Why We Are Not Making Progress Against Racism

[IM2]

When you guys come in here ignorant posting opinions based on your imagination, it's easy to ask stupid questions. One of you white people asked me this question:

What laws and policies today do whites have that you don't?

When you ask questions and try challenging people, you should know what you are talking about instead of relying on your belief in Teflon history.

The Senate rolls back rules meant to root out discrimination by mortgage lenders
by Tracy Jan

The Senate on Wednesday passed a sweeping bill to weaken the government’s ability to enforce fair-lending requirements, making it easier for community banks to hide discrimination against minority mortgage applicants and harder for regulators to root out predatory lenders.

The Senate rolls back rules meant to root out discrimination by mortgage lenders

This was done in March 14, 2018.

 

[IM2]

What laws and policies today do whites have that you don't?

Congress Rolls Back Anti-Discrimination Auto Loan Rule

The House on Tuesday passed a measure to roll back guidance on auto lending issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The vote is the first test for a new strategy employed by Republicans in Congress, which could enable the repeal of hundreds of administrative regulations passed in recent decades.

The guidance, issued in 2013, was intended to limit discriminatory practices in the auto loan business.

Congress Rolls Back Anti-Discrimination Auto Loan Rule

May 8, 2018.

I can keep going and can add the problems that past policies have created which have not been addressed.

Teflon Theory of History
Saturday October 9th 2010 by abagond

The Teflon Theory of American History says that anything that took place over 30 years ago is Ancient History. It has Absolutely No Effect on the present. Or not much. Unless it was something good like the light bulb or the Declaration of Independence. Therefore those who make a big deal of the bad stuff in the past, like slavery, are Living in the Past and need to Get Over It.

For example:

Jim Crow laws were overturned by the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s. Therefore according to Teflon Theory the Jim Crow period is now Ancient History. It has Absolutely No Effect on how White Americans alive today think and act. None whatsoever. Or not much. So racism is pretty much dead.

Instead of Jim Crow’s effect slowly weakening over time like you would expect, Teflon Theory would have you suppose that it just disappeared like magic one afternoon sometime in the late 1960s. Even though many White Americans alive now were alive back in Jim Crow times. Even though many others were brought up and shaped by those who were alive back then: parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, teachers, writers, film directors, television producers, news editors and so on.

Few sit on a mountain top to come up with their beliefs all on their own. Instead most people pretty much go along with what everyone else already believes with maybe a few twists here and there. Such beliefs come from the past.

So then why is Teflon Theory believed?

• Because of how American history is taught:
  • American history is taught as dates and people and facts that have little to do with each other. Sometimes the Effects of the the Civil War or Industrialization are studied, for example, but not so for the evil stuff – like how slavery and genocide led to present-day White American wealth, power and racism.
  • American history as taught rarely comes up to the present day. History becomes something in the past, in a book, not something we live in right now.
• Because of the needs of White American self-image:
  • White Americans want to think they are Basically Good and their society is Basically Just. Without Teflon Theory that becomes laughable since it flies in the face of history, common sense and human nature.
  • White Americans avoid honestly facing up to their past because deep down they know it is ugly. Teflon Theory acts as a guard against having to take it seriously.
• Because middle-class whites are protected from the ugly present:
  • Those who live in Apple-pie America rarely see first-hand the injustice that their comfortable lives are built on. And what injustice they do see on occasion, like black ghettos or wars on television fought overseas in their name, they have already learned to not see as injustice. But being protected from the ugly present makes the ugly past seem like another world, like it truly is ancient history with no bearing on the present.

Teflon Theory of History

 

[MizMolly]

What laws and policies today do whites have that you don't?

Congress Rolls Back Anti-Discrimination Auto Loan Rule

The House on Tuesday passed a measure to roll back guidance on auto lending issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The vote is the first test for a new strategy employed by Republicans in Congress, which could enable the repeal of hundreds of administrative regulations passed in recent decades.

The guidance, issued in 2013, was intended to limit discriminatory practices in the auto loan business.

