Dear White People

[Boo Radley]

I wasn't sure where to put this, but wondered how recent college students here might respond to this:

Samantha White doesn’t mince words. On her radio show at Winchester University, she gives stern advice to white students: Stop touching your black classmates’ hair. And don't date them just to irritate your parents.

(snip)

"My first reaction to it was: Finally," said Collin D. Williams Jr., a 26-year-old doctoral student in higher education at the University of Pennsylvania. "Finally somebody engaged this critically important topic that goes undiscussed but is incredibly relevant to any experience you have as a minority student."
Billed as "a satire about being a black face in a white place," Dear White People is set at a private, predominantly white institution where racial tensions are about to boil over. The flashpoints in the movie sound like events on real-world campuses—a plan to diversify a traditionally black residence hall and a Halloween party, thrown by a campus humor magazine, that invites students to "unleash your inner Negro."



'Dear White People': A New Movie About Race on Campus Is, Sadly, Spot-On - Students - The Chronicle of Higher Education

I think the trailer and clips are worth the view as well.

 

[WCH]

I suspect the influence of White guilt has gravitated Whites towards wanting to be Black.

I think it will be a good film.

 

[Peter Grimm]

Not interested. Black people have been whining and blaming white people for their problems going on 40 years now. Like most of white America, I'm not the slightest bit interested in hearing about it.

Take care of your own community, stop asking for handouts or special attention from everyone else. The whole "blame whitey" schtick is getting old.

 

[Carjosse]

I want to see this movie, it looks amazing. Not familiar with the issue since I don't go to an American university but still looks interesting.

 

[Helix]

who goes around touching other people's hair?

eh, i went ahead and watched part of the trailer. seems like another cheesy scheme to make us pissed off at each other as they take our money. sadly, promoting division for money has become endemic in America, and it's a significant part of why the country is moving in the wrong direction.

the other reasons are endless war, a shortsighted energy policy, and a national belief that if something doesn't generate a profit, it isn't worth doing.

wanna be pissed off about something? i can think of a ton of things to be more pissed off about than skin pigmentation or partisan identity. maybe someone should make a movie about that.

 

[ChezC3]

This farce was already discussed some months back on another thread.

Making a film exploring the perpetuation of stereotypes is perpetuating stereotypes.

I find few "honest" discussions on race to be honest.

 

[Skeptic Bob]

who goes around touching other people's hair?

I know, right? But it is a thing. It is invariably a white woman doing it to a black woman. And most pregnant women that I know have had strangers feel their baby bumps without asking. Some people have no sense of boundaries or personal space.

 

[Helix]

I know, right? But it is a thing. It is invariably a white woman doing it to a black woman. And most pregnant women that I know have had strangers feel their baby bumps without asking. Some people have no sense of boundaries or personal space.

i didn't realize that it was a thing. i'm trying to map out the thought process behind wanting to touch someone else's hair. what would one hope to learn from this? this is highly illogical.

 

[Gaius46]

i didn't realize that it was a thing. i'm trying to map out the thought process behind wanting to touch someone else's hair. what would one hope to learn from this? this is highly illogical.

I wish I still had enough hair for someone to touch.

 

[nota bene]

I think this is creepy.

And I say this as someone who's aware that there is a sub-genre of literature devoted to the hair of women of color and who has sat for countless hours for nearly 15 years watching a hair stylist work with African-American and African ladies' hair, which is unbelievably challenging. (Want hair straightened and soft like Beyoncé's? You are going to pay, and you are going to sit for many hours while an incredibly patient artist combs the gunk through tiny strand by strand, smoothing with her other hand. OMG, over and over and over for HOURS.)

And I've never once touched any of the hair. Have met and talked and even prayed with some extraordinary women--pastors and lawyers and business owners mainly--and have never wanted to touch the hair. Creepy.

 

[Ikari]

I wasn't sure where to put this, but wondered how recent college students here might respond to this:

Samantha White doesn’t mince words. On her radio show at Winchester University, she gives stern advice to white students: Stop touching your black classmates’ hair. And don't date them just to irritate your parents.

