• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

This Black Musician Explains Why He is Friends With White Supremacists

Status
Not open for further replies.

ishibear

is a goddamn bear
What I don't understand is why so many people who are generally apathetic about racism in general get indignant when we say we'd rather not spend time and energy sitting down trying to befriend racists

Because we're supposed to be good and obedient little black folks. It's somehow our responsibility to be the teachers. We don't have anything else to do. Taking care of our own? Inconceivable!

I'm getting tired now. Maybe it's true. We really can't talk to these folks. No one cares about your suffering and time so long as you benefit them and they can continue to put you in a position to serve.

We go from slaves to teachers because we have to serve no matter what. Self preservation is a crime to these people. Well, they better toughen up because we don't owe them shit. We owe it to our own to keep them safe.
 

MechaX

Member
It's 'on' both sides to be able to sit down and talk. If you can't do that, you can't expect the other to either.

Why is it on me to sit down in order to justify my existence simply based on the color of my skin?

What Daryl Davis is doing is both extraordinarily commendable and far, far beyond the call of duty for what is reasonable in a conversation like this. And I think people are picking you apart for disagreements on the latter rather than the former.
 
How do you think that happens exactly if not through some sort of education or dialogue? People don't just suddenly stop being racist.

The argument is the burden of education and dialogue is on everyone, including white people from similar backgrounds, not just the minorities towards whom their hate is directed.

What you have are people incensed over the difficulties in simply pointing out there's a problem even to those who somewhat listen. People are suffering and dying in a very real way. What they hear in situations like this is "It's your effort, blood, sweat, and tears that have to fix the wrongs being done to you. You will not get any help."

How can you try to understand those who would purport racial hate, but not understand the real feelings of those who have to deal with that hate? This is the thing that I feel is frequently lost in such discussions.

The point being, putting the burden on black people or minorities in general to deal with education or outreach is incorrect. It's something that should be done, but folks like Davis pretty much aim a large part of their livelihood and effort to do so. That's laudable, even if I disagree with the aggregate results of his effort, but it's certainly not something everyone should have to deal with.
 

Mael

Member
Are racist white people so fucking dumb they can't understand why their behavior is appaling without having every people of color they will ever meet explain to them in non threatening why their position is shite?
We have people who hail from the same places in similar situations that are not racists or part of the KKK.
Why shouldn't we consider their position as a harmful position that needs to erased?
 

Slayven

Member
What I don't understand is why so many people who are generally apathetic about racism in general get indignant when we say we'd rather not spend time and energy sitting down trying to befriend racists

I was thinking about that today,, i think it ibecause for a lot of people racism and race in general is a definition in the dictionary. They can opt in and out of engaging it on whatever level they choose. But for minorities, you going to have to engage and be versed in it from jump. You going to get those conversations as soon as you can understand spoken language.

And minorities can opt out of it too, but at their own peril.
 

Mael

Member
The argument is the burden of education and dialogue is on everyone, including white people from similar backgrounds, not just the minorities towards whom their hate is directed.

What you have are people incensed over the difficulties in simply pointing out there's a problem even to those who somewhat listen. People are suffering and dying in a very real way. What they hear in situations like this is "It's your effort, blood, sweat, and tears that have to fix the wrongs being done to you. You will not get any help."

How can you try to understand those who would purport racial hate, but not understand the real feelings of those who have to deal with that hate? This is the thing that I feel is frequently lost in such discussions.

The point being, putting the burden on black people or minorities in general to deal with education or outreach is incorrect. It's something that should be done, but folks like Davis pretty much aim a large part of their livelihood and effort to do so. That's laudable, even if I disagree with the aggregate results of his effort, but it's certainly not something everyone should have to deal with.

Or next time I could just wait for someone more articulate to post...
I'm saying I like your post here
 

TheYanger

Member
The argument is the burden of education and dialogue is on everyone, including white people from similar backgrounds, not just the minorities towards whom their hate is directed.

