[Full Video] Rinku Sen, Tim Wise, Van Jones, Maria Teresa Kumar at Facing Race 2010

[thunderwithrain]

Someone should make a law, internationally, to make it illegal to change policy that will have serious long term social impact on children---meaning terms and conditions based on human rights--when does the government take away the role of parenting? Making it so they are questioned about what they do in a social sense and its impact on peoples emotional well being----political voices shouldn't base arguments in emotionally abusive mechanics. Make a law to stop it. Civility is key!

[mrree1]

How can you have a debate when the entire panel and moderator are leftists and apparently racists as well? If everyone thinks the same on a given subject, it will be very hard to have diversity of opinions.

[jkedmond]

@mrree1 you're an idiot.

[honestyainttruth]

Thank you for posting this. It uplifted the afternoon.

[naivetyenlivens]

Tim Wise needs to understand that those of us on the Right do care about predatory lending but we want to eliminate it by ending the poverty ridden areas, not the pawn shops. Talk about predatory let's talk about how Democrats pass laws that benefit big business. The Lead poisoning scare from China is a great example: Mattel & Hasbro helped shape the legislation so now the grannies and grampas who make toys to sell at craft fairs have to get their items tested for lead.

[matthew22sow]

how come theres no conservatives here? is this fair?

[JordanMardan]

@matthew22sow

How do you know none of them are conservatives?! You don't.

I could just as easily ask the same in regards to ANY panel discussion held by the tea party and/or other CONservatives.

[matthew22sow]

we can clao for every sentence but we only have a limited amount of time... 1.34.57 time

[starfleetofficer1]

There should be no protected classes! EVERYONE should be judged EQUALLY under the law.

[starfleetofficer1]

The only thing that will change the way we view race in America is when we stop viewing ANY group as privileged because of their history, their wealth, their victimhood, or their personal beliefs. We need to START viewing ALL groups as equal and move forward with a clean slate. Only then will we have equality, only then will we have fairness, and only then will people be judged on merit--the content of their character.

[naivetyenlivens]

@starfleetofficer1 They don't even get what racism is - the second speaker glosses over the issue of Illegal Immigration totally and just lumps it into Racism... How can you talk to people who don't even want to agree to the terms of the discussion? She sounds like my soon to be ex-husband who couldn't find a clue if it was mailed to him.

[starfleetofficer1]

@naivetyenlivens I think you're right. I think they truly believe that anyone who is *not* a "protected class" is racist unless that person comes out and screams about racism's existence in our world. Now, don't get me wrong--there are racists out there. But I think they want to control how people think instead of how people act, and that's wrong.

[suziqwatkins]

So tell me panel...How does anything you said in this conference promote peace among people but promoting volatile environment among Americans. This conference does not suggest or help in bringing people together instead it promotes hate of white people and how you can conquer others and take away rights & personal choices..you are suggesting that force of your opinions and beliefs are something we must subscribe too and how you can unite forces to bring this racial mindset upon all of us.

[LisaHussein]

@suziqwatkins peace will come when justice and economic/educational equality exists for ALL americans AND the the privileged accept it as the right thing to do.

[tonylove16]

@LisaHussein

language such as "the right thing to do" makes the "doing" appear as if it is charity and there is little vested interest for those doing the "doing" other than feeling all warm and fuzzy inside.

It's important for us to make it clear that the "privileged" groups that these actions are what they "need to do" in order to really get them moving without us pointing fingers.

[JERMIAHTHEMESSIAH]

tim bodied this

[MrSlickrickj]

Hollywood is a proxy for the history of immigration, privilege, and nepotism yet it's interesting that the discussion on immigration seldom talks about the eastern Europe and Russian counts rising steadily in Chicago suburbs for the past 10 years. Don't buy the bi-racial argument. nice try though. when this did not work with Obama, the conservatives had to change course questioning his religion and citizenship. again. nice try.

[MrSlickrickj]

Kirk Douglas, father of Michael Douglas, sons of immigrant Jewish Russians. And many many more immigrants would go on to be great contributors in every aspect of our society

[LisaHussein]

@MrSlickrickj : one cannot compare the assimilation of blacks to the assimilation of white immigrants. You see, it was not against the law for a person of Russian descent to own a business that competed with someone of English descent. It was against the law for descendants of slaves to own businesses that competed directly w/ whites. That's just 1 of many laws to make sure that blacks could not compete equally. Learn your history Mr. Slick

[yeehaw1451]

No one is flooding Japan with Non-Japanese and encouraging everyone to "mix".

