8 Answers

• Reputation: 718 Q&A: 5 0 16 300 65 12 Classifieds: 3 0 what's this? Follow Following 1 lilmonster206

  5 1 I'm not sure about cities that are free of racism (I'm sure they don't exist), but I notice all the time and comment on the extreme lack of diversity in the areas of town I frequent. I recently went to visit family in Austin, and was shocked at how diverse the main bar scene was (6th street). This is Texas! Also, when I used to live in OKC, in freaking OKLAHOMA, the bars also had waaaaay more black, hispanic, and middle eastern people than I have EVER seen in Seattle. So, yeah, I think Seattle has a HUGE problem with segregation. If one hardly interacts with people of different races, how can one possibly not be racist? This is one of the main reasons I love going to Seattle Central so much. I attended a private methodist university in OKC for a year and absolutely hated it. It was almost all white, and everyone was from an upper middle class suburban home. It was so boring because almost everyone was the same. SCCC is like a little multi-ethnic paradise for me! I have literally made friends with people from all over the world, literally. Coming from a 100% mexican family, and growing up in a white suburb in Oklahoma, I feel like I have an interesting perpective on racism. My grandparents on both sides decided to not teach either of my parents Spanish when they were kids, because in the 70's, children speaking Spanish in school could be punished, and were definitely made fun of and marginalized. Since I claim my Mexican heritage proudly, but and not fluent in the language, I have been accused of "not really being Hispanic" by so many white people that it's ridiculous. I call this racism. It's ironic because the reason I wasn't taught it as a child comes from an earlier generation trying to defeat racism. As for affirmative action, I have encountered so many people in Seattle that think it's reverse racism. All of these people have been white and privileged. I moved to Seattle for a change of pace, to live in a large city, and to experience something completely different from what I grew up with. Although I do love this city, I definitely plan on moving in the next 5 years or so. When I do decide to go somewhere else, you can bet that I am definitely taking into account the amount of diversity in the city. lilmonster206 answered in Local News & Politics 8 months ago | Report 5 comments by goth jenny, Charles B, and goth jenny… 3 0 Yes! a million thumbs up! Not to derail but it's so awesome to hear that someone else has gotten the "not really hispanic" accusation coming from white people. I'm 1/2 mexican 1/2 white but obvs brown, grew up in a white mid-western suburb constantly being asked "what are you? an indian?". But I never got the "c'mon you're white, you're not really mexican" business before moving to Washington, and holy fuck is it annoying and insulting. goth jenny commented 8 months ago | Report 2 2 Being the standard issue old white male I hadn't really heard of that kind of discrimination before. Older white people are not really a defined group in the way that many other "groups" are. I don't think we have any kind of bond from being "other" and it's not a club we can get thrown out of. Are there places in Seattle that have more diversity or is an either or thing? Charles B commented 8 months ago | Report 0 1 Charles B, t'was a fine troll and I wish you a good day. In the event that it was an honest question and comment I urge you to consider the statement "older white people are not really a defined group" And then consider that statement from the perspective of the currently 40ish% and quickly growing number of Americans who are not and will never will be "older white people". No really, think about it. goth jenny commented 8 months ago | Report 0 1 And "standard issue"!?! The fuck!?! Damn, nicely trolled Charles. goth jenny commented 8 months ago | Report 0 0 Hey Charles B, I think this question came from a good place and, more importantly, no bridges are going to be crossed if people are afraid to ask the questions. As an older white man, you do represent the status quo of the idealized American culture, so your ignorance of this kind of racial backlash can be expected. I am of mixed heritage: Black, Irish, English and some Native American, and I grew up in the Central District. At that time, the early 80's, it was much less gentrified but also arguably less diverse (that is, it was more evenly split between black and white people, but had very few Asian populations, etc.). My sister and I both had to endure the accusations of being "not really black", by Black people who basically had to create a pride in being Black (they weren't allowed in your 'club', so they made their own); and also by white people who couldn't believe that I could be Black and yet also be: smart, well-spoken, well-read, kind - you fill in the blanks, I've heard pretty much the gamut. My sister is lighter complected than I am, and she has also had to listen to people tell her what "the problem is with Black people" from white people who don't know she is half-Black (she can pass). Anyway, my point is, that people are people, and racist viewpoints generally come from either a place of fear or ignorance. One of my frustrations when we talk about race is having people say things like: well, Black people scream 'racism' but I hear them calling each other 'nigger' all the time, or being homophobic, blah bliddy blah blah. Well, fuck yeah, Black people aren't martyrs, innocent babes or victims; we are people and individually are as entitled as the rest of you to be just fucked up human beings. I'm tired of having to remind people that I am not 'the Black collective', and also that most white people have the luxury of never being seen as the 'white collective'. Collectively, do we still suffer from the aftereffects of slavery, bigotry, racism and bias? I think we do, but we miss the point when we focus purely on racism alone; there are too many variables that determine our individual experience with bias, class, acceptance and stigma. For instance I would say, based on my experience, that white people in Seattle aren't so much prejudiced against race, as they are influenced by class. That is to say, we are very accepting of people as long as they act like us. If the phrase "I don't see color" didn't start here, it should have; it completely captures the Seattle viewpoint. The problem is, if we don't talk about our differences, we can't make strides toward equality. My family is all from the East Coast and they aren't afraid to talk about difference there, which is great. In fact, you always hear people talking about the East Coast and/or the South and how they'll 'tell you what they think' (something we don't do here). The problem in this case is that it's also not enough to simply acknowledge difference; we're not going to get to equality just by developing thicker skins about racial stigma and bias. At some point, someone always compares racism to homophobia, and I don't agree with that comparison. For one thing, I will never be able to pass as white and, while I absolutely support gay rights, the fact is that sexual preference can be concealed. However, racism, like homophobia, requires only the silence of those of us who benefit from its protections, to perpetuate its continuing existence. The civil rights movement needed white people to give it validity, however inane that seems in retrospect. If you don't care about the well-being of people of color, if you feel they are deserved in their position as second-class citizens, what difference does it make to you if they are abused in the name of equal rights? Similarly with homosexuals: straight people are needed to stand up and say that we are not threatened by the thought that our neighbors, friends or family members may be gay. We need to acknowledge difference, and simultaneously validate it, place it on par with our own experiences. Oh, yeah, and as to your original question: in Seattle you'll probably find the most diversity in poor neighborhoods; poverty knows no prejudice. A.M.L. commented 8 months ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

