The Dehumanizing Condescension of White Fragility

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From my own observations only, I’ve found that the level of comfort with a person of color…I’m white…depends a great deal on the amount of contact/interaction people have had with each other. The more we have exposure to colors, the more comfortable we become with each other.

I grew up in the late 50’s early 60’s in the still segregated south but I also had a best friend that was black. Actually, she was of Italian/Jamaican mix but appeared more black than white. Later, I lived in a city with an almost 50/50 mix of black and white. So, I’ve always been around and interacting with race.

Later again, moved to a state almost entirely white with some Hispanics…who I had never been exposed to before. Of course I noticed the differences but probably because of my previous exposure, quickly became comfortable amongst them as well. But, I noticed my neighbors had a higher discomfort level than I did. They didn’t want to or mean to…it was just a lack of familiarity.

More and more minorities are entering middle class and above which will expose more people and increase comfort levels even more. While I do think we have to be aware of situations where “white privileged” may occur, I think the natural progression will happen without anyone having to always point it out and always bring it to the forefront. That attitude can be self defeating…keeping an us vs them attitude alive longer than needed. Just my thoughts…
 
Trader said:
Wrong. We are inherently good, made in God’s image, but wounded by sin and in need of a Savior. The doctrine of total depravity preached my Martin Luther and John Calvin was condemned by the Council of Trent.
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Yes, true.
 
josie_L said:
Question, if the author believes we are inherently racist, how do you change what is inherent to your nature?
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For whatever it’s worth, it has long seemed to me that everyone has some tendency toward racism. But it’s true of ethnicism, religionism, sexism, ageism. Our life experiences (and those told to us by others) cause us to have certain visceral expectations of various sorts of people, mostly unconscious. And some of them are negative. Some are positive but are just as biased as the negative ones. Do I expect all black people to have good singing voices, for example? But none of that is sinful in itself. What’s sinful is when we act in ways that are intentional and contrary to the welfare of another. That can include detraction.

I also think it’s evil to claim that racism is inherent to a particular race, when it’s actually shared by all. That, in itself, is racist. And it’s detraction.
 
Trader said:
Wrong. We are inherently good, made in God’s image, but wounded by sin and in need of a Savior. The doctrine of total depravity preached my Martin Luther and John Calvin was condemned by the Council of Trent.
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Even a Lutheran can recognize that God created humankind in His image, without sin.
 
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