Chamblee54

It was a typical morning. Work on a picture, and listen to audio entertainment product. PG was tired of youtube suggestions, and chose to listen to RISK. The first story is a South Asian lady, Nimisha, going to have lunch with her Jewish mother in law, Elaine. The two ladies have an uneasy relationship. Before the wedding, Elaine asked David, her son, if Nimisha was black. (Did David have a black girlfriend before this?) Nimisha was upset when she heard about this. Now Nimisha was going to have lunch with a RAY cisst. It is not known if Nimisha ever called Elaine a racist to her face.
PG, for various reasons, is tired of hearing people referred to as racist. Since there were plenty of other shows to listen to, he turned off the story. A few minutes later, he wondered what he was missing, and turned on the story again. Soon enough, Nimisha complained about going to lunch with a RAY cisst, again. PG pushed forward, and listened to the next story. It was about an experience at an AA meeting in Los Angeles. A good friend of PG is in the AA program. PG wanted to share the story. Here is the email PG sent with the link.
This is a link to a story. It is an AA war story. It starts at 20 minutes. There is another story here. The first story in this show is about an Indian lady, who does not like her Jewish mother in law. At ten minutes into the show, the bride says “I am going to have to spend the day with a racist.” At this point, I turned off the show in anger. I am sensitive to the term racist, for perfectly obvious reasons. I did not want to listen to the rest of the show. When I decided to send you the link, I had to listen to the part of the show around the 20 minute mark, so I could know when the war story started. I set the timer for 18 minutes, and listened to the end of the mother in law story. There is a twist in the story, and everyone is friends now. The bride says “I am ashamed of reducing her to her racism.”
David, Elaine, and Nimisha went to a deli in New York. Nimisha (who seems to have other entitlement issues) is militantly vegetarian, and not pleased with the deli. At one point, Elaine orders a sandwich “bigger than her fist,” and starts to, accidentally, spit bits of meat in Nimisha’s face. At this lowest part of the lunch, Nimisha looks at Elaine, who has tears in her eyes. Elaine thanks Nimisha for coming on the lunch. Nimisha looks at her hand, which has an engagement ring once owned by Elaine. Nimisha realizes that Elaine is more than her comment about race, and is actually a pretty good lady. End of story. Elaine is much more than a racist, she is the mother of David.
The real fun starts when PG posts the email to RISK! Podcast Fans Discussion Group on twitter. People are proud of calling *others* racist. When you suggest that this is not a good idea, they get angry. WAAAAA!!! He said I can’t say wassist!!! WAAAA!!! PG has heard the r-word many times. He was not in the mood to hear a vegetarian princess repeat that slur about her deceased elder.
For several of the nay sayers, PG asked the simple question “When was the last time you were called a racist?” There is a certain entitlement to casting this particular stone. People, who think it is beyond horrible to say the n-word, feel virtuous about calling a white person racist. You wonder if they have any clue to how people feel about this, or if they care. After all, if a person is a racist, they are a terrible, terrible person. Anything you say or do to them is justified. The racist is the other.
“I’ve literally never been called a racist because I’m not one. Not once in my life. Again I say, if you’re being called a racist on a regular basis, you need to evaluate yourself” ~ “…when was the last time you were called racist- my response would be- to my face? NEVER, not once. Behind my back-unsure, I sincerely hope NEVER. But one thing I DO know to be true is that if there was EVER a time I unintentionally made someone feel less than because of the color of their skin I would go to the ends of the earth to right that.” ~ “I see what you’re getting at, but I’m also from Atlanta and have lived in the south for almost my entire life. I’m a white male and I don’t recall having ever been referred to as a racist… Probably because I don’t say hurtful things to POC. I’m just saying, if you’re called a racist numerous times, there’s probably a reason and perhaps one should reflect on that.” ~ “A few years ago. (I wasn’t being racist. At all. But a woman thought I was treating her unfairly and wasn’t shy about letting everyone know.) I still don’t understand what that has to do with anything. Racism is definitely a thing that exists in the world. The behavior described in the story was racist. I don’t know you or your circumstances, but your words so far seem to imply that you’re more offended by the word “racist” than actual racism.”
“you’re more offended by the word “racist” than actual racism.” This is a common comment in social justice discussions. “Imagine it happening all the time, simply because of the color of your skin. What you’re experiencing right now is *nothing* compared to what people of color experience daily.” The simple truth is that two wrongs do not make a right. Insulting a white person, by calling them racist, will have little impact on creating economic opportunity, or curtailing police brutality. Saying racist is merely a couple of kids on the playground swapping insults. To pretend otherwise, to confuse name calling for effective social justice action, is an exercise in self delusion. “The word racist is NOT hateful. RACISM is hateful.”
After a while, someone asked PG “When was the last time you were called racist?” He recalled a facebook discussion last winter. “A bar employee was fired, and had dirt on the boss. He posted this dirt on facebook. I questioned the validity of this dirt. I was called racist as a result. This is the last time I was called racist.” This is similar to many episodes of racist citing. It was a white person who called PG, another white person, racist. PG said something that the other person did not like, and the knee jerk reaction was to say racist.
