post week 5

Besides being hilarious, the video “Shit white girls say to black girls” is a comedic take on unmasking colorblind racism.  In the video we see a black girl depicting a white girl using colorblind towards her imaginary black girlfriend.  I could compare this video to one of the scenarios we read out loud in class that said, “I can’t be a racist, I have a black boyfriend.”  This insinuates that just because a white person is in contact with a person of color regularly that the said white person is relieved of all things that can lead so someone believing they can be racists.  It’s a sort of outlet that some white people use in order to avoid being labeled as a racist.  When in reality those white people still use colorblind racism.  In the video we see the “white” girl talking to her black friend addressing a lot of underlying assumptions about black people.  For example she asks if black face is still a thing and uses words like ghetto and nappy in order to come off as relatable to a black person, when in reality it’s just stereotyping.  I believe that this video was made to exemplify how white people think their justification of having a black friend allows them to be colorblind racists with no official title of being racists, due to their one black friend. 

                To be a colorblind racist is to be an undercover racist.  These undercover racists are to gain from this outlet.  They are able to keep the power behind their racial hierarchy structure by using colorblind racism.  Like in the video mentioned above, white people are able to have an excuse to be racist by associating themselves with people of color in order to disguise and stray away their label of being racist.  The way we can rebuttal this is by becoming aware and educated on how often this occurs in our everyday lives.  I can say that just from this past week of learning about colorblind racism, I have noticed more than ever how it does exist everywhere.  Just last night I went out for a drink at Q Bar in the Castro and noticed an African-American man waiting by the bar for 5min to purchase a drink as he kept getting ignored by the white bartenders to attend to a group of three white guys.  Finally the only Latino bartender attended to the black man.  An example of what the white bartender could’ve said in order to avoid being labeled racist and use colorblind racism to his advantage could be “sorry I didn’t see you standing there, it’s just so dark in here.”  Unfortunately that wasn’t the case.  I believe that by having a black president, we are moving towards a more educated and accepting country where racism and discrimination is diminishing.  That makes me happy.   

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