What you have are people incensed over the difficulties in simply pointing out there's a problem even to those who somewhat listen. People are suffering and dying in a very real way. What they hear in situations like this is "It's your effort, blood, sweat, and tears that have to fix the wrongs being done to you. You will not get any help."

How can you try to understand those who would purport racial hate, but not understand the real feelings of those who have to deal with that hate? This is the thing that I feel is frequently lost in such discussions.

The point being, putting the burden on black people or minorities in general to deal with education or outreach is incorrect. It's something that should be done, but folks like Davis pretty much aim a large part of their livelihood and effort to do so. That's laudable, even if I disagree with the aggregate results of his effort, but it's certainly not something everyone should have to deal with.

No, I don't think most people (on either side) are capable of handling that, I think most of the back and forth in this thread has erupted from the notion that it's actively disgusting or bad that he's doing this. Everything in an ideal world would always be a mutual coming together, but it's sadly not how it works. I mean, that same ideal world would never have put us in this situation in the first place :/ My point isn't that the burden SHOULD be on black people, it shouldn't, my point is that the burden is collective and it shouldn't come down to a game of "No, THEY need to do it first" - like, yeah the racists should probably do it first, but in their absence of picking up the ball and running with it, it's helpful for someone else to suck it up and do it. Only the willing. Nobody should be forced to.

I'm gonna bow out. I think I got my points accross and this just seems like the kind of thread where it would be easy to phrase something poorly and get a grey name.
 
How do you think that happens exactly if not through some sort of education or dialogue? People don't just suddenly stop being racist.

Let the government create some professional effort to dismantle supremacist organizations, for one. They spent enough time trying to dismantle black organizations and get at black leaders. They should turn that on white supremacist organizations, but of course they wouldn't get away with that like they did when they went after black organizations, would they.
 

stufte

Member
The argument is the burden of education and dialogue is on everyone, including white people from similar backgrounds, not just the minorities towards whom their hate is directed.

What you have are people incensed over the difficulties in simply pointing out there's a problem even to those who somewhat listen. People are suffering and dying in a very real way. What they hear in situations like this is "It's your effort, blood, sweat, and tears that have to fix the wrongs being done to you. You will not get any help."

How can you try to understand those who would purport racial hate, but not understand the real feelings of those who have to deal with that hate? This is the thing that I feel is frequently lost in such discussions.

The point being, putting the burden on black people or minorities in general to deal with education or outreach is incorrect. It's something that should be done, but folks like Davis pretty much aim a large part of their livelihood and effort to do so. That's laudable, even if I disagree with the aggregate results of his effort, but it's certainly not something everyone should have to deal with.

I absolutely agree that the onus is not on black people to fix racists. It's on all of us. But when you have a person like Davis trying something like this, the last thing we should be doing is shitting on him for his efforts. We spend entirely too much time in this world ignoring problems hoping they go away, or expecting that ignorant people should just stop being ignorant, or yelling into the ether hoping someone will listen. It takes a LOT of work, an not everyone has the stomach for it and thats fine.
 

Slayven

Member
I just the find the idea that education is needed is insulting

KKK:" Blacks are violent subhumans that need to go back to Africa,"



Why does that need to be debated and challenged?

Shouldn't my existence be enough to disprove that?
 

Htown

STOP SHITTING ON MY MOTHER'S HEADSTONE
I'm fully aware of what the KKK is. And none of the people alive in that organization today were alive when it was formed, so none of that actually matters. Your logic is the same bullshit that tells us to fear anyone wearing a hijab because they might bomb us, it's the grossest kind of irony that you think it's fine to not try and fix problems and to unrepentently hate another individual that you don't know at all, based purely on affiliations (religious, racial, organizational, whatever) without knowing a single thing about their individual actions or motivations in life.

This is literally the stupidest bullshit I have ever read on this forum.
 

Slayven

Member
Because it's wrong?



It should be enough, but shit isn't that simple, as much as I'd like it to be...

Minorities didn't start it but we damn well tasked with fixing it, between not being killed by it or being broken by it.

