Hellobee Boards

Who does this help? Does this help Eric Garner? Does it give his family peace?

All this is doing is stoking the fire. The entire situation is sad and I don't think we need to throw salt on the wounds.

I think these hashtags (especially #alivewhileblack) are enlightening. I couldn't stop reading last night. There won't be progress unless everyone is on the same page about double standards and racism that still exist today. Too many people think we live in a post-racial America and that clearly isn't the case.

@MrsTiz: it might not seem productive, it might seem like it's taking focus away from some serious tragedies, but it's getting people talking, thinking, reflecting on their own experiences and how different those could have been had they been of a different race. it's so easy not to think about race when it doesn't effect you (this is a generic 'you', i'm not talking about you specifically) all day, everyday, but that's not the experience many people have. it's so easy for me to get frustrated with mr. bird for driving like my grandma because i don't have the same anxieties he has about being harassed while driving, it's not because i'm racist or a thoughtless person, it's that i've never had to worry about it. the individuals sharing their stories are taking a moment consider how their race has allowed them certain privileges in situations. it would be great if everyone could see that race impacts everyday experience without needing such an exercise, but people are inherently selfish and without an experience to connect them to a situation, it's hard for them to empathize fully. it's like when you hear of the loss of a child, you consider what it would be like to lose your own, we personalize things for a moment to help ourselves process them, we put them into context for ourselves. i hope these stories being shared are helpful for some people to reflect on, but then i hope they quickly move on to once again focusing on others, rather than themselves.

I've been following this hashtag -- I do think it could be very eye opening for a lot of people, but as usual I worry that the people who need to read and understand these experiences the most won't. I've really been struggling with this one. I don't know where we go from here, when I see so many commenters on articles (I know I shouldn't read them!) still denying racism exists. I hope they can absorb some of these experiences-- from both hashtags-- even just subconsciously. And I do think the Garner family would appreciate the sentiment of people trying to educate/make a change regarding white privilege -- they asked people to "make a statement" peacefully, and I think this does, or has the intention to do that. But I hope this overall conversation doesn't die down after a few days -- it's important and I'm glad it's happening in our country.

I agree with @MrsTiz @LindsayInNY.

Because a non-white person has never gotten away with anything before?! Please. While I am not saying white privilege doesn't exist, certainly it doesn't mean that every scenario is because of white privilege. It is just a hashtag for white shaming. Along the lines of what @Lindsayinny said, that maybe kids get away with things because they are kids? Or how about females who use their looks, etc. to get away with things?

@lawbee11: what you said. Read the hashtag, it's white people posting times they have broken the law and got away with it...so they are shaming themselves?

I understand that people are trying to be allies but I'm not the biggest fan of the hashtag. I think there are other ways to be allies and that hashtag rubs me the wrong way for some reason.

@mrsjazz: Have you seen this?

http://jezebel.com/the-problem-with-crimingwhilewhite-1666785471

I read it yesterday and it got me thinking. I can see her point. The only thing I don't necessarily agree with is when she says, "Was anyone legitimately surprised to learn that white people are able to get away with damn near anything by the police?" I think a lot of people ARE surprised, or at least they pretend to be surprised or convince themselves they are surprised because they don't want to admit to their own privilege. But I get what she's saying and it's a fair point.

@Eko: I don't think anyone would say that no non-white person has ever gotten away with something before, or no white person has ever been harassed by the police before. Those things have certainly happened. It's about the rate and about the pattern. White people have been and will be harassed by cops or punished for petty crimes, sure, but it is much more likely to happen to a black person simply by virtue of the color of their skin.

I thought it was thought-provoking. I agree with @Mrs. Jacks: that white kids get to "be kids" who make mistakes but black kids don't. They are considered thugs.

I find it interesting and important to have these conversations. It doesn't seem like white-shaming to me at all. White people pointing out that they have been privileged in the eyes of the law doesn't shame them. It shames the system.

@MrsSCB: Thanks for sharing that, I hadn't seen it. I don't agree with everything she said either, but the paragraph about who is this helping resonated with me. She voiced a bit of what I was feeling but couldn't put my finger on.