(snip)

"My first reaction to it was: Finally," said Collin D. Williams Jr., a 26-year-old doctoral student in higher education at the University of Pennsylvania. "Finally somebody engaged this critically important topic that goes undiscussed but is incredibly relevant to any experience you have as a minority student."
Billed as "a satire about being a black face in a white place," Dear White People is set at a private, predominantly white institution where racial tensions are about to boil over. The flashpoints in the movie sound like events on real-world campuses—a plan to diversify a traditionally black residence hall and a Halloween party, thrown by a campus humor magazine, that invites students to "unleash your inner Negro."



'Dear White People': A New Movie About Race on Campus Is, Sadly, Spot-On - Students - The Chronicle of Higher Education

I think the trailer and clips are worth the view as well.

Or we could just stop making race the main focus...either or.

 

[Boo Radley]

Or we could just stop making race the main focus...either or.

Pretense is good for some, I suspect. But it is not yet true that race doesn't play a roll in the world. Yes, there is improvement. And we can talk about problems without denying that. But the comments in the article suggest people still see the issues.

 

[Ikari]

Pretense is good for some, I suspect. But it is not yet true that race doesn't play a roll in the world. Yes, there is improvement. And we can talk about problems without denying that. But the comments in the article suggest people still see the issues.

We still harp on the issue, so people will still see the issue. So long as we continue making it an issue, it will be an issue.

 

[celticwar17]

I wasn't sure where to put this, but wondered how recent college students here might respond to this:

Samantha White doesn’t mince words. On her radio show at Winchester University, she gives stern advice to white students: Stop touching your black classmates’ hair. And don't date them just to irritate your parents.

(snip)

"My first reaction to it was: Finally," said Collin D. Williams Jr., a 26-year-old doctoral student in higher education at the University of Pennsylvania. "Finally somebody engaged this critically important topic that goes undiscussed but is incredibly relevant to any experience you have as a minority student."
Billed as "a satire about being a black face in a white place," Dear White People is set at a private, predominantly white institution where racial tensions are about to boil over. The flashpoints in the movie sound like events on real-world campuses—a plan to diversify a traditionally black residence hall and a Halloween party, thrown by a campus humor magazine, that invites students to "unleash your inner Negro."



'Dear White People': A New Movie About Race on Campus Is, Sadly, Spot-On - Students - The Chronicle of Higher Education

I think the trailer and clips are worth the view as well.

I find the title offensive... even though in the end I don't care all that much...
saying Dear white people..... how can you address a letter to a racial stereotype. Grouping everyone person they consider "white"

Why do people have to consider themselves anything? Why-not just nationality... like American?
I don't care whatsoever about the identity "white".... I have never really thought of myself as such... (even though I'm the "whitest" person you can think of, blonde hair blue eyed) And it's a little offending people grouping me as such based on the color of my skin.
This is why I think the left are the true racist... they encourage racial boundaries... they even have a "Black" caucus, wtf?

I have a Filipino girl friend and a black best friend.... and hang out with Indian people all the time(they are the friends I hang out with most).

I often go to parties where I'm the only "white" guy there. Being "white" has never mattered to me, I just don't get it. I never woke up one day, HEY, I love being white, why white brothas are my bros.

It's obviously a lot more complicated than that..... but this is the RIGHT way to view people... it's not right to combat racism with racial pride.... the right thing to do is just be a human being or American or whatever.

 

[Paschendale]

Or we could just stop making race the main focus...either or.

Ignoring a problem doesn't make it go away.

 

[Ikari]

Ignoring a problem doesn't make it go away.

The problem is that we've made it a problem. It doesn't need to be a problem in our modern era if we just stopped making it the problem. Race doesn't need to be the main focus.

 

[Paschendale]

The problem is that we've made it a problem. It doesn't need to be a problem in our modern era if we just stopped making it the problem. Race doesn't need to be the main focus.

Then why are our prisons filled with black drug offenders despite whites being such a bigger part of the population and committing more drug crimes? Why are those stand your ground defenses far more likely to be successful when the person you shot was black than any other race, regardless of the economic classes of anyone involved? Why are black children five times more likely to be born into poverty? Those problems won't go away just by ignoring them.

