I find the way that some people understand what is and isn't racism mystifying.
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@futurebird there's an aspect of how white people react to racism which is more about class signifiers than about justice.
For people like this, racism is crass and impolite and low class. "White trash talk like that. Educated people don't" .
They tend to focus on stereotypical and specific examples of racism, like using certain words or sharing certain images.
They don't challenge the underlying assumptions that create racism.
I think that's why many white people react so badly when you point out their racism.
"you're saying I'm one of *those* people and actually I'm educated and polite! "
@Zumbador @futurebird 100% this. I grew up affluent and liberal, so to realize as an adult that I was juuuuust as much of a participant in racism, that the “I would never say _that_” was just a fig leaf and a cherished class signifier, and that I was and continue to be the beneficiary of the misery machine… that was (and is) rough.
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@Nocta_Senestra @futurebird I wondered that myself, but from what I've seen over the years it seems that foods like watermelon and fried chicken, in the American psyche, are seen as "stereotypical things black people eat". Of course to us, Europeans, that makes no sense as to us there is nothing "ethnic" or "race specific" about eating such things, but it's good to be aware. Another example: "mammie". To the Irish in Ireland that is literally just what you call your mother. Not in the USA.
Watermelon
In the south sometimes black kids would steal watermelons to eat. Because they were hungry. This was a nuisance to the plantation owners and they thought that hungry kids eating watermelon fast was funny.Fried Chicken
It's a way of making inexpensive meat more tasty and nourishing. You can't afford a steak or pork but maybe some fried chicken.These are things that brought poor black people joy so they made fun of it.
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Watermelon
In the south sometimes black kids would steal watermelons to eat. Because they were hungry. This was a nuisance to the plantation owners and they thought that hungry kids eating watermelon fast was funny.Fried Chicken
It's a way of making inexpensive meat more tasty and nourishing. You can't afford a steak or pork but maybe some fried chicken.These are things that brought poor black people joy so they made fun of it.
@futurebird I knew about the fried chicken but not the watermelon, thanks for educating me 💜
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@futurebird People from outside the state kept telling me there wasn’t racism in California, I must be mistaken. What???
@superflippy @futurebird California (spits) ought to call themselves the Hypocrites State.
"We're progressive!" The Californians cry, while maintaining the largest, most violent, racist prison system in the country.
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@futurebird I knew about the fried chicken but not the watermelon, thanks for educating me 💜
It's really more about the kind of imagery used in cartoons and minstrel shows to make fun of black people for... really liking two of the objectively best foods around?
But also turning any joy into shame. Ha ha ha you like eating food. How embarrassing.
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It's really more about the kind of imagery used in cartoons and minstrel shows to make fun of black people for... really liking two of the objectively best foods around?
But also turning any joy into shame. Ha ha ha you like eating food. How embarrassing.
@futurebird Yeah :(
Could be a dogwhistle too in some contexts it's always good to be aware
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For some white people with racism it's like they have a check list. The following things are racism... and NOTHING else:
1. The n word IF said in a MEAN way.
2. Monkeys
3. Watermelon
4. Segregated Water Fountain Signs.Show them a sign that says "No Blacks Allowed" on a changing room at a store and they are like "well that's different... maybe there is a good reason? People steal"
It's is buck wild. Why even pretend that you care about racism at all?
Some of ya'll are so damn strange.
@futurebird I think too many people think of racism as something you are, rather than something you do. If you point out to someone that something they said is racist, it’s taken as an attack on the fundamental nature of their character; you’re saying they’re A Racist and a Bad Person. There’s no room for the possibility that, having been raised in a society that systematically devalues people who aren’t white, you might have some unexamined ideas that are, in fact, racist, even while you honestly and sincerely reject the concept of racism.
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@lienrag @futurebird It may be more perverse, but the “I don’t like super-obvious racism but tolerate the rest” crowd is more insidious. They are, I think, more numerous and mostly surrounded by other white people who won’t challenge their biases. So they don’t vote for “racism” but they vote for “tough on crime” and won’t believe there’s no difference.
@lienrag @futurebird @queenofnewyork
"Black people know what white people mean when they say "law and order". - Fannie Lou Hamer -
For some white people with racism it's like they have a check list. The following things are racism... and NOTHING else:
1. The n word IF said in a MEAN way.
2. Monkeys
3. Watermelon
4. Segregated Water Fountain Signs.Show them a sign that says "No Blacks Allowed" on a changing room at a store and they are like "well that's different... maybe there is a good reason? People steal"
It's is buck wild. Why even pretend that you care about racism at all?
Some of ya'll are so damn strange.
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@futurebird Yeah :(
Could be a dogwhistle too in some contexts it's always good to be aware
@Nocta_Senestra @futurebird and you're absolutely right. Imagine someone being so far up their own behind that they would not eat certain delicious foods. Bizarre
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What is the issue? It's the same thing. It's a prejudice that Black people are primitive and inhuman. Like apes or some animal that attacks your pets. It's the same racism.
Is it that they don't care if it's not powerful people?
Dazzled by the wealth and power of the Obamas and so you can recognize an insult to them but not to some regular blackfolks?
It is really odd and I do not get it.
These things are equal and we only got a retraction for ONE of them. 2/
@futurebird I see only one other distinction between the remarks: one was made while out of office campaigning and the other while in office. People still expect candidates to be closer to fringe and elected officials to be more cautious despite his specific track record of no variance.
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What is the issue? It's the same thing. It's a prejudice that Black people are primitive and inhuman. Like apes or some animal that attacks your pets. It's the same racism.
Is it that they don't care if it's not powerful people?
Dazzled by the wealth and power of the Obamas and so you can recognize an insult to them but not to some regular blackfolks?
It is really odd and I do not get it.
These things are equal and we only got a retraction for ONE of them. 2/
@futurebird I think it’s because the video was targeted at specific people, which makes it easier to empathize with the targeted.
I agree that it’s actually more harmful to target a whole group of people with a disgusting (and obvious) lie, because it’s harder to debunk and draws a whole group of people into an argument (they had nothing to do with) as straw men.
But think it’s a feature of our cognition that things seem more real the more concrete they are, whether they’re harms like racism or benefits like public health interventions that prevent or reduce death and disease (like vaccinations).
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For some white people with racism it's like they have a check list. The following things are racism... and NOTHING else:
1. The n word IF said in a MEAN way.
2. Monkeys
3. Watermelon
4. Segregated Water Fountain Signs.Show them a sign that says "No Blacks Allowed" on a changing room at a store and they are like "well that's different... maybe there is a good reason? People steal"
It's is buck wild. Why even pretend that you care about racism at all?
Some of ya'll are so damn strange.
@futurebird Because it's so normalized, and because they don't know any black people well enough for them to have taken on the burden of educating them. I saw the same thing with transmisia, which made me really uncomfortably aware of how little I'd actually been listening to black and brown people myself.
So clearly the solution is to start forcefemming white people to expose more straight white folks to genuine marginalized experiences, and for them to listen instead of just hearing for once.
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They have NEVER apologized for that "cats and dogs" BS. Some people are still running around thinking it's true.
@futurebird When he said that on national television, I thought “Finally! This is it! This is so fucking stupid, this will finally be it!” Then that moment quickly passed. Nothing can get through, because he hates the people they hate
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service mentalhealthd restart
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@mbirth@social.mbirth.uk NodeBB doesn't work with Tapatalk, you install the website directly as an app to your home screen and can enable push notifications through that as well.
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@Otttoz Penso che L'Umbertone fosse troppo semplicistico. Io vedo l'umanità come la carrozzeria ammaccata di un auto. Se provi a raddrizzarla da una parte, si assesta malamente da un'altra. E comunque a lavoro finito, anche se tutto sembra in ordine, la carrozzeria non è più quella di prima.
Ecco, ora che l'ho scritta trovo che l'immagine di Eco fosse cmq migliore.
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Tempesta senza fine. Il flusso perturbato che da un mese schiaffeggia mezza Europa non solo non si placa, ma è intenzionato addirittura a rilanciare. Tra giovedì e domenica due profonde depressioni atlantiche transiteranno sul vecchio continente coinvolgendo in maniera diretta anche l'Italia. 1/8
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Here are some other #FOSDEM talks I recommend:
Wastrel: WebAssembly Without the Runtime by @wingo (Wastrel uses #Spritely Hoot!) https://fosdem.org/2026/schedule/event/HT9HAG-wastrel-webassembly-without-the-runtime/
Willow - Protocols for an uncertain future (wins "Christine's award for most charming presentation") by @gwil https://fosdem.org/2026/schedule/event/CVGZAV-willow/
Automerge + Keyhive Design Overview by @expede https://fosdem.org/2026/schedule/event/BZ9CAE-automerge/
BLUE - A generic build-system crafted entirely in Guile by @shepherd https://fosdem.org/2026/schedule/event/3A7VGM-blue/
raylib: a 12-year adventure as a solo-maintainer https://fosdem.org/2026/schedule/event/883PBF-raylib-12-year-adventure/
Too many other good talks to list of course (and I haven't gotten through all of them) but all of the above talks totally rule
