Half the time I see a disagreement on this, it's somebody going WAY out of their way to take something as racist, The other half the time, it's some idiot who insists the comment can't be racist because they "didn't mean it to be racist."
Well we can't deny the facts that there is rising racism on both sides unfortunately not saying one side is more racist or less but the fact is both black panthers and white supremacist have seen a large rise in membership especially in Europe
The point this post misses is that you will never ever be able to definitively say "I'm not racist" and have it be true. It is a constant learning process. If you decide that you're not racist and that anyone that accuses you of being racist is reaching, you've effectively closed off your mind to learning more and getting better and understanding the experiences of people of a different race.
In other words, you may feel uncomfortable when someone accuses you of being racist, but it sucks way worse for the person on the other side of the argument when you refuse to take advantage of a learning opportunity because you're too butt hurt over being criticized. In fact, I suspect that most people that agree with the sentiment this post makes probably have a hard time taking criticism in most areas of their life.
That's a part of it, yeah. But I think when you put the emphasis on learning and staying open-minded to hearing the experiences of others, the unlearning happens naturally.
Also, I am a white person so I'm really speaking for myself here. I have a black partner and I live in a very diverse city so I've had to think a lot about what it means to be a white person and this is just the experience I've had in terms of how best to relate to people who have had experiences radically different from my own.
Well, it's not just white people who need to unlearn. It's just that usually, those benefited by a system are most opposed to unlearning its rules.
Example: a 2002 University of Chicago study found that participants, regardless of race (and of several other demographic factors) are more likely to perceive a black person as armed than they are a white person, and hesitate longer to make the decision on images of white people than they do on images of black people. In other words, the racist cultural perceptions affect all of the people in our culture.
However, of the friends I've mentioned this study to, which ones do you think were more likely to disbelieve it?
Why would black people not show anti-black racism? People are never just one thing (i.e. black) they are all a part of society. In a society where black people are widely portrayed as violent thugs, of course black people will adopt this stereotype. And as all people trust their judgement, I'd place a good bet on your black friends being more likely to disbelieve the study.
@chakun - "Well, that's pretty Orwellian." - what exactly is "orwellian" here? Wikipedia defines "Orwellian" as "an attitude [...] of draconian control by propaganda, surveillance, misinformation, denial of truth, and manipulation of the past". When we talk about "unlearning", we're talking about reflecting our own mindset to find out whether we make decisions and develop an attitude based on facts or on stereotypes.
Yeah, it really would have been nicer if whoever made this just used.... I dunno, generic stick figures, rather than co-opting someone else's characters.
Example: a 2002 University of Chicago study found that participants, regardless of race (and of several other demographic factors) are more likely to perceive a black person as armed than they are a white person, and hesitate longer to make the decision on images of white people than they do on images of black people. In other words, the racist cultural perceptions affect all of the people in our culture.
However, of the friends I've mentioned this study to, which ones do you think were more likely to disbelieve it?