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Racial Profiling and Surviving the 'White Gaze'
MSNBC's The Grio ^ | September 5, 2013 | George Yancy

Posted on 09/05/2013 9:35:46 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

At the New York Times, professor of philosophy George Yancy writes an incisive piece about white people's fear of blacks, which he says is global and has origins in Europe. For centuries, black people have been reduced to constricting and false stereotypes that force them to move through social spaces in a way designed to put whites at ease, he says. "We fear that our black bodies incite an accusation," he writes.

My point here is to say that the white gaze is global and historically mobile. And its origins, while from Europe, are deeply seated in the making of America.

Black bodies in America continue to be reduced to their surfaces and to stereotypes that are constricting and false, that often force those black bodies to move through social spaces in ways that put white people at ease. We fear that our black bodies incite an accusation. We move in ways that help us to survive the procrustean gazes of white people. We dread that those who see us might feel the irrational fear to stand their ground rather than "finding common ground," a reference that was made by Bernice King as she spoke about the legacy of her father at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

The white gaze is also hegemonic, historically grounded in material relations of white power: it was deemed disrespectful for a black person to violate the white gaze by looking directly into the eyes of someone white. The white gaze is also ethically solipsistic: within it only whites have the capacity of making valid moral judgments....

(Excerpt) Read more at theroot.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government
KEYWORDS: blackrage; blacks; trayvon; whites
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I tire of this attitude, and I'll bet I'm not alone.
1 posted on 09/05/2013 9:35:46 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
I'm also scared of sharks bears, raccoons and other wild animals.
2 posted on 09/05/2013 9:41:07 PM PDT by BigCinBigD (...Was that okay?)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

So he is blaming Charlemagne not Bush for White Privilege.


3 posted on 09/05/2013 9:41:54 PM PDT by Fai Mao (Genius at Large)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

i;m scared of all feral animals, regardless of race.


4 posted on 09/05/2013 9:42:20 PM PDT by bravo whiskey (We should not fear our government. Our government should fear us.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

And just wtf is the ‘white gaze’?


5 posted on 09/05/2013 9:42:41 PM PDT by barmag25
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To: bravo whiskey

humans MUST discriminate....its for survival...we learn from a very young age...even a baby knows which end is up....


6 posted on 09/05/2013 9:44:18 PM PDT by cherry
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

It’s WAY past time to “find common ground”, WHEN YOUR HEAD IS BEING BEATEN INTO THE GROUND.


7 posted on 09/05/2013 9:44:58 PM PDT by Frank_2001
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

You know about them evil white men going around judging everyone by skin color!


8 posted on 09/05/2013 9:45:22 PM PDT by Tzimisce (The American Revolution began when the British attempted to disarm the Colonists.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

The black persona= an inferiority complex that they just can’t shake off.


9 posted on 09/05/2013 9:45:52 PM PDT by Bullish (Psalm 46)
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To: barmag25
"And just wtf is White gaze?"
10 posted on 09/05/2013 9:46:27 PM PDT by BigCinBigD (...Was that okay?)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

The idea of “the gaze” is postmodernist claptrap conceived by the French philosopher Jaques Lacan.


11 posted on 09/05/2013 9:47:18 PM PDT by Catmom (We're all gonna get the punishment only some of us deserve.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

>>> black people have been reduced to constricting and false stereotypes that force them to move through social spaces in a way designed to put whites at ease<<<

If this was true there would be less black on white crime. The best way to put me a white person at ease is to not target others both black and white or red blue and green for that matter. Reduce the number of criminals in the black community and this just might go away.


12 posted on 09/05/2013 9:48:10 PM PDT by jimpick
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

>>My point here is to say that the white gaze is global and historically mobile. And its origins, while from Europe, are deeply seated in the making of America.<<

No, it’s deeply seated in our desire not to be raped, robbed, assaulted or murdered.


13 posted on 09/05/2013 9:49:57 PM PDT by KAESNO2
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Wow, the White Gaze, I didn't realize I had so much power.

I wonder, if I Gaze, and then lift my hand, palm out, and slowly move my thumb and four fingers slightly together, can I choke someone from afar?

14 posted on 09/05/2013 9:50:12 PM PDT by Navy Patriot (Join the Democrats, it's not Fascism when WE do it, and the Constitution and law mean what WE say.)
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To: barmag25
And just wtf is the ‘white gaze’?
Beats the heck out of me, but if Mr. Yancey is looking for true racism, all he needs to do is GAZE into a mirror.
15 posted on 09/05/2013 9:55:26 PM PDT by Impala64ssa (You call me an islamophobe like it's a bad thing.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
investment advice..

the perennially best investment is the victim's industry. Cannot fail. Good for thousands of years or until the last cracker is dead.

16 posted on 09/05/2013 9:56:41 PM PDT by WilliamofCarmichael (If modern America's Man on Horseback is out there, Get on the damn horse already!)
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To: KAESNO2
Mr Yancy doesn't want to deal with the same types of thugs white people try to avoid. Let him go walk the streets of Chicago or any other city and he will understand the white gaze, whatever that is.
17 posted on 09/05/2013 9:56:47 PM PDT by peeps36 (I'm Not A Racist, I Hate Douchebags f All Colors)
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To: KAESNO2

I predict that most people in this country will be wearing pistols on their hips two to three years from now, at this rate.


18 posted on 09/05/2013 9:59:39 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (I aim to raise a million plus for Gov. Palin. What'll you do?.)
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To: BigCinBigD

Lol


19 posted on 09/05/2013 10:05:08 PM PDT by barmag25
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

A critique of racist thought that amply manifests its own racism. Besides not being able to assimilate facts, liberals are incapable of hearing their own words. They cobble words together without the vaguest conception of what they’re saying.


20 posted on 09/05/2013 10:05:32 PM PDT by Spok
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