Can't even get basic human respect until we teach it to idiots in sheets. Fuck that
 
Minorities didn't start it but we damn well tasked with fixing it, between not being killed by it or being broken by it.

Can't even get basic human respect until we teach it to idiots in sheets. Fuck that
Is there *anyone* in this thread that is saying this is a standard minorities should be held to or that it's our responsibility? Everyone has been pretty clear that it's not.
 

The Kree

Banned
It's always the guy on the dumb side of the argument who "bows out" of the conversation so he can have the last word. Like clockwork.

The irony of digging in his heels and being unwilling to have his mind changed by the debate while chastising people for being cynical about asking the historically oppressed to walk bigoted idiots through detailed explanations of why they deserve to not be treated as subhuman is probably lost on him.
 

AxelFoley

Member
IMG_3118.jpg

Beaten to the punch.
 

Nepenthe

Member
I'd be more willing to "educate" racists if more white people actually put their money where their mouth is and did just that on the daily. As it stands, people like to talk a big game about what I should be doing as a black person but I bet you a dollar to a dime they cower away from racist discussions at work and home because peace and non-confrontation are easier to achieve and exist in than an environment actively built for justice. Until our "progressive allies" finally pick up some slack and take up some of ths responsibility themselves, I'm going to be less inclined to listen to them on how I need to deal with any racism that comes my way.
 

Mael

Member
If a person doesn't know why water makes things wet, then sure, fuck it

Well if that person is interested in hearing the explanation too.
Believe me, every time you see someone holding a bottle of water you won't go on a tirade about the properties of water in liquid form or why liquids behave the way they do.
Most people can barely stand the explanation in a Physics class.
 
I absolutely agree that the onus is not on black people to fix racists. It's on all of us. But when you have a person like Davis trying something like this, the last thing we should be doing is shitting on him for his efforts. We spend entirely too much time in this world ignoring problems hoping they go away, or expecting that ignorant people should just stop being ignorant, or yelling into the ether hoping someone will listen. It takes a LOT of work, an not everyone has the stomach for it and thats fine.

As I said, I think his efforts are laudable, but many go in the opposite direction, believing that social shame is the preferred tool. The thinking being that people will probably always be racist, but you can make it socially unacceptable to espouse or act on that racism in a meaningful way. I personally believe both tools are just a few in a wide toolbox and all should be used in tandem. This is not the only way to handle the problem of racism and believing that it is, is erroneous in my mind.

Where you particularly fall on that specific topic is where many of the arguments in this thread stem from.

Then there's another issue we struggle on: who is receiving the brunt of the sympathy and understanding in any bad situation with a racial component, which is where we frequently get mired. Example: If Person A does a racist action to Person B, you will frequently encounter umbrage if you start your discussion contribution with "We should understand what feeds into Person A's actions" instead of starting with condemnation of Person A's actions and working your way back to that statement. How that divide is handled feeds back into threads like this one, i.e. people feel the general sentiment is to understand the perpetrator of a poor action before the victim. Especially in some case where the perpetrator is white and the victim is someone of color.

When you say "Daryl Davis is the way racism should be handled", some people hear "Daryl Davis is the ONLY way racism should be handled". Which is going to bring up the issues above and similar thoughts on things like protests, police action, etc.

Even some of the hotter takes point to this idea. Slayven's first post:

Cool I guess. But fuck the people that think this should be the standard

Good for Davis, but saying it should not be seen as the standard for minorities dealing with racism. That's pretty much what he said.

This is a bit disjointed, because I'm playing For Honor, but these are my thoughts as to what feeds into some of the pushback you're seeing.
 
The guy who had to bow out.
Nah that guy said this:
My point isn't that the burden SHOULD be on black people, it shouldn't, my point is that the burden is collective and it shouldn't come down to a game of "No, THEY need to do it first" - like, yeah the racists should probably do it first, but in their absence of picking up the ball and running with it, it's helpful for someone else to suck it up and do it. Only the willing. Nobody should be forced to.
 

stufte

Member
I'd be more willing to "educate" racists if more white people actually put their money where their mouth is and did just that on the daily. As it stands, people like to talk a big game about what I should be doing as a black person but I bet you a dollar to a dime they cower away from racist discussions at work and home because peace and non-confrontation are easier to achieve and exist in than an environment actively built for justice. Until our "progressive allies" finally pick up some slack and take up some of ths responsibility themselves, I'm going to be less inclined to listen to them on how I need to deal with any racism that comes my way.