Congress Rolls Back Anti-Discrimination Auto Loan Rule

May 8, 2018.

I can keep going and can add the problems that past policies have created which have not been addressed.

Teflon Theory of History
Saturday October 9th 2010 by abagond

The Teflon Theory of American History says that anything that took place over 30 years ago is Ancient History. It has Absolutely No Effect on the present. Or not much. Unless it was something good like the light bulb or the Declaration of Independence. Therefore those who make a big deal of the bad stuff in the past, like slavery, are Living in the Past and need to Get Over It.

For example:

Jim Crow laws were overturned by the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s. Therefore according to Teflon Theory the Jim Crow period is now Ancient History. It has Absolutely No Effect on how White Americans alive today think and act. None whatsoever. Or not much. So racism is pretty much dead.

Instead of Jim Crow’s effect slowly weakening over time like you would expect, Teflon Theory would have you suppose that it just disappeared like magic one afternoon sometime in the late 1960s. Even though many White Americans alive now were alive back in Jim Crow times. Even though many others were brought up and shaped by those who were alive back then: parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, teachers, writers, film directors, television producers, news editors and so on.

Few sit on a mountain top to come up with their beliefs all on their own. Instead most people pretty much go along with what everyone else already believes with maybe a few twists here and there. Such beliefs come from the past.

So then why is Teflon Theory believed?

• Because of how American history is taught:
  • American history is taught as dates and people and facts that have little to do with each other. Sometimes the Effects of the the Civil War or Industrialization are studied, for example, but not so for the evil stuff – like how slavery and genocide led to present-day White American wealth, power and racism.
  • American history as taught rarely comes up to the present day. History becomes something in the past, in a book, not something we live in right now.
• Because of the needs of White American self-image:
  • White Americans want to think they are Basically Good and their society is Basically Just. Without Teflon Theory that becomes laughable since it flies in the face of history, common sense and human nature.
  • White Americans avoid honestly facing up to their past because deep down they know it is ugly. Teflon Theory acts as a guard against having to take it seriously.
• Because middle-class whites are protected from the ugly present:
  • Those who live in Apple-pie America rarely see first-hand the injustice that their comfortable lives are built on. And what injustice they do see on occasion, like black ghettos or wars on television fought overseas in their name, they have already learned to not see as injustice. But being protected from the ugly present makes the ugly past seem like another world, like it truly is ancient history with no bearing on the present.

Teflon Theory of History

Show me the current written laws and policies.

 

[Taz]

Black people should stop complaining and stay in school.

 

[Defiant1]

What laws and policies today do whites have that you don't?

Congress Rolls Back Anti-Discrimination Auto Loan Rule

The House on Tuesday passed a measure to roll back guidance on auto lending issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The vote is the first test for a new strategy employed by Republicans in Congress, which could enable the repeal of hundreds of administrative regulations passed in recent decades.

The guidance, issued in 2013, was intended to limit discriminatory practices in the auto loan business.

Congress Rolls Back Anti-Discrimination Auto Loan Rule

May 8, 2018.

I can keep going and can add the problems that past policies have created which have not been addressed.

Teflon Theory of History
Saturday October 9th 2010 by abagond

The Teflon Theory of American History says that anything that took place over 30 years ago is Ancient History. It has Absolutely No Effect on the present. Or not much. Unless it was something good like the light bulb or the Declaration of Independence. Therefore those who make a big deal of the bad stuff in the past, like slavery, are Living in the Past and need to Get Over It.

For example:

Jim Crow laws were overturned by the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s. Therefore according to Teflon Theory the Jim Crow period is now Ancient History. It has Absolutely No Effect on how White Americans alive today think and act. None whatsoever. Or not much. So racism is pretty much dead.

Instead of Jim Crow’s effect slowly weakening over time like you would expect, Teflon Theory would have you suppose that it just disappeared like magic one afternoon sometime in the late 1960s. Even though many White Americans alive now were alive back in Jim Crow times. Even though many others were brought up and shaped by those who were alive back then: parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, teachers, writers, film directors, television producers, news editors and so on.

