Racism - It's a real thing.

[Ulty]

In reading this conversation, it seems that everyone here is really on the same side in terms of acknowledging the problems of racism in our society, and there is also some nuance in interpreting the meaning of Gabrielle Union's tweet...but @BlitzFirst is coming across as unnecessarily combative with people who are not the bad guys.

[Enhance]

@BlitzFirst I think it is a lazy/boring/banal/etc. accusation to suggest people who are criticizing the nature of GU's tweet are doing so out of privilege. Perhaps some are doing that, but not all.

 

You are welcome to disagree with that statement.

 

However, you are not welcome to so grossly manipulate someone else's statement into something they literally did not say. There is no room for disagreement there.

[BigRedBuster]

11 minutes ago, BlitzFirst said:

Not sure, you'll need to clarify what it is you don't support.

 

I'm saying that society has systemic racism in it...and being butthurt about GU's tweet directed at Lincoln was the wrong thing to focus on.

 

As Knapp said at the beginning, we should focus on this racist POS being racist.  Instead, people wanted to talk about her tweet and how it was wrong to be directed at Lincoln.  Once again, I think this is wrong.  I think clutching pearls and saying "no no no, not me...I didn't do that...no one I know would do that" is part of the problem.

 

Acknowledging problems exist...everywhere...understanding you live in a system where problems exist and that you benefit or suffer from the problems is a pretty simple thing to do.  Dismissing even the perception of problems is a privilege that minorities don''t have.

You literally wrote the above quote towards a post I wrote.  You even quoted me in your post.  

 

How am I supposed to not take that as my feelings that I'm expressing on the subject are all wrong because I don't feel guilty that I live in a privileged society because I'm a white dude in Nebraska?

 

You literally write things, then when someone pushes back, you say......That's not what I said....when it's exactly what you're saying.

[BigRedBuster]

2 minutes ago, BlitzFirst said:

 

 

This is a wrong synopsis of my argument.

 

I was never discussing the dude in the car or what he wrote.   I was talking about GU's tweet the entire time AND the reaction toward it.

 

My argument was that the reaction to her tweet should have been "Yes, society is full of racist policies and people in Lincoln are not exempt from those and benefit from them...we should acknowledge that even if she meant Lincoln, we are not exempt of these benefits" and then move onward.

 

Notice, I didn't say people need to feel guilty.  I didn't say people need to do anything but acknowledge a problem exists.  It's a simple and easy thing to do.

 

Reactions were NOT that way however, they were about if she meant Lincoln as a whole and then testimony began on whether individual posters were racist or not.  I believe that this testifying was a discussion that shows a lack of acknowledgement and thus a lack of understanding of systemic racism and what it entails.

 

 

 

Wow...you read a lot into her tweet for such a short tweet.  Let's look at it again.

 

Can you please point out where she brings up systemic racism?  Or where she even says this is how all Lincoln people are?

 

It sure looks to me like you took a tweet and people's reaction to it and painted way more into it than what she said.

[BigRedBuster]

1 minute ago, BlitzFirst said:

 

I don't know my friend...when someone states that systemic racism exists to me...I don't tell them about how that makes me feel. 

Where have I argued that systemic racism doesn't exist?

 

You are trying to make this entire discussion about way more than it is.

[Enhance]

11 minutes ago, BlitzFirst said:

We'll agree to disagree then.

Fair enough. Now that we're past that, I do have a follow up question.

 

@knapplc said: "At the same time I can do what's in my power to combat racism in any form. I can do both of these things at the same time and still be on the right side of the greater moral good." "Both," in this instance, references his belief in combating racism while being put off by a label applied to Lincolnites (GU's tweet).

 

To which you said "Agreed"

 

I then said "I can do both of these things", "both" in reference to combating racism but also being put off by GU's tweet.

 

To which you said, "We can agree to disagree."

 

What's so different between what knapplc and I said and why you agree with one but not the other?

[BigRedBuster]

1 minute ago, BlitzFirst said:

 

 

Her tweet was 2 sentences...with different subjects.  One framed a geograpic location and context (she tweets about Huskers) to her followers.  The next was directed at the dude in the Truck. 

 

At least that is what I got from it.

 

Other folks on this board blended them together to have the same subject and suddenly became really worried about how Lincoln and the Huskers looked to everyone.  Then they began to talk about their own levels or lack of racism.

 

That's something that shows privilege.  People wanted to talk about their personal levels of racism or lack of racism rather than have to talk about how even if she was referencing all of Lincoln or all of Nebraska she would be correct (because she could reference every state in the union and she'd be correct...every state has systemic racism).

 

 

 

I never said you did argue that it doesn't exist...I said when someone tells me that it does or provides examples of it, I don't tell them about my feelings.

 

 

You talked in circles in this one post.

