Originally posted by Lek Kuen
The point is rather racists use it or not we can't ignore that side of things. Out here half the conferences about issues quickly devolve into only that. We are encouraged to shut up and only look at that said. Have people actually try to discredit you for saying that some programs try but fail for reasons that need to be adressed.You say a lot of white people don't see it? Well I say a lot of both don't or more likely refuse to see the internal issues as well. You have to tackle both, or you end up like my current town. Where programs and good systems fail because people refuse to try to understand and work with the problem beyond that one part. And you get hate for trying.
That sounds frustrating, but I think we are talking about completely different target audiences, and we shouldn't conflate those. I'm talking about ignorant white people (whether on purpose or just through lack of exposure to it) that haven't even taken the first step in acknowledging the white part in race issues. I think when addressing those people just talking about the issues and trying to expose them to it is the best course of action.
You seem to talk about black people who don't want to talk about what they can do to improve situations, and tbh, I don't know anything about that, and I don't see how I contribute, like if you already get hate for trying to do something from my POV I am unsure what a white German should do to even start to address that issue...
But I think generally we are agreed that both parts need to be addressed, and I suppose we both have the issue that the people whose minds we try to change will use our attempts to address the other issue to deflect their own responsibility. (i.e. black people will point at white racism and say "they have to fix it, I don't have to change", and white people will point at things you are talking about and say "see, it's a black issue, they have to change, not me".