Now I know why white people hate talking about race and racism
‘The Problem With Jon Stewart’ showed me what Thanksgiving is like in white households
I learned who Jon Stewart was from Trevor Noah. I’m well-aware how strange this sounds for the average Mainstream American viewer, but I just wasn’t checking for the man. I started seeing him on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” — another comedic host who I didn’t pay attention to until the Trump presidency. I liked “The Late Show,” and I kept seeing this peculiar (but handsome) man popping up from under Colbert’s desk.
And that’s when I figured out I completely dropped the ball on following an intelligent, driven, quick-witted and rebellious talk show host who I really should’ve been listening to all these years. From that point forward, I have been as loyal to watching anything Jon Stewart puts out as I have with Colbert and Noah — although Noah is still my favorite of the trio.
The man treated the whereabouts of racism like it was the equivalent of Carmen Sandiego and Waldo becoming a tag team.
One of my favorite projects to listen to is “The Problem With Jon Stewart” podcast, even though I’m exhausted by the amount of podcasts that are coming out in droves over the years (including my short-lived one). I always learn something new listening to Jon Stewart’s podcast. One of my most recent lessons learned: Now I understand why white people dodge the topic of racism so much. Listening to white people talk to other white people about segregation and privilege is more exhausting to hear than black people talking to white people about racism.
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White people talking about racism is a disaster
I listened to “The Problem With White People” first and thought Jon Stewart was onto something. That is, until I got to this video of him with sociology professor Charles “Chip” Gallagher, activist Lisa Bond of Race2Dinner and editor Andrew Sullivan. Damn near everything that could go wrong did go wrong.
A panelist latched onto semantics for so long that he didn’t bother paying attention to the words “the system of” before the phrase “white supremacy” and somehow dedicated all of racism to the Ku Klux Klan.
A panelist, who is an immigrant, is such a cheerleader for the United States of America that he just cannot get past the idea that everyone doesn’t have their pom poms out, shaking them about: “Yay, tolerance! Yay, diversity! Yay, multi-culturalism!”
I now understand why white people are chasing me around the room, interrupting my conversations about non-race to abruptly bring up racism and being an ally.
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A panelist completely overlooked that there are populations in the U.S. who didn’t voluntarily come to the U.S., and just stared off into space when the host reminded him that “America didn’t start off that way for black people. They didn’t immigrate here. They were living somewhere else, and they were kidnapped and raped and murdered and taken here.” His response, “White supremacy is an absurd hyperbole” — all while ignoring that white supremacists were responsible for this forced immigration.
A panelist doesn’t seem to understand that white supremacy precedes the KKK, a hate group that was founded on Christmas Eve 1865. Slavery? 1619.
Recommended Read: Boys will be boys in every country, but why is racism a constant factor? ~ The undeniable leadership of Amsterdam fire chief Leen Schaap
A panelist repeatedly kept asking for the types of “systems” that keep racism from slavery going on, only to ignore every single valid answer: redlining, voter suppression, Social Security access, G.I. bill after World War II, the New Deal, Jim Crow laws.
A panelist goes from saying “No one is denying this awful history” about the U.S. to then saying, “You have a great history” and “the most diverse, melting pot on Planet Earth.” (This completely overlooks that there are diverse states in the United States — California, Texas, Hawaii, New Jersey and New York— but about 35 other states that aren’t nearly as diverse.)
Recommended Read: “Condoleezza Rice is getting my tuition funds back ~ Critical Race Theory and her anti-“feel-bad” stance for white kids”
A panelist makes a sweeping generalization about “most Americans” in the same manner as Mitch McConnell, first speaking as if he knows all 329.5 million of us but then only referring to the opinions of conservative white Americans.
A panelist declares, “I’m not responsible for anyone before me,” the equivalent of, “I didn’t own slaves” — but still wants to defend those who came before him throughout the entire conversation.
A panelist goes on the defense declaring that the host thinks “every white person is bad” as a way to weasel out of issues regarding racism, then ignored the entire reason the host chose to talk to white people about white people.
A panelist speaks on behalf of “helping Black Americans,” then goes on to complain about marital statistics and single-family homes in “the black family” — while ignoring the sizeable and proven statistics of harsher prison sentences for melanin-rich folks who make any mistakes while living in those homes (from higher rates of school suspension to imprisonment).
A panelist declares “it’s the truth” that black culture is uniquely destructive to family — but still insists on ignoring the statistics of black boys (and men) who are more likely to be imprisoned for higher amounts of time, have less economic opportunities in jobs, and have less access to technology and higher rates of poor schooling. His response for why black families are separated so often? “I don’t know.” The man treated the whereabouts of racism like it was the equivalent of Carmen Sandiego and Waldo becoming a tag team.
If you’ve noticed a pattern here, it’s not by accident. To me, Andrew Sullivan is the piss on pizza in every single one of these race-related conversations. There is an unapologetic tone deafness to his rebuttals that let me know that these other three were never going to get anywhere with him.
While the comment section complains about Lisa Bond’s snarky reply about white men, they wildly overlook what was actually missing from Andrew Sullivan’s argument: logic. Largely, the comment section says that nothing was accomplished from this discussion. I disagree.
Recommended Read: “If you have to tell black people you’re an ally, you’re probably not ~ Real allies show and prove, not self-identify”
From listening to this discussion on “The Problem With Jon Stewart,” I now understand why white people are chasing me around every room, interrupting my conversations about non-race to abruptly bring up racism and being an ally. They’ve met too many Andrews and need to talk to more Jons.
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For the non-Andrews, talking to black people and other people of color may be a welcome relief. For me, I can point to 98% of my family, friends and people I hang out with who already relate. I don’t humor the Andrews of the world. But if Andrews are sitting at your Thanksgiving table and Christmas dinners, I get it now. They are not at mine.
Even in 2022, white people in the United States talking about race is tougher than I thought it’d be — and still seem to be stubbornly tone deaf regarding the discussion of genocide, segregation and racism. Even Germany is doing it better. I have no idea what to tell you — other than to start keeping more Tupperware on hand so you can leave the family function faster. If I were you, I would walk into the kitchen first and not greet the Andrews until my car keys were in my hands again. Good luck with your mission, Jon.
Did you enjoy this post? You’re also welcome to check out my Substack columns “Black Girl In a Doggone World,” “BlackTechLogy,” “Homegrown Tales,” “I Do See Color,” “One Black Woman’s Vote” and “Window Shopping” too. Subscribe to this newsletter for the weekly posts every Wednesday.
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