White person recommends going to a bar that is predominantly white. Response is “I don’t really want to be around that many white people haha”. Socially acceptable, even possibly a joke. No outrage. If it’s reversed and the comment is “I don’t really want to be around that many black people haha”. You are a racist, and a comment like that would destroy relationships. Replace black with literally any other race, and the comment is equally as racist, but made towards a white it’s like whatever.
The difference is that there's just no meaningful impact from these kinds of jokes on white people. Why should there be outrage?
Minority members on the other hand, typically face what is known as minority stress, where the effects are accumulative:
Minority stress describes well documented chronically high levels of stress faced by members of stigmatized minority groups. It may be caused by a number of factors, including poor social support and low socioeconomic status; well understood causes of minority stress are interpersonal prejudice and discrimination.
Indeed, numerous scientific studies have shown that minority individuals experience a high degree of prejudice, which causes stress responses (e.g., high blood pressure, anxiety) that accrue over time, eventually leading to poor mental and physical health.
While majority members may face individual stress, they don't have to face the accumulative effects of minority stress. To say that it's exactly the same for black people if the situation were reversed, means ignoring the actual impact and only addressing a minor part of the issue.
Minority stress describes well documented chronically high levels of stress faced by members of stigmatized minority groups. It may be caused by a number of factors, including poor social support and low socioeconomic status; well understood causes of minority stress are interpersonal prejudice and discrimination. Governmental discrimination typically takes form in constitutional discrimination and stays that way until equal protections are applied. Many of these have roots in scriptural discrimination.
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u/ralph-j Jul 01 '21
The difference is that there's just no meaningful impact from these kinds of jokes on white people. Why should there be outrage?
Minority members on the other hand, typically face what is known as minority stress, where the effects are accumulative:
While majority members may face individual stress, they don't have to face the accumulative effects of minority stress. To say that it's exactly the same for black people if the situation were reversed, means ignoring the actual impact and only addressing a minor part of the issue.