ckaihatsu wrote:Again, that's *myopic* -- here's the 'big picture':
A big picture that is not applicable to the person at hand, i.e. Oprah.
That is, there is quite evidently heterogeneity in the situation of African Americans and quite frankly one shouldn't just adopt a one size fits all. It may sound obvious but it seemingly is not, and it's most certainly relevant when discussing racism.
ckaihatsu wrote:Also, please recall *your own* particular treatment of *government*, historically:
Would you please elaborate your point more clearly? Just because a government bureaucracy can't adapt, it does not really make it racist. It could be incompetent, or just unable to adapt to changes in its context quickly enough.
ckaihatsu wrote:'Kids' equals *one* particular social-minority status, and 'poor' equals *another* particular social-minority status, so 'poor working class white kids in 2023' does *not* equate to 'privileged whites using cultural imperialism', as you seem to be insinuating.
That's vague and does not get to the point.
Should these poor whites get as much assistance or priority as others living in poverty who are not white or they should not and should instead be held, at least partially, responsible for their situation since their ancestors were neither enslaved nor segregated? Please provide a straight answer.
I think the very term "white trash" exists to draw a clear line between those poor whites and poor African Americans who can indeed be reasonably said to still be victims of the long term consequences of institutionalized discrimination which made them fall into the poverty trap to begin with. I do find it odd is that it's not seen as tasteless to label them as such, even when many may as well be the sons or grandsons of poor people and thereby have also lacked access to opportunities even if they or their ancestors were never racially discriminated against - all in a moment in history in which there is (allegedly) a concern among the educated
bien pensants about all the dimensions under which one could be privileged.
@Godstud fair, I agree people tend to go to the extremes when it comes to debates about race and racism. We don't see that anymore but I don't forget certain racist right wing types were claiming genetics as the primary reason for the issues presently faced by African Americans circa 2013-2014 here in PoFo, despite the lack of credible scientific evidence to that effect, as a way to just brush aside all sorts of alternative environmental explanations (of which systemic racism is just one of many possible causes, all of which can and should be analyzed on their merits).