pretty telling that first reation of some here can be summed with: what is really white?

  • EpeeGnome ( EpeeGnome@feddit.online ) 
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    1 month ago

    In no particular order:

    • Mourn the loss of numerous family, friends, and acquaintances.
    • Panic and prepare for the impending crash of my society’s essential supply chains.
    • Existential meltdown at the idea that billions of people can vanish overnight.

    What a stupid fucking question.

  • rbos ( rbos@lemmy.ca ) 
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    1 month ago

    Depending on your definition of ‘white’, probably start scavenging for the upcoming crisis. The loss of like 90% of the world’s population will create a supply chain crisis and general systems collapse. Who knows what skills and technologies are lost.

  • abbiistabbii ( abbiistabbii@piefed.blahaj.zone ) 
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    1 month ago

    This is your daily reminder that Irish and Italians weren’t considered white at the beginning of the 20th century in America.

    Hell, some people in Europe don’t consider albanians to be white.

    Also I’d be very concerned as to where all the racial minorities went. Like genuinely concerned.

  • Molag_Baller ( Molag_Ballee@fedinsfw.app ) 
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    1 month ago

    “White” is a relatively modern concept, and one that can be quite nebulous. I see some people call Bernie Sanders white, but I also see white nationalists who dont consider Jews white. Back when the British were committing a genocicde against the Irish and driving millions of Catholic refugees into a predominantly Protestant America they weren’t considered white. Some Nazis considered Japanese people “honorary whites”. People around the Mediterranean are a whole mixed bag- Italians, Greeks, and Spaniards have all been treated as white or non-white at times. Racists still debate whether Cleopatra and other Coptic Egyptians should count as “white” or not.

    And of course Europeans have been making up divisions and killing each other over it for centuries. The very concepts of “Italy” and “France” and “Germany” and “Spain” and the like are pnky a few generations old.

    It’s not just “white” people though. The Japanese have a history of committing atrocities against their neighbors in Korea and China. Chinese history is largely the story of the Han people conquering the nations around them, and they are still committing genocide against groups like the Uyghurs and Tibetans today. Sudan had the genocide of the Darfuri in the early 2000’s. The Rohingya genocide in Myanmar is still ongoing. We could go on and on.

    The idea that only “white” people are racist is, itself, a racist idea.

    • I’m mixed race and it’s disturbing how true this is. One of the weird things about being mixed race is that people feel comfortable telling me about their racial views.

      There are a bunch of racial and ethnic prejudices that white people (particularly white Americans) don’t even know exist.

      One funny thing is that many forms of racism focus don’t focus on skin color and instead focus on other arbitrary markers; ear lobes, noses, hair patterns.

  • Phoenixz ( phoenixz@lemmy.ca ) 
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    1 month ago

    I feel I have to point out here that most white people aren’t racist, and don’t give a shit about skin color.

    I know this comment will be down voted yo hell because of course all white people are evil racist bastards, and people of color never do anything wrong, but still…

    This post feels ever so slightly racist. Is racism not racism anymore if white people are the target? I was always taught to just be nice to everybody and that becoming your enemy doesn’t defeat your enemy.

    • I feel I have to point out here that most white people aren’t racist, and don’t give a shit about skin color.

      I know this comment will be down voted yo hell because of course all white people are evil racist bastards, and people of color never do anything wrong, but still…

      This post feels ever so slightly racist. Is racism not racism anymore if white people are the target? I was always taught to just be nice to everybody and that becoming your enemy doesn’t defeat your enemy.

      If you’re a white American whose first response to a post like this is the need to get defensive, I have bad news for you about the cute little “not racist” outfit you’re trying to wear.

      Being racist is kind of like being an asshole in that you don’t get to decide whether you are or aren’t by declaring it- you’ll be informed.

      • Phoenixz ( phoenixz@lemmy.ca ) 
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        1 month ago

        1: you know that there are many countries in the world where white people are living, right? There are dozens of us, even!

        2: if someone pointing out that racism works in all directions irks you, I got bad news for you too with your cute "yep I declare you’re a racist!"post

        Being an asshole is kind of being like a racist in that you don’t get to decide whether yu are or aren’t by declaring it- you’ll be informed

      • Phoenixz ( phoenixz@lemmy.ca ) 
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        1 month ago

        People freak out when they learn that people with any skin color can be racist. Discriminating in skin color is just so stupid, unless its for the medical sector.

  • ragebutt ( ragebutt@lemmy.dbzer0.com ) 
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    1 month ago

    The semantical arguments about who counts as “white” already exist and often in very hate filled ways. Alt right “preserve the white race” people already try to bring back the pre world war 2 “Italians don’t count as white” nonsense. And of course tons of Italian Americans are certainly not known for progressive stances

    So basically targets would shift?

    • Don’t forget that WASPs often excluded entire professions to what they considered ‘lesser’ whites and catholics and Jews.

      Ben Shapiro once said that Jews might not be good at the NBA like blacks when he doesn’t realize (or does but is lying) that Jews dominated basketball in the 1920s and 1930s. Ironically then as now racism played a role in stereotyping them. Since Jews were seen as crafty and intelligently sneaky this was seen as manifesting in the sport, which often does need deception to get ahead.

    • The concept of whiteness comes from the Spanish inquisition after the fall of Grenada. Being fair skinned was a way of proving without a doubt that you weren’t a jew or a muslim.

      My guess is we’d start dividing up amongst religious heritage again. Mormons vs. Evangelicals Vs. Protestants Vs. Catholics Vs. The Real Christians