Few sit on a mountain top to come up with their beliefs all on their own. Instead most people pretty much go along with what everyone else already believes with maybe a few twists here and there. Such beliefs come from the past.

So then why is Teflon Theory believed?

• Because of how American history is taught:
  • American history is taught as dates and people and facts that have little to do with each other. Sometimes the Effects of the the Civil War or Industrialization are studied, for example, but not so for the evil stuff – like how slavery and genocide led to present-day White American wealth, power and racism.
  • American history as taught rarely comes up to the present day. History becomes something in the past, in a book, not something we live in right now.
• Because of the needs of White American self-image:
  • White Americans want to think they are Basically Good and their society is Basically Just. Without Teflon Theory that becomes laughable since it flies in the face of history, common sense and human nature.
  • White Americans avoid honestly facing up to their past because deep down they know it is ugly. Teflon Theory acts as a guard against having to take it seriously.
• Because middle-class whites are protected from the ugly present:
  • Those who live in Apple-pie America rarely see first-hand the injustice that their comfortable lives are built on. And what injustice they do see on occasion, like black ghettos or wars on television fought overseas in their name, they have already learned to not see as injustice. But being protected from the ugly present makes the ugly past seem like another world, like it truly is ancient history with no bearing on the present.

Teflon Theory of History

Why do you believe the government should have any say in how a bank or loan company decides to whom to lend their money?

 

[IM2]

What laws and policies today do whites have that you don't?

Congress Rolls Back Anti-Discrimination Auto Loan Rule

The House on Tuesday passed a measure to roll back guidance on auto lending issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The vote is the first test for a new strategy employed by Republicans in Congress, which could enable the repeal of hundreds of administrative regulations passed in recent decades.

The guidance, issued in 2013, was intended to limit discriminatory practices in the auto loan business.

Congress Rolls Back Anti-Discrimination Auto Loan Rule

May 8, 2018.

I can keep going and can add the problems that past policies have created which have not been addressed.

Teflon Theory of History
Saturday October 9th 2010 by abagond

The Teflon Theory of American History says that anything that took place over 30 years ago is Ancient History. It has Absolutely No Effect on the present. Or not much. Unless it was something good like the light bulb or the Declaration of Independence. Therefore those who make a big deal of the bad stuff in the past, like slavery, are Living in the Past and need to Get Over It.

For example:

Jim Crow laws were overturned by the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s. Therefore according to Teflon Theory the Jim Crow period is now Ancient History. It has Absolutely No Effect on how White Americans alive today think and act. None whatsoever. Or not much. So racism is pretty much dead.

Instead of Jim Crow’s effect slowly weakening over time like you would expect, Teflon Theory would have you suppose that it just disappeared like magic one afternoon sometime in the late 1960s. Even though many White Americans alive now were alive back in Jim Crow times. Even though many others were brought up and shaped by those who were alive back then: parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, teachers, writers, film directors, television producers, news editors and so on.

Few sit on a mountain top to come up with their beliefs all on their own. Instead most people pretty much go along with what everyone else already believes with maybe a few twists here and there. Such beliefs come from the past.

So then why is Teflon Theory believed?

• Because of how American history is taught:
  • American history is taught as dates and people and facts that have little to do with each other. Sometimes the Effects of the the Civil War or Industrialization are studied, for example, but not so for the evil stuff – like how slavery and genocide led to present-day White American wealth, power and racism.
  • American history as taught rarely comes up to the present day. History becomes something in the past, in a book, not something we live in right now.
• Because of the needs of White American self-image:
  • White Americans want to think they are Basically Good and their society is Basically Just. Without Teflon Theory that becomes laughable since it flies in the face of history, common sense and human nature.
  • White Americans avoid honestly facing up to their past because deep down they know it is ugly. Teflon Theory acts as a guard against having to take it seriously.
• Because middle-class whites are protected from the ugly present:
  • Those who live in Apple-pie America rarely see first-hand the injustice that their comfortable lives are built on. And what injustice they do see on occasion, like black ghettos or wars on television fought overseas in their name, they have already learned to not see as injustice. But being protected from the ugly present makes the ugly past seem like another world, like it truly is ancient history with no bearing on the present.

Teflon Theory of History

Why do you believe the government should have any say in how a bank or loan company decides to whom to lend their money?

Because the constitution says the government controls commerce. And if this was a law impacting whites you would not be asking this dumb ass question.

 

[IM2]

Black people should stop complaining and stay in school.

I stayed in school long enough to get a masters. Did you white boy?

 

[koshergrl]

A perfect reflection of the problem.

Why We Are Not Making Progress Against Racism
Posted by Algernon Austin on September 21, 2017

“At this point, the whole race thing is over . . . it doesn’t matter anymore. We’ve transcended it. Now we have a black president, so clearly we are not racist,” stated one young woman after the first election of Barack Obama as president of the United States. In the euphoria of Obama’s first election, many Americans—on the left, right, and center—agreed that America had become post-racial. Today, many on the left recognize that America is still struggling with racism. But what liberals may not fully appreciate is the degree to which the rest of America is still deep within a post-racial haze.

New research from social psychologists at Yale and Northwestern Universities reveals that Americans—especially rich, white Americans—greatly overestimate how much racial progress we have made toward economic equality. Averaging across 5 economic measures, the researchers find that Americans estimate that we have made about 25 percent more progress toward black-white economic equality than we actually have made.

Worse still, Americans are most inaccurate on the most important economic measure—wealth. Scholars have come to recognize that wealth—the value of assets minus debts—is the most important measure of a family’s overall economic well-being. The social psychologists find that Americans overestimate our progress toward black-white wealth equality by about 80 percent. Today, for every dollar of wealth that whites have, blacks have only a few cents.

This view that black people are economically equal with white people or are rapidly approaching equality is part of what is animating conflicts over racism today. For example, the journalist Jesse Washington reports, “a lot of the people who are upset with the [NFL] flag protests do not believe that African-Americans are still treated unfairly in this country, that [African Americans] are still subject to oppression. They think that there is a level playing field.”

For those who believe that black people are already equal with white people, any policy that seeks to address anti-black discrimination looks like an attempt to give blacks an advantage over whites. Many Americans, particularly Republicans, believe that today there is more discrimination against white people than against black people.

Because so many Americans are not grounded in the reality of American racism, the call for a “conversation on race” is a bad idea. We need Americans to go on fact-finding missions on racism, not try to engage in conversation when there is no agreement on the basic facts.

We have to be aware that because we are a segregated society, many white people learn about black people from the media. Some white people see prominent, highly successful black people in movies and on television and assume that those individuals are indicative of the economic standing of African Americans. Also, there is right-wing media that consciously tries to mislead white Americans about racism and to foster a sense of white victimization. We have to find ways to penetrate Americans’ information bubbles.

Another challenge is the fact that it is high-income white people who are most inaccurate about how much more needs to be done to address racism. High-income white people are the most politically powerful segment of America because politicians tend to rely on them to finance their political campaigns. They have disproportionate influence over what is and is not seen as a legitimate political issue. This is another reason why we need to reduce the influence of money in politics, and to foster more non-rich, multi-racial engagement in the political process.

The first step in solving a problem is admitting that you have one. Only when more Americans face up to the reality of racism in American life will be able to make progress against racism in American life.

Why We Are Not Making Progress Against Racism

 

[koshergrl]

Black people should stop complaining and stay in school.

I stayed in school long enough to get a masters. Did you white boy?

They hand those things out to black people like candy..no need to study. Masters degrees are demeaned by affirmative action and no longer grant their black holders any status because everybody knows, as Obama famously said..you didn't earn that.

 

[Defiant1]

What laws and policies today do whites have that you don't?