  Share this answer with a friend:

• Reputation: -11 Q&A: 0 0 0 32 43 0 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 0

  1 0 Racism is the correct word, by definition it's not even a negative word, it's neutral. There is racism everywhere, the only problem is racist laws, laws are suppose to be blind, as they say. But here there is less than almost anywhere else in the US (Tucson I would say is probably the only city I have lived in where it's lower). But the problem in the US is that racism is only noticed when from one side, people either don't want to see the other "side" as being racist or they don't want to admit it's possible. The term has been slimmed and trimmed to mean only one type of racism and most people ignore the others. If you prefer any racial aspect, I like Japanese people's faces myself, you are racist. You have a preference based on race. There may be some blind people who are not racist at all, but even odor can be a racial trait. KittenKoder answered in Local News & Politics 8 months ago | Report 1 comment by Black Beetles in Amber… 0 0 " by definition it's not even a negative word, it's neutral. There is racism everywhere, the only problem is racist laws" I disagree, to an extent. Humans do get tribalist/xenophobic no matter what the race or background, BUT it's necessary for us to rise above the pettiness and unhealthy patterns. There are plenty of common antisocial traits among humans that I would not consider value-neutral just because of how common they are. Black Beetles in Amber commented 8 months ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

  Share this answer with a friend:

• Reputation: 640 Q&A: 12 0 0 476 76 0 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 0

