[CrazyDogg77]

I've noticed a phenomenon a lot lately. It seems that every action a member of a minority group is taken as representing that whole group. This idea is very apparent in the actions of minority races. For example when Wayne Brady made his comments on Bill Maher many people bashed him for enforcing negative stereotypes about black men. Why is this? Shouldn't his actions be considered those of an individual and not of a monolithic group. I rarely notice when Caucasian men commit crimes people saying" Why enforce negative stereotypes"? So GAF what do you think brings out about this phenomenon and do you think it is fair or something that should change?

[CountAntonius]

It would be pretty great to be seen and judged as an individual and not a member of your race. This should apply to white people too btw.

[SquiddyCracker]

I would take it one step further:

I am not a representative of any race, nation, or ideology.

[BocoDragon]

Yeah I always thought that was kinda sad. Racist.

[Nerds with Guns]

No

and that shit gets tiring.

[blame space]

it's because the majority imposes a culture and makes it the norm. when a minority culture is viewed within the lens of the majority culture, the majority look for the easiest way to understand it e.g. stereotyping., expecting minorities to be "representatives", etc.

[SquiddyCracker]

it's because the majority imposes a culture and makes it the norm. when a minority culture is viewed within the lens of the majority culture, the majority look for the easiest way to understand it i.e. stereotyping.

You should join RPJ.

[Newline]

This is definitely an issue, but it is what it is.

[Alligatorjandro]

I represent myself not anyone else

[Eidan]

It would be pretty great to be seen and judged as an individual and not a member of your race. This should apply to white people too btw.

It tends to only apply to white people.

[Emitan]

Minority can mean more than race :(

[Nerds with Guns]

This is definitely an issue, but it is what it is.

Wait. What?


So you have nooo problem with other peoples action being stereotyped onto you?

[Slayven]

Wait. What? So you have nooo problem with other peoples action being stereotyped onto you?

He meant you roll with it and keep on going.

[bjork]

It tends to only apply to white people.

Yeah, ok.

[FStop7]

"have" to be?

No! WTF?

God, I find that to be incredibly annoying. That's what irritated me so much about Phil Fish's little rant at GDC: He went in on one, hapless Japanese attendee over the quality of games of all of Japan.

[boutdown]

I represent myself not anyone else

I'm OK with this.

[Eidan]

Yeah, ok.

Do you disagree?

[Devolution]

No but in any arena in which you are a very slim minority people look to you as a rep for all those whom they don't come into contact much. Is it fair? No. Does it happen anyway? Yes.

[JCX]

It would be nice to be initially viewed as an individual, but won't change soon.

[Sentry]

I would go further than saying they shouldn't have to and say they shouldn't at all, tbh.. It's never a good thing, specifically in the current times.

[jonremedy]

Every human should be judged on their own individual basis. Sadly, we live in a human society, where this goal is still far away...

[onemic]

This is definitely an issue, but it is what it is.

AKA

[MWS Natural]

Majority: Seen as individuals.
Minority: Seen as one group.

[Slayven]

I having flashbacks of my grandma telling me "You better act like you got some sense around white folks".

[CountAntonius]

Majority: Seen as individuals. Minority: Seen as one group.

I disagree there. I don't think it applies just to minorities. Coming from a Hispanic family with a white brother in law I think it applies to everyone. It was really hard for some of my family to accept him just cause he was white. He won everyone over eventually because he's an awesome person but I think minorities judge whites as whole just as much as everyone else whether or not they are the majority.

[JCX]

I disagree there. I don't think it applies just to minorities. Coming from a Hispanic family with a white brother in law I think it applies to everyone. It was really hard for some of my family to accept him just cause he was white. He won everyone over eventually because he's an awesome person but I think minorities judge whites as whole just as much as everyone else whether or not they are the majority.

His statement was relative to the group at hand. In American society, that's correct people whites (numerical and power majority) are seen as individuals while minorities aren't. In your specific, smaller family situation, your family (hispanic) are the numerical/power majority, while your white brother-in-law is a mino rity (within this specific subgroup)

To your second point, there is a reason why you never see people post "please don't be white." in news threads.

[SquiddyCracker]

No but in any arena in which you are a very slim minority people look to you as a rep for all those whom they don't come into contact much. Is it fair? No. Does it happen anyway? Yes.

Step one to make it stop is probably to confront people.
Tell them that you're an individual and don't speak for others.

Do it my minority-brethren!
I'm speaking for ya'll now.

