Aomine DicegameNov 2, 2018
Ha, white folks want me to be racist so bad. It's so weird.
Show threadJordiGHNov 2, 2018

@Are0h It *is* a peculiar thing. I think it's because for them, the worst kind of attack they've ever felt is being called racist. So the only thing they know to do is to throw it back. You're RACIST, they cry. The real RACIST here is you.

Personally, I think everyone has biases and prejudices, everyone is a little "racist" in one way or another because nobody has a completely universal experience. It's always a struggle for me to fight my own biases. I hope I'm not the only one.

Panashe M. FundiraNov 2, 2018
Show threadAomine Dicegame

@JordiGH I'd agree everyone has their biases, but strongly disagree everyone is a little racist b/c that's not how it really works.

Black and Brown people in the States don't vote enmasse to harm white people because they feel the don't deserve rights, healthcare, etc.

Black and Brown folks don't go around calling the police on white people for walking down the street.

I don't care if people don't like me. The problem is that white folks use their social capital to harm everyone they don't.

Nov 2, 2018 at 2:49amWeb
Show threadJordiGHNov 2, 2018
@Are0h What is the difference between having racial bias and being racist?
Show threadJordiGHNov 2, 2018

@Are0h I think that's what those people who call you racist don't understand: the difference between racial bias and racism. So when they call you racist, they are just pointing out the racial bias that you have (rightfully) formed, as you do now when you speak in generalities of black, brown, and white people.

Racial lines in the US are very sharply drawn, in a way that seems really odd to foreigners. Like when people in the US debate if people like Jesse Williams is black or not.

Show threadAomine DicegameNov 2, 2018

@JordiGH But that's thing. I don't have 'racial bias'. I'm just a student of the history of my country. I don't speak in generalities based on skin color. I'm talking about trends of culture over time.

People who insist that I'm speaking about skin color purposefully mischaracterize what I'm saying to derail the conversations I have about historical behaviors.

That's probably b/c most people outside of the States don't understand the affects of the social dynamic here.

Show threadckeenNov 2, 2018
@JordiGH @Are0h

Acting on prejudices ('bias')-> Discrimination
Institutionalisation of collective discrimination -> Racism
Show threadAomine DicegameNov 2, 2018
@JordiGH Action. Action is the difference.
Show threadJordiGHNov 2, 2018
@Are0h I agree that you probably have very little power and could probably not terrorise anyone by calling the police on them for frivolous things, and would most likely put yourself in harm's way if you tried that, though. I don't deny a systematic social disadvantage, nor do I think it's comparable to your own biases.
Show threadAomine DicegameNov 2, 2018

@JordiGH In terms of me harming white people, yes. However the reverse is not true as American history is littered with white identified people using their political power to harm minority communities in the States.

My 'bias' towards white people is based on their consistent behavior to violently harm people they don't like using state institutions.

Many people want to deny the history, so they just call me a racist.

Show threadJordiGHNov 2, 2018
@Are0h I think it is a bias, without quotes, rightfully created as a matter of self-preservation. When you meet a new white person, you are not going to forget all of the history you've learned, and you will expect their actions to tend towards the trends you've experienced.
Show threadAomine DicegameNov 2, 2018

@JordiGH Yes, I absolutely agree. In the same sense women have to be wary of men based on the history of violence they have carried out upon them b/c they are women. It's just the smart thing to do.

Reasonable people understand this history and explore it so they empathize with that particular experience.

People that have no interest in understanding or even civil conversation just call me a racist. And that's a very particular choice and attitude.