Things to keep in mind...

Some thoughts I had after hearing and reading discussions on race recently, particularly in regards to white/non-white perspectives in a white centric society...

1. Seriously, in a discussion about race (a topic which POC live and deal with daily in a White centric society), it would help most in the discussion if Whites were to put as much effort into understanding things from the POC viewpoint as they often end up using in rebutting and dismissing.

2. As I heard it said once, "Calling out an action of racism is not calling a person in question a racist as though it were some classification of the persons irredeemably evil nature." It's calling something out for what it is. Calling an action racist is more than just calling out an action, it's an affirmation of something that has effects for individuals and society. It's not a primary personal attack.

3. White people cannot consider themselves some final authority all the time on whether something is racist, especially when the action in name comes from a White person. I say this because simply questioning and holding something up to scrutiny isn't completely legit in the respect of racism. When one has been trained to see things from a White perspective, that is how that person is going to judge unless they step outside of their experience and into anothers. All people have experiences based off of their racial status that shape their views and perceptions, and Whites are no exception here. The road-block is that many Whites feel their view is "normal", a "generic" or "individual" view and not a "White" view. This is the effect of Whiteness. Anyway, It's not about seeing things differently from one another, it's about whether one side is making the effort to see things as another one might.

4. I am getting sick and tired of hearing White people dismiss minorities are "too sensitive" and "get over it" as though minorities are easily side-tracked from relevance in a discussion and look for insult and offense at every possible opportunity, that they find pleasure from experiencing it. Unlike the White observer in most cases, the racism in the topic tends to affect the POC more often than the White person, so it's important that the White participant have empathy and an understanding beyond their own White experiences. Their limits of perception of the White person(s) do not define the scope of analysis in the situation. The ease by which Whites disavow an experience which is not their own is one of the most troubling things I've noticed lately, and it tends to spring from this sort of monopolizing the scope of discussion to their own.

Just a few thoughts.