Siditty Writes About the Valley Swim Club Incident

...and the limits of white liberalism. I should have figured that people would still find a way to say that the Valley Swim Club wasn't being racist. Several things of note:

• "...it goes back to my belief that most white people think racism is blatant KKK cross burning, and everything else is up in the air." -- Siditty

Yes, this is a problem that I've noticed. Part of the issue, I think, is that people throw around the word racist when they should be using words like discriminatory, prejudiced, bigoted, or simply ignorant. Black people in the US experience race-based ignorance, discrimination, and prejudice far more often than we experience blatant FOX News/KKK-type racism and bigotry, which is why discussions of race with white people can be frustrating. Discrimination, prejudice, and ignorance are less obvious and harder to prove, so we tend to see white people sticking their fingers in their ears going "thereisnoracismgetoverslaverypostracialobamalalalalalalalalala" during these national conversations, like in the comments section of the article that Siditty references. Discrimination, prejudice, and ignorance are also the most socially and psychologically damaging, partly because they are harder to prove, so Black people end up being complainers, or people looking for handouts, or oversensitive, or playing the race card.

Personal example: There is a girl that I've known since I was four and she was five. She's white, half Jewish. At some point during our friendship, she told me that I wasn't like most Black people, thinking that this was a compliment. I know many Black people who have had this same experience with non-Black friends. Non-Black people: This is totally not a compliment (except to Black people who hate being Black). It is not the thought that counts. And if you think it is, you may want to look at the above definitions of prejudiced and ignorant a little more closely. Now I don't think that she hates Black people, or that she's a secret member of the KKK, but this was certainly not the last ignorant comment that I heard from her regarding non-white people (which is partly why we're not really friends anymore). This means that she has race-based prejudices that lead her to make ignorant statements that make me want to backhand her.

• "They actually defended Duesler, saying he was being railroaded by the media, and looking at his background as a Obama supporter and peace activist, he must be non racist." -- Siditty

Ok. Voting for Obama, having Black friends, fucking Black people, having Black babies (biological or adopted) probably means that you don't hate Black people, but it does not erase the prejudice and ignorance that may have seeped into your brain as you grew up in America, a country that is institutionally racist. And sexist. I guess I'm lucky I'm not a lesbian, or there would be three against me. So if you are interested in working towards changing these thoughts, be open to new ideas, check out my blogroll, research some of your questions, ask questions to more than one Black person WHO IS NOT A STRANGER, and be willing to get your feelings hurt a little bit in order to grow.

On the point about Duesler, since he represents an institution (Valley Swim Club) he and they can be called racist, even if he, personally, is just an ignorant motherfucker (change the complexion? Really?).