 

In the beginning, you write about how dismayed you are that people would push back that they aren't a part of the racism expressed on the truck.

 

Then, you spend lot's of time expressing how those people are ridiculous because they are part of this vast systemic racist society.

 

When I'm part of the first group, you then question why I'm talking about myself?  Dude....you literally have been writing about how my feelings on the subject are all wrong.  But, then when I write about that, you say...."why are you writing about your feelings".

 

I never said systemic racism doesn't exist.  It does.  I acknowledge that.  But...that's not what was being discussed when you interjected your opinion that everyone is so bad about their comments and reactions.

[Danny Bateman]

33 minutes ago, BigRedBuster said:

Here's the crux of my issues with your arguments here.

 

Truck guy writes racist crap on truck.

 

Almost everyone on social media (especially on this board) speak out against it and are upset that it paints Lincoln in a bad light light.

 

You're ruction..."Gee....look at all the white people trying to act righteous and trying to distance themselves from this idiot".

 

Here's the problem.  As a white guy, it's a no win situation.  I can not write anything here that will satisfy people from your thought process.  I have written many times how I am totally against this idiot and everything he stands for.  But...somehow....that's being "combative" and how I seemingly take personal office to how this makes Lincoln and Nebraska look.  

 

Pssst....HELL YES, I'm pissed about how this makes Nebraska look.  Why shouldn't I be?

 

 

 

Of course you can feel however you want about it. And good heavens, don't worry about trying to appease me. I'm not actively worked up about this situation. I'm merely trying to provide another view of how things have unfolded and why.

 

It is difficult to tell people's true intentions from what they put online, so I may have misinterpreted combativeness where that was not their intent.

 

My overarching point re: Union's tweet is merely that due to different historical experiences, white and black people are likely to respond to this type of incident very differently.

[BigRedBuster]

4 minutes ago, BlitzFirst said:

It's crazy how people pounce on an unpopular idea here in Huskerboard.

Here's the problem.  The existence of systemic racism is not an "unpopular idea" on this board.  That caused everyone's reaction was your insistence in interjecting it into a conversation that wasn't about it and then trying to (negatively) relate everyone's comments to something they weren't about.

[BigRedBuster]

1 minute ago, Danny Bateman said:

My overarching point re: Union's tweet is merely that due to different historical experiences, white and black people are likely to respond to this type of incident very differently.

Here's the interesting thing about her tweet.  I noticed it more when I reread it today.

 

She never says anything about all of Lincoln.  She obviously was upset (like all of us) about what was written and, I feel, She was expressing anger at some fans who may feel that way.  She doesn't indicate how many fans she thinks feels that way.  It could be that she's just talking about this one fan.....or many.  She doesn't say.

[BigRedBuster]

4 minutes ago, BlitzFirst said:

 

 

No I didn't.

 

I discussed how I was dismayed that people wanted to use it to testify how they, Lincoln, and Nebraska weren't part of any racism...when society as a whole IS no matter your geographic location.

 

Also, ridiculous is your word, not mine.  I said no such thing.

 

I never wrote anything about your feelings, you brought them up twice and I asked why you did as they had nothing to bear on the debate we're all having.

You are one of the most confusing posters on this subject.  You write about a group of people and what they said.  When someone from that group responds, you say..."I wasn't writing about you".

 

Have a good day sir.

[Danny Bateman]

8 minutes ago, BigRedBuster said:

Here's the interesting thing about her tweet.  I noticed it more when I reread it today.

 

She never says anything about all of Lincoln.  She obviously was upset (like all of us) about what was written and, I feel, She was expressing anger at some fans who may feel that way.  She doesn't indicate how many fans she thinks feels that way.  It could be that she's just talking about this one fan.....or many.  She doesn't say.

 

Yeah, I agree.

 

Which gets back to the issue of social media being a very imperfect medium for certain conversations where a lot of context can get left out or misinterpreted.

[BigRedBuster]

16 minutes ago, BlitzFirst said:

 

Once again, I didn't ask anyone to FEEL any way.  You brought up feelings.

 

20 minutes ago, BlitzFirst said:

That's something lots of folks do when first learn that they are part of a society that is chock full of racism.

 

Not me!

I'm not racist!

None of my friends are racist!

 

That is people feeling as though they need to express an immediate defense to counter what was posted regarding racism.

 

You just did.

[BigRedBuster]

40 minutes ago, BlitzFirst said:

 

No, I didn't.

 

Making a statement about people feeling as though they need to express defense is not asking YOU to feel a specific way.

 

Nice try though.

You criticizing people for feeling a certain way is. 

[teachercd]

57 minutes ago, BlitzFirst said:

 

No, I didn't.

 

Making a statement about people feeling as though they need to express defense is not asking YOU to feel a specific way.

 

Nice try though.

Bro, you are a marathon.  I will give you credit for that.