racism- keep an open mind

[Stratego]

The brown eyes are like the subject in the Milgram experiment. It's amazing how much they'd comply just to teach the other group a lesson.

This experiment is complete and utter bullshit and does the opposite of what it claims to do.

[Spider]

The thing is, Em, that this person is a time traveler, and her antiquated experiment is so ham fisted and twen-cen that it kinda defies belief that it still exists. Seriously. She's been doing this for decades. Our parents had to listen to this shit! The Milgram experiment angle is extremely valid, here, as has been pointed out. The problem is that she is actually doing damage.

There is no utility whatsoever in taking a bunch of what we can reasonably assume to be non-racists, and slapping them around on the basis of the crimes of others. You take a roomful of people, and turn them into "oppressors" and "the oppressed" for a groovy afternoon...great. So even though everyone is aware of and probably disgusted by racism by default, (because society teaches us to be aware and disgusted by it even before it teaches us long division), we now have to instill in them a sense of victim-hood, or of villain-hood, on the basis of their race. We can't just be different ethnicities trying to get past a nasty history that is still ongoing to whatever degree...but now we have to have it hammered home for no reason at all on the assumption that we are all too f*cking stupid to be aware of something so shatteringly obvious.

It is offensive. And not because anyone here lacks the intellectual fortitude to wrap their puny minds around such a terribly complex concept. (Can you smell the sarcasm?) Its offensive because of the dumbed down, simplistic approach that basically screams, "You are all f*cking stupid racists and I can prove it! Lets make the present accountable for the past!!! YAY!"

You know perfectly well that everyone here is aware of racism. Nobody here thinks racism is over. Nobody thinks there are no issues. So frankly, I don't know where you get off going on that particular spiel. Nobody said anything so extreme as to deserve such an extreme response.

As I've pointed out repeatedly in the past, I think racism comes from our most base natures, and as long as there are visually distinct groupings of peoples, there will be racism. As long as there are genders, there will be sexism. Etc etc. The way to get past it and be a functional society that overcomes that crap is not to try to punish non-racists...apparently because actual racists aren't at arm's length to tie to the stocks...but to continue to undermine racism in ways that don't hold different groups to different levels of expectation, but expect the same excellence from everyone. By taking perfectly decent people and slamming their heads into these "race roles", she is only creating anger and resentment on both sides. One side is pissed at being treated as they don't deserve, like they are the racist scum they were taught from a young age not to be, and the other side is pissed because now they've had this thing that any rational person would like to get past reinforced into their worldview, yet again, and in a viscerally explicit way.

Great idea, taking the non-racists and presenting even them as such. To say nothing of the genuine article. That's going to do exactly nothing but make the racists feel more empowered or justified, the non-racists pissed off, and those who suffer from less privilege resentful. Nothing but good vibes all around. What a winning strategy.

And yes, the British version was also offensive on the same old tired basis of this continually astonishing and undying ignorance of America and Americans. I dealt with it first hand when I was over there, and I see nothing much has changed in the last decade. You people have some sort of complex that I am simply not equipped to sympathize with, but there's really no more excuse for it to continue as it has than there is for us to assume you're all some combination of Prince Charles and Austin Powers.

I get the ugly feeling that a lot of these anti-racism activists, especially those with such populist, dumbed-down methods, who've been doing this circuit for so long, are unconsciously distressed that they've managed to wear down the beast they've been fighting. They need an enemy. Racism could be reduced to a dying troll under a bridge...but they'd still feel the need to feed it to ensure they could fight it the next day.

Gah. That woman gives me a hate-on. Seriously. She damages race relations in pretty much the same degree as any racist hillbilly.

Its not about "ignoring" anything, Em. Its about avoiding making it even worse.

[The Dharma Bum]

Many white people have such a self serving view of racism that's it's literally funny to listen to them go on about how they think it is no longer is an issue.

[Stratego]

[eynon81]

[eynon81]

[The Comrade]

i have misgivings about her methods, but listening to some of the people when she does it i can't understand how you could say they aren't racist. in the UK example people just completely scoffed at the fact that there was racism in the UK despite listening to actual minorities give actual accounts of their life. even if it just makes people aware, it's at least worth it.

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