blorbschploble t1_ixxtzk1 wrote on November 27, 2022 at 5:31 AM

Reply to comment by [deleted] in Political vibes in Columbia? by BalancingAct247

Systemic doesn’t mean widespread or pervasive in this context, but rather built into the systems.

The place is an hoa, large focus on keeping housing prices up, a lot of the redistricting conversation is based on maintaining or at least not losing some of the advantage for our kids, missing out on how the eastern edge is underserved and less economically well off. Dues are based on property, not income and we inherit some regressive tax policy from the state.

Perhaps I should have used structural racism instead. I am not talking about the content of people’s hearts or their final destination in the afterlife. Just the (hopefully) unintended side effects of how things have worked. Behaviors, incentives, rules that are enforced or not, decisions we made vs how they could have been made differently.

For example, “I moved here so my kid could go to this exact highschool, why does he have to bus to another?” That’s a valid question. Makes some assumptions about how easy it is or not to pick where you buy a house, glosses over the experience of the kids who are bussing already, and doesn’t examine why we have to have fewer high schools than middle schools. How are we weighing needs? Am I personally ignoring someone else’s valid concern? Do neighboring non Columbia areas have a disadvantage in advocating for themselves due to fewer or less powerful local organizations? In this case the systemic racism would arise from people over simplifying the question through the lens of the collective experience of the majority. We potentially reinforce problems by seeking easiest path for us.

[deleted] t1_ixxviqt wrote on November 27, 2022 at 5:48 AM

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blorbschploble t1_ixxwdcq wrote on November 27, 2022 at 5:58 AM

I think you are getting a little too “someone is wrong on the internet” about this - the emphasis was on pointing out there is low rates of overt racism, using the fact we have issues places full of well meaning but not entirely fully self reflective white people do as contrast.

Over emphasis of the lack of overt individualized hate is usually a sign we are missing structural stuff or hand waving it away. I like it here. I moved here intentionally. I think Columbia can ride to the occasion and has a head start compared to most of the country. Idiot racists made a lot of laws in the 1950s and 60s and I dunno if we’ve examined them all.

I used to live in Manhattan which has got to be one of the least racist and most racist places in America, so I guess I am at peace with the ambiguity of having pride in our town but also knowing it’s probably fucked up too.

[deleted] t1_ixxxam7 wrote on November 27, 2022 at 6:08 AM

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blorbschploble t1_ixy2ds4 wrote on November 27, 2022 at 7:12 AM

So a little inside baseball about this. Everyone stereotypes, everyone has or will have racist thoughts at some point. What matters is what you do, and how you meaningfully atone (not perform atonement). Someone going around being like “I’m not racist” or “how dare you call me racist” what they are really doing is just identifying themselves as “not getting it”

What they are not getting is there is still work to do. That’s all. So I am unconcerned with people being hurt by the ugly word “racism” like I am unconcerned with when my kids say me telling them to cleaning their room (or whatever) isn’t fair. It’s not that I don’t know how to clean a room, or that I have a need to force them. It’s ultimately they’ll benefit from knowing how to do the work, and they are just saying “I don’t get that this is something I need to ultimately do to grow, for my benefit”

Lots of people who “get it” are called racist and their internal response is “well, ok. Probably not but hey, let’s listen and see why I make someone feel that way. Maybe I need to adjust how I am doing things here”

It’s a sort of “no one who is king has to announce they are king” kind of thing.

Even less so if we are saying maybe the way things are built benefits me more than my neighbor. It’s a weird hill to die on to be like “I am personally offended that you think this big collection of people I am not the boss of, maybe set things up unfairly before I was an adult.”

I’m a middle age white male btw. I’ll have to work a bit to give you more examples of systemic racism, but man could I give you examples of banks falling over to give me mortgages and instances of me getting way too much deference at work.