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Just because a group of people are NYer, Black, etc doesn't mean we see things the same way. I am also responding to the statement:
"Harlem is the first place I observed people closely and insistently associate VOTING and skin color."
When Obama was campaigning in West Virginia while the people didn't say anything pertaining to his race as the reason he wouldn't get a majority vote there, they did say because he came from a large city (Chicago) they didn't think he would be sympathetic to their needs, but McCain coming from a more rural background would. They never vote for city people they said.
I have had family members living in Harlem for 6 generations now. I can tell you that at first people were skeptical of Obama over Hiliary Clinton. Then as they came to know him and the issues he stood for they warmed up to him, but many people were very unsure that he could beat the republican candidate being a Black man. Many people voted for Hiliary Clinton in Harlem for this reason, which is racial, and many people also voted for her because they thought she was the better candidate. I even heard some women say that they would never vote for a man over a super qualified woman like Hilary Clinton. I think the numbers in Harlem for both of them were very close.
Then when he became the democratic candidate he was definitely going to get the Black vote. Because Black people tend to vote democrat. Did more Black people come out to vote because Obama is Black? Yes they did, especially young people, I never saw so many young people and whole families, grandparents, parents, and all young people 18 and over on a single line before. But this was the November elections, not the primaries. During the primaries people felt differently.
I am very surprised that Harlem Resident thinks that Black people in Harlem, support skin color over everything else. I know that many people not from Harlem and not Black may think so because of protest against police brutality etc. But that is a common factor that most Black people in some way have to deal with and try to prevent, because it can be deadly. So they will come together against that. But you have to put the human factor to that. Even criminals have family that love them and pray that they will change their ways, so they don't want to see their family members killed by the police or anyone for that matter.
Black people have a total different feeling for fireman no matter if most of them are White. They usually only have positive things to say about the fire dept.
There are many threads on genetrification in Harlem on this forum. But I'm going to put something out there that is said over and over that many people won't like. I've heard many Harlemite's voice that they would rather a White person move into one of their vacant apts over a Black person or a Latin person because the White person will more than likely be quiet, and pay their rent on time. If you're a real Harlemite you may deny it, but I'm sure you've heard it. Many Harlemites will go out of their way in a building to make the White residents feel welcome to keep them there so that they will have quiet tenant. The common belief is that a Black or Latin person will make a lot of noise, and blast music really loud. That is really thinking along racial lines, and basing an opinion on color.
I am very surprised that Harlem Resident thinks that Black people in Harlem, support skin color over everything else.
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There are many threads on genetrification in Harlem on this forum. But I'm going to put something out there that is said over and over that many people won't like. I've heard many Harlemite's voice that they would rather a White person move into one of their vacant apts over a Black person or a Latin person because the White person will more than likely be quiet, and pay their rent on time. If you're a real Harlemite you may deny it, but I'm sure you've heard it. Many Harlemites will go out of their way in a building to make the White residents feel welcome to keep them there so that they will have quiet tenant. The common belief is that a Black or Latin person will make a lot of noise, and blast music really loud. That is really thinking along racial lines, and basing an opinion on color.
I said that I had encountered SOME people who openly expressed this, and that I had not heard that expressed openly before, which is true. This is setting aside the "real" motivations of anyone - no doubt there are all kinds of things. Openly expressing this suggested to me that they found nothing wrong with it, which was surprising. And disappointing. We need thinkers and participants or things will never change.
We have a different feeling about the police because my significant other's father was an NYPD detective.
Your comments on rentals are what I have observed also. I think I am talking about the same thing.
You continue to hold blacks to a higher standard that you don't hold anyone else to. And your justifications for this flawed argument is based on a rewriting of NYC history AND/OR complete ignorance of it. Try being black and walking into Canarsie in the 80s (not that long ago)....you would not be greeted with smiles...more like bats and gangs of whites.
The funny thing is that a little over 20 years later, the demographics are reversed, and Canarsie is mostly Black.
Had our President come across as an "uncle Tom", do you believe a majority of the black vote would still have gone to Obama by virtue of his black appearance, or would they have called him on it and voted for a white candidate?
it amazes me how many people, in this thread and in life, refuse to believe us black folks can think and analyze, and make informed decisions. It really is disgusting. Obama won because WHITE PEOPLE voted for him. we only make up 13% of the population. our vote alone wasn't going to get it done, especially when you factor in the blacks that either don't vote, or can't due to incarceration issues..and he was voted in because he was the best choice at the time. he won because we had 8 disastrous years with bush, and he moved us all with his rhetoric. as far as that "uncle tom" remark..well, take it from me, as a well-spoken, intelligent black man, people call all of us like that uncle tom, oreo, white boy, all kinds of variation on that theme; blacks do it from pure self and same hatred, whites do it because, even in 2011, a lot of whites refuse to accept intelligent blacks are "authentically" black.
they like us stupid and ghetto; they can easily classify us. smart black folks make them nervous, because they know we're the wildcards of society. we can throw bones in compton, and turn right around and be in a board meeting at a fortune 500 company. we're the blacks that, during slavery, learned to read and taught others(and were usually whipped/hanged for it). that residual fear, that a smart black man or woman, someone who could gain actual power in society, would do so and then get revenge against white america somehow, is what fuels the hatred against obama. the hysteria over his background/identity. I mean, how insane..white america's fear trumped the common sense to know that the US govt, stupid and inefficient it may be, would NEVER allow someone whose identity they were the slightest bit unsure of, to be president and get the NUCLEAR LAUNCH CODES. they're not suicidal. but white america went nuts over his BC anyway. So, yes, we are held to higher standards, different standards, made-up on the spot standards, that others do not have to meet, out of blind fear and racism. none of this means it's OK for blacks to engage in racism, or violence, OP. but understand, when it happens, WHY it happens. It's not right, and my people need to be held accountable in the same way as everyone else, but, just try to get where some of them are coming from.
haha, illuminati/NWO is a whole other subject. clearly obama is a NWO puppet, but,pretty much every president is(with the exception of JFK, clearly indicated by the bullets he took to his dome).
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