@DoubleDD
Look up the term "social minority".
Here, from Dictionary.com
noun, plural minorities.
1. the smaller part or number; a number, part, or amount forming less than half of the whole.
2. a smaller party or group opposed to a majority, as in voting or other action.
3. a group in society distinguished from, and less dominant than, the more numerous majority:
The ethnic minority was disproportionately affected by the reduction in preventative medical services.
4. a racial, ethnic, religious, or social subdivision of a society that is subordinate to the dominant group in political, financial, or social power without regard to the size of these groups: legislation aimed at providing equal rights for minorities.
5. a member of such a group.
6. the state or period of being under the legal age of full responsibility.
adjective
7. of or relating to a minority.
Look at definitions 4 and 5.
- a racial, ethnic, religious, or social subdivision of a society that is subordinate to the dominant group in political, financial, or social power without regard to the size of these groups: legislation aimed at providing equal rights for minorities.
- a member of such a group.
That's almost verbatim what I was talking about.
Second, I never said that being white equated to being rich, or being non-white equated to not being rich. Certainly, there are rich minorities. Certainly, there are whites that are not rich.
You pointed to welfare, and I am glad that you acknowledge the fact that there are more whites on welfare than any other race. Yet, when you hear people discuss cutting welfare politically, they always talk about "inner city welfare queens taking advantage of the system." The implication is clear - poor minorities abuse the social safety net system, while poor whites are just hard working people that need some help. Why is that? Why is there the connotation that poor minorities abuse the system while poor whites are just unlucky?
It seems like every time a minority athlete takes a social stand, there's an outcry that they need to just "shut up and play the game" because "nobody is interested in their opinions", hearkening back to the days of minstrel shows, where black people specifically were mocked for being lazy, stupid, and comic relief, existing only for the entertainment of whites.
Let me be clear when I say that I am absolutely NOT accusing you or anyone on this board of that type of attitude. I am simply pointing to the history and using it as both a guide and as a warning. Saying that an athlete should keep their opinions to themselves draws on that history - that the black performer is here only for entertainment, not to speak and have an opinion as a human being.
Again, I want to be clear. I do not want anyone here to think I am making an accusation about anyone's opinions or attitudes. I am just pointing out the historical parallels.
Again, we are talking about biases that are built into society. There are lots of studies that suggest that even a "black" or "hispanic" sounding name is more commonly associated with violence or anger than a "white" sounding name. These are societal biases.
I wrote about implicit bias a few weeks ago. Its the bias that all of us have. It's the thing that makes us believe that things that are "blue" are cooler, while things that are "red" are warmer. It's the thing that makes us associate a pink balloon with a girl and a blue balloon with a boy. We don't even think about these things because they are built into our societal understanding. We associate big with strong and small with weak. We associate physical height with leadership. We associate things higher up on a shelf or list with status, importance and value (that's why cheap cereal is on the bottom shelves, while the more expensive cereal is on the top).
It's how we sort through information - we categorize it with implicit bias without even really thinking. Most of the time, its harmless. Sometimes, it can lead to mistakes - you may overvalue something simply because it was placed higher on a shelf or list. Other times, it can lead to misjudging a person or group when the implicit bias leads to judgments based not on fact, but on biases we don't even realize are at work.
Racism, obviously is an overt expression of hatred related to bias. It's a decision. I'm more worried about the negative connotations associated with implicit bias that lead to inequality. But of course, the first step is to get everyone to understand that this even exists.
