687
Questions (lemmy.world)
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] almar_quigley@lemmy.world 148 points 2 months ago

Snowflakes in these comments hurt when someone’s lived experience is pointed out when it’s not even saying they’re the ones being racist. Same people who get upset at fast food workers getting higher wages as if that has any direct impact on them (other than the whole getting our economy and society into a better place).

[-] Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.world 103 points 2 months ago

First question in the interview I had a few years ago: "Do you have a green card?"

I was born here asshole. I'm brown skinned.

[-] DillyDaily@lemmy.world 52 points 2 months ago

Exactly, and for any white people in the comments about to say "well they have to ask everyone to know you can legally work,I get asked about my citizenship status too in the job interviews, it's just a box HR has to tick"

Yes, it is just a box HR has to tick, which is why they will usually ask after a few other questions, and in my pasty pale experience, they ask me "and just confirming you're legally eligible to work in [country], are you a citizen... Or a PR" and the trail off, they don't ask about working visas or our equivalent of green cards, they assume I'm going to say "yes, citizen" and move on.

Meanwhile my partner, who is also white, but from his accent he is clearly not "from here" will also get similar treatment, they wait until a few questions into the interview, they ask about his legal work eligibility, they will mention working visas in the question, but it's still coming from a place of genuine information gathering.

My brown cousins on the other hand? "do you have a work visa?" is one of the first questions they get asked. Not even "do you have the legal right to work here? Like a Work visa or citizenship", just straight up "do you have a work visa?" because the assumption is that they are not a citizen or PR because of their skin colour.

load more comments (16 replies)
[-] almar_quigley@lemmy.world 26 points 2 months ago

I’m not brown but I was once mistaken for Mexican immigrant. The way the person treated me in that instance was really eye opening to me for how folks can get treated that I never otherwise would’ve have experienced.

[-] ImplyingImplications@lemmy.ca 26 points 2 months ago

Lol I've seen this first hand so many times. "When did you come to Canada? Is this your first winter? Have you seen snow before? Was it hard learning English?" Like, do you think Canada just recently opened its borders and everyone who isn't white must be new?

[-] Cracks_InTheWalls@sh.itjust.works 21 points 2 months ago

What I hate is that some folks I know who aren't white have come to expect this kind of thing. Knew a great guy at work of Indian descent, got to meet him in person for the first time and I asked him where he was from. Normal question when you personally are an army brat and pinged around the country in your formative years.The response was "Well my grandparents are from India".

I have never cringed so hard, and was quick to say "Shit, no, I meant did you grow up in Toronto, or did you used to live in some other place in Canada before?". Made me think about how many people did that "No, where are you really from" shit with him before.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[-] Scrof@sopuli.xyz 147 points 2 months ago

The very existence of this comic points to a sad reality. Is it exaggerated? Probably. But it's a damn cartoon, it's supposed to be.

[-] FriendBesto@lemmy.ml 52 points 2 months ago

Sadly, statistics sort of tend to back up at least a few of those claims, even if it is a silly cartoon. Even if people do not like to admit it. Example, in 2018, 69% of black mothers are single mothers. But people never want to speak about reality because they have been told that speaking about reality is somehow racist, which is not. No problem ever gets fixed if people refuse to look at it, honestly.

"In 2011, 72% of black babies were born to unmarried mothers,[5][6] while the 2018 National Vital Statistics Report provides a figure of 69.4 percent for this condition." The stats have not gotten better since then.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/African-American_family_structure

[-] kromem@lemmy.world 44 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Around half of the US population has hypertension.

I'm guessing you wouldn't want your doctor just assuming you have it and start treating it though.

The reason why stereotypes are bad is because even if there's aggregate data trends on a broad population basis, that doesn't necessarily translate to individualized specifics.

Statistically, black math scores are worse than white.

In my high school, I was in Calculus BC in my senior year, along with most of the other smartest kids in my grade.

One of the few black students at my prep school had been in that class in his junior year and for his senior year just sat one on one with the math teacher because he was a full year ahead of us. He was also the student that I used to get the most competitive with playing chess in the student lounge (because he was legit better than me and the few victories I'd eek out were actual accomplishments), and was the one of my friends to go off to Stanford.

It'd be a real shame if someone looking at him decided that based on broad statistics relating to the melanin in his skin that he wasn't as good at math as someone with less melanin.

And personally, I'd think anyone making that leap of logic was a goddamn moron.

