Many white people still harbor bias and prejudice against black people,

[NY_20th]

intentionally or not. An abundance of polls show this to be a fact.

That does not mean that you, white person, personally hold these biases and prejudices.

But it is up to all to acknowledge it, address it, and discuss it.

Change doesn't happen until enough people are willing to acknowledge, address, and change. Refusing such dialogue, or worse, ignoring such dialogue, deflects from the much needed discussions to bring about change.

[bettyellen]

1. Yes, and if your immediate reaction is "not me" then perhaps you actually are so self involved that

you’re having trouble actually understanding the effects of lifelong systemic racism. Because your discomfort about the conversation isn’t remotely as important, and you’re derailing important conversations for purely self serving reasons.

[NY_20th]

8. Well said.

Thank you.

[bettyellen]

23. You're very welcome.

[still_one]

2. 40% of the populous still support and approve of Trump. In 2016 there was no secret that Trump was

a racist, sexist, bigot, and yet people still voted for him well aware of that fact

That speaks for itself

[potone]

10. Yes, it does.

After the election I realized that there must have been a large number of white people who were seething with rage for the entire time that Obama was president. They just couldn’t wait to vote for a white man who embodies everything that Obama is not. Add to that the fact that his opponent was a woman, and that is what has led us to this atrocious state of affairs.

Our only hope now is Mueller; even if we take back the House, we still would need control of the Senate unless the evidence against Trump is overwhelming.

I’m sorry to sound so gloomy, but I have never felt such fear for this country and the world.

[still_one]

13. I agree with your assessment except I wouldn't count on Mueller. The only hope we have now is

November 2018

[Wounded Bear]

3. As a white person, I have come to realize that I have this problem...

I was raised in an environment when racist and ethnic humor was common. There were not a lot of black kids in my neighborhoods or schools as I grew up. None in grade school that I remember, maybe a couple in high school, at least one of which transferred in and immediately became a star athlete. Imagine that.

So, yes, I have to consciously try to treat people with respect sometimes, and I have to watch myself to keep from spewing racist comments should I get angry for some imagined slight. Things we learn as children are difficult to overcome later in life.

The corrolary, though, was that there were quite a few Koreans and Japanese around, though I can't with any truth describe how they were treated day to day.

[NY_20th]

6. Many of us were raised in that same environment.

It takes a conscious effort by all of us to recognize that fact, acknowledge it and address it.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

4. I have racist thoughts and reactions all the time. Anyone who was raised in the white hegemony of

this culture and says they never do is someone I have a hard time trusting.

[NY_20th]

7. It's ingrained. Unless it's recognized, it won't stop.

[EffieBlack]

21. You're right. Anyone who says they don't is either lying or has no self-awareness.

[saidsimplesimon]

5. Many more people have a bias and prejudice

against women of all colors. Can we unite to defeat the monsters first? Women have been waiting for justice for centuries.

[NY_20th]

9. Ingrained sexism is also an issue.

But why not fight all?

[aikoaiko]

11. How can white people harbor bias, but a white person doesn't?

[NY_20th]

12. I'm sorry, I'm not following what you are asking.

?

[aikoaiko]

15. Let me put these sentences from the OP together.

Many white people still harbor bias and prejudice against black people, intentionally or not.

That does not mean that you, white person, personally hold these biases and prejudices.

I think the truth is that me, white person, does personally hold these biases and prejudices. And I think most do.

[NY_20th]

16. Right. Which is why I didn't say all white people do.

But the truth is that many white people do. That fact cannot be ignored.

It's great that you, personally don't. But that doesn't change the fact that many white people do.

[mythology]

14. All squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares

My response to the OP is that all people have biases. On the psych studies where you have to identify a tool or a weapon after seeing a black face, all races show a biases towards seeing a weapon. Our society has ingrained racism and racisl animus more deeply than we realize, much of it unconscious.

[NY_20th]

17. Yes, much of it is unconscious,

which is why we need to acknowledge, accept and address it.

[EffieBlack]

18. Thank you.

[nolabear]

19. We have to be able to accept this with humility and not shame.

I don’t mean that prejudice isn’t a thing to feel guilt or embarrassment about and it’s wise to feel shame about past acts and injustices. But shame shuts down higher functions. It assumes attack is likely and creates paralysis followed by rage because hey, if I’m paralyzed I can’t do anything but be enraged at whomever “made” me feel this way.

