A few thoughts on the latest round of White Guilt discussions

[East Coast Hustle]

Took the implicit association test.

No surprise to me that I view white people the least positively. Slightly surprised that it says I view Asians way more positively than black or hispanic people, who both rated about the same and still on the positive end of the scale, especially since I grew up in a place where black people were a VAST majority and the most dominant cultural influence in my life.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Go take a couple of implicit association tests.

Well, it turns out I have a preference for Other People over Arab Muslims (I'll have to warn the people who go to my mosque that they scare me, lol).  But the good news is I got "Your data suggest little to no automatic preference between African American and European American."  Oh, and apparently I think Native Americans are foreigners even though they're... Native... Americans...

Interestingly, it told me that I have a strong preference for Black and Hispanic people, and a lower preference for White people, with Asians last.

[East Coast Hustle]

Oh. Might be because ECHGF 2.0 is half Thai.

[Aucoq]

Interestingly, it told me that I have a strong preference for Black and Hispanic people, and a lower preference for White people, with Asians last.

You guys made me curious about the Asian test since I didn't do it before.  I ended up with "Your data suggest little or no association between European American and Asian American with American and Foreign."  And I have a moderate preference for dark skin over light skin.  That Asian test was tough for me.  It really hurt that the pictures were black-and-white, relatively low quality drawings.  One of the drawings of an Asian male face was so ambiguous to me that I kept on hitting the wrong keys every time he popped up.  But hey, it made me appreciate the old black-and-white photos in the Native American test.  And here I thought some of those were tough to make out.

Oh. Might be because ECHGF 2.0 is half Thai.

Makes sense to me. 

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Interestingly, it told me that I have a strong preference for Black and Hispanic people, and a lower preference for White people, with Asians last.

You guys made me curious about the Asian test since I didn't do it before.  I ended up with "Your data suggest little or no association between European American and Asian American with American and Foreign."  And I have a moderate preference for dark skin over light skin.  That Asian test was tough for me.  It really hurt that the pictures were black-and-white, relatively low quality drawings.  One of the drawings of an Asian male face was so ambiguous to me that I kept on hitting the wrong keys every time he popped up.  But hey, it made me appreciate the old black-and-white photos in the Native American test.  And here I thought some of those were tough to make out.

Oh. Might be because ECHGF 2.0 is half Thai.

Makes sense to me. 

I think I must have taken a totally different test.

[Aucoq]

Interestingly, it told me that I have a strong preference for Black and Hispanic people, and a lower preference for White people, with Asians last.

You guys made me curious about the Asian test since I didn't do it before.  I ended up with "Your data suggest little or no association between European American and Asian American with American and Foreign."  And I have a moderate preference for dark skin over light skin.  That Asian test was tough for me.  It really hurt that the pictures were black-and-white, relatively low quality drawings.  One of the drawings of an Asian male face was so ambiguous to me that I kept on hitting the wrong keys every time he popped up.  But hey, it made me appreciate the old black-and-white photos in the Native American test.  And here I thought some of those were tough to make out.

Oh. Might be because ECHGF 2.0 is half Thai.

Makes sense to me. 

I think I must have taken a totally different test.

Ah.  I didn't even see the four race test on the front page.  I was taking the individual race demo tests.  I was wondering what you and ECH were talking about when you were listing the four races in a specific order.  That probably should've been my first clue I wasn't on the same page as you guys.  Man I feel like an idiot.   

[Aucoq]

Ok, just finished the actual test.

[Sita]

Watch the way white women act around black men sometimes, see how many of them clutch their purses or switch shoulders to keep the purse away. If you were to ask them if they were racist, they'd probably say no and that they actively fight against it.They just don't realize they're doing it.

And what do they do around other people? How many of those women also react the same when any man comes near, or any person at all for that matter.
If you are only looking at one thing it's easy to find what you want.

[AFK]

Indeed, and I don't think being vigilant about one's personal safety should be construed as racism.  And it sends mixed messages.  For decades now, as a society, we've been trying to empower people, especially women, to take ownership of their personal safety.  Encouraging women to enroll in self-defense courses for example.  And now you want them to feel guilty and think twice about being cautious?  Now, if they were yelling "rape" and calling the police every time they saw a black man, yeah, there are obviously some prejudice problems there and clearly racism at play.  But I think you can take that too far when you scrutinize behavior to that degree.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Watch the way white women act around black men sometimes, see how many of them clutch their purses or switch shoulders to keep the purse away. If you were to ask them if they were racist, they'd probably say no and that they actively fight against it.They just don't realize they're doing it.

And what do they do around other people? How many of those women also react the same when any man comes near, or any person at all for that matter.
If you are only looking at one thing it's easy to find what you want.

Uh, are you saying that black fear doesn't exist? 

It's incredibly well-studied and well-documented. Even BLACK people are more afraid of Black men then of white men. It's an issue which suffuses our entire culture.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Wow, let's stick our heads in the sand and pretend that issues don't exist simply because we can justify them away if we don't look at the evidence.

Maybe we can also have a conversation about how equally qualified black men are totally employed at the same level and the same pay as white men, and black people with the same qualifications as white people are equally able to get home loans. Because that's a much nicer world THAT THE ONE WE ACTUALLY LIVE IN.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

And there is not even any discrimination against Hispanics, anywhere. 

[East Coast Hustle]

I hope nobody is actually suggesting that there aren't hella problems with how we deal with race in this society and the social and cultural issues that it causes, because that would be pretty dumb. Just to be clear, that is NOT the argument that I'm making.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I hope nobody is actually suggesting that there aren't hella problems with how we deal with race in this society and the social and cultural issues that it causes, because that would be pretty dumb. Just to be clear, that is NOT the argument that I'm making.

Oh, I know you aren't. But those last couple comments above mine... wow. 

[Sita]

Watch the way white women act around black men sometimes, see how many of them clutch their purses or switch shoulders to keep the purse away. If you were to ask them if they were racist, they'd probably say no and that they actively fight against it.They just don't realize they're doing it.

And what do they do around other people? How many of those women also react the same when any man comes near, or any person at all for that matter.
If you are only looking at one thing it's easy to find what you want.

Uh, are you saying that black fear doesn't exist? 

It's incredibly well-studied and well-documented. Even BLACK people are more afraid of Black men then of white men. It's an issue which suffuses our entire culture.

Not at all. Just that you have to look and see if they react that way only with black people or with everyone.
I know full well that there is black (and other race) fear and prejudice out there. Wouldn't even try to pretend that there wasn't.