No one is flooding Africa with Non-Africans and encouraging everyone to "mix".

Only citizens of White/European Countries like the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and all the countries in Europe are having uncontrolled immigration forced on them.

This "assimilation" or blending is nothing more than an attempt to wipe out the White race. It's genocide.

They aren't anti-racists, they're anti-White.

[ipwnorcs]

@Thugtician011 I say time to start up a revolutionary front:)

[ipwnorcs]

@Thugtician011 You can't make a child without first finding a man... It takes two to tango as they say, so blame can be placed 50/50 i think. As a heterosexual black/white man I find the cause of fighting irrational prejudice against gays a part of the overall fight against irrationality in society (although i place economic battles above it, it is still a part).

[400yearAfricanplan]

Mixed Folks feel more associated to blacks.It's a choice and this idea that you label him white when he labels himslef black is crazy.He can label himself white but he didn't sorry.Choice is a great human freedom.

[ipwnorcs]

@400yearAfricanplan We feel more associated with blacks because we get just as much racism from whites, shared experience. But also from experience i have been rejected by blacks as white, which is pretty super (sarcasm)!!!

[maipai101]

@400yearAfricanplan It's not a choice if most bi-racial people are socially forced to associate with the subordinate race. That is not choice at all.

[400yearAfricanplan]

@maipai101 Maybe you're forced but I have plenty of biracial relatives in the west and Africa and hey don't share your thoughts of being forced!!They feel more comfortable with Black or African Culture.I'm sorry for those who are forced to associate with so called 'Subordinate' race. This sounds terrifying,social slavery.By the way I'm black and African and don't belong to any subordinate group.

[maipai101]

@400yearAfricanplan I'm talking about reality here. Blacks are considered the subordinates to whites socially in North America it's called the hypodescendent rule. Blacks also force Bi-Racial people to choose their side. There are plenty of Bi-racial bloggers here on youtube who discuss that. Most bi racial's consider themselves black because they perceive whites as not wanting them in their group, and blacks treat them and anything close to whiteness as better than themselves.

[massconfusion14]

good plenary. sorry to see it get bogged down by crappy youtube debates.

[Vaporifix]

An all-star blame whitey panel!!

[sk8bow]

@Vaporifix "An all-star blame whitey panel!!"

i just turned on the tv and randomly change the channel ten different times. what did i see? white culture and nothing more, well i did see a couple of latino channels but mainly all white culture.

it's not about blaming whitey. it's about understanding that what you and i see affect us.

i'm tired and i don't want to hide just to keep myself from it. i want to have more of a connection to a more connected society.

[Vaporifix]

@sk8bow We live in a majority "white" nation so what do you expect? Is there something so alien about "white" culture that people can't relate to?

Of course it's about blaming whitey. Most of the panel generalizes white people but would never do the same to any other group. They also try and infer that all white people are by default racist and the only way for them not to be is to involved in some kind of activism.

Go tell that garbage to all the white families that are struggling.

[sk8bow]

@Vaporifix "We live in a majority "white" nation so what do you expect? Is there something so alien about "white" culture that people can't relate to?..."

tell me something. what does a struggling white family have to do with it? i'm not talking about poverty and wealth here.

i'm saying there is no tv geared towards minorities. and if it there is, it's about race.

lame.

i want to see something with substance that i can relate to like a lead character of without any racial plots.

none.

[Vaporifix]

@sk8bow So that's what you're concerned about, what "races" we see on tv? Hrmm...

You wan't TV geared towards "minorities" but you don't want it to be a about race? So what is it about the white people on TV that you can't relate to? You want the characters to be a "minority" just for superficial purposes....interesting...

[sk8bow]

@Vaporifix superficial? no. reality? yes. how about less csi and a little more family drama of a mix of races but a minority lead, and with zero race issues. you know, normal life for real people.

remember that movie dawn of the dead. that movie amazing! actually, it was about race in the end. it was still amazing though with it's black lead character.

you know what's superficial? the current state of tv.

ah, i'm talking to thin air. keep living in a fairy tale.

[Vaporifix]

@sk8bow I don't even watch dramas or sitcoms, most of them bore me to tears... If this is the big racial issue facing the US were in pretty good shape.

You'e talking about the original DOTD? Haven't seen that since I was a kid...I did like the remake though.

I still say this panel was just spewing out garbage.

[sk8bow]

@Vaporifix think there is something unseen and subconscious. i'm sure that if i was white, i would probably be affected as well. i think that white people can justify small actions and it comes out very rude to people of color. there is a disconnect to people of color.

tell me, do you consider obama black, or do you think he is half black and half white?

