Quote Originally Posted by Detroitnerd View Post
Good job. I understand. Even mentioning the race changes the entire meaning of the statement.

But then I don't have any qualms about getting angry about drunken, idiotic, white suburbanites trashing downtown on Opening Day. And I can say that with a clear conscience. But why is that? Is it because I'm white? Is it because they're enacting a kind of chauvinism? Is it because the whites have not historically been the victims of racism? I think that's what confuses me.
Well, it shouldn't matter there either [[am I understanding your point correctly?). Drunk people trashing downtown are drunk people trashing downtown. Them being white doesn't make a difference for what they did. And people of any race can get drunk and trash downtown.

However, "white" is the default for American so... there really isn't a stigmatization of a whole class of people by saying "drunk white suburbanites trashed downtown". If anything, that statement is more of a distinction to say that the people who trashed downtown on opening day aren't Detroiters and they aren't black [[Latino, Arab or Asian) -- or some other disenfranchised class of people. It's like saying "the terrorists who destroyed the Oklahoma City federal building were white". What that statement is really saying is that "the terrorists who destroyed the Oklahoma City federal building were not Muslims of Arab descent."