Whoopi Defends Herself and Addresses Racism

[roxiejules]

Run time: 03:40 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q62GdpGLAdM   Posted on YouTube: July 14, 2010 By YouTube Member: ABCTheView Views on YouTube: 13225   Posted on DU: July 18, 2010 By DU Member: roxiejules Views on DU: 710

 

[AspenRose]

1. Sorry Whoopi, I've never done that.

I've never done what you described. So I guess I can go pick out my stone.

I do like it that she was defending her employee, though.

[seabeyond]

2. she was mad. but i will have to pick up that stone.... nah, not my thing. but i havent done that

either.

when i was listening to her say that i was going over my mind if i ever did that. never. not even a part of my thinking process. even with gender or anything else, even with old people. the best i do is " what a jerk, ass" or along those lines.

[AspenRose]

3. Exactly

I found that very telling

[Hamlette]

4. I do it all the time

If you are a minority, you would rightfully see the world differently.

Me? I'm interested in politics and tend to see life through a lens of right left.

If I get cut off in traffic (not a huge issue for me but I know what she's talking about) and there is a McCain/Bush/any republican bumper sticker on the car? I'm pissed. If there is an Obama bumper sticker? It's all good.

If it is a certain kind of car? I do the same thing. Rich ass think you're entitled. You and your big SUV/Pickup Truck/penis substitute. And gawd knows, all sports car drivers are full of themselves x10.

Yeah. I stereotype.

And so do you.

Yours just might not be race. Perhaps because race is not as big an issue/problem for you.

[seabeyond]

5. as i was reading your post, i was thinking about aspens answer and mine.

then as i read thru your post further, i thought of my brother that does cutting teases (really liten up, funny) and everyone does it. and a poster the other day that did a jab at female for no reason and he says, just a gender joke/jab that we all do to each other, liten up.

before i got to that part of your post "And so do you." i thought about people that do something wrong, they know is wrong and how they want to include everyone in it. it minimizes their role in it. no, not everyone does it. i have not wanted to hurtfully tease another. i dont know what gender jab i am suppose to say to the men, but hurtful ones that i would never say. and i dont identify the stereotype of a person to rant on. i cannot even imagine thinking that way.

so many thing people do that is hurtful, i hear, all or everyone. maybe that is an issue that people should be aware of. not everyone. they do it. but not everyone. doesn't have to be. a person chooses to be.

[Hamlette]

6. Whoopi did NOT say she does it in front of others

She said she did it to herself, in her car.

I'm not saying "and so do you" to minimize my role "in it".

When I was young I too believed I did not prejudge people but I must now admit that I do.

I prejudge intolerant, bigoted people and vow to call them out each and every time they do or say something intolerant.

And I am too old to "minimize my role in it". I know who I am and am willing to be honest about it. I will fight to my death against intolerant people.

You either accept bigoted people as having a position that is as valid as your own, or you too are prejudiced but unwilling to admit it.

[seabeyond]

7. i can accept that you do. and i can even say, that is yours to figure out. but if you will take

note, i was challenging you giving others, your stuff.

one of the niftiest experiences i had was to be tolerant of the intolerant. to surrender to surrender.

that doesnt mean that i say, it is fine what they do. i dont. it causes problems and hurt. one can recognize the problems and hurt it causes. one can speak out about the problems and hurt. and still know that person does these things because of their own journey they experience. that is not judging the individual, but the act.

you will also note, that this matter is not about saying out loud, or out loud to others, or behind backs. i am stating that i dont even think that way, let alone saying it out loud. does it really matter if you think it or say out loud when alone. point is, not all minds do this. so please dont say, all do.

there are people that are not part of the all. i FEEL that it is to minimize own participation. but cause that is what i feel, does not make it so.

[Hamlette]

8. It's semantics

You say you judge what they do but not them.

I say there is no difference. I try to understand why Hitler did what he did but I don't say it was because he was on his own journey which was okay but what he did was wrong. When I say Hitler was wrong I am saying what he did was wrong and I don't stop to add the additional words like you do.

If you prefer to think there is a difference, just don't expect everyone to pretend there is a difference too.

Self delusion is such a huge part of what we are. My life journey tells me to fight it.

Back to Whoopi. Seems to me for someone who does not judge anyone, who believes "that person does these things because of their own journey" you were pretty hard on Whoopi. It was me who started out by saying Whoopi's life experiences might make it seem more natural for her to (privately) stereotype people who treat her badly.

[seabeyond]

10. you think i was hard on whoopi because i said i do not do it? challenging whoopis comment tht "we

all do it". that is harsh to you? or is the harsh.... she is mad. because it appears she is mad. see, i did that without any judgment. without calling her names, or who she is as a person or any stereotype. she is mad. pretty simple. a reality. calling it what it is. not saying she is not allowed to be mad. not saying she should not be mad. merely making a statement. same with "we all do it". because i say, no whoopi, we all dont do it, does not mean i am being harsh.

that is doing it without judgment. that is honoring her choices, journey.... but merely calling out what is.

she is mad

is that good? bad? neither, both

it isnt a matter of symantics.

you say you want to avoid illusions, yet you create the illusions and demand we buy into it. "we all do it". if that isnt living in illusion, cause you demand we all do, even if we all dont, then what is it? what kind of an illusion does that create for you to say "we all do it"? then it is simply a part of human character and should then therefore be accepted as part of who we are.

well, i am saying it is an illusion to believe you do not have control over behavior, thought, self.

[AspenRose]

9. You are talking about two sides of the same coin.

Everyone stereotypes. I don't think there's any question about that.

But, speaking for myself, I was focused on Whoopi *racially stereotyping* when she's frustrated, and then excusing her choices by saying everyone does it. Not on whether she was right or wrong for saying everyone stereotypes.

I don't stereotype based on race. Not everyone does it. It's a choice. I'm a woman of color like Whoopi, so I see the world differently than even Whoopi does. Not all people of color agree or take part in doing the same things. Just because a person of color's world view is influenced by their own personal interactions with racism, doesn't mean they will play tit-for-tat and engage in doing the same things that are being done to them, or feel justified in doing so. MLK demonstrated that. And to be brutally honest, I think a lot of white people fear that, as if it's somehow 'payback time' and blacks are totally justified to engage in the same kinds of behavior white people have been doing. In a way, that removes any responsibility or guilt any white person may feel about engaging in that kind of behavior, because then they can turn around and say "well, they do it too."

When I see stereotypical republican idiots, I certainly have a visceral reaction. But it's rooted in their obnoxious behavior, not their race. Republicans are by-and-large white anyway, so focusing on race is sort of moot. I find my stereotyping also falls along lines of intelligence vs. ignorance. That's me and I won't speak for anyone else, much less infer that they're somehow lying or deluding themselves. :shrug: