Current Events > Does learning about black history and slavery make you feel bad for being white?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Choco posted...

but it's literally not your fault so this is an unhealthy mindset

This. Ditch the self-loathing, man. It's not a good look.

No, i don't give a damn.
Slavery has been practiced everywhere and in every culture.
I'm italian and in ancient Rome if you couldn't pay a debt you'd become a normal slave or a gladiator. Nothing special.
Additionally black slaves where sold by their black slavers.

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Choco posted...

but it's literally not your fault so this is an unhealthy mindset

PokemonYoutube posted...

This. Ditch the self-loathing, man. It's not a good look.

Why are y'all acting like me feeling a little guilty about something is ruining my life lol.

It's literally just me going, "Yeah...that is pretty fucked up. I should work on being better."

ghigost posted...

No, i don't give a damn.
Slavery has been practiced everywhere and in every culture.
I'm italian and in ancient Rome if you couldn't pay a debt you'd become a normal slave or a gladiator. Nothing special.
Additionally black slaves where sold by their black slavers.

Yikes

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Some people in this topic misunderstand me.

I'm not saying whites should feel guilty.

I'm asking if them feeling guilt deep down inside might be a reason they react so hostile to learning black history. Like that recent story of a Utah school saying parents can opt out of black history month. What motivation could there be for that other than feeling bad about it and not wanting the kids to feel bad?

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AmericaTheBrave posted...

Like that recent story of a Utah school saying parents can opt out of black history month. What motivation could there be for that other than feeling bad about it and not wanting the kids to feel bad?

Being a racist that thinks black people are trying to make them feel bad.

Being a racist that doesn't think slavery is a big deal, but everyone did it, but they were asking for it

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AmericaTheBrave posted...

Some people in this topic misunderstand me.

I'm not saying whites should feel guilty.

I'm asking if them feeling guilt deep down inside might be a reason they react so hostile to learning black history. Like that recent story of a Utah school saying parents can opt out of black history month. What motivation could there be for that other than feeling bad about it and not wanting the kids to feel bad?

It's probably not so much feeling guilty as them just not wanting their kids to be told that they're evil because some people that share their skin color did something bad hundreds of years ago. They probably don't want to deal with their kids coming home and asking if they're bad people because they're white.

PokemonYoutube posted...

It's probably not so much feeling guilty as them just not wanting their kids to be told that they're evil because some people that share their skin color did something bad hundreds of years ago. They probably don't want to deal with their kids coming home and asking if they're bad people because they're white.

That still seems like a type of guilt tho. "We can't handle our kids learning that people who looked like them did bad things." I hope they realize they are effectively saying "don't teach history" since most of history is bad people doing bad things.

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PokemonYoutube posted...

It's probably not so much feeling guilty as them just not wanting their kids to be told that they're evil because some people that share their skin color did something bad hundreds of years ago. They probably don't want to deal with their kids coming home and asking if they're bad people because they're white.

So should German, Japanese, Italian, and Russians descents opt out of 30s, 40s, 50s history? They might run home crying to their parents.

Maybe history shouldn't be taught in America. Our war crimes or human rights violations might get brought up and then every child will think they are evil for being born in this country.

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I wouldn't call it "guilt" because I didn't have shit to do with it but I do have an acute awareness of the fact that being white passing biracial has afforded me a lot of privileges specifically because of how white supremacy and slavery is woven into the fabric of this country. I get special treatment because everyone from the colonial settlers to the Founding Fathers to multiple presidents and several other prominent figures in this country's short, brutal history pursued, upheld, enabled, and/or ignored systemic discrimination that has committed countless atrocities against everyone else so a group of people I am part of could have the status we enjoy today. I don't feel guilty for things I'm not responsible for but I do feel responsible to work toward righting their wrongs moving forward, and I'd feel like a real piece of shit if I didn't.

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thats not the purpose of black history month,theres nothing you people don't try to spin smh.and how dense do you have to be to think its supposed to make you feel bad for being white?theres to much ignorance on this site,way to much.

Slavery has happened to every race. Why shouldnt all of humanity feel guilty about it?

fuck no

coh posted...

Slavery has happened to every race. Why shouldnt all of humanity feel guilty about it?

Notice how the conservative would rather everyone feel guilty about slavery, rather than actively fight against it.

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IShall_Run_Amok posted...

Notice how the conservative would rather everyone feel guilty about slavery, rather than actively fight against it.

Slavery is literally still happening in Africa and the Middle East. Is anyone fighting against that or focusing on slavery that ended centuries ago?

coh posted...

Slavery has happened to every race. Why shouldnt all of humanity feel guilty about it?

Why shouldnt all of humanity feel guilty about it?

coh posted...

Slavery is literally still happening in Africa and the Middle East. Is anyone fighting against that or focusing on slavery that ended centuries ago?

Slavery never ended in the US.

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IShall_Run_Amok posted...

Notice how the conservative would rather everyone feel guilty about slavery, rather than actively fight against it.

Can't fight against something that has been dead for over 150 years.

CommonJoe posted...

Slavery never ended in the US.

Oh please.

There's a difference between guilt and shame. Guilt rests upon the knowledge that you were personally culpable for something. Shame rests upon the knowledge that other people did terrible things in your name and let the team down.

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PokemonYoutube posted...

Can't fight against something that has been dead for over 150 years.

