Racism goes both ways (and every way in between)

[Anonymous]

True story-

About 9 years ago I got one of those camera speeding tickets in DC-I went a tad above the 25 mile speed limit (which I was unaware of having recently moved to the area).

I went to court to fight the ticket. The case was heard by a an arbitrator (who happened to be a black female). I was in a room with about 25-30 black people who were there also fighting their various traffic tickets. They were a variety of ages ranging from teens to elderly, men and women, well dressed to looking like bums. I came dressednicely for court and with my infant in a Bjorn.

The arbitrator called everyone else first (not sure if this was random, purposeful or whatever, but if it were alphabetical, I would not have been last. I also arrived early for said court date so it was not because I was late).

The arbitrator DISMISSED each and every person's ticket who was there. One woman even had a double red light violation (coming and going on the same day). I was the only person whose ticket/case was NOT dismissed. (many other speeders who were going MUCH faster were dismissed).

This was clearly a case of rasism on the part of the arbitrator. I was furious. While I paid the ticket, I did call the supervisor over there and informed them of what had occurred. I only hope some action was taken to correct this arbitrator's behavior and blatant racism and abuse of her power.

Forgot to mention, I was the only white person in the courtroom, aside from my 7 month old infant.

[Anonymous]

oh honey. this is not proof of racism. Even if you are right that it happened because you are white. "racism" is about there being more black people in the room than white. Why do you think that was so?

[Anonymous]

Feel better now, OP... to get that off your chest? From something that happened to you 9 years ago.

Good grief

[Anonymous]

No, this is not about racism. This is about bigotry and/or prejudice -- assuming that you are correct, and that the reason the arbitrator did not dismiss your ticket is that you are white. (And of course, people are welcome to chime in and explain to you that even though you think that this is a clear example of bigotry, they know better, and there were actually well-intentioned, rational reasons for the arbitrator's behavior -- just as people usually do when other people talk about their personal experiences with racism, sexism, ableism, etc.)

Anybody can be bigoted and have prejudices. But there is no such thing as racism against white people in the US.

[Anonymous]

Cool story, bro.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, this is not about racism. This is about bigotry and/or prejudice -- assuming that you are correct, and that the reason the arbitrator did not dismiss your ticket is that you are white. (And of course, people are welcome to chime in and explain to you that even though you think that this is a clear example of bigotry, they know better, and there were actually well-intentioned, rational reasons for the arbitrator's behavior -- just as people usually do when other people talk about their personal experiences with racism, sexism, ableism, etc.)

Anybody can be bigoted and have prejudices. But there is no such thing as racism against white people in the US.

Can we just address OP's issue without making pronouncements about whether people who are not white can be racist? That's such a distraction from the issue.

OP, welcome to the world of African-Americans. Maybe you were discriminated against because you were white. Maybe there was another reason for your treatment. You don't really know, do you? It's stressful, isn't it? Imagine having to deal with that all the time.

And if you were discriminated against for racial reasons -- which would have been absolutely WRONG -- how often have you been in this situation since then? Have you noticed it on a regular basis at work or at school or when you walk into a store? So, yes, if you were discriminated against (and we still don't know for sure if you were), that was wrong but on the whole being white is a big ticket to a better life -- at least in not having to worry about your acceptance by those in power on a regular basis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:True story-

About 9 years ago I got one of those camera speeding tickets in DC-I went a tad above the 25 mile speed limit (which I was unaware of having recently moved to the area).

I went to court to fight the ticket. The case was heard by a an arbitrator (who happened to be a black female). I was in a room with about 25-30 black people who were there also fighting their various traffic tickets. They were a variety of ages ranging from teens to elderly, men and women, well dressed to looking like bums. I came dressednicely for court and with my infant in a Bjorn.

The arbitrator called everyone else first (not sure if this was random, purposeful or whatever, but if it were alphabetical, I would not have been last. I also arrived early for said court date so it was not because I was late).

The arbitrator DISMISSED each and every person's ticket who was there. One woman even had a double red light violation (coming and going on the same day). I was the only person whose ticket/case was NOT dismissed. (many other speeders who were going MUCH faster were dismissed).