  1 0 @2: It all depends on how long you want to spend defining and later discussing the "problem". All cities can be "racist" depending on how you examine them. But what are you concerning yourself with? Intolerance? Institutionally racist policies and law enforcement? Classism focused on black population? A general uncaringness towards black issues, jobs, and other concerns? A lack of interest in black culture? I assume when most people try to break up these problems, they're better addressed on their own or in the greater context without abstracting that a person is or the city is "racist" rather than just snottily privileged and in denial. There are a few right-wing militants like Shawna Forde who take up residence in the suburbs, plenty dangerous enough to consider "racist" operatives. Black Beetles in Amber answered in Local News & Politics 8 months ago | Report 1 comment by Charles B… 1 0 BBiA, You may a good point. We can't really do the topic of racism any kind of justice as a monolithic subject. But raising the points you did helps me get a picture of the different aspects. So thanks. I'm a bit of novice in the racist department. I did experience a fair amount antisemitism in my youth, so I'm familiar with the experience of being a target of prejudice. I'm also somewhat aware of the political issues that come up such as affirmative action, police discrimination etc. but that's about the extent of it. I had to think about Jen's question about whether I would have to consider myself racist. In the end I would have to say that for sure I have inherent prejudices but I'm bothered by the word racist. My inherent biases extend beyond race. Charles B commented 8 months ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

  Share this answer with a friend:

• Reputation: 2266 Q&A: 38 0 8 1724 398 4 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 2 Basil

  1 0 1) I think modern Racism gets confused with old-school Racism. Modern Racism is not about "I hate people of a different color!" it is more about unquestioning acceptance of racial divides that still separate us. It is about not recognizing or acknowledging the amount of privilege that most white people take for granted. In other words, it is a more prevalent and subtle form of racism that spreads across America in a systematic way. It will never be as easy as it was back-in-the-day, when you could just point at the hillbilly on his porch and go "that's a racist!". 2) Affirmative actions has a couple of major problems. First, the matter of its implementation. If it was a policy that was passed by Congress - and we had a Congress that actually supported it - I think it would be fine. But that would take a cultural shift that would put active Democrats or Liberals in charge of Congress for a large period of time. It would have to be a lot more secure of a base than right now. Second, a lot of people wanted Affirmative Action through Judicial intervention - using the 14th Amendment to require it of States and the Federal Government. The major problem with both of these is not that they are bad systems, but to my mind, the problem is the backlash that would occur. We as a society are fairly split on liberal/conservative. The one thing that always swings the votes one way or the other are clutch issues that motivate the base. For republicans, that is abortion, taxes, God, and race. Imagine if the court mandated to all of America that Affirmative Action was going to be implemented? Imagine if Congress mandated Affirmative Action, but didn't have a firm control on America's electorate? We would see a MASSIVE wave of republicans get elected, and, I think, we would see a HUGE roll-back of civil rights that would go well beyond rolling back affirmative action. Now, having said that there are arguments that I think have merit against my point. Such as: if the courts did make it mandatory it could force societal change that would come to accept Affirmative Action. I'm not sure about that, but it is very possible. We have seen it with other issues. 3) As for the merit of Affirmative Action, I think it depends on how it would be implemented. A system that helped people of color to receive education sounds like a good thing to me. Anyone who has studied the subject can tell you that people of color face a disproportionate amount of hurdles in getting access to good education. Overcoming those obstacles seems like a rational extension of the promise of the 14th Amendment to do away with the effects of slavery. I say this as a white, straight, male as well. Just as a disclaimer. I don't worry about the idea that I will lose my position in schools to Affirmative Action - I think that is overly-hyped. The reality is that most white kids have access from a young age to advantages that a lot of people of color don't. 4) Finally, I think there are alternative solutions to the problems that would require Affirmative Action. I think the biggest one is social-mobility and access to good education. That can be achieved without using Affirmative Action, but would take a generation to be effective, and would require a massive investment of money and resources. Ultimately, I think that could be the only long-term solution anyway. Affirmative Action comes in AFTER the problem has already been created, it might be better to hit the problem at its source (if that is even possible in today's anti-public school environment). Basil answered in Local News & Politics 8 months ago | Report 1 comment by Charles B… 0 0 Basil, Your comments in #1 was exactly what I was trying to put my finger on - thanks for that eloquent description. Do you think that the pseudonymity that sites like Questionland provide gives us a chance to experience a non-racist interaction. i.e. we sort of know each other and we have become familiar with people's Qland personality but for the most part we don't know what any of us look like. As far as #2 and affirmative action. You take a very Obama-esque practical approach... realpolitik. I have mixed feelings about the subject as a whole but if there was one places I'd be inclined to ensure affirmative action it would be schools. Schools are about getting qualifications not having them in my mind. Jobs are less obvious to me. I consulted in the Human Resource field for a while and was made somewhat cynical by the EEO hoops that everyone had to jump through. I saw the benefits, and the downsides. One of the big downsides was the prejudice that people got jobs due to quotas rather than skills. In my observation the EEO rules had little impact on prejudice in the workplaces. It was rampant and ugly. I worked with some of the most senior people at some of the largest companies in the world and I was appalled. But clearly we agree that access to education should be the paramount priority. Charles B commented 8 months ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

