Does it make you uncomfortable when someone describes a persons race when telling a story?

[Anonymous]

No, I don't feel the need to be the PC police.

[Anonymous]

I bet op is white

[Anonymous]

Yes. It completely derails the story for me as I mentally calculate why the anecdotal person's race had to be mentioned. And it derails any DCUM thread.

[Anonymous]

My mom does that and she truly is a super nice/non racist person. It's just how she tells stories. It does make me uncomfortable, though.

[Anonymous]

It depends. I have one friend who uses one more descriptive adjective/adverb for every noun/verb than anyone else I know. For her, it is part of describing the scene.

Plus, context is everything. I use the George Carlin method- the words are not the problem- it is the way the person uses them. If they are used a descriptors, not so much- if they are used to consistently make one group look bad or good- then yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. The people who start a story with "this black guy comes up to me and says...." Those people are racist. They may not specifically hate black people, but they are racist.

No, they're telling you a story, and including some description. If they say a child, they may clarify that the child was 5 instead of 15 (since that will give you a different mental image).

You're referring to white privilege and the default assumption that everyone is white unless you specify otherwise. That's cultural, not racist. (In other parts of the world, they have other defaults, unsurprisingly.)

NP here. Except that whiteness rarely gets described in these situations (when the teller is white). It's someone who is black, or Asian, etc. Why is whiteness the default? This is something that has always bugged me. I remember reading the local paper in high school and wondering why it was pointed out if someone was black but not if they were white. If you find it important to describe someone's race when telling story, make it everyone's race.

Signed,

A white person

[Anonymous]

Usually, yeah. Especially if it's just "rude Chinese doctor" "loud AA lady." However, if a story is being told in detail and it's more like they're painting the scene, maybe not.

But usually-- yes. I avoid doing this. I think I'm fairly successful.

[Anonymous]

It's pretty strong to label someone a racist just because they say a persons race in a story, even if it has nothing to do with the story. People tend to be descriptive when telling stories and telling the persons race is the usually the best description.

[Anonymous]

What if you say 'this fat lady walked up to me' or this 'old guy walked up to me'?

Come on people, pare down those stories like Hemingway. In fact, don't tell what those people did at all. It's probably not interesting.

[Anonymous]

It completely depends on the context.

[Anonymous]

My in laws do this all of the time. I thought it was because they live in an area where its like 99% white so they notice the difference. Here it's so diverse I don't even notice it, therefore I don't mention it in a story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. The people who start a story with "this black guy comes up to me and says...." Those people are racist. They may not specifically hate black people, but they are racist.

No, they're telling you a story, and including some description. If they say a child, they may clarify that the child was 5 instead of 15 (since that will give you a different mental image).

You're referring to white privilege and the default assumption that everyone is white unless you specify otherwise. That's cultural, not racist. (In other parts of the world, they have other defaults, unsurprisingly.)

NP here. Except that whiteness rarely gets described in these situations (when the teller is white). It's someone who is black, or Asian, etc. Why is whiteness the default? This is something that has always bugged me. I remember reading the local paper in high school and wondering why it was pointed out if someone was black but not if they were white. If you find it important to describe someone's race when telling story, make it everyone's race.

Signed,

A white person

Wrong. I've heard two African Americans discuss a story and point out the race of the "white dude". Again stop projecting or thinking you know what all races are thinking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. The people who start a story with "this black guy comes up to me and says...." Those people are racist. They may not specifically hate black people, but they are racist.

No, they're telling you a story, and including some description. If they say a child, they may clarify that the child was 5 instead of 15 (since that will give you a different mental image).

You're referring to white privilege and the default assumption that everyone is white unless you specify otherwise. That's cultural, not racist. (In other parts of the world, they have other defaults, unsurprisingly.)

NP here. Except that whiteness rarely gets described in these situations (when the teller is white). It's someone who is black, or Asian, etc. Why is whiteness the default? This is something that has always bugged me. I remember reading the local paper in high school and wondering why it was pointed out if someone was black but not if they were white. If you find it important to describe someone's race when telling story, make it everyone's race.

Signed,

A white person

Wrong. I've heard two African Americans discuss a story and point out the race of the "white dude". Again stop projecting or thinking you know what all races are thinking.

Sorry, but if the newspaper identifies "race" as only AA or Asian but not white, that's a problem.

[Anonymous]

Yes. There is no reason to describe a person's race. Ever. I always think it's odd. And I'm white.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What if you say 'this fat lady walked up to me' or this 'old guy walked up to me'?

Come on people, pare down those stories like Hemingway. In fact, don't tell what those people did at all. It's probably not interesting.

Turning this into a reductio ad absurdum won't help your case.