[CountAntonius]

His statement was relative to the group at hand. In American society, that's correct people whites (numerical and power majority) are seen as individuals while minorities aren't. In your specific, smaller family situation, your family (hispanic) are the numerical/power majority, while your white brother-in-law is a mino rity (within this specific subgroup) To your second point, there is a reason why you never see people post "please don't be white." in news threads.

You've never seen "Lol white people" posts on the internet? And yes I understand what he is saying but my point is white people also do get lumped together and everyone should be judged as an individual.

[Devolution]

Step one to make it stop is probably to confront people. Tell them that you're an individual and don't speak for others. Do it my minority-brethren! I'm speaking for ya'll now.

Even when you explicitly state you're an individual or do not speak for or represent all of X, it doesn't really do anything. People still love to either use you as an example or they do the opposite and say that you can't speak for all your peoples, but they as an outsider, their assumptions are just fine. Basically people who look to stereotype and demean a group of people want their cake and to eat it to. You matter when they want to push their assumptions as fact, you don't matter or you're "wrong" when you take their assumptions to task.

You've never seen "Lol white people" posts on the internet? And yes I understand what he is saying but my point is white people also do get lumped together and everyone should be judged as an individual.

Are we really going to turn this into a "white people deal with this too" thread? Frankly any white person who really gets insulted by any sort of passive aggressive comment thrown at their race needs some perspective. Yeah it sucks but if the extent to which I have to deal with as a white person is just "lol white people" then all I'm going to do is shrug.

[Trojita]

OP you are ignoring the part where Wayne Brady stereotyped black people.

“But the black man part of me would be so satisfied to slap the shit out of him in front of Cocoa and Ebony and Fox, the three ladies of the night that he has hired … and Fancy, who also happened to be named Tyrique at one point.”

[DY_nasty]

You've never seen "Lol white people" posts on the internet? And yes I understand what he is saying but my point is white people also do get lumped together and everyone should be judged as an individual.

I definitely wouldn't put "lol white people" pics on the internet on that level. Especially not when you have so many people generally surprised when a black guy has a name that doesn't stick out as "black". Hell, you got black parents that go out of their way to make sure that their kids don't have "black names" and get shafted as soon as their name slides across the desk.

[CountAntonius]

Are we really going to turn this into a "white people deal with this too" thread? Frankly any white person who really gets insulted by any sort of passive aggressive comment thrown at their race needs some perspective. Yeah it sucks but if the extent to which I have to deal with as a white person is just "lol white people" then all I'm going to do is shrug.

Good for you. I don't like anyone being judged. My sympathy as a human being doesn't stop at minorities just because they are more oppressed and because I am one. I don't like that my family did that and I want to change it. The way you deal with stuff is similar to how I deal with mine. Not trying to turn this into another who has it worse debate but I simply would like it to apply to everyone. Go figure.

[Devolution]

Good for you. I don't like anyone being judged. My sympathy as a human being doesn't stop at minorities just because they are more oppressed and because I am one. I don't like that my family did that and I want to change it. The way you deal with stuff is similar to how I deal with mine. Not trying to turn this into another who has it worse debate but I simply would like it to apply to everyone. Go figure.

It simply doesn't apply to white people as much as minorities and is not nearly as detrimental to our identity but here you are to remind us of the plight of the white folk. Go figure.

[Newline]

Wait. What? So you have nooo problem with other peoples action being stereotyped onto you?

Like I said it's definitely an issue, but I also don't see the point in going on a personal crusade every time it happens. Especially when there are many more obtrusive issues people deal with in regards to racism.

I've also found that the people I come into contact with usually have many preconceptions/stereotypes broken within seconds / minutes. For those that pass me by, what bother is it to me?

[CountAntonius]

It simply doesn't apply to white people as much as minorities and is not nearly as detrimental to our identity but here you are to remind us of the plight of the white folk. Go figure.

So I can't be affected by the fact that an individual I care for was in fact judged harshly by my family simply because he was white? What kinda stupid nonsense is that. Prejudice is prejudice. Anyway sorry to derail the topic OP.

[Deified Data]

No one should be expected to represent the whole of their group unless they volunteer to do so willingly. That's not to say that, realistically, they shouldn't expect to be judged accordingly. We're all representatives of our communities and beliefs, whether we want to or not. It's not fair, but humans love to generalize.

[tokkun]

I've noticed a phenomenon a lot lately. It seems that every action a member of a minority group is taken as representing that whole group. This idea is very apparent in the actions of minority races. For example when Wayne Brady made his comments on Bill Maher many people bashed him for enforcing negative stereotypes about black men. Why is this? Shouldn't his actions be considered those of an individual and not of a monolithic group. I rarely notice when Caucasian men commit crimes people saying" Why enforce negative stereotypes"? So GAF what do you think brings out about this phenomenon and do you think it is fair or something that should change?

