Post #2099115

2026-05-02 15:40 UTC

@intransitivelie "Racism isn't a quality one has." But you also write: "You can't stop being white. You can stop hurting others..." Is this consistent? However, I essentially /agree/ with you about structural racism or the globalized repressive white hegemony. "... you feel better about the fact that racism exists." My reply is a challenge for one to think of influences which concretize racism within the mind. "Fight the racist in your head.. the System" - A metaphysical argument as mine.

Replies (1)

@intransitivelie@beige.party 2026-05-02 19:05

@chloechloechloe Racism. Not whiteness. Whiteness is a quality one has that you can't stop being. If the world magically changed tomorrow, as you suggest, then no one would care. Until then, assuming you're white, you benefit from whiteness because of racist systems and your participation in them. You're looking for an out. You're trying to remove your racism through magical thinking. That's the opposite of what you need to do, which is to act against racism inside and outside yourself. Fighting the racist in your own head doesn't mean making up a magical world where there is no racism and you aren't a beneficiary of it. It means recognizing your internal biases and privileges and acting against the harms those cause, ideally by using your privilege to help those who are targeted by racism. You're arguing that racism isn't inherent in us as humans. Fine. We don't live in a world where that makes a damn bit of difference. Your racist biases, as a white person, are inculcated in you, and your participation in systems which privilege you for your whiteness is racist. It's not "original sin." Original sin is a religious doctrine that blames all humans for two humans' fall from grace. This isn't some abstract idea of sin. You benefit from racist systems if you're white. Full stop. Fight against that. I'm just a white dude. I'm not an expert. I'm just telling you what I've learned from experts, which is that being sorry for your racism or trying to remove your culpability isn't the solution to racism. It's what we as white people are tempted to do, yes, but targets of racism don't need us to be free of some magical original sin. They need us to fight against and tear down racist systems that continue to privilege us even if we personally "aren't racist." As with so many things, "racist" isn't a thing you are. It's a thing you do. Stop worrying about whether you "are" racist. Stop trying to logic your way out of it. Worry about what you do. Fight your biases and privilege. Fight racist systems. Beyond that, I have no advice for you, metaphysical or otherwise.

Open ##2099116