@MrsSCB: I certainly don't disagree with you, but in these particular cases I see this more as cops abusing power over it being a racial issue.

@Mrs. Jacks: So gender is the same as race and is white privilege because I point out another way of looking at a scenario. I also say you are slipping into the land of assumption for assuming that the cops gave those boys a hard time because they were black.

@MrsSCB: I agree that the #alivewhileblack stories have far more impact than the #crimingwhilewhite stories do. I've read through a page of the #crimingwhilewhite and just feel like there are other things that could have been taken into account in that particular scenario (pretty girl? had enough bail money? etc.) Some stories didn't even mention police at all and I just wonder if they were ever even "caught". Which would be a pointless, attention seeking post.

I feel like the #alivewhileblack stories are much more important, we need to be reading those, we need to be paying attention to those! I read one from a black girl who tweeted these two tweets, and I thought they were great and more eye opening than any of the white people making things about them:

Ijeoma Oluo ‏@IjeomaOluo 19h19 hours ago
#crimingwhilewhite why does the treatment of blacks have to be run through the filter of whiteness before it's taken seriously?

Ijeoma Oluo ‏@IjeomaOluo 19h19 hours ago
#crimingwhilewhite doesn't help me. I already know what you get away with. You need to listen to what we die for.

Those two tweets really resonated with me, and it IS about black people and we need to pay attention to them and what they say and listen to their stories. I guess, what I'm trying to say is that I don't like #crimingwhilewhite, even though I understand it's purpose. I just feel like it's making everything about the white man.

Some of these comments really confuse me. I don't think anyone is speaking in absolutes (i.e. no white person ever gets harassed by the police or every black person is), but rather, as a previous poster said, talking about trends and patterns. Are there really folks that believe that racial profiling is not real? I can't wrap my head around that at all.

As for #crimingwhilewhite, it's white people talking about themselves, not black people shaming being white. And I think folks that are offended maybe taking the comments too literal. For example, I saw a tweet tht said something like "I yelled at a police officer - he called me a C*** and threatened to arrest me, but he didn't kill me" Does this commenter think every black person that yells at a polic officer will be killed? No. She's just making a slightly tongue in cheek statement that draws attention to the issue.

@MrsSCB: Ugh.

I think I've found what personally bugs me about #crimingwhilewhite. It doesn't do anything to bring us together. It only further acknowledges "look at how different we all are". I don't like that. Let's find a way to band together, to make big changes together as one and as equals which is exactly how it should be. I have no idea how to do that, but I don't think this particular hashtag helps.

@.twist.: the two tweets you posted above are really poignant. But, I think also think it's true that groups of people (race, gender, religious, etc...) understand the challenges that the others face better when it is compared to their own experiences. Taking race out of it for a minute, men often don't undertand that challenges that women can face in the workplace. When explaining the issue to a man who is blind to the differences in our experiences, I have found it helpful to highlight them - for example, when is the last time a male associate in my law firm was asked if he was my boss's assistant? It has never happened. How often does it happen to me? Regularly. I'm not sure how I feel about #crimingehilewhite because some of the responses see too lighthearted given the circumstances, but I guess I'm saying that I don't think pointing out differences is a bad thing.

@Madison43: That's why I think us as white people need to read about black peoples experiences. Not the other way around; because it doesn't help them. Our stories do nothing to help them fight for their lives, ya know? What is them seeing our side going to do?

@Madison43: I do totally agree. I guess I agree with PP's who say that the people who really need to see the difference won't be reading these.

ETA: Not that it shouldn't be there for them to see if they were so inclined.... ugh. I don't know. The hashtag just rubs me the wrong way. I get it's purpose and I see where/how it can be beneficial. I just think something better could be done, even though I don't know what that is! haha. I hate this whole issue... *sigh*

@chanada: It happens all the time and it won't be stopping anytime soon. Here we go again: http://gawker.com/cop-kills-unarmed-black-man-in-arizona-1667104180 Ugh.