Humility takes strength and a willingness to ask “how can I, a person who tries to do good, lose track of my own prejudices and how can I do better?” And if you don’t stick to that humility, even in the face of anger and attack-because some people are very angry and hurt-then you can’t work through that and find a way to hear and speak.

When I counseled couples it was vital that I could get them to trust that I would help them keep going until both people could first figure out what was underneath the anger and express it without being attacked, and that i would not abandon the process until they both felt they’d said everything they neede to say and felt understood. As I said, it takes real strength and humility to hear the pain you’ve caused another, particularly when you don’t get it at first.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

26. I wish white people had a vocabulary and a framework to talk about their own instilled racist

thoughts and feelings with each other to work on them, to examine the roots without rancor or demanding that POC do the heavy lifting (explaining, educating, absolving) for them. It's heartbreaking that our culture disparages things like humility, vulnerability, honesty and growth so viciously.

[nolabear]

29. That's something worth working on.

[NY_20th]

27. That's very good advice.

I believe it was humility and not shame that caused me to evaluate my learned behavior.

It hit me hard when I realized I was brought up and raised, not necessarily through my family, but through society, to have such feelings.

How can I conquer it, and how can I do better? As well as how can I get others to open their eyes and see the injustice.

[nolabear]

30. Oh, probably do a lot of the first and think hard about the second.

It’s really easy imo to “get religion” and cover up ones issues rather than facing them by taking the more out of your neighbor’s eye, so to speak. At least, in spite of my spate of advice giving here, I try to relearn every day what I’ve forgotten from the day before.

But we can, I hope, try together.

[NY_20th]

32. Sound logic, of course.

But frustrating of course for those who wish to be the spark that allows the blind to see.

The reluctance is tough to break through, but the fight to do so may be worth more, now than ever.

I believe that more conversation and dialogue is needed.

[Lisa0825]

20. Wondering if this is you? take the Implicit Bias Test.

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html

[cachukis]

37. Took that test twice over several years.

On both occasions showed no appreciable bias. I taught in a magnet high school that served the local projects as we'll as the performing arts. Great cross section of kids.

And while I was pleased with the results of the test, I know that under my breath I blame. The human mind needs solutions to its quandaries. Speed kills. It is easier to defensively blame than internally accept responsibility for one's fallibility.

You never break a habit. You can only replace it.

Racism persists because it's a habit. A conscious effort to replace it requires support often therapeutic.

"Where's the money? Where's the dough? Keep moving."

Twenty percent will figure it out. Twenty percent will never. The sixty percent in the middle ended up as c students because.........

[TomSlick]

22. There actually is a way to know - the Harvard Implicit Bias Test.

You might be surprised at the results.

[link:https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html|

[mcar]

24. Yes!

No need for the defensiveness.

[McCamy Taylor]

25. And in Rwanda Hutu hates Tutsi and vice versa. We are all products of our environment.

[virgogal]

28. Exactly-----and Koreans don't exactly love the Japanese.

[annabanana]

31. It's true

Honest discussions among friends is necessary.

[caraher]

33. I'm glad to see people linking the implicit bias tests

While the OP generously says, "That does not mean that you, white person, personally hold these biases and prejudices," the truth is more complicated. This is certainly true of conscious biases and prejudices, but the research shows that these things operate on al of us, to varying degrees, independent of our conscious beliefs, whether we are white or not (though obviously there's a different way a given bias plays out in one's life depending on one's race).

[IronLionZion]

34. Plenty of DUers have gotten woke through discussion on this forum

and thought about stuff in ways they didn't before. That should be encouraged.

Progress in changing attitudes and behavior often comes one person at a time. Perspective is a powerful thing.

There will always be some people who like having privilege over others and choose to be blind to it because they don't want to give it up. Those folks are a lot more obvious than they think they are.

[whistler162]

35. Nice post comrade!

How is the weather in Moscow?

[Garrett78]

36. Pointing out that racism remains a huge problem, and is the driving force behind Trump support...

...somehow makes one a Russian troll?

Odd that.

[NY_20th]

38. If you do not wish to participate in the discussion, fine.

You are the perfect example of what I am trying to illustrate.

Perhaps it is you, who is in Moscow. That would explain your refusal to honestly discuss this topic.

[R B Garr]

39. +1, nt

[NY_20th]

40. Do you know who hates to be called out on their racism?

Right wingers. They lose their cool every time.