I call it out when I see it, but it doesn't happen that often where I live. It's no skin off my back to call out an idiot, but I also don't meet hate with hate. I love to discuss why people think the way they do, and talk about why I think what they are doing is hurtful or ignorant.

I have hideous racists in my extended family and talking to them instead of shouting them down does actually work. Ignorance is a disease man, you don't fix it by making them dig their heels in.
 

Slayven

Member
As I said, I think his efforts are laudable, but many go in the opposite direction, believing that social shame is the preferred tool. The thinking being that people will probably always be racist, but you can make it socially unacceptable to espouse or act on that racism in a meaningful way. I personally believe both tools are just a few in a wide toolbox and all should be used in tandem. This is not the only way to handle the problem of racism and believing that it is, is erroneous in my mind.

Where you particularly fall on that specific topic is where many of the arguments in this thread stem from.

Then there's another issue we struggle on: who is receiving the brunt of the sympathy and understanding in any bad situation with a racial component, which is where we frequently get mired. Example: If Person A does a racist action to Person B, you will frequently encounter umbrage if you start your discussion contribution with "We should understand what feeds into Person A's actions" instead of starting with condemnation of Person A's actions and working your way back to that statement. How that divide is handled feeds back into threads like this one, i.e. people feel the general sentiment is to understand the perpetrator of a poor action before the victim. Especially in some case where the perpetrator is white and the victim is someone of color.

When you say "Daryl Davis is the way racism should be handled", some people hear "Daryl Davis is the ONLY way racism should be handled". Which is going to bring up the issues above and similar thoughts on things like protests, police action, etc.

Even some of the hotter takes point to this idea. Slayven's first post:



Good for Davis, but saying it should not be seen as the standard for minorities dealing with racism. That's pretty much what he said.

This is a bit disjointed, because I'm playing For Honor, but these are my thoughts as to what feeds into some of the pushback you're seeing.

You see it now with the seahawks shit that happen on Sunday. If it can be spun to shut down black people that don't fit in a box it will be
 

Mael

Member
You see it now with the seahawks shit that happen on Sunday. If it can be spun to shut down black people that don't fit in a box it will be

To be fair, anything and eveything will be used to shut down black people.
You could probably see someone quote Malcolm X to shut down people.
 

Mael

Member
That doesn't mean it shouldn't be called out or hell headed off at the pass.

It should but it will not.
e: and if you give up because every time you try to push you get a mountain of BS that compares to the highest mountain you could find in No Man's Sky then it's your fault for giving up.
There is no winning.
e2: I kind of understand why this happens, I mean after all they got no punishment after centuries of treating people like shit, why should they stop?
 
Nah that guy said this:

Here's my issue:

My point isn't that the burden SHOULD be on black people, it shouldn't, my point is that the burden is collective and it shouldn't come down to a game of "No, THEY need to do it first" - like, yeah the racists should probably do it first, but in their absence of picking up the ball and running with it, it's helpful for someone else to suck it up and do it. Only the willing. Nobody should be forced to.

Black people have been picking up the ball and running with it for years. We've been shit on, raped, murdered, and no justice comes in many situations. The same sort of racism that existed back in the just weaved itself into more systematic and still painful methods. There are tons of groups willing to have discussions. What do people think BLM is doing in the first place? If you have access to the internet, you can fully educate yourselves, with articles written by black people.

The implication that my side doesn't "get the ball rolling" because we aren't willing to put ourselves in danger is hilarious. He's contradicting himself by saying someone should "suck it up" and start talking but then says "only the willing". Like, black people, why don't you just suck it up and go have a conversation with your local Grand Dragon?

The onus should not be on black people. We've been receptive for years and change is happening far too slow. Both sides aren't equal in this, it's a lot more nuanced than that, and trying to say "well, why don't BOTH sides just calm down and discuss it" waters down the whole situation as a whole. Maybe that wasn't his intent, but that's how he came across.
 

stufte

Member
As I said, I think his efforts are laudable, but many go in the opposite direction, believing that social shame is the preferred tool. The thinking being that people will probably always be racist, but you can make it socially unacceptable to espouse or act on that racism in a meaningful way. I personally believe both tools are just a few in a wide toolbox and all should be used in tandem.

Agree 100%.

When you say "Daryl Davis is the way racism should be handled", some people hear "Daryl Davis is the ONLY way racism should be handled". Which is going to bring up the issues above and similar thoughts on things like protests, police action, etc.

If I insinuated that in some way in this thread that it is the *defacto* way to handle racism then I apologize for the misunderstanding. I think it is *a* way to deal with it, but like what you said in the first part of your quote, there are many tools for combating ignorance and racism and I see this as one of them.
 
If I insinuated that in some way in this thread that it is the *defacto* way to handle racism then I apologize for the misunderstanding. I think it is *a* way to deal with it, but like what you said in the first part of your quote, there are many tools for combating ignorance and racism and I see this as one of them.

Oh no, I don't think you've said that at all.

People coming into previous discussions where that was the sentiment - like the current Kapernick thread - has sort of raised a hair-trigger for some. I'm just saying that's why you're probably seeing some pushback period.
 

Slayven

Member
I would be receptive to this education intative if there was even a hint of reciprocation

The same people asking for a conversation on race are usually the first ones that say "they were no angel" when some one gets shot down like a dog in teh street.

If you want a 2 way street, make it a 2 way street. Black people have put in the work for the last 400 years with no dividends
 
I'd be more willing to "educate" racists if more white people actually put their money where their mouth is and did just that on the daily. As it stands, people like to talk a big game about what I should be doing as a black person but I bet you a dollar to a dime they cower away from racist discussions at work and home because peace and non-confrontation are easier to achieve and exist in than an environment actively built for justice. Until our "progressive allies" finally pick up some slack and take up some of ths responsibility themselves, I'm going to be less inclined to listen to them on how I need to deal with any racism that comes my way.

Speaking as a white person, it's largely equally as pointless for us to engage this shit as it is for black people.

Racism is self-reinforcing, much as conspiracy theories are. Ignorance can be fixed, but conviction is a hell of a lot harder.
 

Nepenthe

Member
I call it out when I see it, but it doesn't happen that often where I live. It's no skin off my back to call out an idiot, but I also don't meet hate with hate. I love to discuss why people think the way they do, and talk about why I think what they are doing is hurtful or ignorant.

I have hideous racists in my extended family and talking to them instead of shouting them down does actually work. Ignorance is a disease man, you don't fix it by making them dig their heels in.

It's great that you call out racism whenever you encounter it. However, your behavior is not the norm in a country where racial matters continue to be exceedingly difficult to talk about due to how uncomfortable it is. What tends to be common however is white people telling black people what to do, and my question following that is what are the percentages between that part of the white population and the part of the white population that discusses race at all in the context of standing up for black people in an educational manner? My gut feeling from extrapolating statistics is that there's not a significant amount of overlap in that regard. A whole lot of talk but no action.

Also, I didn't say anything about hate. I'm saying, in general, I don't want to hear people academically dismiss my emotional reactions to racism, especially if those same people have little to no experiences with it and thus can't actually relate to me in anything but an academic manner.

Speaking as a white person, it's largely equally as pointless for us to engage this shit as it is for black people.

And yet we're constantly told that both sides need to come to the table and all of that. You see how annoying that is?

