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There has always been a degree of ethnic tension here but since Ferguson, then Staten Island and now this crap in Baltimore it's more tense than it's been since I was living in Bensonhurst during the whole Tawanna Brawley thing. I've noticed it when I was the only white guy in the car on the 5 train the other day and I was getting dirty looks from a bunch of black males, and when I went to go take an empty seat one of them scooted and "double parked" so I couldn't sit down and just looked at me with disgust. I just am off work in a suit and tie waiting for the express bus and there was a professional looking middle aged black lady smoking and I asked her for a light and she sneered at me and said "I don't got nothing for you white boy" I have lived here my whole life and I haven't ever felt this much racial tensions. It's actually worse than it was during the early 90s with Sharpton and Yusuf Hawkins and Tawanna Brawley etc.
Maybe they didn't like your looks? Maybe they were thinking about all the injustices that are happening to black people around the country and were taking it out on you because you were white?
Maybe you can begin to empathize with minority people who have been treated this way.
Maybe they didn't like your looks? Maybe they were thinking about all the injustices that are happening to black people around the country and were taking it out on you because you were white?
Maybe you can begin to empathize with minority people who have been treated this way.
I don't agree or condone this type of thinking at all. I'm a minority and treat others as they treat me. I don't sulk and think about the discrimination i have faced in the past. Instead, i keep my life positive and move in a forward direction.
On the flip side, many years ago, i attended an all black school in Bushwick and literally was running for the hills every day after school because they wanted to jump me. Why?? When i myself am a Hispanic and a minority. I don't use this terrible experience and i say terrible because that's what is was, to give me an excuse to treat Blacks with ill intent. I chalk it up to ignorance more than anything else. There are tons of opportunities for people to better their lives but few actually take it.
US relations with it's own lower class citizens is a boiling pot. Sometimes a little more water is added to cool things and then at other times, the water is allowed to boil off making the resulting pot hotter. Many have been able to rise up out of the pot, but others remain trapped by factors out of their control.
The things that cause the pot to boil hotter are mostly related to economic and educational justice and also perception of the treatment within the pot by those outside the pot.
IMO, when the economy was booming and all Americas were able to participate in the boon, that was the cooler water being added; crime rates were down, unemployment was very small, and there was a great amount of happiness in the country -- not just hope.
During the last recession that water was left to boil out and get hotter while corporations and the rich got richer by bringing in h1-b(s) to take the jobs of those already here or outsourcing the jobs that those in the pot depend upon. Even if the outsourcing did not directly effect the lower classed, the trickle down effect did.
Anytime strife is rising in the news, the only place you have to look for explanation of the cause is to the unemployment rates of the young, the already economically challenged, and the minorities. Without even looking at charts I guarantee these factors and the resulting amount of strife move in lock step.
Add to that the new technology that is letting us see just how badly the police are abusing those who have-not and you have a recipe for disaster -- or for great improvement once those in control learn that in order to protect their own world, they have to make more than token improvements for those at the bottom. Those on the bottom may not be well educated, but it doesn't take much of an education to see the results of a society where CEOs make more than 774 times what someone on the bottom does. Add to that a congress that could care less how the average American is doing and there is no reason to have hope.
Not having hope and not having opportunities leads people to create their own -- legal or not -- any while the right complains about how criminals don't DESERVE anything all they have to do is look in the mirror to see who is creating those criminals. The 90's? Yes, that was the last time everyone in America was sharing in the economic boom. And no matter how you look at it, the economic bottom usually is overpopulated by unappreciated (unwanted) minorities.
The racial tension has gotten worst and not sure if it will get better but it will die down. I do believe there was injustice done to Freddie Gray and all other fallen black males that were mistreated in the hands of law enforcement. But I totally disagree with the displacement of anger towards other individuals (i.e. white people) because of what is happening in our world today. They may not understand the black struggles but it's totally wrong to direct anger towards them or anyone because of what is going on. B-more is doing it all wrong, just like Ferguson. This will only perpetuate the stereotypes of black people exhibiting aggressive tendencies and it's sad. I also feel bad for law enforcement because one bad apple caused the disgraceful image for the whole department. Not all officers are bad but unfortunately with recurring incidents like this, it will re-create the tension and anxiety within segregated neighborhoods.
