People walking towards each other on the sidewalk usually subconsciously move out of each other’s ways. But there’s a hierarchy to these interactions that you’re probably only aware of if you’re at the bottom of it. White people tend to resist deferring to people of color. White women will rarely defer to anyone, expecting everyone to get it of their way. People of color will defer to white people, etc, etc.
If you break this subconscious hierarchy, people notice and assume you’re being rude or weird. Like if you move enough out of a white women’s way so that she, too, can move a little out of your way so that you both avoid each other (like equals would do), she might just walk into you. Or cuss you out for being rude. Or when I, a white man, defer to a person of color, it trips them up for a second.
Since this hypothetical grocery store is nothing but “don’t break unspoken rules about rudeness or you get kicked out” it means that a black person would need to act meek and submissive in order to avoid scrutiny and thus be able to stay. Meaning the rules would be more stringent against people of color, thus less people of color would be accepted, thus justifying their usual exclusion.
Ableism is super easy. Since this hypothetical prioritizes convenience over people, if you’re slow at something or need more accommodation, you’d get kicked out.
Because the person in question might be an immigrant from a country where our supermarkets aren’t normal, or have a neurological disease you can’t see.
Racism isn’t just when a person thinks their race has superior ability. It’s also when we design systems that statistically harm brown people. In my country a lot of racism is thinly veiled as dealing with illegal immigrants. We used to require that you know how to read in order to vote.
But how?
People walking towards each other on the sidewalk usually subconsciously move out of each other’s ways. But there’s a hierarchy to these interactions that you’re probably only aware of if you’re at the bottom of it. White people tend to resist deferring to people of color. White women will rarely defer to anyone, expecting everyone to get it of their way. People of color will defer to white people, etc, etc.
If you break this subconscious hierarchy, people notice and assume you’re being rude or weird. Like if you move enough out of a white women’s way so that she, too, can move a little out of your way so that you both avoid each other (like equals would do), she might just walk into you. Or cuss you out for being rude. Or when I, a white man, defer to a person of color, it trips them up for a second.
Since this hypothetical grocery store is nothing but “don’t break unspoken rules about rudeness or you get kicked out” it means that a black person would need to act meek and submissive in order to avoid scrutiny and thus be able to stay. Meaning the rules would be more stringent against people of color, thus less people of color would be accepted, thus justifying their usual exclusion.
Ableism is super easy. Since this hypothetical prioritizes convenience over people, if you’re slow at something or need more accommodation, you’d get kicked out.
What a fascinating work of fiction you’ve just created. You should use it to write a really shit short story
Such a great piece of fiction that the phenomenon I just recounted has been lived by real people before
https://www.reddit.com/r/blackladies/comments/1202192/asked_reddit_why_white_people_dont_move_for/
Am… am I god?/s
So your proof is that a couple of people on Reddit also think that?
Because the person in question might be an immigrant from a country where our supermarkets aren’t normal, or have a neurological disease you can’t see.
In that example it’s not racism, i think
Racism isn’t just when a person thinks their race has superior ability. It’s also when we design systems that statistically harm brown people. In my country a lot of racism is thinly veiled as dealing with illegal immigrants. We used to require that you know how to read in order to vote.
Immigrants are not always “brown”.
Nor were all illiterate people.