I think a big problem is this inane idea of "white guilt". Guilt is not nor ever was the issue. Fixing these problems is. Nobody needs to get defensive because they personally don't think of themselves as racist. Our society reinforces racial inequality. That's not ever something that will solve itself by us not talking about it.

 

[Ikari]

Then why are our prisons filled with black drug offenders despite whites being such a bigger part of the population and committing more drug crimes? Why are those stand your ground defenses far more likely to be successful when the person you shot was black than any other race, regardless of the economic classes of anyone involved? Why are black children five times more likely to be born into poverty? Those problems won't go away just by ignoring them.

I think a big problem is this inane idea of "white guilt". Guilt is not nor ever was the issue. Fixing these problems is. Nobody needs to get defensive because they personally don't think of themselves as racist. Our society reinforces racial inequality. That's not ever something that will solve itself by us not talking about it.

Blacks make up a higher percentage of the poor, and our police and judicial system is corrupt as all hell. Return to free market capitalism, reduce the number of laws, and fix the judicial system so that money doesn't buy "justice"; that will go much further towards fixing those statistics than anything else could.

 

[Boo Radley]

We still harp on the issue, so people will still see the issue. So long as we continue making it an issue, it will be an issue.

I don't think that's true. I think one segment wants it to go away and the other feels like it either has to yell or ignore.

 

[Ikari]

I don't think that's true. I think one segment wants it to go away and the other feels like it either has to yell or ignore.

I think there are many on both sides that just want to let it go, grow up, and move on; and a few on both sides running their mouths hard to keep it an issue because they make money off of it.

 

[Boo Radley]

I think there are many on both sides that just want to let it go, grow up, and move on; and a few on both sides running their mouths hard to keep it an issue because they make money off of it.

I think "grow up" is a little condescending. The only way that would be appropriate is if there were actually no longer any issues. Can you truthfully say they have all been settled?

 

[Ikari]

I think "grow up" is a little condescending. The only way that would be appropriate is if there were actually no longer any issues. Can you truthfully say they have all been settled?

I'm a fairly condescending individual. But no, they have not all been settled, however they shall not be settled while we continue making race a divisive topic.

 

[Paschendale]

Blacks make up a higher percentage of the poor, and our police and judicial system is corrupt as all hell.

And you think that not talking about race will make these issues go away?

Return to free market capitalism,

Yeah, right. That totally helps anyone but the people at the top.

reduce the number of laws,

Useless talking point. If you have specifics, fine. But more or fewer statutes doesn't make a lick of difference.

and fix the judicial system so that money doesn't buy "justice"; that will go much further towards fixing those statistics than anything else could.

Oh, you mean by providing legal representation, preferably not incredibly overworked and understaffed, even for those who can't afford it? That's a pretty big social safety net that won't be covered by laws and will get paid for with free market capitalism.

 

[SmokeAndMirrors]

who goes around touching other people's hair?

eh, i went ahead and watched part of the trailer. seems like another cheesy scheme to make us pissed off at each other as they take our money. sadly, promoting division for money has become endemic in America, and it's a significant part of why the country is moving in the wrong direction.

the other reasons are endless war, a shortsighted energy policy, and a national belief that if something doesn't generate a profit, it isn't worth doing.

wanna be pissed off about something? i can think of a ton of things to be more pissed off about than skin pigmentation or partisan identity. maybe someone should make a movie about that.

I saw this just the other day. Some drunk white people were wandering up the street and there was a black guy with dreads hanging out at a bus stop. They reached out for his hair without asking. Well, they asked after their hands were already in it. Amazingly, he just sort of stood there and let them do it. I wouldda broken someone's wrist if a bunch of people had randomly started touching me.

Anyway, I think it looks like it should be interesting actually.

 

[Boo Radley]

I'm a fairly condescending individual. But no, they have not all been settled, however they shall not be settled while we continue making race a divisive topic.

Divisive? Isn't it those who say don't talk about it? Don't identify the problems? Aren't they the divisive ones? I've never seen anyone fight over agreeing their is a problem and agreeing to tackle it.