The past and the future are beyond our reach. We must live and act in the present. Now, today, in our daily lives, it is the duty of every American, and particularly white Americans, to confront White Privilege. It is not enough to see it in the past; we must see it, recognize it and confront it today. White privilege is all around us. We are not looking for racial epithets. We are not looking for overt racism. We are not looking for men in white hoods or signs that say “Whites Only”. We are looking for indifference. We are looking for race neutrality. We are looking for the choice that says, “I treat everybody the same regardless of color” and ignores the fact that life is not the same for everybody in America based on color.
Race neutrality is the new American racism. Racism is alive and well in America today because too many white people have chosen to ignore racism rather than confront it. When white Americans pretend that they can’t see the differences of race in America, that is a tragedy and an act of cowardice. But, when white Americans pretend that their feigned ignorance or indifference does not accrue to their benefit, that is an act of racism. White Privilege is the benefit that accrues to white people as a result of racism in America. The only way, regardless of who else does what else, the only way that we will end racism in America is when white people actively oppose, dismantle, destroy, obliterate the privileges that accrue to white skin.
White people in America have got to accept their personal responsibility for proliferating, propagating and extending systemic racism. Racism exists in America because white people allow it. I am not advocating White Guilt. I am advocating for White Responsibility. A person cannot benefit from an unfair system and then deny that they are responsible for the unfairness of the system. Whites in America benefit from racism. Whites in America must begin to actively and deliberately oppose racism in America today. Race neutrality is the new racism. Stop being neutral, and start solving the problem.
To that end, I have posted below a series of letters that I have exchanged with a company with which I do business. The company is not overtly racist. They believe themselves to be race-neutral, and are acting accordingly. They are propagating racism. I began today to actively confront that racism. I will continue to confront that racism where ever I find it. I invite all of you to join me and do likewise. These examples are not hard to find. They are literally everywhere.
This particular company is CodeCombat.com. Please, visit their webpage and address this issue with them, then look around and address the issue, again, every place that you see it.
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Michael Gradin, Customer Advocate –
On Thu, Mar 17, 2016 at 8:44:34 PDT, Grgc61 <grgc61@gmail.com> wrote:
Hey,
I have a subscription (georgechristovich@yahoo.com), and I also pay for my son to play(Crunch??). He really enjoys the game, and I am very happy about that. However, I recommended the game to a friend of mine and kids asked me a question, “Why don’t they look like us?”
Its a damn good question. The first clearly black character is locked and remains locked for who knows how many levels. Almost half the kids in America are black. Why do they have to earn the right to have a character that looks like them when every kid, boy or girl, who identifies as white gets to start with a character that looks like them?
I suspect that this only sounds like a silly question until it is your kids who want to know. Well, my kids want to know, and they deserve an answer.
Sincerely,
George Christovich
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Hello George,
We don’t consider the question a silly one at all!
We agree that this is an issue and we’re working to find a way to fix it that would not unbalance the early game (the later characters all have extra abilities that would make them too powerful for the early levels).
We’ve started creating additional art for use on our website and made sure to include a more diverse set of characters in those requests so at least there should be more equally spread representation on our web page.
Maka
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Maka,
I understand your technical dilemma, at least in broad strokes. I know the solution is going to take some effort and some planning and cost some money. I am sure that nobody at CodeCombat is overtly bigoted. I am sure that nobody at CodeCombat would stand by a watch a black child be abused especially for their race. I applaud that sentiment, but it ain’t good enough.
This kind of color-blindness is what people mean when they talk about White Privilege. How many hundreds of thousands of man hours have gone into programming CodeCombat? How many hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent to create and support CodeCombat.com? How many schools has CodeCombat tried to enter? How many classrooms has CodeCombat impacted? How many dozens or hundreds of people are involved in this project? With all of these resources, why are black children an after thought?
Why, when the original artwork was approved, did nobody say, “Hey, where’s the black kids?” Why, if somebody did notice they were missing, were they not immediately represented? Why do they have to stand in line and wait to be served last? Why, if the first characters couldn’t be diverse, could the first characters not be black? If you could only represent one race, why did it have to be the white race?
Our society is not race-neutral; our society is not color-blind. Race neutrality, the idea that we can ignore color and just “treat everybody the same” is the new racism. Life is not the same for everybody in America. Black children in America are an after thought. Nobody cares enough to think about them in the beginning. They are eternally standing in line. White kids show up and BOOM! the party is on. Welcome to the world of privilege and opportunity where everybody looks like you. Black kids show up and its “Hi little fella, grab a white face, and we’ll be with you as soon as we can.”
Most Americans don’t mean to be racist, but we sure as hell are. Black kids should not have to wait in line every time. If you can’t post a set of racially diverse characters today, then change the color of the starting characters to black and let everybody be black until you can find a way to fix this issue. While you’re at it, don’t keep this a secret. Tell the world what you’re doing, and challenge — demand — that every business with which you are in contact do the same.
It is time to change this shit today.
Sincerely,
George Christovich
An Examined Life 