<p>"A tone-deaf inquiry into an Asian-American’s ethnic origin. Cringe-inducing praise for how articulate a black student is. An unwanted conversation about a Latino’s ability to speak English without an accent.</p>
<p>This is not exactly the language of traditional racism, but in an avalanche of blogs, student discourse, campus theater and academic papers, they all reflect the murky terrain of the social justice word du jour — microaggressions — used to describe the subtle ways that racial, ethnic, gender and other stereotypes can play out painfully in an increasingly diverse culture." …</p>
<p>Microagressions? Not ignorance and the process of broadening one’s horizons? Clearly, however tone deaf the people think they are handing out compliments and are acting in good will.</p>
<p>I blame identity politics for putting a chip on everyone’s shoulder in every direction.</p>
<p>Micro aggression is unfortunately a really poor word choice for what people are describing. It is never meant to imply genuine aggression or negative intent from the person doing/saying it. The point though is that regardless of the intent, it can still be perceived as really offensive to people because of the fact that these seemingly harmless statements reinforce much more aggressive, hurtful stereotypes.</p>
<p>My phone apparently won’t let me make more than one edit per post. </p>
<p>Also, I think the chip on people’s shoulder is probably more likely due to generations of hatred like the idea that blacks are dumb and not people (or at most 3/5 of a person) or that Hispanic people are invading the country, refusing to learn English while taking out jobs, or that all Asians look the same and there’s no reason for me to acknowledge that Asia is a continent with multiple countries and cultures</p>
<p>@collegevetting stated, “I blame identity politics for putting a chip on everyone’s shoulder in every direction.”</p>
<p>Right on the money! This concept that everything has some aggressive racial overtone is simply nonsense. </p>
<p>Let me posit a different concept, “Are the comments more of a cultural reflection of the crap on T.V. and media?” I believe so. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>I hear these ghetto rap songs on the radio and see rappers on TV and damn glad when I meet a black person who does not speak like that is is actually articulate. How about more Ben Carson and others that actually say something useful? Hum… have you listened the rants and nonsense of Kanye West lately? He speaks like an idiot, yet is millions of times more known than Ben Carson. What do you think happens if one is exposed to media then one day meets a person like Carson? It surprises the heck out of you that is what happens.</p></li>
<li><p>Same goes for latino comedians who seem to make a damn good living on the differences of the languages in their jokes. I have not seen one latino comedian whose centerpiece is not about cultural differences with half the jokes about language accent differences. So, when people met a latino who does not conform, it does stick out. I know these are comedians, but again, I ask, what are most young people exposed to via the media etc?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>You cannot blame people, especially impressionable youths, for reacting and absorbing what they are most exposed to. And you cannot blame people for thinking that this is the norm when these examples are defended and often imitated by the supposed leaders of those groups. </p>
<p>However, the real issue is everyone is on this identity politics kick as @collegevetting says, and I predict the result will be more segregation, not less. There is a point where no one wants to always be hearing about someone little gripe. A lot of people are just plain irritating to be around because they see race and identity politics in everything. What a sucky life that must be to live.</p>
<p>I would argue that very few people are as color blind as we like to think we are, and we can make a better effort to be more self-aware in order to avoid making irritating statements that show our (probably subconscious) biases.</p>
<p>For example, I received an email the other day that was sent to area churches from a pastor, making us aware of a robbery attempt at his church. He described the suspect as “about 5’ 8”, around 200 lbs." A few months ago the same pastor sent out a similar email (we are in a rough area…) describing THAT suspect as "black, about 6’, and thin). Notice the difference?? Because this second suspect is white, there is no mention of race at all. This implies that white is the norm, and other differences need to be pointed out.</p>
<p>In addition, I’ve heard conversations in which someone points out color for anyone who isn’t white, even though the race of the person being referred to has no effect on the story being told (“this black guy in the store the other day”, “a black nurse…”). </p>
<p>And yet we continue to look down on those who feel (many times rightfully) offended, and say “they” are griping.