[Vaporifix]

@sk8bow What the hell are you talking about? Some "Minorities" misinterpreting anything a white person does to be racist due to their own personal biases against white people and the positive reinforcement they receive from people like the ones on this panel who thrive on hypersensitivity and division? "People of color" LOL just why.....

Obama is half-black/half-white, that's just reality. He looks that way as well. That's a simplistic view, but it's still better than the mono-racial one.

[sk8bow]

@Vaporifix hypersensitivity?

"Obama is half-black/half-white, that's just reality. He looks that way as well."

labels cause these different social classes. walking down the street, we unfairly generalize constantly, and so we think it's the norm. it's easy to create division through labeling.

and i know i can look to be hypersensitive but trust me, i have a life. nonetheless, we do have underlying racism. i'm just trying to explain how it can be.

[Vaporifix]

@sk8bow Ok, I'm somewhat in agreement with you here...that labels create division. Not buying the fact that labels inherently lead to different social classes on the basis of race though. We label people all the time regardless of race, like calling people white-trash. Simply because people are poor they make assumptions about them.

[sk8bow]

"like calling people white-trash. Simply because people are poor they make assumptions about them."

i'm not perfect, and i'm glad you pointed that out. i just want discussion on this issue. society grows stronger through understanding. i live with whites, blacks, latinos, asians, and it's amazing to me how out of touch with reality my country is.

labels divide us, and it scares us that we don't ask questions about it. is being "obedient" good? no because we still need to learn.

[ipwnorcs]

@sk8bow Language is labels... We can not learn or communicate without labels. Understanding the origins, implications, and functions of those labels....now that is what matters.

[sk8bow]

@ipwnorcs

true, but that's if those labels are correct. society can start rumors, stereotypes, and labels to tie into a group.

for example, blacks are poor and uneducated, but you can say that about any race really.

the more people think in terms of labels, the more we depend on these labels. we go straight to these stereotypes, these labels and the labels become the group.

this is destructive.

it only makes the problems worse for the ones being labeled because society never learns.

[sk8bow]

@ipwnorcs

and one other thing. i'm not talking about words in regards to language and how words are labels. that's true, but what i'm talking about is how society generalizes certain groups creating stereotypes both politically and in race.

[sk8bow]

@Vaporifix

obama is white.

why does that seem strange to say? think about it because it effects us as a society.

[Vaporifix]

@sk8bow Umm, I guess you could call him white if you wanted to, not seeing the point here....

[sk8bow]

@Vaporifix

he isn't called white. that's the point. being white has it's quirks for white people. it's seen and felt in short interactions in public with other races.

for a truly color blind society, his race wouldn't matter. we would just have a president who happens to be half white and half black, but there is so much focus on the issue of race and how it's supposedly important.

fact is, race truly isn't important, but it is used as a tool to divide society.

[jamrock59]

Van Jones was right. Progressives thought that their job was done when they elected Obama but in reality their job had just begun. When I started to see the protests building up with the Tea Party and all the objections to the Health Care Bill, I kept asking myself "Where are the Democrats?"

And the Tim Wise narrative on the race connection of Predatory Lending rings true and mirrors the spread of drug use in the US. The authorities did not see a problem until it hit whites in the suburbs.

[DaHonestAbe]

Man, Tim nailed it between the 41 and 42 minute mark. I've also fallen into the trap that obscurity equals legitimacy. It seems like whenever actual leftists make it on television, folks on the left go: "Whoa! How did they make it on TV? Oh man, they must have sold their soul to make an appearance." But, there still needs to be a sense of caution if they graduate from obscure to apparent.

[CarlCMD]

THANK YOU for posting this up. It is all translatable outside of North America and helps name and strip back a whole range of unexamined assumptions that are causing the injustices that we see.

[BrotherJR76]

Is there a podcast of this. If it is, where so I can download?

[tizl20]

@ the 5:00 mark "What pisses me off the most... is that the people who talk the most about race are racist conservatives."

Are you f***ing kidding me??? One of the dumbest thing statements of the year. I don't know who all these "racist conservatives" are that she's talking about, but whenever I see conservatives talking about race these days, it's in response to people like her playing the race card on them.

[colibri1]

@tizl20 Nope, she's not fucking kidding. And she's right. If you listen, she goes on to give examples of just what she's talking about. But even if she hadn't, we all know from our experience of the last 20 years (since the rise of mass right-wing media) that the right does dominate discussions of race in the US.