OH SHIT FUCK YEAH

[Pope Pixie Pickle]

Seriously, for society today, 6 and working toward 7 is pretty fucking great. It's swimming upstream and trying to inseminate as many eggs as you can.

I am willing to accept the possibility that I'm not as far along as I think, though. maintaining a 6 on that list is constant work against bad signal if you grow up white. You have to constantly seek other perspectives of people of colour. Like trying to dismantle "am I scared of that dude because he's a DUDE and street harassment/ is it a race bad signal in my head" thing.

[Pope Pixie Pickle]

Seriously, for society today, 6 and working toward 7 is pretty fucking great. It's swimming upstream and trying to inseminate as many eggs as you can.

I am willing to accept the possibility that I'm not as far along as I think, though. maintaining a 6 on that list is constant work against bad signal if you grow up white. You have to constantly seek other perspectives of people of colour. Like trying to dismantle "am I scared of that dude because he's a DUDE and street harassment/ is it a race bad signal in my head" thing.

obviously blogs are my main source of info on other perspectives.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

One of the things I've been enjoying pointing out to folks locally is that, while Portland is roughly 80% white, the reason so many white people say things like "Portland is SO WHITE" is because Portland is also bizarrely segregated.

It makes people REALLY UNCOMFORTABLE.

I like making people uncomfortable. It's delightful.

[tyrannosaurus vex]

One of the things I've been enjoying pointing out to folks locally is that, while Portland is roughly 80% white, the reason so many white people say things like "Portland is SO WHITE" is because Portland is also bizarrely segregated.

It makes people REALLY UNCOMFORTABLE.

I like making people uncomfortable. It's delightful.

I find this tendency for segregation unsettling myself. As I alluded to earlier, I have to admit that most of my influences are white-based, so my job as a person right now is to pay attention when I'm giving those influences more weight than they really deserve to have. And that's led me to learn and see a lot of things I otherwise wouldn't have. For a few examples:

* It's often said that races tend to self-segregate, and the prevailing wisdom is that this must be true, because there are "white" neighborhoods and "black" neighborhoods and "Dominican" neighborhoods, and there are no armed guards keeping people from moving out of those neighborhoods. What the prevailing wisdom fails to mention is that really, these segregated neighborhoods are an illusion. What we really have is "can pay for a nice place to live" neighborhoods and "can't pay for such a nice place to live" neighborhoods. And, surprise! "Can pay for a nice place to live" neighborhoods are predominantly white, while the others are a mix of non-white people, for the most part. We don't need armed guards or Jim Crow to keep people segregated these days, because we've figured out how to do it with money. Just don't let anybody notice. Call it "voluntary."

* Marketing campaigns often feature minorities these days. But there are some glaringly obvious shortcomings in the way it's done. Aside from the blatant "token minority" placement of most of these people, you'll notice that they only feature light-skinned minorities, usually with straightened hair, dressed like soccer moms. Big smiles with perfect teeth. Images of beauty as defined by modern culture that transcend images of "race." The message is clear: If you want to be treated like a white person, pretend to be white. Oh, and be stunningly "beautiful" while you're at it. Otherwise stay where you are.

* When the topic of race comes up between a white person and a person of color (especially a black person), generally the white person immediately lays the ground rules for the conversation. "I understand that whites have been unfair and cruel to your people, but you should understand that it wasn't me who did it," is usually what they mean, though there are a number of ways they might say it. The intention -- even if it's unknown to the person who does this -- is to immediately revoke any right the person of color has to complain about his or her lot, or the way they are treated because of their race. It is to say "the past is the past, get over it," only in a way that sounds polite.

This stuff is probably really obvious to a lot of people, but to me it's something I have had to notice on purpose. Just being aware of shit like this tends to break down some of the barriers because I'm not operating from the assumption that what I assume must be necessarily correct.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

No matter how obvious those points may seem to some people, especially brown and black-skinned people, they are always always always worth re-stating out loud, because they do give people who haven't realized them yet a chance to think about them, and they give people who already know them a chance to connect with you.

[Pope Pixie Pickle]

One of the things I've been enjoying pointing out to folks locally is that, while Portland is roughly 80% white, the reason so many white people say things like "Portland is SO WHITE" is because Portland is also bizarrely segregated.

It makes people REALLY UNCOMFORTABLE.

I like making people uncomfortable. It's delightful.

I have taken on a debating style of "you are boring, read moar" when folks come out with stupid shit, like "i have heard this so many times I'm not even offended or contemptuous I just wish it wasn't the same schtick because it's the same old shit."

it stops me losing my cool and has the bonus of maybe encouraging people to make their way even a little closer to the level I am at, as I have also taken to providing further reading on the topic at hand.

[Telarus]

One of the things I've been enjoying pointing out to folks locally is that, while Portland is roughly 80% white, the reason so many white people say things like "Portland is SO WHITE" is because Portland is also bizarrely segregated.

It makes people REALLY UNCOMFORTABLE.

I like making people uncomfortable. It's delightful.

Holycrap, have you seen this yet? Zoom in to Portland, it's creepy.

http://www.coopercenter.org/demographics/Racial-Dot-Map

http://demographics.coopercenter.org/DotMap/index.html     <-the Map application

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

One of the things I've been enjoying pointing out to folks locally is that, while Portland is roughly 80% white, the reason so many white people say things like "Portland is SO WHITE" is because Portland is also bizarrely segregated.

It makes people REALLY UNCOMFORTABLE.

I like making people uncomfortable. It's delightful.

Holycrap, have you seen this yet? Zoom in to Portland, it's creepy.

http://www.coopercenter.org/demographics/Racial-Dot-Map

http://demographics.coopercenter.org/DotMap/index.html     <-the Map application

Ohhh yeah, very familiar with that. There's another one I can't recall that's even better though.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Seriously, for society today, 6 and working toward 7 is pretty fucking great. It's swimming upstream and trying to inseminate as many eggs as you can.

I'm just trying to be someone I can to be in the same skull with.

[Bu🤠ns]

There are some incredible points ITT.

I remember feeling that disconnect with my kids right away.  When it came time to deal with race issues, it seemed false to say that everyone is the same and discourage recognizing differences because I was in a position where my programming was confronting childhood innocence.  They were clearly noticing differences and I had to deal with it.

What i did say to them was that people are all humans and, in that sense, we're equal.  I said that people fall under a spectrum of colors...how their mom has more olive colored skin where I'm closer to pink.  Their aunt Vhan and uncle Tony's ancestors come from Africa and how peoples environment affects the way they look. 

I don't think that encouraging equality is necessarily the wrong approach but it also has to be followed up with recognizing the obvious differences.  This thread has helped align certain points that I can't wait for the opportunity to discuss.

We also have a couple uncles who will very casually drop the n-bomb and other racist phrases because they, in general, are complete douchebags. I used to get upset about this but I've learned that they provide a very contained example of how not to be.  It's an example I can point to and say 'this is sometimes what happens when people are intimidated by differences...don't let this 'stupid' happen to you."