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Ugh.Michael Harriot
3/29/17 6:37pm
“Racism and sexism are measured by their impact, not their intent.”
This has always been troubling for me, as it seems to be a case of “This is what you did, and your intent does not matter in the slightest.”
My issue is not being called out for racism, me or anyone else. My issue is when the person levelling the charge is, frankly, an idiot. Which, it should be said, isn’t the case here.
I recently got into it with someone in a FB group dedicated to non-profits, the topic being the “white savior” mentality that leads mainly white people to found their own foundations to address needs that are already being met by established, largely POC-led foundations in the same area. I posted a relevant Root article elsewhere in the thread.
One woman, who was new to the nonprofit world, took extreme umbrage to the OP’s point, which she took as being “anti-entrepreneurial.” I tried to come at the OP’s concerns from another angle, only to be called out for “mansplaining.” Now, hey, I’ll cop to talking out of my lane on occasion, but...when I’m talking about a field I’ve been in for nearly 15 years, talking to someone with 1.5 years experience who is pulling facts and figures out of their ass, I call that “explaining.” So, I lashed out in response, as some of you have seen me do here (fewer cuss words).
Now, bear in mind that there was no indication that the person I was talking to was a POC. No self-ID, no picture to go by, nothing. Just the usual, belligerent idiocy one finds on the Internet. I was then told - flatly told - that I wouldn’t dare speak that way to a non-POC. It was easily the most frustrating interaction I’ve ever had online, and I’ve been on fucking KINJA sites for years.
So, my question is what one does in corner cases like that? How does one reconcile the “intent doesn’t matter” piece with someone for whom LOGIC doesn’t matter?
Not looking to spar here. AM looking for perspective.
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  Ugh.Ugh.
  3/29/17 7:32pm
  Also, I do not mean to imply or state that these sorts of interactions are common or the norm. I recognize that this is a bit of an anomaly.
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  ThePriceofEggsinMaltaUgh.
  3/29/17 7:36pm
  If you figure this out, please let me know. Please let everyone know, because you’ll be in line for a Nobel.
  I think figuring out how we come back from this brink that we’re sitting on, where a terrifying percentage of the population gives no heed to facts, logic, or reason, is more pressing that climate change, terrorism, race relations, income inequality and nuclear proliferation at this point. If only because nothing positive will happen in any of those areas until we deal with it. There’s just a big chunk of people in this country happy to stick their fingers in their ears and shout “lalala I can’t hear you” whenever you say anything they don’t want to hear. And now they’ve elected a President whose sole exceptional skill is doing that very thing.
  Critical thinking needs to make a comeback, and fucked if I know how that’s going to happen.
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hocuspocusoctopusMichael Harriot
3/29/17 6:14pm
Jesus. That man went from zero to blown gasket as soon as he was told he, a white man, couldn’t define what racism is. Got your fee-fees hurt, sir?
Just take a look at all that bruised privilege. What a fool.
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  "Hachi"
  3/29/17 6:34pm
  I didnt watch because i cant stand to hear another white man explain something. Ugh
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  Flamingo83"Hachi"
  3/29/17 6:54pm
  You didn’t miss anything but a tantrum over not being allowed to speak.
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Mental IcebergMichael Harriot
3/29/17 6:08pm
This afternoon I watched Joe Walsh debate CNN’s Angela Rye on why he isn’t a bigot for tweeting this little gem:
I had him on for all of about 20 seconds before Channing the channel, and this was me the whole time:
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  Raineyb1013Mental Iceberg
  3/29/17 6:37pm
  I saw a clip with Angela Rye on CNN with him. She straight up told the host that she does not talk to bigots referring to that wanker. Tore him and CNN a new one.
  There’s no reason Joe Walsh should ever be seen on CNN or MSMBC again. He’s trash!
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  Ugh.Mental Iceberg
  3/29/17 6:41pm
  How...how the fuck does one make that argument with a straight fucking face?
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Cali4lifeMichael Harriot
3/29/17 5:53pm
White racism don’t die it multiplies.
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  MatisyahuSeriousCali4life
  3/29/17 6:54pm
  after mixed results, the us is now in a rebuilding year.
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  My arm! Let go of my arm with your ass!MatisyahuSerious
  3/29/17 11:32pm
  I don’t know, relying wholely on lottery draft picks... Not a good move. 76ers are not a good strategy.
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BS-BryantMichael Harriot
3/29/17 6:14pm
The scab (and soon the false sense of the pride the country held) that was the “post-racial period” is long gone. And I couldn’t be happier. The card pulling is a glorious thing to behold.
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  World's Moistest Jheri CurlBS-Bryant
  3/29/17 7:41pm
  I never took it that the post-racial society was for black folks. I assumed (as a foreigner) that post racial was for Orientals (what those in the USA call Asians - in Europe an Asian is someone from Pakistan/India and the term Oriental isn’t offensive), Jewish folks (who are newly caucasian) but not those that are of discernible African descent.
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  BS-BryantWorld's Moistest Jheri Curl
  3/29/17 8:56pm
  Never heard that one before. Welp, guess I’ll just add that to the list of lost in translation ‘Mericanisms.
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MikeMicMyqMichael Harriot
3/29/17 8:25pm
Why do I feel like this fool is only saying April Ryan is “feisty” because she’s Black? You know damn well that if she were white it’d be some bullshit like “antagonistic” or “combative.”
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  PhoneBurnerElmoMikeMicMyq
  3/30/17 12:33am
  No if she were white it would be assertive and confident.