That's why I prefer approaches that hinge on ostracizing and political activism. I feel like discussion and statistical evidence are important in keeping an issue alive and getting some fence sitters back on the right side of things, but the things that have most pushed as forward have been sweeping bits of legislation regardless of what the majority felt about it. Talking about racism for example isn't going to magically fix the police. Strategic movements towards solid, enforceable laws will eventually force that to happen.
 
Speaking as a white person, it's largely equally as pointless for us to engage this shit as it is for black people.

Racism is self-reinforcing, much as conspiracy theories are. Ignorance can be fixed, but conviction is a hell of a lot harder.

I think you may be conflating "pointless" with "personally fruitless and/or uninteresting". There are a lot of benefits to having white people make an effort as well, not the least of which is being a familiar entity.
 

MogCakes

Member
He must get flak from all colors of the spectrum for doing what he does. He is in a lose-lose no matter how noble his goal. The end results are near worthless compared to the mass recruitment of bigots by lesser men. But he perseveres because that's his modus operandi and he's following what he believes is right. He is a rare breed of man, and no one will want to praise him, they will begrudgingly acknowledge his intent is good while dismissing his method, he is basically irrelevant and people all across the board want to distance themselves from him and call it so. But he's been doing it for decades anyway, because that is the cause he's devoted himself to. He's a true enigma.
 
I think you may be conflating "pointless" with "personally fruitless and/or uninteresting". There are a lot of benefits to having white people make an effort as well, not the least of which is being a familiar entity.

It's pointless in the sense that it won't make a very significant dent in the problem, statistically. If you don't want to hear reality, there is a rich bibliography of literature that will tell you whatever batch of lies you want to hear. If you are basically non-racist, but hate Democrat economics, you can find a million sources for why the Dems have actually ruined the economy and fucked over American blacks by creating a too-broad social safety net and smothered the free market that would allow them to escape it by over-regulating it. If you are kind of a racist, there are people who will tell you that black culture is just fucked up, even though there's nothing specifically, inherently wrong with black folk as people, and the real solution is black people figuring out their own solution. If you're REALLY racist, you can find alt-right nuts who will tell you that Western Civilization is the only truly worthwhile civilization that has ever existed, and all non-Europeans are just intrinsically inferior interlopers who will bring it down and trample it into a Roman dust. No matter what your preference may be, there is a market that has spent decades stocking the shelves with it.

This is all an extension of the basic problem that humans not only recognize patterns, but generate them, as well. If people cannot even admit that a game of Monopoly was rigged in their favor when they KNOW, from the outset, that it is, they sure as hell can find enough "facts" to build a worldview that allows them to preserve a status quo that is rigged in ways much subtler and separate from their perception and experience.
 

KRod-57

Banned
I'm familiar with this man, and he has actually been successful in persuading many people away from white nationalism.. which is fantastic. Some even credit him for dismantling the entire KKK network in Maryland

I absolutely despise the kind of ethno-nationalism that divides us by our skin color..but this feeling of hatred I have towards white nationalism is actually out of my love for my fellow human beings. I wish I had the ability to persuade people from white nationalism, I don't wish these racist individuals harm, I wish I could make them see the light.

Although what Daryl Davis does scares the hell out of me, I have great admiration for what he has been able to accomplish. It's not just his intentions that are good, it's the fact that he has been able to change peoples' hearts for the better. He is destroying his enemies by making them his friends, and in my opinion he has made the world a slightly better place in the process. I admire him for being able to accomplish what I lack the patience for accomplishing.
 
That's nice and all, but I stepped away from the "You need to empathise with the people who hate you" thing ages ago. Not my responsibility to teach people who hate me and think themselves superior that they're wrong or that their views are toxic.
 
Dude tries to start a dialog and better understand the environment he lives in and he getting shit on already. Keep winning America.

I don't know, maybe you should read the topic? Nobody is shitting on him, but dropping off that driveby post probably means you only read a few lines in the OP./
 

KRod-57

Banned
I don't know, maybe you should read the topic? Nobody is shitting on him, but dropping off that driveby post probably means you only read a few lines in the OP./

There are a couple people comparing him to a particular character from the Dave Chappelle show, which isn't fair.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom