Race-related blog causing controversy

[peejay 327]

Race-related blog causing controversy

Caucasian site is flooded with hits

By CORILYN SHROPSHIRE

2008 Houston Chronicle

Asian women, fancy coffee, farmers markets, dinner parties and gay friends — these are just a sampling of life's pleasures — if you're white.

Excuse me?

That's according to Christian Lander, the (white) wit behind the Web sensation StuffWhitePeopleLike blog, an irreverent daily missive on the passions of posh urbanites of the Caucasian persuasion.

It's the latest in a string of racially charged blogs (first came theassimilatednegro.com, then angryasian.com) that act as a virtual shrink's sofa for those tackling the tricky topics of race and class.

Lander is not the only one who uses the Web site as cheap and easy therapy, though the 29-year-old admits that's exactly what it is for him.

Readers, hundreds every day, flood the site's comment section with alternating fury and delight.

To date, there have been 14 million hits, reflecting the nation's current obsession with race and gender, too. For confirmation, check out the comments and speeches by presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton just this past week.

Dean Rader, a pop culture critic who authors weeklyrader.blogspot.com, says readers flock to Stuff White People Like because it's hip and hot and the place to be seen and heard online. "It's just as much about class and coolness and yuppiness and consumption (as race)."

And yes, if the some of the posts push far beyond the boundaries of good taste, readers seem to find liberation in an environment unfettered by political correctness.

Take #11 on the list: "Asian Girls: 95% of white males have at one point in their lives experienced yellow fever. ... White men love Asian women so much that they will go to extremes such as stating that Sandra Oh is sexy, teaching English in Asia, playing in a co-ed volleyball league ... "

Ouch.

That post has received more than 1,550 responses.

Other posts — try No. 36, "Breakfast Places" and No. 63, "Expensive Sandwiches" — may seem a bit more benign, but the post and ensuing conversations carry just as much bite.

"To a white person, there is no better way to spend a Saturday morning than to get up late, around 9:30 and pile into your Audi or Volvo and drive to one of these little places and eat breakfast with friends," Lander writes. "Oftentimes these breakfasts last for an hour or more (hence the long lines and wait times). Some white people take it to the next level and bring their dogs, newspapers or even a laptop."

Lander says the blog's title has drawn more controversy than any of the posts. White people hate being lumped into a group that they don't feel a part of, he says, adding, "that's essentially the same thing that every minority has been dealing with for centuries."

The latest spinoff of Lander's blog — Stuff Asian People Like.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headli...es/5633758.html

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/

[pedroh 21]

LOL

it's a funny website..

[garya505 2]

There's nothing wrong with a little racial humor if it's not derogatory.

[Chica Yeyé 41]

There's nothing wrong with a little racial humor if it's not derogatory.

"Racial humor" is, by definition, derogatory. In any direction. Same as homophobic jokes, jokes against people of X or Y religious persuasion, folks with disabilities, etc.

[dalegg 143]

Asian women, fancy coffee, farmers markets, dinner parties and gay friends — these are just a sampling of life's pleasures — if you're white.

I don't think I've ever been to a farmer's market.

[garya505 2]

There's nothing wrong with a little racial humor if it's not derogatory.

"Racial humor" is, by definition, derogatory. In any direction. Same as homophobic jokes, jokes against people of X or Y religious persuasion, folks with disabilities, etc.

I disagree.

[peejay 327]

Asian women, fancy coffee, farmers markets, dinner parties and gay friends — these are just a sampling of life's pleasures — if you're white.

I don't think I've ever been to a farmer's market.

Me neither. As with most of the stereotypes I read about on the website, they are mostly stereotypes of white upperclass urban yuppies. Hardly a group of people that anyone (even other whites) would defend if the humor cut too deep.

Whites, just like other racial groups, are not monolithic. There is no "one size fits all" profile of white people.

The website is kind of cute. I have actually run across white people that do the "stuff" mentioned. Most of it ain't me though.