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  Rooo sez BISH PLZPhoneBurnerElmo
  3/30/17 4:21am
  If she were still a “she” it would still be “aggressive”, to Schlapp and Shouty Spice.
  If you’re a woman and you know what you’re talking about with men like that you’re near-automatically “aggressive” - especially if they don’t agree with you and you know more than they do.
  If you’re also of color, then you’re “feisty”, the condescending pejorative Schlapp used here - or, worse, “angry”, like Joe Walsh tried to play on Angela Rye before she showed him what was what.
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CascadeHawkMichael Harriot
3/29/17 7:21pm
They always, always, refer to being labelled “racist” as name calling, as if you’re calling them an asshole (which they often are). It’s a reframing of the word that keeps them from feeling guilty for their actions. If someone’s just hurling an insult at them, they don’t have to apologize or even acknowledge any wrongdoing; you’re just being mean to them because you’re trying to oppress them. The trick is figuring out how to break through that well-entrenched defense mechanism.
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  Ugh.CascadeHawk
  3/30/17 10:50am
  I’ve seen people focus less on the overall character and more on the specific action, and that can work.
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Absent HumanityMichael Harriot
3/29/17 6:44pm
Schlapp yelled at, turned his back on and interrupted Johnson for the same reason Spicer reprimanded Ryan: because Spicer and Schlapp can’t bear to hear anyone contradict their lies. Spicer is apt to get plum-faced and confrontational with anyone, as is Schapp—but the disrespect of Johnson and Ryan is indicative of Spicer’s and Schlapp’s privilege. Their whiteness endows them with enough arrogance to tell another human being to shut the hell up. How dare April Ryan question Sean Spicer just because she is paid to ask questions during a question-and-answer session? What gives Jason Johnson the right to comment on racism just because MSNBC invited him to specifically comment on racism?
Damn straight. Schlapp’s punk ass immediately went to the stupid shit like “You don’t know what racism is!” as soon as Johnson struck his “uppity negro” nerve. Listen up white people: You do not get to tell a black person what racism is, just like those of us who are men do not get to tell a woman what sexism is.
Being a conservative, he’s probably one of those types that chides people for getting offended, but here he is playing the white victim card, saying, “Woe is me! I get called racist and sexist but I don’t do anything about it! My poor white feelings are so hurt!” He and others like him are trash and do not deserve sympathy, only the most raw and blunt of truths.
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BlakkNicholsonMichael Harriot
3/30/17 12:00pm
“I don’t care what color you are, and I respect you...”
“I care what color YOU are”.
To understand this small interaction is to fully understand US race relations in 2017.
Whenever a white person says “I don’t see color” or “I don’t care about race”, it can be extremely aggravating because WE DO, mostly becasue OUR VERY SURVIVAL IN THIS COUNTRY HAS BEEN, AND CONTINUES TO BE, BASED ON US ALWAYS KNOWING, AND ALWAYS TOWING THE MAGICAL LINE BETWEEN BEING AFRICAN AMERICAN AND BEING AMERICAN.
To say that you don’t care about it, or it doesn’t matter to you, feels extremely dismissive, as well as fairly illogical; if you didn’t care about my race/sexual identity/religion/sex, you would probably be more inclined to believe me when I tell you about my experiences dealing with it in this country.
I wish there was a way that I could explain this to open-minded, fair white people, so that they understand our position. But, the easiest and safest way that the white majority has found to get over the racism, sexism, homophobia, and xenophobia that plagues this society is to pretend like it doesn’t exist.
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  St.SmallerieBlakkNicholson
  3/30/17 6:44pm
  What I usually say to “open-minded, fair white people”, usually just younger people, is to just try to remember that every day when you leave your home, you are treated as a privileged person. In almost every interaction you have in this world, you as a white person are assumed to be an articulate American deserving respect always. Just by saying this simple thing I have gotten some very clueless people to at least try some empathy. Sometimes for their first time.
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  BlakkNicholsonSt.Smallerie
  3/31/17 7:52am
  That’s awesome. Keep up the good fight.
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2014MustangSpringMichael Harriot
3/29/17 6:27pm
The body language of Schlapp alone - slightly turned away from Johnson - is telling enough. It’s disgusting.
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  DashleyinCali2014MustangSpring
  3/29/17 7:02pm
  Shaking his head while Johnson was talking (and no one told HIM not to!), “well, who are YOU to say what’s racist?” (uhhhh he’s a black scholar on race issues, like that’s his whole deal dude), calling out April Ryan HERSELF as his black friend/shield against accusations of racism. Infuriating.
  The discussion of who is and is not “feisty” felt like some new coded shit.
  I’m a white woman, I rarely comment on the Root, though I read it a lot, because I understand that this isn’t a forum FOR me, but it’s one I am interested in and can learn from. But I just had to say something today, I felt violent towards Schlapp watching that, and shit like this just makes me despair that we’re sprinting backwards on race relations.
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  2014MustangSpringDashleyinCali
  3/30/17 1:06pm
  Same here - white woman always reading the Root, not usually commenting.
  I will say this - I don’t think we’re going backwards. I think this shit is just showing it’s ugly face. It was always there, but just hidden under a facade. Now, somehow, it’s OK to say this shit out loud.
  Yeah, well, it’s not OK to say out loud, and it’s not OK to say it quietly, or to even think it. My only hope is that ripping this band-aid off will get it to heal faster. I feel a responsibility as a white woman to take a stand and say “No fucking way. You don’t get to treat people like that.”
  I also felt violent to Schlapp. I want to smack his red round face.
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