L'Oreal fires first trans model after white people comments

[TimisaMonster 31,073]

The only reason this is getting headlines is because it's a transgender person. Had it been any other employee making those comments...the same result would've happened. 

[Bebe 17,289]

I see a lot of 'white fragility' in this thread to be honest (White fragility is an academic term, for people who don't know. No need to quote me calling me racist for implying white people are fragile). Munroe's statements are really only controversial outside of an academic context...

I've posted it before and I know it's long and nobody will probably watch it, but I recommend this video of a lecture from Dr. Robin DiAngelo. DiAngelo is a very respected academic, she is actually the person who coined the term 'white fragility' that I mentioned earlier. The talk is, I think, very interesting and informative.

I just think many conversations about race on this site are very ill-informed. Race is such a complex and difficult issue, yet people with no personal history with racism or people without even a basic academic understanding of the topic often feel no inhibitions when it comes to spouting their own point of view.

It makes conversations here, in my opinion, often seem fruitless. I don't think anyone here is "evil" but I think they often unknowingly spout these ingrained talking points taken from the dominant cultural narrative, a narrative that only serves to uphold and protect racist social structures.

I see people who, knowingly or unknowingly, reference academic research and accepted academic concepts get mocked as stupid, illogical, unhelpful "SJW's" while they themselves clearly have little academic experience with what is such a complex topic. It's like seeing a creationist laugh at this 'absurd' idea that man evolved from apes (an idea that might sound absurd on face-value without at least a basic understanding of the mechanics of evolution) because when they hear someone say "Humans evolved from apes" they actually hear something similar to "Once a bunch of Gorillas gave birth to human babies and that's how humans are here".

I know that statements like "all white people are racist" or "all white people contribute to racial violence", might seem absurd at face value, but if you have a basic understanding of the key concepts and mechanics of racism, as understood from an academic perspective, they really don't seem that absurd or controversial at all.

[DiamondAngel 5,044]

On 9/2/2017 at 3:53 PM, Gagaloo92 said:

The ignorance in this thread 

GGD is truly horrendous when it comes to conversations about this, almost none of you knowing the privilege that you have or an ability to speak about it in an honest and informed way 

I'm aware of the privilege that I have, but I'm also aware that I'm not a racist nor have I ever done anything racist. She's a disgusting human being for categorizing a whole race as hateful, and I don't even see how anyone could have a different opinion - my privilege has nothing to do with her ignorant comments. 

[Ken Zahn 3,117]

[JustaMonster 4,909]

9 hours ago, CrazyMonster said:

Lmao but saying all men suck is not a generalization. It only target men who suck.

How is it not a generalization...? You are literally saying ALL men suck.

[The Child 18,997]

4 hours ago, JustaMonster said:

How is it not a generalization...? You are literally saying ALL men suck.

Because you're not generalizing.

[tthen 4,621]

On 9/2/2017 at 0:29 AM, MetalliGa said:

Where are the Tumblr SJWs? 

Probably swarming her FB page with "THAT'LL SHOW SCUMMY WHITE PEOPLE WHAT THEY DESERVE" or some insane **** 

[tthen 4,621]

I'm seeing lots of white fragility and "this isn't generalization" posts. Yes privilege and advantage and all of that exists, but saying that all white people are terrible or something on the lines of that is just causing unnecessary hatred and more divisions between races.

[Melech 9,900]

4 hours ago, Bebe said:

I know that statements like "all white people are racist" or "all white people contribute to racial violence", might seem absurd at face value, but if you have a basic understanding of the key concepts and mechanics of racism, as understood from an academic perspective, they really don't seem that absurd or controversial at all.

So you tell me that ashkenazi Jews contribute to racial violence when the main target of the the Charlottesville attackers were Jews? 

As you said that race is complex and so is the discussion. That's why statements like "all white people contribute to racial violence" is just wrong. 

[Taylorrgh 679]

On 9/1/2017 at 4:55 PM, Chic said:

White supremacists should be able to protest, BLM should be able to protest,

I Honestly can't believe you compared the BLM movement to white supremacy, especially when the BLM is about empowering people of color and equality and white supremacy is aimed to make other races feel inferior. 

[Earthling 3,737]

She should not have been fired. She was just trying to start a dialogue through use of sensational language. She has every right to voice her opinion about society and not risk being fired for it. 

I completely agree with her.

L'Oreal doesn't own her mind, her voice or her.

Damage their brand?? Um what..? She's a model, she's being photographed. What she talks about on her personal Facebook page isn't going to have any effect on how she does her job.

L'Oreal were being racist and transphobic. They wanted to use her as a pawn to put up some token facade of diversity for their brand's benefit but the second she starts stating any actual talk about the race issues, ooh that's too real, too "controversial" and doesn't agree with their "morals".  

They are only interested in protecting their bottom line and not alienating customers too closed minded to handle the concepts this woman is trying to discuss. 

This brave woman is risking her life and livelihood to be a voice for minorities and this is how y'all are treating her.

 

[Bebe 17,289]

1 hour ago, Melech said:

So you tell me that ashkenazi Jews contribute to racial violence when the main target of the the Charlottesville attackers were Jews? 

As you said that race is complex and so is the discussion. That's why statements like "all white people contribute to racial violence" is just wrong. 

White people unfortunately do contribute to racial violence, whether they are aware or not. Obviously Jewish people don't contribute to anti-semetic violence against Jewish people, at least not on a societal level, but they can and do contribute to racial violence against African Americans. I'm sure many of the neo-nazi protesters were not too fond of gay people either, and would demonstrate violently against the LGBT community, but white LGBT people also can and do contribute to racial violence against African Americans and people of colour in general.

This has nothing to do with trying to paint white people as evil and, if you watch the lecture I posted, that's not really anybody's point. You can absolutely be a good person, a non-violent person a compassionate person, a generally tolerant person and yet still be racist and contribute to racial violence. Most of this stuff isn't conscious, it isn't explicit. These sort of discussions are really about ways in which a person's whiteness, privilege and social conditioning actively work to uphold racial structures that benefit them to the detriment of people of colour.

[Goosey 3,017]

59 minutes ago, Earthling said:

L'Oreal were being racist and transphobic.

You're victim-blaming. 

[Goosey 3,017]

33 minutes ago, Bebe said:

White people unfortunately do contribute to racial violence, whether they are aware or not.

No they don't. Unless you're going for some 'butterfly effect' explanation.

 

A biT of a reach.

[Bebe 17,289]

28 minutes ago, Goosey said:

No they don't. Unless you're going for some 'butterfly effect' explanation.

 

A biT of a reach.

Well they do  Even by simply upholding racist structures that benefit them, white people help to propagate racial violence. A society that holds people of colour as lesser, a society that marginalises people of colour, a society that propagates racist stereotypes of POC, a society that denies POC the same sort of opportunity and a society that limits their access to resources is a society that creates the conditions for racial unrest and empowers racial violence.

Again, it's a bit more complicated than "All white people explicitly endorse and consciously work towards violence against POC". It's more that white people have been unavoidably conditioned by society to uphold certain power structures that benefit themselves at the detriment of others.

There is this dangerous misconception that a racist = some old, nasty, mean, southern farmer. The truth is that all white people regardless of whether they are "good" people, do work to uphold power structures in society that benefit them - these same power structures undoubtedly also directly cause racial violence among other things.