A question for non-racist whites?

Question

How responsible do you feel when someone white does something criminal or hateful or racist? If some white guy robs a bank or kidnaps two kids, do you feel at all culpable because you're white too? What about when someone white does something specifically racist?

I ask because black people are constantly hearing (especially from whites) that "the blacks" do this and "the blacks" do that, as if we all get together and vote on anything negative any individual black person does. As if we should each feel some responsibility for the bad things. (Oddly, the positive things are invarably attributed to individuals). Yet I have yet to meet a single white person who felt personally responsible for segregation, even though majorities of whites actually did vote for the laws that sustained it, let alone for the bad acts that whites commit. Is there a double standard going on here?

Answer 1

Personally, I don't feel any responsibility at all when another Caucasian person does something criminal, but because of some African Americans I know, if I hear of a black person doing something wrong, I always hear them in my head saying "Why is it always a black person?" Statistically, the most average criminal is a middle aged white male, so I don't know why they say that. But you are right, when it's negative, everyone of that race, gender, ethnicity, whatever is blamed, but when it's positive, the person alone gets the credit. It's sad really. Great question! Very thought provoking!

Answer 2

That is an interesting conundrum. No I do not feel personally responsible for the acts of others. From your question it seems to me like you feel at fault for the shortcomings of people in your ethnicity that make poor judgment calls. As you stated "Yet I have yet to meet a single white person who felt personally responsible for segregation, even though majorities of whites actually did vote for the laws that sustained it, let alone for the bad acts that whites commit." I had no personal involvement in that. As for bad acts that whites commit. Why is it that If a white does a bad act toward an individual of another ethnicity it is called a hate crime, but if you flip the coin, it is just crime. Don't get me wrong I cannot recall any black mass murderers in recent history . So I could pose to you the same question. Do you feel responsible for gang related atrocities that had a end state of innocent bystanders being killed or injured, or for the influx of drug sales in inner city neighborhoods? It is a double edged sword no matter how you look at it, affecting all parties involved. As for hearing the blacks do this or the blacks do that i can turn on any channel on the television and hear that the whites do this and that or its the Latinos or the Blacks, or the Asians. All any of that is is just racism anyway. Joking or not. People always need someone to blame for something, despite how good or bad their lives are.

Answer 3

I feel no responsibility what so ever when a crime is committed by a white person. The same should hold true for all racial groups. I don't have any close contacts that lump a group together based on what one person does. Perhaps I'm fortunate.

I'm not sure where you are going with the segregation part of your question. I know I have never voted for any type of segregation nor did my parents/grand parents.

The bottom line is, that there is no double standard, the ignorant folks (regardless of race) will attempt to link all of the fine folks of a particular race with a bad act committed by one of their own. The majority of Americans can see that each individual is responsible for their own action.

Answer 4

Whilst I don't doubt what you're saying, I don't hear this kind of thing where I come from. Don't get me wrong, every country suffers from racism, but I personally don't know anyone who has ever blamed "the blacks" for anything. Although I did hear one stupid woman where I used to work blame "Asians" (probably because she was stupid to realise that Asia consists of many many countries) for just about anything that went wrong. But the backlash against her was strong and she was called a hick, a bogan, a racist, a redneck etc etc... a bunch of different unflattering names.
No I don't feel responsible for 'white' crimes and nor would I ever imagine any other individual should feel shame for an act committed by someone who shares the same skin colour as them.
The point you (and everyone else) needs to remember is that we are individuals, and all part of the same group. That skin colour comes down to pigmentation in the skin and little more. We all have red blood.

Answer 5

I'm white. No, I don't feel personally responsible for other white people's behavior. Yes, there is a double-standard going on. As a minority, anything that any black person or a group of black people do is more a reflection on what black people are like because the majority, whites, are not black and have less contact with black people in general. There are lots of stereotypes, too, so seeing an individual do something stereotypical will become a group behavior, instead of what it is, individual behavior.

Double-standards exist for all types of minorities and is a problem.

Answer 6

Oh hell, I feel ashamed of racist crap white people do all the time. Same with anti-Semitic nonsense.
The other, non race related crimes don't strike me the same way unless it has shown humanity in general has hit a new low, or has gotten as low as say, Jeffrey Dahlmer.
I was too young to have voted on segregation, but chose to buy a house and raise my kids in a mixed neighborhood, so I suppose maybe in a sense I did vote. I know what you mean though; I have observed this.
My husband said he's heard his black co workers speak in the same generalities about whites, not making distinctions from the white herd mentality.

Answer 7

I absolutely do not feel responsible for some other white persons actions! Just as I absolutely do not generalize other races. And I have to say the part about getting together and voting - that made me laugh so hard, so i thank you for the laughter tonight. I know every black person is not the same, there are good and bad parts of both blacks and whites. I sure as heck hope when you see some toothless, shoeless, methhead you dont think about all whites like that. One day i honestly hope that all of us can just embrace our cultural heritages and no longer refer to each other as black or white - because the last time I checked I am so not white, im kind of this creamy light brown olive complected woman and i have never seen a black person, ive seen some super dark dark brown skinned persons but never actually black.

Answer 8

While I wholeheartedly agree with your statement, yet oddly enough I have been accused of being racist by my friends. They seem to feel that when I sometimes make negative remarks about white trash blankity-blanks or stupid blankin' rednecks, that I am making negative assumptions about people who share my own heritage as I am a lower working class southern Caucasian male! But I feel that I do KNOW what I'm talking about firsthand and that it is OK to call it as I see when it comes to what others see as my own ethnic group ~ even though I do NOT consider myself ANYTHING like them!

Growing up in a household that used the N-word way too much, as a small child I asked my step-daddy what made a person a N-word. Then he laid out his hare-brained racist philosophy for me and after giving it some thought I asked him then did that makes you a white N-word? Let me tell you, after that beating I began to think of racist white people as the enemy!

I moved to San Francisco in order to feel more comfortable within a diverse ethnically and culturally mixed population as I get more than kinda freaked out whenever I look up and realize I've inadvertently wandered into an all Caucasian environment. Gives me the serious CREEPS!

Answer 9

you're an fool, you do not ought to back and back ask for forgiveness for what your ancestors did to community human beings and african human beings. save in ideas, it became the africans that offered their own human beings to the white human beings, understanding they were gonna be slaves, and arabs interior the middle east have terrorized and murdered most of christians over the approach centuries. And Glen Beck and George Bush are not any further something like the KKK. The KKK is about having hate, glen beck is only a political analyst that has somewhat conservative perspectives (which makes him some distance from being racist. lots of the founding KKK all and diverse is democrats) and george bush is in basic terms an fool, yet no longer a racist. you've somewhat no idea what you're speaking about even as it contains political technology or social analyze. sensible up pal. And to respond to your question, no you're not any further a nasty individual, you're in basic terms an uneducated white boy that sucks up each thing the liberal media tells you.

Answer 10

Bigotry usualy starts with generalisation. It does sometimes cut both ways. As a white Australian we (as a group) often get the collective blame for the mistreatment of Aboriginal people. In the same way I feel no personal guilt for this - you should not feel personl guilt for someone of the same race commiting a crime... HOWEVER, we all have a responsibility to work within our respective communities to make them better....... So ask youself - should a Muslim denounce terrorism, should a white Australian denounce the treatment of Aboriginals, should someone from a community high in crime try to do their best to stop the causes of that crime??? Saying "it wasn't me - so it's not my fault" is not always enough... Ask what you are doing to help.
BTW. If guilt is collective and passed on through generations then the German people are never going to be forgiven!!!