bananafish said:
Sorry I mischaracterized you gb.
You DO know more than Higgs about racism, or are you going to deny that too?
My biggest beef with Higgs is his weird comments about race. I.e., "I'm the least racist person there is," (typically stated after expressing frustration that blacks "have it better than whites" when it comes to applying for college, or other benefits that institutions give minorities over whites). Statements indicating that blacks have it better than whites when it comes to college applications -- which may be true, I haven't studied the issue enough, but it ignores the MASSIVE abuse and hardships that black people have been on the receiving end on in this country historically, and ignores the MASSIVE effect it has on people even today.
And then says something like "but why isn't there a white bar association" -- and the fact that he doesn't even realize how offensive a thing like that is to say.
And THEN excuses it by saying: "but I have family that is black!" Which somehow excuses him from analytically thinking about things. If he wanted to respond to my post about the historic treatment of the black population by refuting my historical recitation as inapplicable in today's climate, I'd disagree, but at least we could have a respectful conversation about it. But instead, he refuses to talk facts but simply relies on "but my sister is black," as it somehow gives him more insight than some stranger on the internet. What? How is that even relevant?
bananafish, I'm not sure if you made the comment about knowing racism because we are Faceboook friends. But sure, if it was somehow relevant that a person, for example, grew up in a black section of 1970's Boston, has black siblings, whose dad left and was raised by an uncle who is black, then sure, we could compare resumes. But that doesn't make me immune from being racist or sexist or a general #######. Hell, race probably isn't on my mind NEARLY as much as someone as [
poster's name removed], and I wouldn't presume to know more about the things he has to navigate. But again, that doesn't make his opinion on the world more valid than mine or yours or even Higgs'.
Finally, I'm also about the whitest nerd in any given room full of white guys, and have thusly benefited in this country by being white, and tall, and straight. I'm extremely lucky that I was born looking like I do in this country in this time period. I'm consistently blown away by white men who are so angry about their place in this country. We have it great! What's frustrating about Higgs is that he is not someone like Peens, but he's actually smart, and thoughtful, and even introspective. He just occasionally says things that fly in the face of my worldview, and I don't understand how he can be that smart and still hold those opinions, knowing the history of race in this country. But I could be missing something I guess.
EDIT: On second thought, it's not my place to put other people's business out on the Interwebs.