Dag7763, you sound like a decent person but from what you described of your situation, those folks do not care about your well-being and some may be $hit-starters. I recommend to have a low profile and distance yourself from any ominous signs. If you have to take an alternative way home, I think you should. The last thing that needs to be on Youtube is someone being another victim. Not trying to scare you but majority of the folks will follow the "gang" mentality and they just need a reason to start crap; the first reason they have is your color. Like I said, this will die down eventually. Be safe.
Don't see what burning down a CVS has to do with Freddie Gray. As for the cops, it wasn't just one bad apple; it's a pattern with the department. Believe it or not, they've even killed white people for no reason.
There has always been a degree of ethnic tension here but since Ferguson, then Staten Island and now this crap in Baltimore it's more tense than it's been since I was living in Bensonhurst during the whole Tawanna Brawley thing. I've noticed it when I was the only white guy in the car on the 5 train the other day and I was getting dirty looks from a bunch of black males, and when I went to go take an empty seat one of them scooted and "double parked" so I couldn't sit down and just looked at me with disgust. I just am off work in a suit and tie waiting for the express bus and there was a professional looking middle aged black lady smoking and I asked her for a light and she sneered at me and said "I don't got nothing for you white boy" I have lived here my whole life and I haven't ever felt this much racial tensions. It's actually worse than it was during the early 90s with Sharpton and Yusuf Hawkins and Tawanna Brawley etc.
What is going on? I feel like we have regressed
Here is my take on this situation. The 90s for what its worth was a great time economically. Anyone out of college can get a job in a flash, working folks can look on bulletins or postings and fax a resume and be called in for a job interview in a couple. These are the stories of those of the Generation X that I know. Things were great in the 90s if those economically if those played their cards right. Hell I even have a family friend who obtained a career from Welfare to Work program which got her and her younglings out of poverty. I have a colleague that worked for 30 dollars an hour in a printing press during the 90s. The 90s seemed to be a great time in this city when it comes to economic prospects and mobility. What changed NYC?
Certain things changed factors in this city such as the 9/11 attacks which killed traditional NYC. After the attacks plenty of folks moved out of NYC. Plenty of wealthy were afraid to invest in NYC and saw NYC defeated city. Than came along Mike Bloomberg who changed NYC with business savvy capabilities. Bloomberg drawn plenty of wealthy into the city which allowed the city to economically boom again. Also changes in American living were coming to full circle, suburbs began to decline due to high cost of gas, and lack of amenities drown young suburban kids back to the city for jobs and living. Young college folks had to move to inner city neighborhoods such as Green Point, Harlem, Williamsburg, Lower East Side so that they can be close to their jobs in Manhattan. With plenty of folks moving into the city after college, neighborhoods in the city started to gain investment again from years of disinvestments, not only in NYC but in other cities across America Than came along the recession of what I call "The Great Crisis of 2008". The recession across the country was felt and millions were affected by it. Plenty of rich and wealthy lost everything and those who only had equity in their homes lost everything.
The 2008 crisis made things problematic for race, coupled with the election of Barak Obama which he is politically the greatest " Lame Duck " of the history of the White House. Another thing issue is with economics, from housing, to jobs to even the school that one can go too is designed in a way to keep certain people in poverty. Even with gentrification we see amenities, like banks, certain restaurants and to a certain degree these amenities are not designed for poor people who can not take part in the investment. . Poor people can not invest in big banks like Chase. With problems with economics we begin to see divide and conquer and us vs them. If the economy was better I can guarantee Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and the situation in Baltimore would have never happened, along with history of failed policies from Local, State and even more Federal governments.
There are serious issues that the protesters are rightly trying to address. I hope they are successful in effecting change. On the other side of the coin, blame the media! They love the "black vs. white" story. They salivate when they get a chance to broadcast the "innocent black kid vs. racist white cop" paradigm. They never fail to exploit it if it suits their purpose. Almost everything we know about all of these cases is filtered through the prism of the media.
There are serious issues that the protesters are rightly trying to address. I hope they are successful in effecting change. On the other side of the coin, blame the media! They love the "black vs. white" story. They salivate when they get a chance to broadcast the "innocent black kid vs. racist white cop" paradigm. They never fail to exploit it if it suits their purpose. Almost everything we know about all of these cases is filtered through the prism of the media.
Right and wrong. Protestors are trying to address the issues but you got some other folks who are using this to hurt people for no reason. That will obviously distort their (the protestors) goals. Burning down one city isn't going to solve anything. Those kind of protestors get me upset because it really does cause a distraction from the central purpose of the protest in the first place.
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