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You hit the nail on the head, especially when you described actual racism. Some people act like we're still in the 1940s, and yes, they need to stop it. I have a few black friends. One of them is all caught up in the "racism is everywhere" thing. He walks around on "high alert" all the time. He sees racism in absolutely everything. He is actually reaching the point where he is creating divisive situations where he is rejected; he goes out of his way to validate his view of this country as oppressive and racist, even though he is creating the situation himself.
Am I angry with him? Not at all. I'm angry with the people who exploit someone like him for political power. This past election was a prime example, and on both sides. If the African-American vote was truly up for grabs, and Republicans started getting larger portions of it, the Democratic Party would go into a tailspin. So, they have a vested interest in convincing people that it's an "us versus them" thing. They do it with gay people and women ("the war on women!"), too. Hence, you have a fine lady here who sees racism in someone putting their hand in their back pocket.
As a white person, I would like to say this to those who wish to hear it: White people don't wake up every morning wondering how we can screw black people. When we're all alone by ourselves, we don't make racist comments nor do we make fun of people who are different. Lo and behold, we actually wish the best for everyone, no matter who you are. We don't traffic in racism, and we actually speak against it when we do see it. (At least this is the case with the people I know.)
You hit the nail on the head, especially when you described actual racism. Some people act like we're still in the 1940s, and yes, they need to stop it. I have a few black friends. One of them is all caught up in the "racism is everywhere" thing. He walks around on "high alert" all the time. He sees racism in absolutely everything. He is actually reaching the point where he is creating divisive situations where he is rejected; he goes out of his way to validate his view of this country as oppressive and racist, even though he is creating the situation himself.
Am I angry with him? Not at all. I'm angry with the people who exploit someone like him for political power. This past election was a prime example, and on both sides. If the African-American vote was truly up for grabs, and Republicans started getting larger portions of it, the Democratic Party would go into a tailspin. So, they have a vested interest in convincing people that it's an "us versus them" thing. They do it with gay people and women ("the war on women!"), too. Hence, you have a fine lady here who sees racism in someone putting their hand in their back pocket.
As a white person, I would like to say this to those who wish to hear it: White people don't wake up every morning wondering how we can screw black people. When we're all alone by ourselves, we don't make racist comments nor do we make fun of people who are different. Lo and behold, we actually wish the best for everyone, no matter who you are. We don't traffic in racism, and we actually speak against it when we do see it. (At least this is the case with the people I know.)
Hmmm, I wonder what did Carl Paladino mean when he said Michelle Obama should move in with a gorilla in Africa, and that he hoped Obama would get mad cow disease for sleeping with a cow? Would Paladino say this stuff in public about a white woman (obviously not).
Just because Paladino say that does not mean all white people feel that way or talk like but, but it's utterly ridiculous to pretend that no one does. Because quite clearly some do, and they have clearly said it in public.
In terms of whether we've moved on beyond the 1940s, in some ways at least in NYC we really haven't. For a variety of socioeconomic and sociohistorical causes (that race and welfare is in the center of), a huge percentage of Black men in NYC have long criminal records, and either have cash jobs while living in someone's welfare apartment or have rock bottom jobs. Not that the situation is better for a huge percentage of Black women. It will take generations, possibly many generations to undo this historical legacy. Look at the demographics of wealthy neighborhoods in NYC (predominately white) and look at poor, dangerous neighborhoods (African American, Dominican, Puerto Rican, other Caribbean, etc.). These divisions won't disappear over night, and no amount of pretending is going to change that.
At the same time I'm not suggesting people view poor people or non whites as perpetual victims, or cry for them all the time. But there frankly are major issues in these communities, to the point where living in them just isn't pleasant to say the LEAST.
And while people certainly do have the responsibilities of making their communities better and doing what they have to do succeed, it's ridiculous not to point out political and institutional causes for this. The government deliberately rounded up minorities and put them in projects on welfare, and it's government funding that basically supports drug dealers and those who do not have legitimate jobs. And though I do support marijuana legalization, those guys who sell weed on the corner for $$$$$ are people living in some welfare apartment and when they have turf battles over this stuff, it can get pretty ugly (legalization gets the street element of drugs as people can just buy it from a licensed dealer who is taxed).
Of course I'm aware some parts of Staten Island got hit hard by heroin, but you don't have the large numbers of white people who have been in and out of jail for drug dealing like you do African Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Dominicans, and this inequity and disastrous state of things will certainly drive a wedge between any substantial improvement in race relations for a long time.
With a felony conviction, you can be denied employment, housing (this contributes to increased numbers of homeless) and depending on the conviction you may be ineligible for financial aid for college.
I am very curious (fellow black people), how to deal with the below issue? I have noticed on a few occasions, when I'm walking on the street or standing in the back of white males, a number of them will always put their hands in their back pant pocket, to "safe guard" their wallet. I'm not sure why it unnerves me, but it does. I have never been one to care about what other people think, but it is particularly upsetting because of the assumptions made, based on my skin color alone.
Again, I know that I shouldn't care, but I do believe in sticking up for myself. I am curious if this has happened to you. If so, how did you deal with it? If I'm on the train and I observe them engaging in that behavior, I'll move to another area.
What I often find interesting is, many of them are living with 4 other people in an apartment just to afford rent, while I'm the one who is actually from a wealthy family and has my own business, yet due to my skin color alone, I'm immediately judged as a low life thief.
I know that I'm not the only one who experiences this sort of treatment. Do you just ignore it or do you confront the ignorance? I have thought about making a statement, but it's not even worth it, because I refuse to prove myself to those whom I know are trash, based on their actions.
It's funny how your curious about what you perceive as racist tendencies, yet start out your post by segregating your own thread to black people. "(fellow black people)". Hillarious!
For the record, I don't carry my wallet in my back pocket but if I did I would be on guard if ANYBODY was very close to my back. White, black, male, female it doesn't matter because thieves don't stick to a gender or race!
I'm also a business owner and during the week when I'm in my work truck which is not the most visually appealing thing on the road, probably haven't shaven in a couple day because I'm lazy like that in in dirty jeans I probably look like the type of guy to be in a police lineup to many judgy types. But unlike you I actually don't care what they think because on my time I'm cleaned up, dressed clean and my work truck gets parked and my GMC Sierra Denali comes out which is worth more than the C-Class Mercedes that the douchebags that judge me drive!
If you want to see racism, you will! Whether it's there or not! It's 2016 and MOST people aren't racist. If your on the train scanning people to see if their looking at you funny and they catch you the first place their mind goes is why is this lady visually patting me down, then they go into protection mode.
For the record, I'm white. Went to city schools and was always in a very small minority of white people. If you think that White people don't deal with racism and don't know what it's like to get pre judged by the color of there skin THINK AGAIN!
I am very curious (fellow black people), how to deal with the below issue? I have noticed on a few occasions, when I'm walking on the street or standing in the back of white males, a number of them will always put their hands in their back pant pocket, to "safe guard" their wallet. I'm not sure why it unnerves me, but it does. I have never been one to care about what other people think, but it is particularly upsetting because of the assumptions made, based on my skin color alone.
Again, I know that I shouldn't care, but I do believe in sticking up for myself. I am curious if this has happened to you. If so, how did you deal with it? If I'm on the train and I observe them engaging in that behavior, I'll move to another area.
What I often find interesting is, many of them are living with 4 other people in an apartment just to afford rent, while I'm the one who is actually from a wealthy family and has my own business, yet due to my skin color alone, I'm immediately judged as a low life thief.
I know that I'm not the only one who experiences this sort of treatment. Do you just ignore it or do you confront the ignorance? I have thought about making a statement, but it's not even worth it, because I refuse to prove myself to those whom I know are trash, based on their actions.
BW (African-American) here. Your perception is valid it's just I expected something more substantial than what you're complaining about. When I'm behind White people or any people for that matter, I never look to see how they're acting in regards to their wallet, back pocket, or purse should one day you start to notice WW acting that way towards you. One reason is that I don't care and the other reason is how they act towards stranger standing behind them in regards to their wallet, back pocket, or purse is their business. I would advise not to worry about "sticking up for yourself" regarding how someone else behaves in regard to their wallet, backpocket, or purse. That is such a petty "first-world" complaint. There are much bigger fish to fry in regards to confronting racism in NYC.
I am very curious (fellow black people), how to deal with the below issue? I have noticed on a few occasions, when I'm walking on the street or standing in the back of white males, a number of them will always put their hands in their back pant pocket, to "safe guard" their wallet. I'm not sure why it unnerves me, but it does. I have never been one to care about what other people think, but it is particularly upsetting because of the assumptions made, based on my skin color alone.
Again, I know that I shouldn't care, but I do believe in sticking up for myself. I am curious if this has happened to you. If so, how did you deal with it? If I'm on the train and I observe them engaging in that behavior, I'll move to another area.
