example. Good enough for one, good enough for all. So to speak.

If you can have an award for outstanding young engineer, best military engineer (the Hollis medal), Space Coast Outstanding Woman Engineer Award, and an award for the best engineer who graduated from Rutgers or UCLA (all real awards), then I would assume you could have awards for the best black engineer, the best red-headed engineer, the best engineer from Indiana, and so on.

After a while, though, having multiple engineering awards does rather lessen the value of each one. If everyone gets an award, is getting an award special?

@lloydbird @Darwin There are so many ways to look at this. All of your points are good. I honestly am not 100% sure what I think about all of these awards now that I have heard some other opinions. I guess maybe the awards might be a bad example of what my concerns are. Again, I am worried about blacks separating themselves from mainstream America, setting themselves up for criticism. It’s very complicated really; I could talk myself in circles on this topic. Is there a Jewish-American Engineer Award? Asian? I think someone said German? I would guess not, maybe I am wrong. If not, why not? Is it because we expect these minorities to do well in the field? So, by having an award for blacks are we saying we don’t expect them to be superior in the field, or in it at all? I am not saying I think that, but maybe it is indrectly implied. What do you think?

It’s an outmoded relic of the past. By bringing notice to the past racism, you’re only keeping it fresh, preventing forward movement.