People in discussions about racist/racism often feel the need to demonstrate their distaste for racism. Usually it is without being asked. People just assume they need to virtue signal, and are offended if someone abstains. “Racists reduce people to their race, which is FAR worse than reducing someone to their hateful thoughts. Reducing her to her racism and not seeing the other aspects of her personality is also literally what that story was about. People of other races are also your fellow human being and racists often don’t treat them as such. I could be wrong but this seems to not bother you at all? People often say nothing when someone is called racist…because that person is being racist.Being racist is wrong. Full stop. I’m not sure if we’re on the same page about that, but in case my thoughts weren’t clear, there they are.”
When you challenge the performative nature of racist citing, you can expect feedback. “I don’t understand this post. But i fully support the continued and loud-mouthed calling out and labeling of racists wherever they be, regardless of some feathers getting ruffled. Had the protagonist of this story been correct in her assumption, i wouldn’t be holding it against her. In this case she made an assumption and was corrected by facts, but i certainly don’t hold the using of that term against her.” ” “ritual condemnation of racism” is a funny way to put it, as if condemning such is a kind of bigotry. It’s not a “performance” when I condemn it. Um… I MEAN it.”
There is something about racism-talk that triggers verbal diarrhea. People start talking/typing, and don’t know when to stop. You will hear many testimonials. Here is one. “When I was young, I defended myself. As I matured, I explained myself. Now, I do neither. I listen. I apologize. I was recently at an almost all-Black barbecue. I was asked if I play spades and I do – I love that game! I went to play, and they played with a lot of rules I have never heard of before. They claimed that everyone played this way. I assumed it was a racial difference. I casually said things like, “I don’t understand how to play black spades.“ I was mortified later when my friend told me that calling it “black spades“ was offensive. I was embarrassed, and uncomfortable. But I didn’t defend myself. And I didn’t even explain myself. What I said was, “Thank you so much for bringing that to my attention. I appreciate that you felt comfortable enough to let me know that what I was saying was offensive. I’ll try to do better in the future.” It didn’t matter that I wasn’t trying to be racist, or that I don’t feel like I am a racist. What matters is just to listen with compassion to those who experience things that you and I never will.”
Many comments seem to assume that the racist citer is an aggrieved poc. More often, it is a virtue signalling white person. Or, in the story that sparked this discussion, a vegetarian princess, non-black poc. Eventually, some commenters moved into the “trying to help you with your problem ” phase … as if objecting to a rude, racially motivated insult was a problem. “Honest question. Not looking for snark answers… “What should Luther do if he is called a racist for no other reason than his appearance? What can *he* do to combat the generalization that white men in the south are all that way?” “He could respond, “I am so sorry that you felt racially targeted by me. Can you please help me understand what I did to make you feel that way? How can I make this better in the future?” That does not seem like a good response to make to a white person on facebook.
Why are people, mostly white, so eager to demonstrate their distaste for what they perceive as racism? This virtue signalling is to be loud, and must be seen and heard by others. Maybe this virtue signalling is not done for the benefit of others. Maybe the white savior is trying to reassure them self that they are not racist. They are like the homophobe who badmouths gays to cover up for his own repressed homosexual desires. Is the white savior a closet racist?
The problem with anti-racism was published by chamblee54 a few years ago, when a dark skinned man was POTUS. It discusses the closet racist concept, and other ways in which anti-racism is detrimental to society. After a 2014 repost, chamblee54 received a remarkable bit of confirmation. An anonymous commenter, speaking from an .edu address, said “why don’t you get your white sheets and come out.” Since this comment was made by a white cis male (the last time PG had contact with them), it might not be appropriate to respond “I am so sorry that you felt racially targeted by me. Can you please help me understand what I did to make you feel that way?”
PG made one last comment in the facebook thread. It is unlikely that he changed any minds. The concept that the word racist is offensive to human beings, and should be used with caution, is alien to many people. It might be compared to telling a person sixty years ago that saying the n-word is a bad idea. Here is the closing comment. “There is going to be a blog post about this discussion, which will answer a few of those questions. Or, and this is more likely, merely raise more. I have known many, many poc. Friends, enemies, good people, terrible people, and a thousand levels in between. In the end, it is my experience. I don’t even understand it myself. I cannot expect someone who reads a facebook thread to understand my life. I just get tired of the promiscuous, boastful, performative use of the r words. Nothing good comes of it.”
In typical blogger fashion, PG gave two links. “This post Are my attitudes about race any of your business, might help explain a bit of this.” “Here is another post that might help, James Baldwin and the six letter word. (This post makes an amusing connection between the n-word, and the r-word. The words of James Baldwin were used, perhaps in a way the author would not have intended.) Even if you don’t like the text, you can enjoy the pictures.” The pictures today are from The Library of Congress. Pittsburgh PA Passengers waiting for a bus at the Greyhound bus terminal. Esther Bubley, photographer September 1943. Chamblee54 wrote another post about this incident.

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