Racism
First, it sucks that Brokeback Mountain didn't win the Oscar, but at least I know that I can buy Jake and Heath later this year and treasure them forever. But this entry is about race and racism. The Best Picture winner Crash and the new FX show Black. White. are creating another dialog in this country about racism.
But it's not going to work.
Because white people love subversive racism. You can intellectually think that racism is the worst thing in the world and and you can reap the benefits of it.
Have I ever walked into an interview and said to myself, "I hope that they'll see past my whiteness and look at my qualifications?"
No, of course I haven't. And when I got my new job I never considered that there might have been more qualified Hispanic or black candidates that didn't get the job, and even now I'm not really considering it because that could mean that I might have to accept that I might be the beneficiary of racism. Even though I'm intellectually and more importantly vocally not racist, I can't bring myself to look at my actions.
What can I do, really? Demand to know if there was a black person that was passed over for me to get my job? How would I know? Further, if there was a black person that was passed over, how would I be able to live without the job. I was lucky to find one as quickly as I did. I have marketable skills in some areas, and it's hard to find work that I like doing.
So it's not going to work. White people aren't going to be able to not take advantage of "white currency" that they get just for being white.
But it's not going to work.
Because white people love subversive racism. You can intellectually think that racism is the worst thing in the world and and you can reap the benefits of it.
Have I ever walked into an interview and said to myself, "I hope that they'll see past my whiteness and look at my qualifications?"
No, of course I haven't. And when I got my new job I never considered that there might have been more qualified Hispanic or black candidates that didn't get the job, and even now I'm not really considering it because that could mean that I might have to accept that I might be the beneficiary of racism. Even though I'm intellectually and more importantly vocally not racist, I can't bring myself to look at my actions.
What can I do, really? Demand to know if there was a black person that was passed over for me to get my job? How would I know? Further, if there was a black person that was passed over, how would I be able to live without the job. I was lucky to find one as quickly as I did. I have marketable skills in some areas, and it's hard to find work that I like doing.
So it's not going to work. White people aren't going to be able to not take advantage of "white currency" that they get just for being white.
posted by Spherical Time at
11:30 PM
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