Racial Undertones

[KevK]

Most people including me are not going to tell people that crime and drug infested neighbourhoods are "good" places just to be politically correct. I will tell the truth as I see it. If somebody ask me about Riverdale or Stone Mountain, I will tell them that in my view these places have become crime and drug infested crap holes. I would never advise anybody to move in them. However if somebody ask about Sandtown, Cascade Heights, south Cobb or Ben Hill, I would say those are really pretty decent places to live and they are majority black too.

[atlantagreg30127]

Racism exists in ALL races and colors. Prejudices exist in ALL human beings. But if you look hard enough under every rock and in every crack, you will find "evidence of racism" when sometimes there is nothing more than someone's opinion that has been distorted to appear as something it is not.

Take the word "trash". I've used it. In my particular neighborhood we have had two families move in that have cause problems. One is a black family that has several teen boys who have all been in trouble with the law, and are involved in gang activity. The other is a white family, mom and dad covered in tattoos, smoking on their deck with their kids who have also been in trouble with the law. Personally, I would classify both of these families as "trash" because they cause trouble, and have no respect for the law, or for their neighbors. Does that make me racist against blacks? What about whites for that matter?

I have personally used the word "bums" when describing the central part of downtown as well (as in, there are a lot of bums around Five Points, etc). I know a variety of people of all colors, religions, and races, and most of them have made varied comments about the number of in some words "vagrants" downtown as well. Some are nicer folks, others are flat out bigots. But do any of them are what COLOR these people are? No - they just don't want eight people to approach them for money when walking a few blocks downtown, and they desire a city where they can walk around without having to worry about being approached like that. They could care less if those people have red and white stripes on them.

On the touchy subject of schools: I live in West Cobb and know several people in my neighborhood who have pulled their kids out of McEachern High School, saying it's gone downhill in the last few years. Now, SOME folks will just assume, "Ohhhh that's 'cause there are more black kids going there now - SEE? Those folks are racist!". Not hardly. What has happened is that people have moved out into this area from more inner city areas to get their troubled teens away from bad environments, thinking that the better environment at McEachern would help them. Great idea - shows good parenting, too. The problem? When 250 parents with the same troubled teens do the same thing, what happens? Those teens find each other, not hang out with the more tame crowd. Poof - instant gangs. It should be noted that many of the parents who are pulling their kids out are black - are they then "racist" against other blacks? How exactly does that work?

There are whites who literally hate blacks. There are also blacks who literally hate whites. There are blacks who hate asians and hispanics, and hispanics who hate blacks, and whites who hate foreigners in general. Hell, down here you have people who simply hate you because you're from the NORTH. It does exist for sure, and in EVERY race and group of people, but just because someone uses a word... a word like "trashy" or "bum" or "undesireable" - don't just assume it's some agenda against any one group or color of people. Go to Southern California... most folks wouldn't want ANY of us living near them if we're not millionaires and we'd ALL be called "undesireable" - even "trash", perhaps.

Words are words. Language. Words mean different things to different people, and different people use words in different ways. Stop worrying about hidden agendas and stop looking under rocks for hidden secret meanings. It's America. Let folks say what they want, and if you disagree, laugh it off and move on. Spend the worrying time working on improving your own life and stop worrying about others. Paranoia 'aint attractive, or taken seriously - people hear the cry wolf enough and all they do is roll their eyes up and yawn. It changes nothing. Humans will be humans until we blow ourselves up and we're not around any more, and guess what? One day lizards will evolve and the little green ones will hate the big grey ones. The joys of the "evolved" mind. Time to move on.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by KevK

I am not at all prejudiced. I am happily married to a black woman for 10 years now. But let's deal in reality a bit. Not every bum is black and certainly not every black is a bum but the fact is that a very large number are. If you see the urban beggars in downtown, 90% of them are black men. The same can be said for crime. Black males between 16 and 30 are about 5% of the population but they account for a very high percentage of the violent crime. People have good reason to be afraid of them and many other blacks are afraid of them as well. That is not racism but reality.

But KevK...

The reality is that black males who are not bums or criminals (the super-majority!) are unfairly burdened with this label. It is an American double-standard.

When a white man does a certain thing (bad), other innocent white males are not burdened with the negative characteristics.

You may have your black wife, but I suggest that you read/study about the concept of "White Privilege". You will find many articles, sites, references, etc. about this subject on the internet.

[jxu66]

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