  Share this answer with a friend:

• Reputation: 1421 Q&A: 44 0 4 469 28 4 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 0 asteria

  0 0 Well, this is a huge set of questions put together. Here is my perspective as a straight white woman: 1. Yes, Seattle is racist and I haven't heard of a city that wasn't. Seattle in particular is very white, and although not as segregated geographically now as a lot of large cities there is still a lot of segregation in social circles. 2. I think using the term "racist" or trying to get white people to accept that we are racist/part of institutional racism is tactically a bad move when starting a conversation about race. There are very few white people who want to be labeled racist, and I've seen a lot of white people get totally turned off by some white anti-racist activists who want everyone to just accept that all white people are racist right away. A lot of white people shut down and get defensive, and if the goal is to get white people to accept our responsibility for racism in this country I don't think this is the best approach. I've never been to a CARW meeting, but several years ago I went to a brief workshop with the Challenging White Supremacy collective in the Bay Area and liked it for the most part. They focus on white privilege, which I think is a better concept for white people who are truly unaware that racism still exists in this country. Another term I like is talking about cultural superiority, which can include discrimination that is not strictly race-based. I think working up to defining and using racism in the context of institutional racism is important but shouldn't be forced on people too soon. 3. Affirmative action is part of the solution but it doesn't address a lot of the long-standing legacies around racism. In Washington state before I-200 white women were the main beneficiaries of affirmative action. A lot of people focus on affirmative action and quotas in education, but nobody talks about how demand for higher education has exceeded supply. Why can't everyone who wants to go to college in state have the opportunity? I don't think the capacity in the 4 year schools has grown much in the last 40 years, which means a lot more people get turned away. I didn't grow up here but I know at my elementary school kids got put into tracks based on their "intelligence" that basically predicted whether they went to college or not. A lot of times the divisions seem to be as much class-based as race-based (I grew up in a very white small town though). I'm not a teacher so I don't know how to address this but it seems like separating kids early on this way doesn't help a lot of kids get ready for college. ***** I first became curious about racism when I dated a guy who was Filipino and was really surprised by people's reactions, including my parents. I was also surprised by some of my own reactions to be honest. I've also worked in places where race and gender discrimination was apparent but there was always some stupid rationale on the part of the white male managers to explain it. Maybe these experiences helped to open my eyes to what racism/white privilege is today. I think personal experience goes really far in helping to understanding white privilege, and I think that's why a lot of white people who openly talk about white privilege are women and/or LGBT. I've learned a lot by reading stuff written about racism and white privilege. It looks like there are some good resources at these websites: http://www.cwsworkshop.org/resources.html http://carw.org/about/ Of course reading only goes so far. I'd really like to get involved with something like CARW because talking with other people is really helpful but I need to work on my own depression/anxiety problems first. asteria answered in Local News & Politics 8 months ago | Report 1 comment by Black Beetles in Amber… 0 0 "2. I think using the term "racist" or trying to get white people to accept that we are racist/part of institutional racism is tactically a bad move when starting a conversation about race. " Yeah, if only we had a pithier phrase. Black Beetles in Amber commented 7 months ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

  Share this answer with a friend:

• Reputation: 0 Q&A: 0 0 0 0 0 0 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 0

  0 0 http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2002913362_jamesgregory06.html remnants of historical official racism in one of the largest mostly white cities in America Tambria Moore answered in Local News & Politics 8 months ago | Report 1 comment by A.M.L.… 0 0 What I've always found interesting (and by interesting I mean: yuck!) about the 'redlining' in Seattle, is how recent a practice it was. I remember my cousin had to be escorted by security guards to his soccer coach's house for their meetings because the coach lived in a gated community (Broadmoor)... this was in 1982! A.M.L. commented 8 months ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