(Also, pro tip - it's worth thinking about the differences between averages and distributions around those averages if you are going to make an argument for there being merit in extrapolating from statistics. For example, you are more likely to be told by a mother with a child that the father is not in the picture by a white mother than a black mother if you ask the question of every mother you see.)

[-] volvoxvsmarla@lemm.ee 21 points 2 months ago

Around half of the US population has hypertension.

I'm guessing you wouldn't want your doctor just assuming you have it and start treating it though.

I have to disagree with a reply to this before me because I think this example doesn't do the comment about statistics mentioned above justice.

You don't want your doctor to treat you for hypertension, but you want him to check you for it to catch it early if you have it if you fall into a category that makes it more likely you have hypertension. This does not mean he should ignore the possibility of a disease in a non-high-risk group either.

Equally, black students being statistically speaking worse at math does not mean you should look at a black student and assume he is bad in math. But it can mean that funding for programs targeted at helping minority students going to math tutoring can be better justified.

I will not argue that based on statistics you should make assumptions about people, hell no. This is obviously racist. But assuming statistics (and being aware of them) are first and foremost racist would just be equally wrong.

The phrasings in the meme can be described as racist. But the structural problems that racism created and that lead to these assumptions cannot be fought by ignoring them.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[-] ReiRose@lemmy.world 39 points 2 months ago

I'm not sure but I don't think the point is statistics. I think the point is to treat everyone equally despite the colour of their skin until you know them personally, and their situation.

[-] Passerby6497@lemmy.world 26 points 2 months ago

Your quote doesn't support your claim. 69% of black mothers being unmarried does not mean they're single mothers. It definitely correlates, but one doesn't mean the other.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] Renacles@lemmy.world 24 points 2 months ago

Unmarried and single are different things.

This sounds like one of those crime rate arguments for justifying racism without looking at any of the other factors.

[-] meliaesc@lemmy.world 12 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Your choice of wording is odd, like "problem", and "better." I am 30 years old. I have been with my partner for 15 years, and we have an 8 and a 6 year old child together. We live together in our 4 bedroom home. Yes, we are black. No, there is no struggle associated with us being unmarried.

[-] nednobbins@lemm.ee 7 points 2 months ago

Congratulations on 15 years together.

In the US, there are legal and financial advantages to marrying your partner. It sounds like you're in it for the long haul so it's worth thinking about. Have a chat about it with your lawyer or accountant, they'll make the case much better than I can.

[-] SkunkWorkz@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago

Statistics show that white people are more likely to develop skin cancer than other racial groups. Would that problem be fixed by asking every white person you meet who has mole on their face if they have skin cancer?

load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
[-] Sabre363@sh.itjust.works 138 points 2 months ago

These are all wildly inappropriate questions to ask a random stranger without some prior explicit context between the people.

load more comments (5 replies)
[-] FreeLikeGNU@lemmy.world 47 points 2 months ago

For all the people missing the point of this comic particularly in the U.S.: Look at who has held political and financial power for the last two hundred years, including this one. There are lots of pictures and paintings of people. Do you notice anything in common between nearly all of them besides having wealth and power? Think about the position of everyone else not fitting that description and tell us all again why you personally feel attacked and why this comic is not relevant.

[-] StrongHorseWeakNeigh@lemmy.world 22 points 2 months ago

This is why I simply don't ask people about their personal lives. I'll talk to them about it and ask questions if they bring it up but I will never be the one to bring it up. There's just too many possible awkward scenarios and I don't really care that much. I also don't really like answering questions about my own personal life.

[-] taiyang@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago

Ok, all that aside, that third chick asking about college--- what does that shirt mean...? No clothes hangers? Is that an abortion statement or does she just like folded clothes over hung ones?

[-] JohnnyCanuck@lemmy.ca 19 points 2 months ago

Definitely a pro-choice statement: "Don't make women resort to [risky abortion techniques]"

[-] magnetosphere@fedia.io 17 points 2 months ago

I especially like her panels because it illustrates that even liberal, socially conscious people need to stay aware of their own biases. I try to be a progressive person, but that certainly doesn’t mean I’m immune to this sort of thing.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›
this post was submitted on 04 Apr 2024
687 points (85.2% liked)

Comic Strips

11125 readers
2845 users here now

Comic Strips is a community for those who love comic stories.

The rules are simple:

Web of links

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS