Checking out of Airbnb while black gets the police called on you apparently

[HomerJS]

I don't think we should judge folks based on their looks, but on their actions. If I see someone other than my neighbor coming out of their house with packed bags when they are not home, I might be tempted to call the police to double check no burglary is going on.

You can't tell a thug by their dress, or color. Nor can you assume racism every time something happens to a minority.

Really? Isn't that what we heard all during Trayvon Martin? Hoodie+black=thug. Now its different?

No you cannot assume racism every time something happens to a minority as long as they are treated like everyone else.

Key phrase bolded which we know does happen in the criminal justice system. Call me when the police send out the helicopters when a white family checks out of an Airbnb.

 

[interchange]

The problem with the arguments saying you can't prove this is racist is that you can't prove the majority of racism that grips this country yet looking at simple statistics would tell you that racism is absolutely there in a big way on aggregate. Personally I think the solution here is not in trying to determine whether individual cases are products of racism but rather to look at things as if they might be and to go step by step looking for possible interventions that might improve things.

Edit: I was thinking about this more. I'm wondering if the objection to considering racism as an inciting factor for this event relates less to the individual case and more an observation that, for black people, all happenings are interpreted as relating to race. There are certainly gradients of this, but the phenomenon is real and very important. If a black person is not taught to interpret their interactions as related to their race, then they will not be able to identify and defend themselves against racism unless it is direct and overt which is the minority. Unfortunately, the consequence is also the potential for false positives and a bunch of cases where the presence of racism cannot be definitively determined. One formulation of the term white privilege and the one I certainly agree with is the privilege in being white as to be able to go through life without constantly having to actively consider how being white influences their life experience. There are of course gradients in this experience as well, but overall the sharp divide between white people who don't think about their race all the time and black people who do is at least symbolic of the seriousness of racial differences in American society if not an independent problem itself. Yet, I do not believe one can simply be antagonistic to this problem and hope for any productive change. On an individual basis, a black person who is not taught to actively consider and identify the presence of covert or institutional racism in their everyday experience is likely to face a host of disadvantages. Looking at that helps me transform any anger I feel into sadness. Being angry is helpful when you need to actively fight something. But it is paralyzing when productivity depends on cooperation instead of antagonism. Appropriately attributed sadness enhances your ability to relate to another's experience which can be transformative.

 

[pmv]

The problem with the arguments saying you can't prove this is racist is that you can't prove the majority of racism that grips this country yet looking at simple statistics would tell you that racism is absolutely there in a big way on aggregate. Personally I think the solution here is not in trying to determine whether individual cases are products of racism but rather to look at things as if they might be and to go step by step looking for possible interventions that might improve things.

Edit: I was thinking about this more. I'm wondering if the objection to considering racism as an inciting factor for this event relates less to the individual case and more an observation that, for black people, all happenings are interpreted as relating to race. There are certainly gradients of this, but the phenomenon is real and very important. If a black person is not taught to interpret their interactions as related to their race, then they will not be able to identify and defend themselves against racism unless it is direct and overt which is the minority. Unfortunately, the consequence is also the potential for false positives and a bunch of cases where the presence of racism cannot be definitively determined. One formulation of the term white privilege and the one I certainly agree with is the privilege in being white as to be able to go through life without constantly having to actively consider how being white influences their life experience. There are of course gradients in this experience as well, but overall the sharp divide between white people who don't think about their race all the time and black people who do is at least symbolic of the seriousness of racial differences in American society if not an independent problem itself. Yet, I do not believe one can simply be antagonistic to this problem and hope for any productive change. On an individual basis, a black person who is not taught to actively consider and identify the presence of covert or institutional racism in their everyday experience is likely to face a host of disadvantages. Looking at that helps me transform any anger I feel into sadness. Being angry is helpful when you need to actively fight something. But it is paralyzing when productivity depends on cooperation instead of antagonism. Appropriately attributed sadness enhances your ability to relate to another's experience which can be transformative.

I agree with this comment. Anyone in a disadvantaged group has an almost Darwinian need to be aware of the potential threats related to that disadvantage, while those not in that group may actually benefit from being oblivious to such things even when they are definitely there.

But isn't 'sadness' also potentially paralysing?

 

[interchange]

But isn't 'sadness' also potentially paralysing?

Sure. But I was careful to add some conditions here wherein it is appropriately attributed and used cooperatively. This is not the case with a pathologic depressive state wherein a person feels sadness as though they are the source of it or without connection to a source and functions in a way to isolate a person from others.

Note: the way I have framed sadness and depression here is not pedagogical, but is reasonably compatible with some frameworks for conceptualizing depression. If you have interest & familiarity with psychoanalytic theory, it might be easier to say that I am talking about mourning rather than melancholia, and in moving from anger to sadness I am suggesting a change from the paranoid-schizoid position to the depressive position.

 

[Thebobo]

Last summer I was at our local lake and there were two teenage girls at a table nearby. The went swimming and left a camera, two phones, a purse and a backpack in clear view on the table. I was watching their stuff out of the corner of my eye when a woman about 30 and man about 60 came along and grabbed up all the valuables, loaded them into the backpack and headed for the parking lot. They weren't at all dressed for the beach, I hadn't seen them with the girls at all since I'd been there, and it looked a little suspicious to me.

I was half asleep and told myself it was probably innocent, but thought what would I want someone else to do if they saw this happen to my kids. So I called the police and walked after them to see where they were going, and pointed them out to the cops when they showed up. Turns out it was the girls' mother and grandfather there to pick up the girls, and saw the valuable sitting out so they were locking them in the car where they'd be safe. Granddad was a little pissed off that I had called the cops on him, but mom at least thanked me for looking out for her daughters' stuff.

Did I do wrong? Am I a racist if the folks were minorities? Or was I just being a good neighbor? Should I mind my own business next time? I understand a Nervous Nancy can take things too far, but do you want to live in a neighborhood where folks don't look out for each other?

Ouch I bet that was uncomfortable.

 

[HomerJS]

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