Racists Are Recruiting. Watch Your White Sons.

[Muslima]

Parents need to understand how white supremacists prey on teen boys, so they can intervene.

Raising teenagers can be terrifying. Our squishy little babies become awkward hormonal creatures who question our authority at every turn.

I expected that. What I didn’t predict was that my sons’ adolescence would include being drawn to the kind of online content that right-wing extremists use to recruit so many young men.

Opinion | Racists Are Recruiting. Watch Your White Sons.

 

[BeholdenGlory]

Perhaps it's worth asking what in society is creating such fertile ground for the seeds of thought being sown by people the white-hating (re Sarah Jeong) New York Times would deem, "racist",...whatever that even means these days.

If racism is reactionary, then exactly what is it that people are reacting to where the reaction would prime an otherwise normal person for racism?

 

[TLK Valentine]

Perhaps it's worth asking what in society is creating such fertile ground for the seeds of thought being sown by people the white-hating (re Sarah Jeong) New York Times would deem, "racist",...whatever that even means these days.

If racism is reactionary, then exactly what is it that people are reacting to where the reaction would prime an otherwise normal person for racism?

...a real or perceived threat, of course. So not only to we have to figure out what they're reacting to, we have to see if it even exists.

 

[BeholdenGlory]

Well clearly something exists if the reaction to it is this tangible.

 

[Larniavc]

If racism is reactionary, then exactly what is it that people are reacting to where the reaction would prime an otherwise normal person for racism?

It’s not reactionary per se. But when people grow up in a culture where they see their ‘race’ as superior (such as the whites have done for centuries) they become what we know as racists.

The sad fact is that people growing up in that culture think they are ‘normal’ and get genuinely surprised (and often angry) when their racism is commented on.

 

[BeholdenGlory]

And just to clarify, which definition of, "racism" are you basing your statement on?

The classic meaning in which it was the belief that some races are inherently superior or inferior to certain other races, or the revisionist definition of Power + Prejudice?

 

[TLK Valentine]

And just to clarify, which definition of, "racism" are you basing your statement on?

The classic meaning in which it was the belief that some races are inherently superior or inferior to certain other races, or the revisionist definition of Power + Prejudice?

Which one do you think is being applied to yourself?

 

[TLK Valentine]

There's an interesting article I've just read: "What Makes a Jihadist? A Nazi? The Science of Extremism" by Lisa Beebe.

It's mainly a book review: Healing from Hate: How Young Men Get Into—and Out of—Violent Extremism by Michael Kimmel.

Kimmel noticed a common theme, whether he was talking to neo-Nazis, ex-jihadists, or other far-right extremists: "They don’t get in because they have racist ideas. They get racist ideas because they get in."

As an example of how young men are drawn into hate groups, Kimmel describes a hypothetical 16-year-old kid, hanging out at the skate park alone. "You’re not the most popular kid in class. In fact, you get bullied and beat up. You don’t have very many friends, so you spend a lot of time playing video games. You’re pretty bored and miserable with your life. These guys come along, and they say, 'Hey, you can hang out with us. We think you’re cool.' You start hanging out with them, and they say, ‘Hey listen, we have these amazing parties. You should come. Everybody gets really hammered, and there’s girls there, and it’s really fun.' The guy goes to the parties, and suddenly he has a crew.” For the first time in his life, this kid doesn’t feel like a loser. Instead, he’s part of a community of powerful guys who throw great parties. Kimmel says it’s not until after the new guy has bonded with the group that they’ll say, “After the party, we’ll all take painkillers and go out on the street looking for immigrants to beat up. It’s fantastic.”

I can't link the article itself because it's at Playboy dot com, and while the article itself is clean, Playboy being, well... Playboy, there might be some advertisements that are NSFCF. But Google and ye shall find.

 

[BeholdenGlory]

To myself of by myself?

Accusations towards me, I would say, are from those who subscribe to the Power + Prejudice view.

However, I only use and accept the legitimacy of the classic definition.

 

[TLK Valentine]

To myself of by myself?

to yourself, as I wrote.

Accusations towards me, I would say, are from those who subscribe to the Power + Prejudice view.

However, I only use and accept the legitimacy of the classic definition.

Don't you think that the classic definition inevitably leads to the newer one?

 

[BeholdenGlory]

“After the party, we’ll all take painkillers and go out on the street looking for immigrants to beat up. It’s fantastic.”

How real is that quote?

People in the mind frame where they think dosing up on painkillers and beating up random immigrant looking folks are also the type of folks who employ more...colorful language, when discussing, "immigrants".

Although to the point that fringe social groups recruit from those disaffected from society, that is true.

Which is why things like cancel culture and deplatforming are really counter-productive towards maintaining social cohesion, because they are effectively recruitment drives for fringe groups of all agendas and backgrounds.

