Re:Roma Gypsies flee to California after Europe turns more h...
by klodolph on Tuesday September 20, 2016 @12:34PM
(#12540822)
It was really not my intent to put myself in that position. It was my hope that I would encourage people to think for a moment before commenting and swapping stories about how awful Roma people are.
I think I was just seeing a flood of unconstructive racist comments before they got flagged.
Also, you know how they say that one should listen to people's experiences, and that tone policing it a way to shut down inconvenient discourse and secure one's stereotypes? That's very much true, but it cuts both ways. If a black guy told you that he's seeing a pattern of dismissive and hostile behavior towards himself from white people, would you consider that a racist observation? I wouldn't, and I'd believe him, too. And that doesn't translate to "white people are bad", either, but there is clearly a cultural aspect in there that cannot be ignored. Such aspects exist in other interactions, though, and the oft-repeated assertion that they are only relevant when the victim belongs to a disadvantaged social group doesn't have any rational basis.