This was clearly a case of rasism on the part of the arbitrator. I was furious. While I paid the ticket, I did call the supervisor over there and informed them of what had occurred. I only hope some action was taken to correct this arbitrator's behavior and blatant racism and abuse of her power.

Forgot to mention, I was the only white person in the courtroom, aside from my 7 month old infant.

I'm sorry you felt so mistreated OP, I hope this experience didn't sour your attitudes/impressions of blacks or black women inparticular. I hope instead that the anger and outrage and disrespect and overall sense of helplessness you felt in that one situation gives you greater insight into the feelings and frustrations that many minorities have to deal with on a daily basis. I hope instead of resenting that one individual who abused their position of authority you instead resent the system that allowed such a miscarriage of justice to occur and ultimately understand the rationale behind the resentment many minorities have toward the system that consistently deprives them of equal justice and fair treatment.

[Anonymous]

Do not feed the troll

[Anonymous]

Sorry, people of color can not be racist. Racism = White Supremecy. Whites have the power. Only White can be guilty of racism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:oh honey. this is not proof of racism. Even if you are right that it happened because you are white. "racism" is about there being more black people in the room than white. Why do you think that was so?

I hope you give this some thought OP. The PP is right on the money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, people of color can not be racist. Racism = White Supremecy. Whites have the power. Only White can be guilty of racism.

Scholars do not agree on this. I know you read this in a Soc 101 textbook (which I can say because I'm as sociologist) but it is by no means the only definition of racism.

So can South Asians not be racist against blacks? What about Chinese Americans? Are they not racist against blacks? Can blacks be racist towards American Indians? Or are only whites racist against American Indians? Are white Arabs racist against blacks or are they not racist because they're not of Anglo-American ethnicity?

I understand the motivation behind this definition because it is an attempt to evaluate the power imbalance between racial and ethnic groups -- which is something I'm wholly in favor of. But to deal with it in this simplistic manner by defining every racial group except whites out of it leads to incoherence in addition to diverting our attention from the actual nuanced power imbalances between groups. For example, what concerns me quite often is how generally every immigrant racial/ethnic group has attempted to step on African-Americans in order to get closer to whites. A simplistic definition of racism doesn't help us address those complex relationships.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, people of color can not be racist. Racism = White Supremecy. Whites have the power. Only White can be guilty of racism.

How can this be when we have a black president who has a pen and a phone?
Doesn’t HE yield power?

[Anonymous]

OP, why do you believe you were entitled to have your ticket dismissed? And you do seem to believe you were entitled, despite the fact that you admit in your opening sentence that you were traveling above the speed limit.

Why is it racism that you didn't get your ticket dismissed when you were speeding? Perhaps the judge favored other litigants by dismissing their tickets (I don't know, but it's possible) but why is it racism that your (admittedly deserved) speeding ticket was not dismissed? Clue me in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, people of color can not be racist. Racism = White Supremecy. Whites have the power. Only White can be guilty of racism.

Scholars do not agree on this. I know you read this in a Soc 101 textbook (which I can say because I'm as sociologist) but it is by no means the only definition of racism.

So can South Asians not be racist against blacks? What about Chinese Americans? Are they not racist against blacks? Can blacks be racist towards American Indians? Or are only whites racist against American Indians? Are white Arabs racist against blacks or are they not racist because they're not of Anglo-American ethnicity?

I understand the motivation behind this definition because it is an attempt to evaluate the power imbalance between racial and ethnic groups -- which is something I'm wholly in favor of. But to deal with it in this simplistic manner by defining every racial group except whites out of it leads to incoherence in addition to diverting our attention from the actual nuanced power imbalances between groups. For example, what concerns me quite often is how generally every immigrant racial/ethnic group has attempted to step on African-Americans in order to get closer to whites. A simplistic definition of racism doesn't help us address those complex relationships.

not pp, but I would like to hear more about this. most scholarly definitions I've heard revolve about racism being about inherent, heritable, unalterable differences--that is, thinking blacks are physically different or less intelligent than others. So really the question of "is it bias or racism" is not about the action, but the motivation for it.

[Anonymous]

Oh the terrible racism you faced OP, not being called up first before all those black people, and not having your ticket for speeding immediately dismissed despite the fact that you were admittedly speeding. You have really faced some terrible racism there.