D&D General (Anecdotal) conversations with Asian gamers on some problems they currently face in the D&D world of RPG gaming

[Cadence]

I think there is no need for the destinction, because you can always find a case of racism that is worse than the one you just provided. That does not make the case you sited less important. How about we just oppose ALL racism?

Surely we agree that all crime is also bad? You don't need to make a distinction in the types of crime to be against all crime. And sure, a mass shooting is statistically worse than one guy getting shot, but they are both equally bad in my view.

No distinction because they're all equally bad?

So you would just have the anti-discrimination team roll a die to see what they tackle first: (1-2) go after the officers planting evidence on minorities to bump up their arrest stats, (3-4) go after the bank who is denying loans based on race, or (5-6) go after the person who picks minority contractors to work on their house because they say their tired of wondering if the white ones will be racist.

Or three calls come in to 911. Roll a die to see what they go deal with: (1-2) a shooting in progress at a local school, (3-4) a robbery last night that was just discovered, or (5-6) some kids in a pool who may or not have families that live in the complex but they don't look like they belong.

Or do I misunderstand what equally bad means?

 

[Imaculata]

It's not about what you or they have espoused. It's about identifying that you have benefited from a racist system that has raised you up and pushed others down. FYI, Science.

I disagree that the stereotypes that are ingrained in our brains since our youth are the same as active racism. They are not the same to me.

No distinction because they're all equally bad?

snip

Or do I misunderstand what equally bad means?

I think we should go after all these things you listed, in no particular order.

 

[WayOfTheFourElements]

Beliefs are a part of racism but far more important is what whiteness gives a person access to, in terms of safety nets, travel, economic and education advantages, a safe sense of being.
I can't speak to your experiences in Morocco, though I'd be willing to be that most Moroccans who were in the ethnic majority did not have the same amount of privilege you did to leave the country when you wanted to.

In what way does skin color determine one's access to safety nets, travel, economic and education? I'm quite sure Barack Obama' children have better access to safety nets, travel, economic and education than I do, despite having darker skin.

Likewise, I've worked with white children living in villages so poor their families could not afford a toilet so they had to naughty word in a whole in the group. I know another family who paid their electricity bill in potatoes because that was all they had. I don't think they benefited much from being white.

Likewise, I was not able to leave my country do to the color of my skin. I was able to leave my country and enter another because of my passport, something which Americans of all skin colors have access to.

 

[Cadence]

I think we should go after all these things you listed, in no particular order.

You would send the officer to check on kids who might not belong in a pool or a robbery from yesterday before you sent them to an active shooting!?!?

 

[Marandahir]

In what way does skin color determine one's access to safety nets, travel, economic and education? I'm quite sure Barack Obama' children have better access to safety nets, travel, economic and education than I do, despite having darker skin.

Likewise, I was not able to leave my country do to the color of my skin. I was able to leave my country and enter another because of my passport, something which Americans of all skin colors have access to.

The insane lines around the block to renew drivers licenses in the inner cities vs the easy-in easy-out DMVs in the white suburbs should say everything you need to know about access. Just because by law you can have a passport doesn't mean it's economically/socially feasible when you're struggling to put food on the plate.

I'm not talking about all black people suffering. The Obamas are somewhat of an exception because they've been able to hold such high office and make a lot of money on the office-to-book-tour pipeline. But even then, they're not protected from other forms of racism. Just that they've escaped the economic discrimination faced predominantly by inner city people of darker skin pigments.

 

[Imaculata]

You would send the officer to check on kids who might not belong in a pool or a robbery from yesterday before you sent them to an active shooting!?!?

I would protest all the cases of racism you listed, at the same time. Your analogy does not fit.

 

[Bedrockgames]

That second definition has been the default usage of many for over a decade now, especially in parts of academia and in organizations fighting racism.

This definition is very new to most people, and hasn't been the default usage in common use (in fact it still isn't the default usage). Just in certain places in academia and activist circles was it so. This is a much deeper argument than I think this thread can manage, and probably well beyond the scope of the forums politics rules. But I think this is a very dangerous definite not racism, and one that weakens the power of the word to address much more active and destructive forms of racism. I just can't sign off on this definition.

 

[Marandahir]

I disagree that the stereotypes that are ingrained in our brains since our youth are the same as active racism. They are not the same to me.

They're both manifestations of the racist system, just one is more of a boogey man that's easily dismissed by most white people and the other is a lot harder to face because it's something ingrained in all of us. We don't want to be the bad guy, so we pretend the only problem is those outwardly, virulently hate-spewing people over there. But meanwhile, we quietly take advantage of a system that supports our luxuries in life, whether we know it outright or not.

Identifying the ways in which you benefit from racist systems is the first stem to dismantling racism. You can't be an ally if you don't know or won't accept in which ways you're part of the problem.

This definition is very new to most people, and hasn't been the default usage in common use (in fact it still isn't the default usage). Just in certain places in academia and activist circles was it so. This is a much deeper argument than I think this thread can manage, and probably well beyond the scope of the forums politics rules. But I think this is a very dangerous definite not racism, and one that weakens the power of the word to address much more active and destructive forms of racism. I just can't sign off on this definition.

Anti-racism is not a political stance. It is a human rights stance, and suggesting that this is just "a political disagreement" is another way in which racism is allowed to endure.

You and I and all of us have a moral responsibility to educate ourselves about the ways we are enabled and raised up by the racist system, and if you're not willing to do that then you're a part of the problem. The language has moved on, and we have to get with the program.

 

[Aldarc]

In what way does skin color determine one's access to safety nets, travel, economic and education? I'm quite sure Barack Obama' children have better access to safety nets, travel, economic and education than I do, despite having darker skin.

Educational access is often based upon your neighborhood of residency. Neighborhoods were often intentionally segregated by skin color even in parts of the country where segregation was illegal. Educational funding is also likewise subsidized by districts. This also impacted things such as the access to better education (and its associated funding) in the suburbs as black families (and GIs of color) were historically denied housing in the suburbs.

 

[Cadence]

In what way does skin color determine one's access to safety nets, travel, economic and education? I'm quite sure Barack Obama' children have better access to safety nets, travel, economic and education than I do, despite having darker skin.

Averages and distributions.

Figure out what percentile a white American would be among other white Americans in terms of those things, and then see what percentile they'd be at among African Americans.

White families in America, on average, have something like 10 times the wealth of African American ones, 1.5 times the family income, and are treated vastly differently in the courts. If you were rolling them up as characters, one would have a very different distribution of available backgrounds than others. My home town paper yesterday reported that a black reporter was denied entry someplace because the guard didn't believe his press credential... when a white reporter with the same credential was just let in to the same place. The guard relented when the white reporter vouched for him.

The historical reasons that lead to this were legally sanctioned as just fine in the lifetimes of many of our parents (if not some of the people posting on here). Some of the sizeable number of folks in the US who wish they could still deny employment, housing, or service based on race (if not worse things) are still easily findable on line (including among those running for office).