Congress Rolls Back Anti-Discrimination Auto Loan Rule

The House on Tuesday passed a measure to roll back guidance on auto lending issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The vote is the first test for a new strategy employed by Republicans in Congress, which could enable the repeal of hundreds of administrative regulations passed in recent decades.

The guidance, issued in 2013, was intended to limit discriminatory practices in the auto loan business.

Congress Rolls Back Anti-Discrimination Auto Loan Rule

May 8, 2018.

I can keep going and can add the problems that past policies have created which have not been addressed.

Teflon Theory of History
Saturday October 9th 2010 by abagond

The Teflon Theory of American History says that anything that took place over 30 years ago is Ancient History. It has Absolutely No Effect on the present. Or not much. Unless it was something good like the light bulb or the Declaration of Independence. Therefore those who make a big deal of the bad stuff in the past, like slavery, are Living in the Past and need to Get Over It.

For example:

Jim Crow laws were overturned by the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s. Therefore according to Teflon Theory the Jim Crow period is now Ancient History. It has Absolutely No Effect on how White Americans alive today think and act. None whatsoever. Or not much. So racism is pretty much dead.

Instead of Jim Crow’s effect slowly weakening over time like you would expect, Teflon Theory would have you suppose that it just disappeared like magic one afternoon sometime in the late 1960s. Even though many White Americans alive now were alive back in Jim Crow times. Even though many others were brought up and shaped by those who were alive back then: parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, teachers, writers, film directors, television producers, news editors and so on.

Few sit on a mountain top to come up with their beliefs all on their own. Instead most people pretty much go along with what everyone else already believes with maybe a few twists here and there. Such beliefs come from the past.

So then why is Teflon Theory believed?

• Because of how American history is taught:
  • American history is taught as dates and people and facts that have little to do with each other. Sometimes the Effects of the the Civil War or Industrialization are studied, for example, but not so for the evil stuff – like how slavery and genocide led to present-day White American wealth, power and racism.
  • American history as taught rarely comes up to the present day. History becomes something in the past, in a book, not something we live in right now.
• Because of the needs of White American self-image:
  • White Americans want to think they are Basically Good and their society is Basically Just. Without Teflon Theory that becomes laughable since it flies in the face of history, common sense and human nature.
  • White Americans avoid honestly facing up to their past because deep down they know it is ugly. Teflon Theory acts as a guard against having to take it seriously.
• Because middle-class whites are protected from the ugly present:
  • Those who live in Apple-pie America rarely see first-hand the injustice that their comfortable lives are built on. And what injustice they do see on occasion, like black ghettos or wars on television fought overseas in their name, they have already learned to not see as injustice. But being protected from the ugly present makes the ugly past seem like another world, like it truly is ancient history with no bearing on the present.

Teflon Theory of History

Why do you believe the government should have any say in how a bank or loan company decides to whom to lend their money?

Because the constitution says the government controls commerce. And if this was a law impacting whites you would not be asking this dumb ass question.

Congress has the power to regulate commerce between the US and other countries and between the states, not between a willing buyer and a willing seller.

 

[IM2]

Black people should stop complaining and stay in school.

I stayed in school long enough to get a masters. Did you white boy?

They hand those things out to black people like candy..no need to study. Masters degrees are demeaned by affirmative action and no longer grant their black holders any status because everybody knows, as Obama famously said..you didn't earn that.

If I were a white woman, I'd shut my mouth.

White women benefit most from affirmative action — and are among its fiercest opponents
White women benefit most from affirmative action — and are among its fiercest opponents

I earned what I have. You don't get grades by what you falsely think affirmative action is you stupid b-----,. I can't help It you didn't have the drive to succeed you ******* loser. Apparently you are jealous and want to blame affirmative action for your failings. I was in the top percentiles on entrance exams ho, so AA didn't matter..

 

[IM2]

What laws and policies today do whites have that you don't?

Congress Rolls Back Anti-Discrimination Auto Loan Rule

The House on Tuesday passed a measure to roll back guidance on auto lending issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The vote is the first test for a new strategy employed by Republicans in Congress, which could enable the repeal of hundreds of administrative regulations passed in recent decades.