Aint it always “we” and “they”?</p>
<p>@KKmama stated, “I would argue that very few people are as color blind as we like to think we are, and we can make a better effort to be more self-aware in order to avoid making irritating statements that show our (probably subconscious) biases.”</p>
<p>The above explains why there will always be race industry re micro-aggressions. I am guilty and dead before I even start - with the starting point being that everything is subconscious and most people are acting based on race, the position that someone is not negatively racist will never go away. </p>
<p>But what I find absolutely culturally destructive is the groups who feel offended want this to go only one way without equality of critique. </p>
<p>For example, if I see a black female doing something awesome and I say, “Wow, what a wonderful, sweet, intellectual lady! She is a great role model for african-amercian girls to follow,” everyone would nod in agreement and give me kudos. </p>
<p>However, if I see a black female doing something absolutely stupid and say, “Wow, what a stupid and silly lady! She is not a role model that african-american girls should follow,” Then I am automatically deemed a racist by the same people. Why? I can only point out positive stuff and should poltically-correctly hide my head in the sand about the negatives? Especially when the negatives hurt the entire country? </p>
<p>It is a sad indictment that many people do not own up to the worst about their culture, thereby making it very difficult to take them seriously when they complain about the worst in others . And then they expect others to change based on a preconceived subconscious something or another. What a great way to always never have to prove anything. It is the trust me it is in your mind, but you do not know it argument; however, trust me I know it is in there. That is not logic; it’s paranoia. Can never solve, change, or defeat self-imposed paranoia, so there will always be a race industry that sees this thing labeled micro-agresssion.</p>
<p>@awcntdb Lmao @ Ben Carson. I don’t listen to Kanye like that, but I heard of the stuff that Ben Carson says. Kanye speaks truth (most of the time) while Ben Carson spills BS. </p>
<p>Racism only works one way. But I agree that it doesn’t help when you have Blacks or Latinos going along with the sterotypes. </p>
<p>How does the negatives hurt the country? If somebody says you’re racist, you probably are racist. If you think the negative ( I’m not stupid. I know what you mean) black person hurt the country then you’re wrong for putting black people into groups and you’re probably racist. </p>
<p>It seems like black culture is bad when only blacks do it. </p>
<p>White person dies their hair? Oh, that’s cute. Black person? That’s ghetto!
White person gets extension? That’s fine. Black person wears weave? That’s ghetto. (There’s no distinctive difference between the two.)
White person listen to Kanye? That’s okay, because there’s plenty of other white people they can look up to.
Black person listen to Kanye? Bad role model. They only want rappers or liberal intellectuals like Obama, Angela Davis, or Nelson Mandela [you know “the socialists”]. They don’t wanna listen to conservative intellectuals like Ben Carson. Or good black celebs like Stacey Dash. </p>
<p>Black people don’t look down on their culture because there’s nothing wrong about it.</p>
<p>Color Blindness don’t exist and never will.</p>
<p>It’s not Asians/Hispanics/Blacks fault that we are perceive a certain way. It’s the media. It’s history. It’s the people in power. Who control the media? Who wrote history? Whose in power? </p>
<p>I agree that it’s wrong when minoritites reinforce their sterotypes. But they know that makes money. And money is everything nowadays, so I don’t blame them. I blame the people who created the sterotypes in the first place. </p>
<p>Microaggressions are essentially low-key racist remarks or actions. I can’t even count the number of I’ve been told I am “smart [or articulate or well-dressed or quiet or polite]…for a black person”. That qualifier at the end, “for a(n) [insert ethnic group here]”, is unnecessary. A true compliment would not have that kind of statement tacked on. These kinds of statements imply that the speaker does not expect someone <em>of that ethnic group</em> to have these positive traits. That’s not very nice, is it?</p>
<p>I don’t choose to “see race and identity politics in everything” for fun. In fact, it’s painful to think about, but it’s a reality that I and other POC face often.</p>
<p>Thank you, KKmama and BeStillMyHeart, for your remarks. You are spot-on.</p>
<p>Micro-aggressions/ comments towards Asian-Americans/ females that I’ve experienced:
“You only got an A because you’re asian.”
“You only got in to -College/ job- because you’re asian/ female”
“Wow, you speak english really well.” (After I tell them I’m from the East coast… Can people of the east coast not speak english well?)
“What does chingchong maodingdong mean?” (Hint: Nothing.)
“KONICHIWA!” (That’s Japanese, you can just say hi.)
“Wow you’re really good at -blank- for an Asian” (thanks?)
