- Aug 28, 2015
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The irrational fear that if black people gain anything, white people will lose everything has historically been accompanied by explosive violence in response.
There aren’t many recently invented terms in our cultural lexicon that I enjoy using more than I enjoy using “white tears”—the phrase created to describe what happens when certain types of white people either complain about a nonexistent racial injustice or are upset by a nonwhite person’s success at the supposed expense of a white person. It acknowledges white privilege in a way that manages to be hilarious, contextual and concise. And it rolls off the tongue (and the pen), too. It’s just as fun to say and type as it is to use.
It’s also surprisingly exact and precise. What better way is there to accurately and succinctly describe the type of negative response that often occurs whenever Serena Williams wins another tennis match? Or the state of mind that would lead Abigail Fisher to sue over not being able to get into the University of Texas? Or the reactions whenever a black person is cast in a treasured science fiction/fantasy saga, or when a black person is cast in a movie based on a book loved by white people—even if the character is described in the book as being black? Or Nancy Lee Grahn’s Twitter tirade over Viola Davis’ Emmy acceptance speech?
Read more
http://www.theroot.com/articles/cul...s_funny_but_what_it_often_leads_to_isn_t.html
There aren’t many recently invented terms in our cultural lexicon that I enjoy using more than I enjoy using “white tears”—the phrase created to describe what happens when certain types of white people either complain about a nonexistent racial injustice or are upset by a nonwhite person’s success at the supposed expense of a white person. It acknowledges white privilege in a way that manages to be hilarious, contextual and concise. And it rolls off the tongue (and the pen), too. It’s just as fun to say and type as it is to use.
It’s also surprisingly exact and precise. What better way is there to accurately and succinctly describe the type of negative response that often occurs whenever Serena Williams wins another tennis match? Or the state of mind that would lead Abigail Fisher to sue over not being able to get into the University of Texas? Or the reactions whenever a black person is cast in a treasured science fiction/fantasy saga, or when a black person is cast in a movie based on a book loved by white people—even if the character is described in the book as being black? Or Nancy Lee Grahn’s Twitter tirade over Viola Davis’ Emmy acceptance speech?
Read more
http://www.theroot.com/articles/cul...s_funny_but_what_it_often_leads_to_isn_t.html