Pessimists R Us

[quesarah]

I take the train to work. From the train station I take a bus to my lab. The bus stop is roughly a half mile and gives me a pleasant walk each way. Yesterday evening it was misting rain and chilly, but not horribly so. I began my walk to the bus stop like any other day.

Two different drivers offered me a ride. One fellow in an SUV pulled a u-turn so he could make sure I was okay. "No one should have to walk in the rain," he said. I thanked both of them but declined. How nice of them to stop. Sometimes people surprise me. Happy thoughts.

After I arrived at the bus stop I watched the regulars walk up; a young black man, a scruffy long-haired white man, and the usual group of Mexican-American men and women from the nearby businesses. All walking up...

Did anyone stop to offer them a ride or is that still one of the "bonuses" of being an innocuous-looking white woman? How much progress have we really made? Is it ever going to get better? Is it better anywhere else? Is it even possible to combat racism or are we horribly inevitably fucked?

Comments

[biogeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

clearly we all need to recognize racism within ourselves and combat it. but what about those subtle things? is there any way to recognize that? is there any way to get at it on some level other than person by person?

in fact, i would argue that these structures of inequality can not be adaquately destroyed and deconstructed in a capitalist society

i look around the world and wonder if it can be deconstructed in any society. is it so deeply ingrained in our primate brains to separate into groups of "us" and "them" that we'll never overcome it? i wonder.

[virginmartyr1.livejournal.com]

clearly we all need to recognize racism within ourselves and combat it. but what about those subtle things? is there any way to recognize that? is there any way to get at it on some level other than person by person?

do you mean subtle things that are not exactly a person's own racism (or whatever "ism")? i guess that's where i start considering something to be institutionalized, to be part of an institution's structure. those are really, i think, the hardest to identify, the hardest to figure out where to start to change, and the hardest to actually change. it's all really tricky and very well hidden, as historically based and grounded things usually are.


i look around the world and wonder if it can be deconstructed in any society. is it so deeply ingrained in our primate brains to separate into groups of "us" and "them" that we'll never overcome it? i wonder.

i actually don't know if a society that already has established roots in discriminitory structures can ever really be deconstructed and overcome to the full degree. the concept of difference is not the problem. it's when you go from the idea of difference to the "us" vs. "them" scenerio that you run into problems. i don't think humans by nature are discriminatory, nor do i really think that it's inherant to place subtle differences in separate groups...large differences (like different species, etc) i think might be more natural. very young children are incredibly open minded...but from a very young age children are taught to find the "other," and i think in many ways through identifying the other and focusing so much emphasis on what is different, coupled with the historically and socially grounded systems of discrimination, people in most "developed" or "developing" countries keep re-creating the same systems over and over again. i think the concept of overcoming racism (in this case) is such a big idea that it's almost completely inconceivable truly. i would think it's a matter of steps upon steps upon steps and then the necessity for not taking any steps backward and continually bringing up next generations in the ways that counteract.

i think my "knock me old" cold medicine has kicked in because i don't even know what i'm trying to say anymore...hope that makes some sort of sense (at least maybe just a tiny bit). obviously this is all speculatory theories, etc etc. i'm just a sociologist who has lost all her fun big words.

[nightxade.livejournal.com]

I agree with pretty much everything you have said, but I also want to throw another stone in the puddle - reverse racism. The people who cry racism at every chance they get. The people who are seeking "reparation" for the enslavement of their ancestors. The people who use racism as an excuse for their own failure. The people who segregate themselves and then demand to be treated equally...

I had a post on racism and how it affects me a while back and got some pretty interesting responses about other people's experiences.

Personally, I think the only way to combat racism in the "civilized" world is to take every child away from their parents and raise them in a big nursery run by androids representing every race and culture until they are about 10 years old.

[biogeekgrrl.livejournal.com]

Your post on racism was very cool with some wonderful responses.

Personally, I think the only way to combat racism in the "civilized" world is to take every child away from their parents and raise them in a big nursery run by androids representing every race and culture until they are about 10 years old.

Strangely enough, that's about the most logical reaction I've heard.

[wafflelips.livejournal.com]

I think it's part of human nature to catergorize things and determine how much someone is similar or different compared to yourself and those closest to you. From there, people make generalizations. Some are friendlier about it than others based on the exposure they've had to people that are different from them and what they are taught by their family/community.

For me, my assumptions of 'others' were most challenged when I lived in places other than my hometown (Cleveland) and when I dealt with coming out. Living in new places gave me exposure to soooo mnay different people/cultures and I learned a lot of my assumptions. I would be such a different person had I not left Cleveland.