Hopefully, in 150 years, this will be an issue. But that requires we eliminate slavery and all of its residues now.

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PokemonYoutube posted...

Can't fight against something that has been dead for over 150 years.

Doesn't stop Republicans from trying to defeat all that "socialism" and "communism" in America.

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Not white, but I wish that history classes actually taught black history when I was in school. They never really went into much at all, making me feel like I received a distorted view of the past.

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IShall_Run_Amok posted...

Hopefully, in 150 years, this will be an issue. But that requires we eliminate slavery and all of its residues now.

If you're so hell-bent on fighting slavery, then go buy a plane ticket to the Middle-East, where there's actual slavery going on to this day, as opposed to whatever perceived slavery you think still exists in America.

crazy that even in a thread like this we get the whatabouters

No one is asking white people to feel guilty. We're asking you to recognize the full scale and implications of what happened and is happening and then act accordingly. That doesn't involve you feeling bad, you don't need to be like those protestors from the summer making a ritual of renouncing your white privilege.

But for example, when you see people protesting to not be killed by the police or advocating housing that might change the dynamics of your neighborhood, recognizing the past and present and acting accordingly should shift you away from a "Blue Lives Matter" or "NIMBY" response. Otherwise, you'll be the white person in the history book being judged harshly.

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In my Elementary and Middle School I learned a lot about Black History. Garret Morgan, Elijah McCoy, Booker T Washington etc.

Im Canadian so we didnt learn black history really. We learned about First Nations and the Residential school system instead.

Unfortunately most white Canadians have an incredibly low opinion of Native people due to all the special privileges they get so those discussions turned ugly real quick.

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PokemonYoutube posted...

If you're so hell-bent on fighting slavery, then go buy a plane ticket to the Middle-East, where there's actual slavery going on to this day, as opposed to whatever perceived slavery you think still exists in America.

Yeah and why do people think poverty is so bad in America when there are starving children in Africa living in straw huts?

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No, I have no reason to feel guilty for what other people have done. I did not do those, things, therefore the blame does not lie with me. It is important to know about such things though to be able to do better than those who came before us.

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No? Why should I feel bad for aspects about myself + shit in the past I have zero control over?

hockeybub89 posted...

Yeah and why do people think poverty is so bad in America when there are starving children in Africa living in straw huts?

Difference being that there is no actual slavery to fight in America.

Nope, had nothing to do with me.

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I'm not white

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To all the people who say they see no reason why they should feel guilt over a past during which they weren't even alive, over things that other, long-dead people once did... Can I just ask: Do you ever feel pride in a history that you took no part in, or for achievements that weren't your own? If so, why the difference?

What I'm trying to get at here is that when it comes to your country's past, you've gotta take the rough with the smooth. You can't cherry-pick your country's positive achievements and say, "Yeah, we did that! That was us, the USA!", but skip the bloodstained pages of its history and say, "Nothing to do with me, that was other people long before I was born."

I'm not insisting you should feel guilt; but just let's have a bit of consistency, people.

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Firewerx posted...

To all the people who say they see no reason why they should feel guilt over a past during which they weren't even alive, over things that other, long-dead people once did... Can I just ask: Do you ever feel pride in a history that you took no part in, or for achievements that weren't your own? If so, why the difference?

This. It shouldn't be either or. No reason to feel guilt or pride

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No, but it makes me feel bad that that stuff happened. Most black people dont want white Americans to hate themselves, but its a chapter of American history that we cannot forget.

I feel no guilt.

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nope Im not american

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I dont feel guilty for many of my ancestors scalping the shit out of white people.

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PokemonYoutube posted...

Difference being that there is no actual slavery to fight in America.

There is still human trafficking.

Flauros posted...

I feel no guilt.

Did you used to feel guilt? Do you feel teachers tried to make you feel guilty so you resent black history now?

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AmericaTheBrave posted...

There is still human trafficking.

And is that not being fought?

PokemonYoutube posted...

And is that not being fought?

It is.

But it's wrong to say no slavery going on in America. Human tracfficking = modern slavery.

There is no legal slavery in Africa or the Middle East btw. It's human trafficking there too.

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There's tons of slavery in America. It's just of prisoners. When I worked for the state of Texas, I discovered in horror that all of my office equipment was made by prisoners.

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legendary_zell posted...

There's tons of slavery in America. It's just of prisoners. When I worked for the state of Texas, I discovered in horror that all of my office equipment was made by prisoners.

I mean, if they're going to be locked up on the taxpayers' dollar anyway, I'd rather they make themselves useful to society somehow.

Firewerx posted...

To all the people who say they see no reason why they should feel guilt over a past during which they weren't even alive, over things that other, long-dead people once did... Can I just ask: Do you ever feel pride in a history that you took no part in, or for achievements that weren't your own? If so, why the difference?

I do not. I feel neither pride nor guilt for the actions of people of the past.

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PokemonYoutube posted...

I mean, if they're going to be locked up on the taxpayers' dollar anyway, I'd rather they make themselves useful to society somehow.

Did you just defend slavery?

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No, but it does affect my view of America, especially how much the white supremacy aspect of it can still affect minorities to this day.

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There's plenty of reasons people should feel bad for the things they do in their daily lives today, no need for retroactive guilt.

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AmericaTheBrave posted...

Did you just defend slavery?

Prisoners aren't slaves. They're in there for a reason.