Blogcritics: Comments on Whites Only

Comment by Phillip Winn

Thu, 15 Jul 2004 22:30:12 EDT

BTW, the author of the first piece did email me back as soon as the second piece, to which MD already linked, was posted. He stated that they had been unable to confirm the seller's identity in time for the first article.

Comment by Phillip Winn

Thu, 15 Jul 2004 22:27:30 EDT

Dan, in the last three weeks, I have heard two different people use the word "n*gger" to refer to people whose skin is darker than their own. The first occurred around coworkers, on a lunch hour while driving. The speaker in this case recently backed out of a real estate deal because he found that a hispanic family lived "too close" to the house on which he had put an offer. He was trying to buy a house to get away from the hispanic people who have "taken over" the condominium complex in which he now lives. I strongly suspect that he wouldn't object in the slightest to a return to the civil rights environment of the 1960s, though I will say that he denies such accusations when I make them. He used the word in an attempt to incite me to wrath, but I've grown weary of his baiting, so I responded with a short comment about pride and ignorance and changed the subject. I suspect his problem has more to do with ignorance from lack of exposure to "real" people of color than anything else, and thank God daily that he has no children. The second, more sadly, came from a nineteen-year-old girl who has had and does have personal exposure to people of color. Unfortunately, she seems to have fallen into a trap I've observed many times before, in which "good" black people don't count, while "bad" black people are "typical" of all black people. That's a whole different topic, but the point is, she knows better, and actually stopped herself mid-word and apologized to everyone present at the time. Of course, she was in my house at the time, and knew I would require that corrective action if she didn't volunteer it, and I have no idea whether she would similarly correct herself had I not been around. Maybe. Both of these people would deny that they are racists, and in the case of the young girl, I'd be inclined to agree, *IF* I hadn't just heard her drop an n-bomb without thinking. It came out, so it's in her somewhere, right? So two times in about the last month or more may not be "rampant," and I actually don't think that racism is "rampant" in my particular circle of companions, at least the ones I choose (neither of the two cited people are exactly my choice). But twice by people who know already that I am intolerant of racist statements is more prevalent than many white people would like to admit, too. I've observed many examples of differing treatment received by friends with dark skin vs me at the same places at the same time. One friend and I tend to meet up at places, and I usually get there first. It provides me with an interesting opportunity to see how he is treated walking in the door vs how I am treated. In many cases, I'm happy to say, there is no discernible difference. In some cases, I get better treatment, but not by much. In at least one case, he was treated appallingly, and we left. In a couple of cases, he has gotten better treatment than me, but again, not by much. It's serious progress when compared to Black Like Me, and we can use the same bathrooms and drink from the same drinking fountains and own homes side-by-side and so on, but as the idiot with the "Whites Only" sign says, things are still sometimes different for no good reason.

Comment by Eric Olsen

Thu, 15 Jul 2004 20:17:46 EDT

Also, I think the problem is a little more nuanced than rampant vs nothing - the truth lies somewhere in between.

Comment by Eric Olsen

Thu, 15 Jul 2004 20:16:35 EDT

I don't think we have heard from anyone who agrees with the seller

Comment by Dan

Thu, 15 Jul 2004 20:09:33 EDT

So now I guess we should side with a loony hispanic in his petty property dispute, and acknowledge that even though it wasn't a white guy this time, that doesn't mean that evil white racism isn't rampant.

Comment by Eric Olsen

Thu, 15 Jul 2004 20:03:50 EDT

I don't think it's an "argument" per se, more of an underlying assumption

Comment by Tom Johnson

Thu, 15 Jul 2004 19:46:52 EDT

Great, another embarassing racial incident for my state. I wish I knew where this guy's home was, I'd like to see the area it's in. It's very possible it's on the outskirts of town where few people live, so many would not have seen it to get offended by it. I'll have to read these articles more in-depth later, maybe it mentions a general area.

Comment by boomcrashbaby

Thu, 15 Jul 2004 19:40:04 EDT

Well that's the oddest argument I ever heard. Murder is not legal, there are legal remedies for it, do these people also say murder no longer exists?

Comment by Eric Olsen

Thu, 15 Jul 2004 19:39:44 EDT

Why would this additional, helpful research be erased?

Comment by Mac Diva

Thu, 15 Jul 2004 19:36:35 EDT

Read this quickly before Justene erases it. The home owner is Hispanic. He says he put up the sign to draw attention to discrimination against himself. Though he does not make a coherent argument, I'm going to fill in the blanks. Mr. Miranda believes that only whites are treated fairly in the development where he lives, so new buyers there should be white. Ergo, the sign. Please note, I am not agreeing with him. I'm only describing what appears to have been his thought process.

Comment by Eric Olsen

Thu, 15 Jul 2004 19:35:27 EDT

Many people equate the fact that racism is no longer legal, and that there are legal remedies against its most obvious ramifications, with the assumption that it then essentially doesn't exist.

Comment by boomcrashbaby

Thu, 15 Jul 2004 19:22:20 EDT

I've never heard that there are people who argue racism is dead.

Comment by Eric Olsen

Thu, 15 Jul 2004 19:15:20 EDT

Arizona is going to look real bad again if they dont 'get on this very quickly - Martin Luther King Day, anyone?

Comment by Mac Diva

Thu, 15 Jul 2004 19:05:06 EDT

I don't know Arizona law, but in many states the AG's office can bring its own complaint. The reporter should check to see if they're being evasive. Since the practice is against public policy, one does not have to be a potential buyer as some people might think. That is not as clear as it could be in the story.

Comment by Eric Olsen

Thu, 15 Jul 2004 18:50:08 EDT

Amazing story everyone should know about, and very well written Phillip, thanks. It's so much easier for everyone if racism is dead, so we usually pretend that it is, But it isn't and it won't go away because it is ignored. I hope this story causes everyone - including me - who question individual instances of alleged racism, to be a little less sure.