“Ew, how can you eat that -really delicious cultural food-? It’s gross!” (How can you eat gravy? Eeeew.)
“Have you eaten dogs before?” (No.)
“Are you Korean or something?” (Yes, or something…)</p>
<p>A lot of people seem to ignore Japanese Internment camps, the exploitation of Asian immigrants (and under-represented Asian minorities), and various hate crimes against Asian-Americans because, despite historical setbacks, Asians seem to be doing quite well in America. I guess it’s not racism if you’re Asian. </p>
<p>I don’t like it when people generalize about black people because then they look at me and automatically put me into that negative group. I didn’t choose which race I wanted to be. If I could, I’d choose to be another race. I don’t control the rap music industry or television so I can’t control those negative stereotypes. Nobody’s ever called me articulate for a black person (but people tend to avoid me in general so they never really had that opportunity), but if someone said that I’d kinda get a little mad too.</p>
I know this is incorrect because I am color-blind and I exist. And I know that every individual in the world is capable of thinking in the same way that I think. There is a difference between “color-blindness will never exist” and “racism will never cease to exist”.</p>
<p>The recipe for ending racism is to stop validating it by stopping making it into a group issue. As an individual who is not a racist, another person’s racially biased thoughts are not my problem. I never use the terms “we” or “they” because there are no “we” or “they”, only he, she, you and I. I am aware that there exists many an individual who exhibits racial bias, and I have faint and speculative ideas about why people think this way (“faint and speculative” are as good as sociological theories can get), so I know how to recognize racial bias when it happens. If I ever choose to address it, my motive is to see each individual person treated justly, and my method is to expose the fallacies in a person’s thought process.</p>
<p>Racial “microaggressions” are difficult to talk about, because there is a risk of either blaming the “victim” for being too sensitive or blaming the “perpetrator” for being a racist. The key is to realize that no one is necessarily at fault. “Microaggression” is just one of many kinds of comments that can mean one thing but can be taken in a completely different way. A person who hears many of these comments will understandably observe a common theme, and this theme may be hurtful, but the entirety of this theme is not necessarily contained in each individual comment. This is one of those cases where the whole is truly greater than the sum of the parts, and each individual part (i.e. each person who makes a “microaggressive” comment) does not deserve to be judged in the same way that the whole (i.e. the overall racial theme) would be judged.</p>
<p>If everyone chose to be color-blind like me, then “microaggressive” comments would not even pop into anyone’s mind, and this would not be an issue.</p>
<p>The original post reminds me of this remark: “I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.” Guess who said that about whom?</p>
<p>@Horus stated, “The original post reminds me of this remark: “I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.” Guess who said that about whom?”</p>
<p>This why I find this microaggression thing a ruse to keep a certain industry going. Why? Because 90%+ of the people who complain about microaggressions would vote for the guy who said the above for president if he were on the November ballot. And they would be telling everyone how great a guy he was and how caring he is and that he meant nothing by it because they know his inner heart. </p>
<p>Yep, heard all that nonsense before. It really exposes that microaggressions and many other things are only a negative if the person who says it does not believe in one’s political ideology. </p>
<p>if you acknowledge that there are people in this world who have racial biases and that those biases might impact others, then you are by definition not “color blind.” You are acknowledging that people have different colors. You are rightfully treating people as individuals, but you are not “color blind.”</p>
<p>@i<em>wanna</em>be_Brown - I did not say Biden was not criticized. I did not even address that. What I said was the same people would give him a pass and would be happily voting for him, which is exactly what happened too.</p>
<p>But if it were a member of the another party, they would be asking for resignations and public meetings and all sorts of goodies to make up for it. </p>
<p>Biden is not the only example of that - let’s take Clinton, who said that BO would be serving him coffee a couple decades ago or something like that. Oops, let’s give Clinton a pass too. </p>
<p>Again, it is obvious what is up and how hypocritical people are. </p>
<p>Fair enough. Maybe I misunderstood BeStillMyHeart. By “color blind” I meant “thinking and acting in the same way that I would think and act if I had never heard of color” and “responding to racism by questioning its logic as if it is a novel idea to me, never taking for granted that the human race can be divided into groups”.</p>
<p>Another way to put it is that I ignore color until someone brings it up, and if I feel the need to respond, then my response is typically more of a question than a statement.</p>