OK, I went out eating with a few friends the other day and one of them started telling a story of how one night after heading home from the club they stopped at a gas station on the way. After coming out of the bathroom the place was being robbed and it was four black guys. Then one of their friends ended up coming and getting them out. Why in the hell when people tell stories like this do they always have to point out that it was black, Mexican, or whatever race robbing the store? Whenever a white person does the exact same thing they just say four guys. Now I'm not saying that everybody does this and I'm not saying just white people do it because I've heard my share of black people do it too but I get damn sick of it. I can understand if the police were looking for robbers and needed descriptions but when telling a story I believe race becomes irrelevant, the story would not have changed at all if it was just said four guys were robbing the store. It's like the time when the tragic Westside school shooting happened here in 1998. Now you all may not be too familiar with the town of Jonesboro but Westside is the only school district of the four here that has a non-existent black population. Despite this obvious fact while I was shopping the day it happened a dumbass woman asked a cashier who had been listening to the details on the radio if it was black people who did it. First thing I asked myself when she made the statement, how many black people here even know where Westside is? I'm sorry but I get sick of this crap and was going on a rant, please repond anyway you like.
yes, unfortunetly a lot of uneducated folk think that blacks are evil, because its very easy and simple to categorize people that way. when something bad happens, people want to seperate themselves as much as possible from the offenders and we will usually start with visual appearances. its sad, but thats what happens in the big american melting pot.
I assume when telling a story, noting the race is an easy descriptor to help the listener better picture the scene in their minds. If the place was robbed by redheads, that would be what was mentioned. If it was four really tall guys, that might be what gets mentioned. If it was four women, that would be mentioned. It's kind of a shorthand way to easily identify the most noticable characteristic of the people in the story, especially when that characteristic differs from the person telling the story. Not that it makes it right, necessarily. But there's not necesarily a sinister motive when people do that, and I hear people do that even when the story isn't about someone doing something bad. As for the second part of the rant, not a whole lot of reason for that.
God forbid someone provides details when telling a story. Maybe it would be better like this. "We were out and some people at this place did something."
why does anyone do this? its just an easy way to describe things. i made a conscious effort to stop doing that, but lots of people still do it. also, its not as if its only white people use people's race to describe other people.
also about that stupid cashier...i would have told her she was stupid. i don't let comments like that pass anymore either. some people just say forget about those kinds of people. i was like that, but now i'm not. i say something to jackasses like that cashier so they know how stupid they sound.
You should see the double-takes I get when I describe someone as "white" (among other traits, and not in the lame, disparaging "can't run fast or dance" way) to another white person (I'm white, if'n you couldn't tell). To throw in a description like that, a non-minority-- my fellow crackas haven't a clue how to react. You can see the veins in their head, trying to figure out if I'd said something wrong or un-PC, trying to determine whether to call me on the carpet for an honest description, or let me ramble. Nothing makes me sicker than people who give me that "black, oh, I didn't notice. I don't think it matters, and I didn't notice" lie. Color and race and religion and DIFFERENCES should be celebrated and appreciated and pointed-out, over and over again. Nothing to do with the thread, but I felt like a rant of my own.
News media does it too . . . If it does not give a race description . . 9 times out 10 it is a white person The thing is . . .. by always doing that they tend to set the default as a minority doing it in someone's mind . .. i.e. the cashier intential or not .. . it works out that way .. . . . Fear and Loathing help control the population Rocket River
WTF? You can not be that sensitive? It is not like they used a derogatory term...they just described the guys that were robbing the place. If it was 4 white guys they probably would have said that too. Or 4 Mexicans... The difference is that no one would be posting a RANT if it were 4 white guys or 4 mexicans, or 4 chinese...etc..etc.. DD
You clearly didn't read my post. I said that usually when white people do something bad, such as robbery, nobody describes their race, they just say four guys but if it's a minority they tell the race. Even if they were white and described as such isn't race irrelevant? I guess I could've included another part of the story as well so here goes: The same person who told the robbery story also said at the club there were two troublesome guys, one who had a knife threatening others, yet their race was never described to me. I asked this morning after reading the responses in this post and it turns out they were white. There you go. They left race out of the picture but I can still see how two guys can go through a club causing trouble just as I can see four guys robbing a store without the race characteristic being told.
I don't think it is necessarily racist at all. People just use the most distinguishing features to describe the people who did it. I am pretty sure that whatever happens (crime or something else) in a predominantly black community (let's say in an African country or so) and if 4 guys rob a store and they happen to be white, people would describe what happened and include that they were white. If they were black, nobody would mention it because it would be the "normal" case that the 4 people come from the majority of the population.
OK, thank you for your opinion and I may be but that's why I started the thread to get the views of others. Thanks again.
calling a spade a spade isnt being racist, but only if your not attributing their desire to rob the store to them being black or other such nonsense now if the only stories you tell are of black people robbing stores, then ya might be on to something
"Dude, these four guys busted into the place! One had a mole with two hairs growing out of it. This other guy had kinda stringy blonde hair that looked not really greasy but kinda like he had some fancy hair product that was supposed to make it look greasy, and, and the third guy had on these old doc martens with little clumps of mud and he had one of those chains that the tough guys wear off of their pants or belts or whatever, and the fourth guy had some glasses that were really big, totally early 80s or New Zealand glasses, man... What was I talking about? Oh yeah! Anyway, they totally robbed the place." To Lil pun's credit, we didn't hear the tone of the delivery, and we weren't there to hear it, nevermind from his shoes. For what it's worth, I do try to say "white guys" whenever appropriate. "So these white guys signed up for my class, right? And they're all like sitting in the back of the room and acting all tough, and I'm like thinkin' wait til you white guys see the midterm!"
Also, to Lil Pun's credit, the people who are criticizing him for being too sensitive really have no reason to believe that as they've no doubt not been subjected to the racism Lil Pun probably has throughout his life. FWIW, I notice it too and I try to make an effort to not mention the race of people in my stories at all. Also, FWIW, I don't think it's a racist thing. I think people have been socialized to determine that when a race is not given, you assume that the race of the people in question are white. So, most of those who add "black" or "Mexican" or "Asian" to describe people do it out of descriptive habit and nothing more. However, as a white man who's endured nothing beyond a "gringo" comment in my life, I wouldn't have the gall to tell someone who's seen the dark side of racism all too often that they're being too sensitive.
Yes I would. I don't think one race is better than the other, but that doesn't mean you can never use race as an element of description. The reason you rarely hear white used is that white is the majority. Like it or not, majority = standard. If I am telling a story, I don't mention that it is not raining, but I probably do mention it if it is raining, because raining is not the standard. Raining is no worse than not raining (I happen to prefer rainy days). It is okay to say that someone is black, and doing so does not make you a racist. Jesus people are getting sensitive. Down that road is the story I posted above.
