Get a tan

[Gob]

Coca-Cola, facing mounting backlash from conservatives online, has responded to allegations of anti-white rhetoric after an internal whistleblower leaked screenshots of diversity training materials that encourages staff to "try to be less white."

On Friday, Karlyn Borysenko, an activist who supports banning critical race theory, shared images from an internal whistleblower of the company's online racism training. The slides included tips to learners on how to be "less white, less arrogant, less certain, less defensive, less ignorant and more humble."

"In the U.S. and other Western nations, white people are socialized to feel that they are inherently superior because they are white," one of the slides read. "Research shows that by age 3 to 4, children understand that it is better to be white."

A Coca-Cola spokesperson confirmed that the course is "part of a learning plan to help build an inclusive workplace," but also noted that "the video circulating on social media is from a publicly available LinkedIn Learning series and is not a focus of our company's curriculum."

"Our Better Together global learning curriculum is part of a learning plan to help build an inclusive workplace," the spokesperson said in a statement. "It is comprised of a number of short vignettes, each a few minutes long. The training includes access to LinkedIn Learning on a variety of topics, including on diversity, equity and inclusion."

The company was referring to a YouTube video shared online by Borysenko, during which she discusses and displays screenshots from the LinkedIn training course by American best seller Robin DiAngelo.

Antiracism training has become a divisive topic in America. In response to the police killing of George Floyd, liberals and progressives ramped up efforts to address systemic racism and view such training as necessary. Proponents of critical race theory have called for white people to acknowledge the advantages of being white for a more equitable society.

[MajGenl.Meade]

"Research shows that by age 3 to 4, children understand that it is better to be white."

Never mind a backlash from conservatives. Shouldn't the left be loudly condemning that outright declaration that it is, in fact, "better" to be white?

Discuss

[Scooter]

I'm reading it in context and trying to figure out what the problem is, other than the white fragility of those taking offense to it.

[Joe Guy]

Never mind a backlash from conservatives. Shouldn't the left be loudly condemning that outright declaration that it is, in fact, "better" to be white?

Discuss

When I was 4 years old white people were sunbathing to make themselves look better. They didn't have sunscreen. They had sun intensifier. At 4 yrs old I thought I just hadn't been fully cooked yet.

It wasn't until I got older that I learned that many people hate each other based on the color of their skin.

[TPFKA@W]

The "lighter skin is better" issue ain't just a white person issue. I worked with 2 African ladies who were cnas. One of them was from Ethiopia, the other Nigerian. Let's call them E and N. E was much lighter skinned and had long straight black hair. N was much darker and had uncooperative hair. In the beginning I accidentally called E by N's name. In my defense I was really busy. E became highly offended. She kind of got in my face and pointed out her lighter skin and straighter hair. How could I make such a mistake. As time went on it became quite clear that E considered herself and those who came from Ethiopia to be superior to those who came from Nigeria. Beyond that all Africans from anywhere on that continent considered themselves quite above and beyond Americans of African descent. The Americans of African descent outright hated the Africans.
It was all messy and uncomfortable at times.
Beyond that in Indian culture there is a preference for lighter skin and there are huge advertising campaigns aimed at selling products that lighten skin.
As white people we are strongly (and rightly) policed into not pushing that white is superior. It is NOT. But even if we clean up our act collectively, there is still the bias going strong.

[Big RR]

Hispanics have the same thing; they have a number of words for the color of one's skin-ranging form negro to white, and including colors lieek cinnamon, wheat (trigueno), and about 6 others. I heard this a lot i Puerto Rico. White appears to be the most preferred color (I guess going back to the colonial Spaniards, but then not all of them were the pale white that is apparently preferred). I recall one time when I was in Colombia there was a Miss Colombia pageant and the newspaper had a section with photos and descriptions of each including skin color.

[Bicycle Bill]

So it's not just a 'white' thing.  People everywhere, no matter their origin, have always sought to find some other group to look down on, for whatever reason, so that they can be 'better' than someone else.

Why does this not surprise me?

-"BB"-

[Gob]

I feel sorry for white kids, growing up being told it's bad to be white...

[MajGenl.Meade]

Is there any correlation between "white privilege" and "white is better"?

I don't mean this in a racist sense - that black people are not capable because they are black or that east Asians are better at math because their eyes have a different angle, etc.

But is not white "privilege" the same thing as saying that being white is advantageous vs non-white in some fashion - or many? Not because white is a better color but because white is more often GENERALLY ASSUMED TO BE synonymous with money than (say) black? And actually is?

Here in SA, black thought often takes up two strands. One, that whites "have it better" and two, that many blacks have inherited/assumed unconsciously an inferiority complex. The latter is often discussed in black academia and in Pan African political circles. White monopoly capitalism is excoriated and used as a whipping boy to cover failures of the ANC government. This is viewed as an accidental historical phenomenon. There's some truth to that. The industrial revolution occurred in cooler climates significantly north of the equator, not because the people were white but because . . . (fill in many non-racial answers here).

Perhaps (as usual) I hung up on semantics. But I thought that this, ""Research shows that by age 3 to 4, children understand that it is better to be white" should have used the word "are conditioned to believe" rather than "understand".

Or is it in fact "better" to be white - factually and actually - given the reality, much as one might claim "it's better to be American" or German or French or English?

[ex-khobar Andy]

For some reason which escapes me, I was confirmed into the Church of England by the Bishop of Madagascar. I suppose he was in town and heard that I needed someone to lay his hands on my 13-year-old head, and volunteered.

Anyway he gave the sermon on Sunday. This was in my boarding school days. I've never forgotten a story he told. He was in a village somewhere in the hinterland, and he was introduced by the local headman. "This is Bishop XXXXXX. His skin may be white but his heart is as black as any of ours!"

[MGMcAnick]

About 15 years ago I worked closely with a black lady who was pushing retirement. She explained to me that her sons preferred light skinned women, NOT white women but light skinned blacks. She said that ALL black men felt that way.
Well, not all. A black man I know has been married to a white lady for nearly 50 years. I've known her even longer than that. His defense for being attracted to her was "Do you find black women attractive"? When I answered "No", he said, "Neither do I".
".