The guidance, issued in 2013, was intended to limit discriminatory practices in the auto loan business.

Congress Rolls Back Anti-Discrimination Auto Loan Rule

May 8, 2018.

I can keep going and can add the problems that past policies have created which have not been addressed.

Teflon Theory of History
Saturday October 9th 2010 by abagond

The Teflon Theory of American History says that anything that took place over 30 years ago is Ancient History. It has Absolutely No Effect on the present. Or not much. Unless it was something good like the light bulb or the Declaration of Independence. Therefore those who make a big deal of the bad stuff in the past, like slavery, are Living in the Past and need to Get Over It.

For example:

Jim Crow laws were overturned by the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s. Therefore according to Teflon Theory the Jim Crow period is now Ancient History. It has Absolutely No Effect on how White Americans alive today think and act. None whatsoever. Or not much. So racism is pretty much dead.

Instead of Jim Crow’s effect slowly weakening over time like you would expect, Teflon Theory would have you suppose that it just disappeared like magic one afternoon sometime in the late 1960s. Even though many White Americans alive now were alive back in Jim Crow times. Even though many others were brought up and shaped by those who were alive back then: parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, teachers, writers, film directors, television producers, news editors and so on.

Few sit on a mountain top to come up with their beliefs all on their own. Instead most people pretty much go along with what everyone else already believes with maybe a few twists here and there. Such beliefs come from the past.

So then why is Teflon Theory believed?

• Because of how American history is taught:
  • American history is taught as dates and people and facts that have little to do with each other. Sometimes the Effects of the the Civil War or Industrialization are studied, for example, but not so for the evil stuff – like how slavery and genocide led to present-day White American wealth, power and racism.
  • American history as taught rarely comes up to the present day. History becomes something in the past, in a book, not something we live in right now.
• Because of the needs of White American self-image:
  • White Americans want to think they are Basically Good and their society is Basically Just. Without Teflon Theory that becomes laughable since it flies in the face of history, common sense and human nature.
  • White Americans avoid honestly facing up to their past because deep down they know it is ugly. Teflon Theory acts as a guard against having to take it seriously.
• Because middle-class whites are protected from the ugly present:
  • Those who live in Apple-pie America rarely see first-hand the injustice that their comfortable lives are built on. And what injustice they do see on occasion, like black ghettos or wars on television fought overseas in their name, they have already learned to not see as injustice. But being protected from the ugly present makes the ugly past seem like another world, like it truly is ancient history with no bearing on the present.

Teflon Theory of History

Why do you believe the government should have any say in how a bank or loan company decides to whom to lend their money?

Because the constitution says the government controls commerce. And if this was a law impacting whites you would not be asking this dumb ass question.

Congress has the power to regulate commerce between the US and other countries and between the states, not between a willing buyer and a willing seller.

The rules of commerce include that.

 

[Taz]

Black people should stop complaining and stay in school.

I stayed in school long enough to get a masters. Did you white boy?

Then why do you complain so much about white people?

 

[IM2]

Symbolic racism (also known as modern-symbolic racism, modern racism,[1] symbolic prejudice, and racial resentment) is a coherent belief system that reflects an underlying unidimensional prejudice towards black people in the United States. These beliefs include the stereotype that blacks are morally inferior to white people, and that they violate traditional White American values such as hard work and independence. This is also more of a general term than it is specifically related to prejudice towards black people. It can be more generally characterized as an open dislike and derogation of individuals related to one's self.[clarification needed] These beliefs may cause the subject to discriminate against black people and to justify this discrimination.[2] Some people do not view symbolic racism as prejudice since it is not linked directly to race but indirectly through social and political issues.[3]

David O. Sears and P.J. Henry characterize symbolic racism as the expression or endorsement of four specific themes or beliefs:[4]

1. Blacks no longer face much prejudice or discrimination.
2. The failure of blacks to progress results from their unwillingness to work hard enough.
3. Blacks are demanding too much too fast.
4. Blacks have gotten more than they deserve.

