Clearly, this is a topic you care about. You've written a little bit about it in the past, but so far I haven't really seen what your views are about race (other than problems you've encountered with people questioning how you choose to identify). I'd be interested to read your ideas on race and how the millenials experience it. As I mentioned in my note at the header: I'm no fan of Jezebel either and certainly not of the content of the article (if it can be called that). What I am interested in by posting this, is to hopefully get other perspectives.
Oh no, I'm glad you posted it, I suppose I should give more than an article drive-by (this was a thug joke, I am racist). I don't thing racial views have changed much between this generation and the last, in the sense that the same stereotypes are created by the same types of people, in a sort of cycle. I don't think people are nearly as overtly racist or focused on race as they used to be. In fact, I have never, ever had to deal with a racial issue with someone my age. The woman that loudly stated that hospitals used to be separated by color, the police officer that accused me of scoping out a house to break into when I was actually selling cookies for cancer -- all were much older than I. That being said, just because I haven't experienced it amongst my generation, doesn't mean it isn't out there. Twitter is a wonderful example of this. It's very hard to get a statistical analysis of something like that, I think. Honestly I could write on this forever, but my ultimate view is to try and not think of race at all. I think being on the internet and interacting and experiencing the cultures of other races has helped in that effort, but it's impossible. I think the one thing that "White Allies" argue that I agree with is the fact that white people don't really have to think about their race, if they don't want to. It's a lot more complicated than that writer makes it out to be.I'd be interested to read your ideas on race and how the millenials experience it.
Of course it is. Saying race is not complicated is absolutely ridiculous. Maybe the concept of race (in a genetic sense) is arbitrary, but what's complicated is our historical relationship to race and the contingencies in which that relationship has evolved. Anyone who argues history isn't complicated never got much past their 9th grade history textbook.It's a lot more complicated than that writer makes it out to be.
I'd be really interested in reading a study about this (or hell, even conducting one). I've had a few, including racial encounters where I've been mistaken as a Native American. Walking around with long hair, whiskey and no shirt probably fed into one of those instances, I'll admit. It's also a strange thing to have white guys speculating about the size of one's cock, fairly openly. If I knew for sure that women in general were thinking about my dick (even in an uncomplimentary way) as much as some racist guys (white and black) I've met, I'd be a bit more confident than I already am. You might even say I'd be cocky. I should have made it clearer what piqued my interest in this write-up: the writer mentions that she thinks that racism is still very present in the US and in the psyches of millenials, but that it isn't as overt, as you mentioned. I've been there before and now race is something that bothers me again. Maybe it's because I lived outside the country for a long while. Asia is a pretty racist region too, but if people consider someone accomplished or sometimes, attractive, suddenly race melts away. Sometimes not. Last year, a girl came up to me at a party and started stroking my chest, shortly after introducing herself. "I love Asian guys . . . they're always in such great shape!" Now, I like things to fall into place without too much hassle and I like compliments, but that one made me feel weird. Plus, I felt pretty out of shape, since I hadn't been to the gym in a while. Societal issues are not as straightforward as equations, of course, but I often wonder about "solutions" to things like ingrained racism. In the past, I've jokingly said that the only way I see of overcoming it is by doing my part to create a future full of mixed-race children. Now, I sometimes think that my joke might be a more viable "solution" than laws. An American "ethnicity" might be an asset to the country, at least in terms of creating a real sense of unity. That feels weird to say, but I guess I'm still figuring this all out for myself.I don't think people are nearly as overtly racist or focused on race as they used to be. In fact, I have never, ever had to deal with a racial issue with someone my age.
my ultimate view is to try and not think of race at all.