I referenced the following "Huff Post Black Voices" article in Part I : ("When the Media Treats White Suspects and Killers Better than Black Victims". The writer is Nick Wing, who appears to be White in his media pic. His list was comprehensive, but he showed an ironic bias when reporting his fourteen examples of contrasting White and Black news stories:
He only referenced three of the fourteen Black victims by name, opting instead to leave generic descriptions, like "a man" or "the victim". Readers must follow links to associated news stories just to figure out who the victims were. In contrast, Wing included the full names of every White suspect.
Racism is a sneaky beast that's often expressed subconsciously, regardless of someone's good intentions. White privilege grooms White people to become addicted to self-importance. I believe all Whites are prone to falling asleep to the mere presence of non-Whites, and by extension, to non-White needs and considerations.
A final note: While Huffington Post features thoughtful political and social content, I don't think articles about White racism in American media should be isolated within a "Black" section of a politically liberal website (like "Huff Post Black Voices").
Segregating a website by ethnicity, and then placing features about White-instigated racism there, sets a tone: "You and your Black problems will be voiced over there, so the rest of us [who are too often the cause of those problems] don't have to hear about it."
4 comments:
Hey ! It's Ashy Larry from LSA.
Your commentary was very interesting and eye-opening.
It's funny to me that they'd put an article about white racism in the "black section" of Huff Po when we already know about it. Shouldn't whites be the ones reading it so they can be called out on their privilege ?
But we all know why they did it, right ?
This reminds me of Einstein saying racism was "a disease of white people". It is indeed and they obviously don't care about ending it.
Hi Larry :) Thank you. Good point about giving Whites the chance to look at examples of their White privilege.
From personal experience with my own limited (half-White) privilege, plus my experience observing White family, friends and others:
Privilege really is an addiction, and most people have a hard time giving up an addiction. There are some Whites, imo, who have become increasingly aware of their privilege, and while imperfect, do strive to do better. As you're inferring, it first takes a willingness to recognize that privilege.
Ashy Larry here again !
Honestly, no matter how aware and sympathetic they are, I don't think they would give up their privilege if given the opportunity lol.
I believe it's up to black people to wake up and fight for their right.
I believe non-Blacks, BRs and multi-racial folks need to do what they/we can: stay alert to unearned privilege and make some uncomfortable changes so that fewer Blacks and others suffer for the relative comfort that privilege brings.
I agree with you: privilege isn't something a lot of non-Blacks and BRs are willing to relinquish. And I also agree with you that, in general, only Blacks can be counted on to consistently understand and support the "Black cause".
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