Inside the Madness at Evergreen State • Hacker News Board

Re: Inside the Madness at Evergreen State

#51

Post by dang » Mon, Sep 25, 2017, 1:18 AM UTC

quuquuquu wrote: post #16

meri_dian wrote: post #2

Wow, this is really reminiscent of the Cultural Revolution. These retaliatory attitudes towards 'white' people are hostile and racist and do not work towards building an inclusive society. Edit: Why was this flagged?

It was flagged because x% of users on this site refuse to have difficult and nuanced conversations about racism and censorship. They ruin it for the rest of us.

HN has many major conversations about these issues. It's just never enough for those who want them, and always too much for those who don't.

Re: Inside the Madness at Evergreen State

#52

Post by dmix » Mon, Sep 25, 2017, 1:28 AM UTC

Blackthorn wrote: post #48

dmix wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Where does culture enter into this? For one you cite a phenomenon that was unique to a certain time/place (the irish). > The point is that whiteness in America isn't a race at all; it's a social construction My objection is how this misses the forest for the trees. There's a weak correlation between some rednecks in appalachia who hate blacks and, say, the hiring behaviour of wealthy whites in business, or the poli…

So, this whole thread started because people were freaking out over a college professor calling whiteness a racist concept, yes? I think we've been over how it has been exactly that historically. So what's the issue? Are we just in violent agreement here?

Not if you think this issue is a product of 'whiteness' as a product of a social construct. If so you have very much misunderstood what I'm saying.

Re: Inside the Madness at Evergreen State

#53

Post by DanBC » Mon, Sep 25, 2017, 8:31 AM UTC

zenkat wrote: post #18

meri_dian wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>"Day of Absence is a day for community building around identity groups." It sounds more like an event encouraging and celebrating tribalism.

That's a valid critique of identity politics. The original article is not. And again, I didn't think HN was a forum for debating these sorts of political / cultural issues in the first place. What does this have to do with science, technology, or startups?

I agree this article isn't a good fit for HN but...

> What does this have to do with science, technology, or startups?

...this has never been the criteria for a good HN submission. It has always been "something a good hacker would find interesting" -- this includes history, philosophy, good psychology, etc.

Re: Inside the Madness at Evergreen State

#54

Post by Spooky23 » Mon, Sep 25, 2017, 10:33 PM UTC

wallace_f wrote: post #27

Blackthorn wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Any professor teaching anti-(any other race'ness') would be instantly a pariah and unable to keep a job. Whiteness isn't really a race, so that's not the same thing. In America, it's been a social construct whose members have shifted over the years. > I have a question. When I grew up I heard 'colorblindness' was a good thing. What happened to that? It appears we are going in the opposite direction. People started…

I feel like I don't understand this. Consider the hypothetical courses: "the problem with Jewishness," or "the problem with Blackness." Are those at all acceptable? I am certain they are not! So what is acceptable about "the problem with Whiteness?" I think you are saying that Whites do not constitute a race in the same way that Blacks do?? Does that make sense?

White people don’t identify as white people. They associate as Italians or Irish or redneck.

Black people often don’t either, but are forced to based on skin color.