I think you picked a bad example to argue your case, because Brady repeatedly invoked racial identity and his concept of the black male archetype in his response.

If he once said, I wanna know how black Wayne Brady is? That chip on my shoulder says that rarely do you threaten a man and you should not fear anyone. Now, I’m not saying I’m Billy Badass, but if Bill Maher has his perception of what’s black wrapped up, I would gladly slap the shit out of Bill Maher in the middle of the street, and then I want to see what Bill Maher would do. .... But the black man part of me would be so satisfied to slap the shit out of him in front of Cocoa and Ebony and Fox, the three ladies of the night that he has hired

Edit: Missed Trojita's original response.

[CrazyDogg77]

OP you are ignoring the part where Wayne Brady stereotyped black people.

That's not the point though. This is about how his actions shouldn't represent the thoughts of black men but those of Wayne Brady.

[Steelrain]

No one should feel pressured to represent their race, regardless of what that race may be.

Unfortunately that isn't the world we live in yet so until it is...I try not to reinforce negative stereotypes with my actions.

[DY_nasty]

Good for you. I don't like anyone being judged. My sympathy as a human being doesn't stop at minorities just because they are more oppressed and because I am one. I don't like that my family did that and I want to change it. The way you deal with stuff is similar to how I deal with mine. Not trying to turn this into another who has it worse debate but I simply would like it to apply to everyone. Go figure.

Its not a who has it worse thread.

But when you do the "white ppl get stuffs too! :O" it makes people roll eyes hard as fuck.

Its like when people go around referring to The Big Bang Theory as "Nerd Blackface" or "Nerdface".

And get over the white guilt bullshit too. No one wants your land. (maybe your womenz, but we already have them lol)

[CountAntonius]

Its not a who has it worse thread. But when you do the "white ppl get stuffs too! :O" it makes people roll eyes hard as fuck. Its like when people go around referring to The Big Bang Theory as "Nerd Blackface" or "Nerdface". And get over the white guilt bullshit too. No one wants your land. (maybe your womenz, but we already have them lol)

I'm Mexican. I simply stated my white brother in law had a hard time being accepted to my family cause he was white and that behavior is wrong coming from anyone and we should all be seen as individuals. People can roll their eyes all they want.

[mac]

Who will stand up to the "lol white people" posts? Who will be the champion against such bigotry.

Where is our Rosa Parks in the fight against "lol white people?"

[Deified Data]

Who will stand up to the "lol white people" posts? Who will be the champion against such bigotry. Where is our Rosa Parks in the fight against "lol white people?"

There's no such debate here, as the previous poster made clear. I think we're good.

[DY_nasty]

I'm Mexican. I simply stated my white brother in law had a hard time being accepted to my family cause he was white and that behavior is wrong coming from anyone and we should all be seen as individuals. People can roll their eyes all they want.

Then your issue goes back to interracial relationships, not so much this.

Just letting you know though. Don't want you to be all surprised when you say the same shit to someone in person and it happens.

[bjork]

Do you disagree?

Obviously.

[tokkun]

That's not the point though. This is about how his actions shouldn't represent the thoughts of black men but those of Wayne Brady.

The comments indicated that Brady expected the audience to understand where he was coming from based on what it means to be a black man. It was an implicit statement that he thought the stereotype had merit and as a consequence, he was providing confirmation of the stereotype to people who already held it. He thought that his own idea of what it meant to be a black man was so universal (at least among the audience he was playing to) that he didn't need to explain it.

[CountAntonius]

Then your issue goes back to interracial relationships, not so much this. Just letting you know though. Don't want you to be all surprised when you say the same shit to someone in person and it happens.

lol I knew what I was getting myself into.

[Vulcano's assistant]

it's because the majority imposes a culture and makes it the norm. when a minority culture is viewed within the lens of the majority culture, the majority look for the easiest way to understand it e.g. stereotyping., expecting minorities to be "representatives", etc.

Pretty much this. We are lazy without motivation, and we need mental methods to economize cognition.

[Eidan]

Obviously.

Not entirely sure how you could, but ok.

[Mammoth Jones]

I mean, it's the way it is. It's what I was taught my entire life: People are going to assume the worst about you because you're black and you absolutely will have to work twice as hard for half as much.

I don't want to be the ambassador for blackness when I go out, but when I'm the only
Black person in the room the simple truth is I *am* that ambassador regardless of if I want to be or not.