"My" people

[Belsnickel]

(04-12-2018, 05:58 PM)PhilHos Wrote: But how much of the reminders of their racial identity is from OTHERS (or even others of other races) and how much of that is from seeing something that's not even there? I've known a few people over the years that claimed that anything negative said or done towards them was due to racis, when there was absolutely no evidence of such a claim.

I don't doubt that many, if not all, people of color have experienced racism to some degree in their lives, but I highly doubt that most encounter racial reminders on a daily basis unless it's of their own doing (reminding themselves of their racial identity I mean).

I really think you are underestimating the effects of race in our society. I am not just saying overt bigotry, but the little implicit biases that are encountered all the time. I see this sort of stuff constantly around me in higher education. Even in a class that is for a social science, where the professor is not only very liberal but is highly cognizant of race and its effects, I witness things like this that give a definite reminder to the students of color in the classroom that they are not of the same race.

If we ever stand a chance of actually getting to the point you desire, then we need to recognize the point we are at now. I want to emphasize that I am not just trying to put down you or your thoughts, these are just my observations from working within the social sciences toward policy solutions for things. Like right now I am researching and writing about felony disenfranchisement. We like to pretend that policies like this are colorblind, that we live in a post racial society, but the effects of them tell a much different story (so do their origins, but that's a different story). We can't move past things we aren't acknowledging, and we need to move past those things before we can get to the point you want to be at.