Racial relations in Atlanta (Fort Valley: sex offender, house, to live)

[Georgia to Northeast PA]

"I love all my white brothers and sisters.." I love you too and want to thank you for serving our country and we all have to remember it is "our" country. The minute we start seeing each other as the enemy that is when we let hate creep in. When we see each other as God intented as part of one another because we are a part of Him, that is when awakening truely begins and there is no room for hate or hurt.

[mxd.Brit]

Originally Posted by Seh1959

Seh1959;
This doesn't change the fact, though, that white women are being preyed upon by killers, the majority of whom are black. Then the black leaders lament the fact that the majority of the imprisoned are African-American men, for whom we should all feel sorry, and blame society (white society, in fact), because, after all, look what we're doing to them.

And, I must add respectfully, you can keep your parenting advice to yourself. My children have never heard racial slurs or denigration of other ethnic groups in our home. However, when my daughters reach a certain age, I do plan to teach them how to be aware of their surroundings.....to be on guard for suspicious-looking characters, etc. And I haven't figured out how yet, but I will find a way to let them know that I believe that there are hate-crimes being committed against young white women by black men.

And you know what? I really hope that you are right, and I am wrong. I hope that these random murders are not racially motivated, and that, instead, my perception is askew. But from where I'm sitting, it just doesn't look that way.

I usually don't like to point fingers at one race for being criminally active because I am smarter than that , but had to respond because I have subscribed to the georgia sex offenders website and the figures show that there are double the amount of white sexual predators/offenders than black. How will you explain this to your daughter. Will it be in the same context you explained the hate crime. Can you actually truthfully say that one entire race is not active in a particular crime. I think that would be setting your kids up for failure big time.

Me, I will tell my kids the difference between bad and good people, to always be vigilant but to also build relationships with people regardless of colour.

[plessthanpointohfive]

Wait a minute...I thought you were an American married to a Brit...what you doin spellin it wrong - COLOUR? LOL! Just teasin!

Just FYI, whenever I see it spelled colour I think of velour....and want to pronounce it cuh-loor...

[mxd.Brit]

Originally Posted by plessthanpointohfive

Wait a minute...I thought you were an American married to a Brit...what you doin spellin it wrong - COLOUR? LOL! Just teasin!

Just FYI, whenever I see it spelled colour I think of velour....and want to pronounce it cuh-loor...

I knew someone will catch on and it had to be you. I am going to have problems with spelling (especially because I was an English Language student up until University, spelling has always been 'my thing', check instead of cheque for example.
I am the Brit, my husband the American likes to use my screen name as he claims he has no time to create his own. Excuses excuses!!

sorry to confuse

[plessthanpointohfive]

nah...just teasing! I'm more of a when in Rome person so if I moved over there I would probably switch spellings. But it's just that word...colour...velour.

[afonega1]

Originally Posted by Georgia to Northeast PA

"I love all my white brothers and sisters.." I love you too and want to thank you for serving our country and we all have to remember it is "our" country. The minute we start seeing each other as the enemy that is when we let hate creep in. When we see each other as God intented as part of one another because we are a part of Him, that is when awakening truely begins and there is no room for hate or hurt.

Thank You.I just want people to look for solutions to problems that don't seem to get better.Name calling and bickering about irrelevant things only create more tension without solving anything.There is plenty of blame for every race to take on the realities of why things are the way they are.Too few want to spend that same amount of time toward working for a safe future for us all.I think Atlanta in the context of history has been not perfect but better than most in dealing with it past than most cities.

[RainyRainyDay]

On the spelling sub-thread, cheque is such a useful spelling. "Check" is way overloaded.

It's not just colour, pless - we use honour, favour, habour, behaviour, etc.

[plessthanpointohfive]

Yeah, I know, but those others don't make me do the whole velour thing....just colour. It's just a weird quirk.

[TNBelle]

Originally Posted by Seh1959

If a white person speaks up about things that bother them regarding race relations, then, immediately the superior-acting, hypocritical idiots come crawling out of the wood work screaming, "RACIST!!!!" And, from what I see, it's mostly other whites screaming these accusations. I think this is pretty dangerous. I think that when a large group of people are expected to be silent about things that concern them, then those concerns start to become resentments and unreasonable fears.

Hi

I agree with all of the above. In many ways I feel that our society has become so PC that we aren’t able to address many of the concerns, stereotypes, and misconceptions that we have of other races. Therefore, I thank you for stating your mind plainly and completely. Black people should not be the only people that are able to discuss race (good, bad, and ignornat opinions). However, I am also going to use a series of post to address some of these concerns and resentments that you have with black people.

Regardless of what you may think of my next few post, I am happy that you were finally able to get all of that off of your chest (and I know that you view point is more prevalent than most would believe). If people don’t know each other’s view points then there is no way to have an open and honest dialogue about it. I wish more people would speak their mind about race instead of sweeping it under the rug.

edited:because of font

[TNBelle]

Originally Posted by Seh1959

And are white people afraid of black people? Well, let me answer it this way: it seems to me that, me and my white friends are teaching our kids not to hit, and not to get violent with others. Then they go to school and they are around kids who, apparently are taught to be threatening and tough if they don't get respected.

These stereotypes and generalization are irresponsible (especially for someone your age) All black people are NOT the same. My mom nor my father taught me that violence is okay…and I can say that for virutally ALL of the black people that I know. There are 'some' (qualifier) white people that teach their children that violence is okay (and I am sure that there are 'some' black people that do the same). But please do not paint the entirety of ANY race with the same brush.

It seems to me that African Americans are more prone to violence than white people are, on the whole. Maybe it's just my perception, but if that's so, I can at least say that that's the perception being propagated through the media.

Is the mainstream media the only place you go to know about things that are going on in society? It is true that crimes committed by black people are disproportionate to the actual percentage that the black population (making up 40% of the prison population and only composing about 12% of the actual population); however, black crime does NOT make up the majority of crimes. Also please note that this also does not mean that 40% of blacks commit crimes. Most of that 40% are the same criminals that keep going in and coming back out. (similarly to the fact that the divorce rate is so high because of the same Americans that keep getting divorced and remarried...and divorced again).

As for the media, a study, cited in a Princeton University professor’s book (Dr. Pager Marked), compared news reports about crime in the Los Angeles metro area with actual arrest rates from the Dept. of Corrections. The study showed that blacks were 75% more likely to be represented as perpetrators in crime reports than THE ACTUAL ARREST RATE would have predicted. White criminals were shown on the news 25% LESS than their arrest rate would have predicted.

Note: Also, violence is not an internal disposition. It is learned, and often a product of a specific environment. I don’t, however, believe that environment is an excuse for violence (people are accountable for their own actions). I just didn’t want you to think that a person is born violent because of the amount of melanin in his/her skin.

Edited: because HTML keeps showing up when I copy my reply from my word document.