Yet another Xitter user has decided to whitesplain racism by asserting that racism was not as bad during whatever particular time period they grew up in. Xitter user @ronrule, who, according to his bio, is the former CEO of As Seen on TV, is the latest person to make this ridiculous claim. The entire xweet reads, “How did we go from the 90s to here? People got along, nobody cared about race, life was affordable, entertainment wasn’t laced with agendas, wealth was something to aspire to not scoff at, and divisive politics hadn’t permeated everything. The world was better. What happened?”
How did we get from the 90’s to here?
— Ron Rule (@ronrule) October 9, 2024
People got along, nobody cared about race, life was affordable, entertainment wasn’t laced with agendas, wealth was something to aspire to not scoff at, and divisive politics hadn’t permeated everything.
The world was better. What happened?
The irony of him being the former CEO of As Seen On TV and missing the O.J. Simpson trial, the L.A. Riots, the beating of Rodney King and the shooting of Latasha Harlins, all shown on television.
Ron and I both lived in Florida during the 90s. The first time I was called a n*gger was in fifth grade, less than a year after moving from Chicago. That was just the beginning of the racism I endured during my childhood in the 90s. While defending himself, Ron writes, “The easiest and quickest way to test someone’s intelligence is to make a generalized statement about a group,“….They have proven that they aren’t aware or intelligent enough to understand abstract ideas like a statistical average or a per capita. Why else would they think bringing up an exception like it was some profound statement,” the irony.
The easiest and quickest way to test someone's intelligence is to make a generalized statement about a group. Say something like "Asian men are shorter on average." If they say any variation of "not all Asian men are short" or "I know a tall Asian guy" you are dealing with…
— Ron Rule (@ronrule) October 10, 2024
Ron is not the first person who has asserted this. They are all emboldened to believe their experience is the only one that matters. Somehow their childhood was the default for other people’s childhoods. Somehow their idyllic upbringing is indicative of the entire world’s experience. Somehow, racism stopped in their childhood and then rekindled in their adulthood.
When do you ever hear Black people challenging the notion of racism existing in their childhoods? When do you ever see Black people harken for reliving the past when it comes to race and politics?
“Nobody cared about race” is easy to believe when you are a child, blessed with the happiness that ignorance and lack of technology provide. It is to believe when you are not completely bombarded with stories of others. Back in your day, you got the privilege to ignore people’s experiences even better than you do today, that is what you long for. You are not nostalgic over peace but rather quiet. If peace and understanding were really your goal, then you would be much more open to understanding why racism exists today—and how to eradicate it—how to get back what you’ve missed. However, that would cause you to do something other than reminiscence or imagine a time that never really was.
Racism never took a break, racism never stopped killing, racism never stopped discriminating, racism never stopped being injurious. Racism did not even see your childhood and attempt to divert it; your lack of understanding of the nuances and the subtle language, or even the racist dog whistles that you heard growing up, was just not as fine-tuned or even better; you were just unaware of how you benefitted from racism.
Therefore, you were not an active participant. But now, in adulthood, as you absorb the benefits of everyone having to maneuver around you, you complain about the noise they make when you bump into them.