  Share this answer with a friend:

• Reputation: 1195 Q&A: 21 0 13 542 42 3 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 2 Sphinx

  0 0 I think the distinction that Basil makes in his first point is extremely important. Blatant racism has become socially unacceptable, but in its more subtle forms it is clearly still a problem. Obviously the situation has improved in the last 60 years, but not enough. Because I am white and I'm on the side of the equation where things align for me in ways that are often invisible to me, I primarily know that racism is still a problem because the people being negatively affected by it SAY SO. They're the ones who know. It seems to me that one of the biggest ways that racism is perpetuated in modern society is in the teaching of white children that you don't talk about race. If racial inequalities and racial issues are something that people of the most historically advantaged group are taught not to see (or, if they see them, taught not to mention, address, or take interest in), how can society at large hope to change those inequalities? For me, it is still extremely difficult to talk about race, because I feel like I'm speaking from a position of almost total ignorance- I feel like being part of the advantaged group makes it very complicated to discuss race without feeling like I am being pretentious and/or somehow insensitive- but again, I think that is in great part because my social conditioning taught me that it isn't polite or appropriate to address issues of race. Even now, I feel profoundly uncomfortable writing this response. This is something that I feel it is my responsibility to try to overcome. I am, however, in addition to being white, a woman and a person with an invisible (but serious) disability. So I can extrapolate from my experiences with sexism and ableism, although I can also understand that these issues may have significantly different effects upon me than racism (or racism compounded by issues of sexism or ableism!) may have on a person of color. For example- I know how humiliating, how wounding, and how enraging the behaviors and beliefs of our culture towards women are for me, and I also know how constantly I am confronted with those issues and how frustrating it is that even the men who are close to me frequently add to this barrage of insults, impediments, and condescensions. I mention this perspective because I think that to really DO anything about institutional racism and about the ingrained prejudices that I do believe we are all laboring under to varying degrees, we have to be able to internalize the conflict, the injustice, and the ugliness of the experience of being discriminated against. So, if I can compare the frustration of seeing that I STILL make two dollars less an hour than a male coworker whose job responsibilities literally only include half of the things that I do to the injustice of a person of color seeing the same thing about a white coworker, I think that exercise is at least helpful in opening my mind to a facet of discrimination. If I can go the emergency room for my chronic pain condition and receive treatment and then, while reading a book about pain, come across the fact that black individuals (women especially) are more likely than white individuals to suffer from chronic pain conditions but much less likely to be prescribed pain medication and really feel WHAT THAT WOULD BE LIKE- in addition to all the shit that having a chronic pain condition already entails- that leads me to examine my own privilege. And white people accepting that they are, in fact, immensely privileged in our society and actually understanding what that means is the first step towards feeling the moral imperative for trying to even the scales. And I do think that there is a moral imperative. I do think that affirmative action needs to be happening- because the data is still telling us that people of color are underrepresented in nearly every arena that leads to better quality of life in our society. That's not a coincidence. So until we can figure out a way to get people to STOP discriminating, we can and should impose some artificial means of leveling the field, at least for the opportunity to access these arenas. How we improve conditions when preparing people to take advantage of these opportunities and level the playing field once the opportunities have been offered is a whole different, and much larger, issue that is going to take bigger societal change than a simple set of policies or demographic quotas. Sphinx answered in Local News & Politics 7 months ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

  Share this answer with a friend:

• Reputation: 690 Q&A: 19 0 3 340 100 2 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 0

  0 1 She's an idiot with an amazing capacity to lug around white guilt. I'm classist, and impatiently intolerant of idiots. But racist? I will say we do have a lot of romanphiles in our midst - people who feel empirical, that believe commerce and war are the new gods, and presume their way is the only way. Just as blacks, first nation folks, jews, gays etc get to choose how to self-identify, so does whitey. No, Seattle isn't a den of scum and racist villainy. Jen just doesn't appear to know the difference between 'racist' and 'prejudiced' RacerX answered in Local News & Politics 7 months ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

  Share this answer with a friend: