5 Comments on 3-1 and 2 on 3-2: Why People Deny, Rationalize, and Avoid Discussing Feelings?

Responses
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Vernelsia Lewis
As Lewis puts it, it is common to get the impression that most people do not want to talk about racism. Most people will try to avoid the topic by brushing it off as old and passed by time. Ideally, the idea is not old, it is the tactics that are used to discriminate that have changed. In a society that would be considered to be post racial, there are intrinsic elements of racism that taint the society. While the practices may not be as pronounced as they were in the 19th century, they are still in play but with a disguised approach (DiAngelo, 2015). The attitudes that people still carry around are manifestations of the deep seated problem on racism.
Marcties Pendergrass
As Pendergrass rightly puts, there is a huge risk that is associated with talking about races and cultural differences (DiAngelo, 2015). The main element behind cultural debates and why people try to avoid them is that they are aspects of the society that people use to identify themselves. In a society such as the US where the issue of racial discrimination tends to take on a white and blacks approaches, they can get quite heated, as the whites defend their position and the blacks theirs (Rooks, 2014). In most cases, it is very easy to say something about another race that will be taken completely out context. As Pendergrass puts it, for a comedian making African American or simply slavery jokes, this may be taken out of context, especially if they are white.
Helana Camacho
Camacho brings out one of the most important point to the discussion, by indicating that, most of the people tend to mask their feelings about the racism topic. This is largely associated with the experiences they had when they were growing up ("America Isn't Colorblind: We Need to Talk About Racism", 2013). As stated in the topic article, having been brought up in a family where derogatory remarks were a common place, one develops that elemental distrust for the African Americans in the society. Due to the perceptions that are borne from the experiences that one has growing up, it is common that most people to develop mixed feeling such as anger, resentment and fear among others. It is the element of the stereotyping people growing up that has led to the division among the people of different races and brought about the fear associated with taking about ra...