When Whites Just Don’t Get It, Part 6
LET’S start with a quiz. When researchers sent young whites and blacks out to interview for low-wage jobs in New York City armed with equivalent résumés, the result was:
A) Whites and blacks were hired at similar rates.
B) Blacks had a modest edge because of affirmative action.
C) Whites were twice as likely to get callbacks.
The answer is C, and a black applicant with a clean criminal record did no better than a white applicant who was said to have just been released from 18 months in prison.
A majority of whites believe that job opportunities are equal for whites and blacks, according to a PBS poll, but rigorous studies show that just isn’t so.
Back in 2014, I did a series of columns called “When Whites Just Don’t Get It” to draw attention to inequities, and I’m revisiting it because public attention to racial disparities seems to be flagging even as the issues are as grave as ever.
But let me first address some reproaches I’ve received from indignant whites, including the very common: You would never write a column about blacks not getting it, and it’s racist to pick on whites. It’s true that I would be wary as a white person of lecturing to blacks about race, but plenty of black leaders (including President Obama) have bluntly spoken about shortcomings in the black community.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/03/opinion/sunday/when-whites-just-dont-get-it-part-6.html
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Response to MrScorpio (Original post)
Response to Iris (Reply #2)
Response to MrScorpio (Reply #4)
Response to Iris (Reply #6)
If anyone got that from this OP, they're a lot more clairvoyant than I am... 
But MIRT is always watching...
But this one raised red flags from the very beginning.
Response to MrScorpio (Original post)
Response to Bernardo de La Paz (Reply #27)
Last edited Wed Apr 13, 2016, 08:41 AM - Edit history (4)
Actually, I fear there has been a significant regression over the last 8 years. In my experience there has. And in researching many organizations and businesses that I'd like to work with -- those with missions of empathy and diversity, etc., I'm amazed when I click on the "team" page to see mostly white faces. I'm noticing a distinct lack of integration, because I fear that, in general, PoC trusting white people has eroded to a great degree. While that saddens me, I get it. I totally get it.
Edit to add: Sorry I didn't include this instead of assuming it was a given, but here is my humble opinion: There is often a blindness on the part of many white people. The word diversity has been around so long that it seems to be taken for granted; not enough white people who are founders of organizations and businesses think to include PoC at the very foundational level of the venture. I certainly see businesses and organizations which are primarily populated by PoC (AA ventures, Hispanic ventures, Native American ventures) but what I don't see are more efforts at integration at the outset. And while I believe in many cases it's due to obliviousness when it comes to white people starting ventures (not reaching out to more PoC) -- or obviously bias or outright racism -- I believe it's largely lack of trust and safety on various levels when it comes to many PoC not having more diversity ventures. As I said regarding the latter, I totally get that.
But, what to do about it?
I also researched programs regarding empathy and diversity for early childhood, and all were based on the assumption that there was a supportive home environment. I believe very strongly that 1/4 to 1/3 of the US citizenry harbors a good deal of racist, bigoted, supremacist beliefs. When the parents don't want their kids playing with kids of another color, I was trying to find programs that provide these young children with tools to deal with it; tools that may help them help their parents have more empathy.
Nothing. I even wrote Jane Elliott who was kind to reply but was a wee bit disheartened and had no suggestions.
These views are often solidified by age 3, and we can't wait for kids to go off to college (not all go and not all move away to do so) to expand their horizons and worldviews. People are dying and suffering now, as you know, of course.
I'm trying to find a diverse grassroots team to join this white woman to brainstorm above the above.
Sorry for the ramble. 
Clueless. 
I admit to being oblivious as to how bad it is. I assumed (yeah, my bad) that these organizations I held in such high esteem had diverse staff and membership.
I spent a solid weekend -- I mean like 25 hours -- a couple of months ago going through businesses, organizations and projects. When I saw their staff and boards were not remotely diverse (I mean, even organizations aimed at equality for women were run by white dudes!!!), I'd then check out their LinkedIn pages and groups, along with FB if they have them. I wanted to see if the membership was more diverse than leadership.
NOPE. I saw a sea of white faces. There may be other types of diversity but not racial diversity.
That explained why these same leadership people are so uncomfortable with me...feeling I'm too divisive by speaking of racism and bigotry -- systemically and in individual humans who perpetuate the friggin systems -- publicly.
It seriously stunned me when I learned I make so many people uncomfortable -- people who, to me, should be leading in these matters. It also proved to me that, without a doubt, if diversity isn't built into the core team and the foundation of any project or venture, it's not going to happen organically down the road as so many of them have assumed would happen.
If I were a PoC, I'd click away from anything that looked interesting or helpful if I didn't see people who likely reflect my experience more closely.
I click the "about" pages of every website and I, a white woman, click away when I don't see diversity now.
But that brings me back to the difficulty in creating truly diverse teams of people to lead a project before it ever gets off the ground.
And starve to death, naked, in the street ... as there is no institution or industry that reflects the numbers in the population!
That was a good dose of white privilege for me right there.
Seriously, thank you.
fairly self-aware, but I find I'm clueless on a regular basis too.
(I didn't want to edit my other short reply, so I'm creating this new one.)
But truly, you have no idea how much that bonk on the head helped me shift my perspective a bit and offer an "aha" moment.
Very grateful for you today, Kind Sir!!!