Symbolic racism is a form of modern racism, as it is more subtle and indirect than more overt forms of racism,[5] such as those characterized in Jim Crow laws. As symbolic racism develops through socialization and its processes occur without conscious awareness,[6] an individual with symbolic racist beliefs may genuinely oppose racism and believe they are not racist.[7] Symbolic racism is perhaps the most prevalent racial attitude today.[8]

Definition[edit]
In the aftermath of the Civil Rights Movement, old-fashioned (or "Jim Crow") racism dissolved along with segregation in the United States. Some people believe that new forms of racism began to replace old-fashioned racism.[9] Symbolic racism is a term that was coined by David Sears and John McConahay in 1973[10] to explain why most white Americans supported principles of equality for black Americans, but less than half were willing to support programs designed to implement these principles. The original theory described three definitive aspects of symbolic racism:[11][12]

1. A new form of racism had replaced old-fashioned Jim Crow racism, as it was no longer popular and could no longer be influential in politics as only a small minority still accepted it.
2. Opposition to black politicians and racially targeted policies is more influenced by symbolic racism than by any perceived or true threat to whites' own personal lives.
3. The origins of this form of racism lay in early-socialized negative feelings about blacks associated with traditional conservative values.

The concept of symbolic racism has evolved over time but most writings currently define symbolic racism as containing four themes:[1]

1. Racial discrimination is no longer a serious obstacle to blacks' prospects for a good life.
2. Blacks' continuing disadvantages are largely due to their unwillingness to work hard enough.
3. Blacks' continuing demands are unwarranted.
4. Blacks' increased advantages are also unwarranted.

Whitley and Kite cite six underlying factors that contribute to symbolic racism. They are to this day believed to have been some of the biggest influences on modern racism.[6]

1. Implicitly anti-black affect and negative stereotypes.
2. Racialized belief in traditional values.
3. Belief in equality of opportunity.
4. Low belief in equality of outcome.
5. Group self-interest.
6. Low knowledge of black people.

According to Whitley and Kite, those who hold symbolic racist beliefs tend to hold implicitly negative attitudes, most likely gained in childhood, towards blacks that may or may not be conscious.[6] These attitudes may not be outright hatred, but rather fear, disgust, anger, contempt, etc. In addition, those who hold symbolic racist beliefs may also believe in traditional American values such as hard work, individuality, and self-restraint.[6] However, these beliefs have become racialized. Many perceive that black individuals do not hold or act in accordance with these values.[6] Instead, black individuals rely on public assistance, seek government favors, and act impulsively.[6] As Whitley and Kite note, "The fact that White people also accept public assistance, seek government favors, and act impulsively is not relevant to people with symbolic prejudice; it is their perception (usually in stereotypic terms) of Black people's behavior that they focus on."[6] Furthermore, those with symbolic prejudice tend to believe in the equality of opportunity, which includes access to resources such as education, housing, and employment.[6] However, they tend not to believe in the equality of outcome. This explains how people can support the principle of racial equality but not support initiatives to achieve it, such as affirmative action. Government intervention when individuals do not have the same talent, effort or historical background would violate traditional values of equality of opportunity.[6] Thus, "people can simultaneously endorse equality of opportunity and reject government intervention to bring about equality of outcome."[6] Group self-interest reflects the idea that people try to do what is best for their group.[6] This idea manifests itself in the opinion that whites are deprived as a group of opportunities due to policies intended to benefit blacks. Finally, Whitley and Kite state most whites do not have extensive personal experience with blacks so the negative stereotypes they hold about blacks do not have the opportunity to be dispelled.

Symbolic racism - Wikipedia

These things sound familiar? The majority of whites here do all these things.

 

[IM2]

Black people should stop complaining and stay in school.

I stayed in school long enough to get a masters. Did you white boy?

Then why do you complain so much about white people?

Because this is the race and racism section and we can.

 

[MizMolly]

Black people should stop complaining and stay in school.