 

[BeholdenGlory]

No. Power + prejudice is double speak that attempts the legitimize one form of racism over another (That of minority groups against the majority group), which itself would qualify under the classical definition as racist.

In the end, it only serves to regress the cohesion thus far achieved by all racial groups.

 

[The_Barmecide]

Perhaps it's worth asking what in society is creating such fertile ground for the seeds of thought being sown by people the white-hating (re Sarah Jeong) New York Times would deem, "racist",...whatever that even means these days.

If racism is reactionary, then exactly what is it that people are reacting to where the reaction would prime an otherwise normal person for racism?

America has never really given up racism. What I perceive is happening now is that racism is being given oxygen by some rhetoric in our society. It isn't because white people are under assault with some bizarro "reverse racism"...no, it's the same anti-black, anti-minority hatred America has always held tied up in its attic and which gets out every-so-often to run amok.

We KNOW what we need to do to make our society more accepting and equitable, and THAT is what is terrifying to some folks and gives them the "spine" to come out openly with their racism. It's a reaction to our dawning self-awareness.

 

[The_Barmecide]

It’s not reactionary per se. But when people grow up in a culture where they see their ‘race’ as superior (such as the whites have done for centuries) they become what we know as racists.

The sad fact is that people growing up in that culture think they are ‘normal’ and get genuinely surprised (and often angry) when their racism is commented on.

I just got done reading both "The New Jim Crow" and "White Fragility". I think The New Jim Crow was a much better book with more actionable information, but there were a few points in "White Fragility" that bear some better understanding (I think, however, Ms. Diangelo went a bit sideways with her analysis and facile prescription.)

 

[BeholdenGlory]

Ok, you say we KNOW what we need to do to make society accepting & equitable. I didn't get that memo. Can you sum up what all we need to do?

 

[Tom 1]

Well clearly something exists if the reaction to it is this tangible.

That doesn't necessarily follow. Ignorance and a lack of critical thinking skills can lead to the creation of all kinds of phony boogeymen.

 

[The_Barmecide]

No. Power + prejudice is double speak that attempts the legitimize one form of racism over another (That of minority groups against the majority group), which itself would qualify under the classical definition as racist.

This technical equivalence between racism against minorities and racism against the majority has always confused me. Since systemic racism is best viewed statistically (really the ONLY way to view it), how on earth can the majority who, statistically, enjoys a nearly infinite supply of privilege be "negatively impacted" by racism against them?

I have NEVER heard a racist slur against white people that really "affected" me. Seriously. Cracker? C'mon! That has no impact on me. Honky? All I think of is 1970's parodies.

Statistically speaking I as a white male will have had SO MANY more things made easier for me just by default than I will ever be aware of. (Cue anecdotal whines now).

In the end, it only serves to regress the cohesion thus far achieved by all racial groups.

If that's the case then we in the majority need to be the ones who do a LOT more work to end the racism. Sorry, but OUR racism against others is FAR WORSE than theirs against us.

If a white guy was in a fight with a black person and the white guy had a gun, an aluminum bat and a bike chain and all the black person had was a ping-pong paddle, is it rational to say that they BOTH need to stop bloodying each other? Or is it far more likely that the white guy is just pummeling the life out of the black guy and what really needs to happen is the white guy put down his arms?

 

[BeholdenGlory]

I'm familiar with Diangelo. I've watched a number of her college tour speeches.

I would say that it's her brand of anti-white rhetoric that is fueling the racially tinged backlash to 'woke' P.C. culture & Intersectionalism.

 

[BeholdenGlory]

Tom, do you think all the backlash to diversity we've seen in the West in recent years is due solely to ignorance?

 

[The_Barmecide]

Ok, you say we KNOW what we need to do to make society accepting & equitable. I didn't get that memo. Can you sum up what all we need to do?

You didn't get the memo perhaps because you aren't reading?

1. Justice System reform: we currently have more people incarcerated in the US than any other nation on earth and the vast majority are people of color. A black person will get a more harsh sentence than a white person convicted of the same crime. White people and black people commit most crimes at about the same rate but black people are on the school-->prison pipeline almost immediately.

2. Diversity-Equity-Inclusion augmentation to hiring practices need to have some teeth in them.

3. Education reform: we need to double down on GOOD public education, not this bifurcated system where white people can run away to private school leaving public schools in cities to decay. Also we need to provide better educational opportunities at reasonable costs for all Americans.

4. Healthcare reform: healthcare costs are out of control and minority communities are more negatively impacted by lack of access to affordable healthcare than anyone else.

This doesn't even touch on the behavioral component in which white people need to stop whining so much!

(That's just a start. I recommend reading more broadly if you want to "get the memo"...or even know why the memo should be coming).