How to respond to "positive racism"?

June 23, 2015 9:43 AM

An acquaintance of mine was posting things on facebook that were full of that "positive racism". The kind of stuff where you can say "I wasn't being racist, this is all positive stuff I'm saying about these people". You know, stuff that's in the "Noble Savage" area. I would like to explain how this type of thing still ends up hurting people. Can I get some links to articles that say, better than I ever could, why this stuff is bad for people?

My summary of the posts in question: The first one was a captioned image. The caption described, in very vague terms, some sort of restorative justice practices attributed to "this African tribe". The image was of some people, presumably the people that "this African tribe" is referring to, but there's no way to know, since none of the people is credited nor is the tribe named.

The second one had a picture of an unnamed "beggar in Mumbai" who had skin that was blackish-bluish hued. The text said she was Dravidian and thus had this skin tone and suffered discrimination because of it, but isn't this skin tone actually beautiful? As close as I can tell, Dravidian is actually a pretty large language/culture group encompassing a lot of diversity.

posted by Galaxor Nebulon to Human Relations (10 answers total)

My experience is that Facebook is pretty much never the proper venue for having reasoned discussions about charged topics like race, especially with people who are "acquaintances." If someone is posting stuff I don't want to see, I just click the little "unfollow" button (or unfriend if the material is offensive enough), and add it to my mental list of "things I know about this person that might affect how I respond to them in the future." Obviously if it's a close friend or family member, you might decide that this is a discussion you really want to have -- in which case, do it in person, not online. If it's just an acquantaince, I don't think there's much to do unless the person brings it up during an in-person conversation, in which case you can voice your opinion in the moment.

Basically in these situations, you have two choices if you want to confront the person -- respond online, or respond in person. I will tell you from experience that trying to confront people over this type of thing online is a fool's errand...it is just not a medium designed for calm, reasoned discussions. And FWIW, I would find it really odd if an acquaintace approached me offline to say "Hey, I saw you posted something on Facebook, here's a bunch of info on why you're wrong!", especially if we didn't have a strong/close relationship otherwise. It honestly feels sort of creepy. If you don't like something someone has posted online, just click away.
posted by rainbowbrite at 10:13 AM on June 23, 2015 [7 favorites]

"Please stop treating ethnicity like a spectacle to score internet points."

Then unfriend/follow.
posted by phunniemee at 10:14 AM on June 23, 2015 [8 favorites]

Best answer: For the Africa one. There are probably other debunkings of that one elsewhere, too. An anthropologist friend generally takes a similar approach as mentioned there, of asking things like, "Which tribe? What language?" Etc.
posted by jaguar at 10:23 AM on June 23, 2015 [13 favorites]

Consider that as clueless as they are, they mean well. I try to save stinging harsh feedback for people who are hostile or indifferent to issues of race. This person sounds like they're trying to help/care in a wrongheaded way. Do give feedback, but try to be somewhat gentle or they might double down.
posted by quincunx at 10:26 AM on June 23, 2015 [2 favorites]

I would put this in the same category as other feel-good stories of questionable authenticity: annoying, but generally not worth debunking. Their heart is in the right place. I would unfollow but not unfriend and get on with life.
posted by cost-cutting measures at 10:28 AM on June 23, 2015 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Hmmm. I am not aware of the racism equivalent, but if this person was talking about women rather than people of color I'd be linking you to discussions of benevolent sexism. If your friend is a woman, try framing your response in that context?

Based on that thought, I did a little googling. Here are a few pieces on "positive stereotyping" and how it can hurt people, using specifically African-American examples. Here is an interesting piece on the use of the word "tribe" when discussing African peoples. And this pointed piece about a viral Internet piece of African stereotyping, confusing two very different peoples, might be exactly what you're looking for.

Personally, when I have the energy I try to gently push back on this kind of stuff. Even if your friend's heart is in the right place, it's generally good to try and encourage their behavior to actually do good when they want to feel good, you know? If it's ignorance, well, that's easily fixed with a bit of knowledge--which seems to be exactly what you're after here. I'm glad you're taking the time to look for good resources for your friend!
posted by sciatrix at 11:03 AM on June 23, 2015 [19 favorites]

Mod note: Hey folks, the suggestion to say nothing and unfollow has been made, so from here on, let's keep it to linking to/offering substantial responses.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 12:12 PM on June 23, 2015 [4 favorites]

I liked something the author of 1491 was driving at in the whole book, but especially in describing the collapse of the Cahokia Mound Culture due to overpopulation, too much landscape manipulation, and bad luck with natural disasters all combined with bad leadership, which is that just as we should give indigenous groups respect for their achievements, we should allow them the agency of their own failure. They could just as easily fail to sustain a thriving culture for the same reasons that have caused civilizations around the world to crumble- namely that they were human and fallible, and no more noble or sapient or savage than any other human culture.

Put another way, to see any given culture or ethnicity as having some kind of intrinsic holiness, as though their skin color or belief system or lifestyle automatically equals a kind of superhuman divinity, translates them into a kind of animal simplicity- "oh look how innocent and of the land they are!", and that is a kind of racism that "others" them, lumping what is a diverse grouping into one monolith of simple goodness without nuance that can't fail, puts them on a pedestal, and is ultimately paternalistic and infantilizing.
posted by Queen of Spreadable Fats at 5:54 PM on June 23, 2015 [3 favorites]

This isn't quite the same, but as an Asian, having to deal with the 'model minority' myth in North America has been very frustrating. As with your examples, it is incredibly generalizing and reductionist, and also sets up unfair comparisons with other groups who have different histories, struggles, socioeconomic realities and complexities. This piece breaks it down fairly simply and might be a relatable way to convey your point since it happens in our own society.
posted by thebots at 11:35 PM on June 23, 2015

This is perhaps the one circumstance in which JAQing off (Just Asking Questions) might be appropriate.

I'd just kind of pop in and ask "oh! What tribe did this come from?" And you'll probably get some goofy "uh, idk, an African one?" answer, at which point you can just pleasantly volley back and try to see which country and then province/state the photo was in. If they get defensive, "I was really curious! Just asking, cos I wanted to learn more about the people." And be on about your merry way.

I find that JAQing when dealing with "benevolent racism" (friendly PSR that racism is never ever benevolent despite the term) is like being on social justice stealth mode. You don't immediately trip people's alarms by dropping article links, but invite them to assess/rationalize/justify their ideas when there's no actual reason to be that ignorant.

I've done it before on FB with varied levels of success. It depends on how deeply committed the person is to being a racist dick, even if an unintended one.
posted by Ashen at 6:34 AM on June 24, 2015 [2 favorites]