I stayed in school long enough to get a masters. Did you white boy?

They hand those things out to black people like candy..no need to study. Masters degrees are demeaned by affirmative action and no longer grant their black holders any status because everybody knows, as Obama famously said..you didn't earn that.

He should be commended for his continued education. There is no such thing as too much education. While I don't believe in 99.9% of his posts, finishing school and then continuing on to get a degree is commendable. I had to fight tooth and nail to get my daughter to graduate from high school.

 

[IM2]

White Women and Affirmative Action: Prime Beneficiaries and Opponents
Jessie Daniels

When it comes to affirmative action, white women occupy a rather peculiar position. White women are the main beneficiaries of affirmative action policies, and also the most likely to sue over them (at least when it comes to education). Today continues the Trouble with White Women series, with a focus on white women and affirmative action.

As Sally Kohn cogently points out, women weren’t even included in the original legislation that attempt to level the playing field in education and employment that we now refer to as “affirmation action”. (The same policies are known as “employment equity” in Canada and “positive action” in the UK.) The first affirmative action measure in America was an executive order signed by President Kennedy in 1961 requiring that federal contractors “take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin.” In 1967, President Johnson amended this, and a subsequent measure included sex, recognizing that women also faced many discriminatory barriers and hurdles to equal opportunity. Meanwhile, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 only included sex in the list of prohibited forms of discrimination because conservative opponents of the legislation hoped that including it would sway moderate members of Congress to withdraw their support for the bill.

My own narrative intersects with affirmative action at key points. I was born in 1961, the year President Kennedy started requiring federal contractors to “take affirmative action.” When I started applying to colleges in Texas in the late 1970s, my father – who claimed Indian heritage – urged me to “check the box” for Native American on my college applications and to pursue student loans based on this (for me) faux-identity. Years later, with PhD in hand, I began the often painful task of getting turned down for a tenure-track job, and being told by a white colleague on the search committee that they “had to give it to the Latina,” who, it was implied, was less qualified than I for the position (more about this in a moment).

So, where’s the evidence that we, as white women, are the main beneficiaries of affirmative action policies? Well, there’s lots of it – but it can be hard to find, as Jennifer Hochschild points out (Affirmative Action as Culture War. In: The Cultural Territories of Race: Black and White Boundaries. edited by Michèle Lamont. Chicago IL and New York: University of Chicago Press and Russell Sage Foundation; 1999. pp. 343-368). According to the United States Labor Department, the primary beneficiaries of affirmative action are white women. The Department of Labor estimated that 6 million white women workers are in higher occupational classifications today than they would have been without affirmative action policies. This pays off in dividends in the labor force and to (mostly) white men and families. You can see how some of these benefits accrue to white women in the following infographic from the Center for American Progress (from 2012):



(Infographic source)

While people of color, individually and as groups, have been helped by affirmative action, but data and studies suggest that women — white women in particular — have benefited disproportionately from these policies. In many ways, affirmative action has moved white women into a structural position in which they share more in common with white men than they do with black or Latina women.

White Women and Affirmative Action: Prime Beneficiaries and Opponents -

So what we see from the white racist females here is a classic case of cognitive dissonance.

 

[MarcATL]

he did not do much to end it either....

What's that supposed to mean? Other than you reaching for SOME excuse, ANYTHING, to bash the man.

 

[MarcATL]

like there are no "grievance pushers" on the left.....right Marc?.....

Ab-so-lutely.

 

[WillowTree]

Black people should stop complaining and stay in school.

I stayed in school long enough to get a masters. Did you white boy?

They hand those things out to black people like candy..no need to study. Masters degrees are demeaned by affirmative action and no longer grant their black holders any status because everybody knows, as Obama famously said..you didn't earn that.

He should be commended for his continued education. There is no such thing as too much education. While I don't believe in 99.9% of his posts, finishing school and then continuing on to get a degree is commendable. I had to fight tooth and nail to get my daughter to graduate from high school.

A masters degree doesn’t make him any less ignorant or bigoted or racist!