What I often find interesting is, many of them are living with 4 other people in an apartment just to afford rent, while I'm the one who is actually from a wealthy family and has my own business, yet due to my skin color alone, I'm immediately judged as a low life thief.
I know that I'm not the only one who experiences this sort of treatment. Do you just ignore it or do you confront the ignorance? I have thought about making a statement, but it's not even worth it, because I refuse to prove myself to those whom I know are trash, based on their actions.
It's funny how your curious about what you perceive as racist tendencies, yet start out your post by segregating your own thread to black people. "(fellow black people)". Hillarious!
For the record, I don't carry my wallet in my back pocket but if I did I would be on guard if ANYBODY was very close to my back. White, black, male, female it doesn't matter because thieves don't stick to a gender or race!
I'm also a business owner and during the week when I'm in my work truck which is not the most visually appealing thing on the road, probably haven't shaven in a couple day because I'm lazy like that in in dirty jeans I probably look like the type of guy to be in a police lineup to many judgy types. But unlike you I actually don't care what they think because on my time I'm cleaned up, dressed clean and my work truck gets parked and my GMC Sierra Denali comes out which is worth more than the C-Class Mercedes that the douchebags that judge me drive!
If you want to see racism, you will! Whether it's there or not! It's 2016 and MOST people aren't racist. If your on the train scanning people to see if their looking at you funny and they catch you the first place their mind goes is why is this lady visually patting me down, then they go into protection mode.
For the record, I'm white. Went to city schools and was always in a very small minority of white people. If you think that White people don't deal with racism and don't know what it's like to get pre judged by the color of there skin THINK AGAIN!
No, but if I feel that I do not like the work environment, then I can choose not to be there.
As for work not being a hangout club, what line of work you do? I've worked in the film industry, and people get jobs through personal referrals. Meaning you better have relatives or friends to hook you up, or it ain't happening. And though the film industry is a lot more extreme about it, you have this in tech, real estate, Wall Street, advertising, etc. The best opportunities you won't find being advertised, you'll have to get them from your personal network. In fact outside of work there are a lot of networking events in various fields, and arguably a huge part of why people go to universities is because of the networking/social opportunities.
So if you really feel the people at your job don't like you (if this extends to management) your chances of moving up the corporate ladder are non existent, and should the company be under strain you'll likely be the first to be fired. So then people should focus on finding companies and work environments that fit in, and where they actually get along with the people and belong.
If you generally don't like the work environment, that's one thing. But if it's because one person or multiple people doesn't like you, that's weak. Nobody is going to be liked ALL of the time by EVERYONE at their jobs. That's just the way it is.
I work as a technician in an IT department at a large college in the city. And I am going to strongly disagree with your assessment of how people move up. I don't know if you've noticed but some of the nastiest people you'll ever meet seem to be in charge of a lot of places. From public to private sector, there are terrible bosses/managers everywhere. And they didn't switch to being crappy people the day they were promoted.
And I don't know about getting a job through connections. I get my jobs because I am good at what I do. I apply to jobs and I interview and that's it. I've never been to a networking event, and I probably never will. I wouldn't like those kinds of events.
And no, At my current job, there is someone that most people don't really like, but he has been promoted. Why? Because he is effective at his job. Even though the boss knows that he's annoying. Your skills trump everything else in my opinion. Companies, especially in technical fields, aren't going to fire someone simply because someone else, even a manager doesn't like them. They're there to make money, not help everyone become best friends.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NyWriterdude
Hmmm, I wonder what did Carl Paladino mean when he said Michelle Obama should move in with a gorilla in Africa, and that he hoped Obama would get mad cow disease for sleeping with a cow? Would Paladino say this stuff in public about a white woman (obviously not).
Just because Paladino say that does not mean all white people feel that way or talk like but, but it's utterly ridiculous to pretend that no one does. Because quite clearly some do, and they have clearly said it in public.
In terms of whether we've moved on beyond the 1940s, in some ways at least in NYC we really haven't. For a variety of socioeconomic and sociohistorical causes (that race and welfare is in the center of), a huge percentage of Black men in NYC have long criminal records, and either have cash jobs while living in someone's welfare apartment or have rock bottom jobs. Not that the situation is better for a huge percentage of Black women. It will take generations, possibly many generations to undo this historical legacy. Look at the demographics of wealthy neighborhoods in NYC (predominately white) and look at poor, dangerous neighborhoods (African American, Dominican, Puerto Rican, other Caribbean, etc.). These divisions won't disappear over night, and no amount of pretending is going to change that.
White men talk crap about white women all of the time in public. When Trump insulted Fiorina and said "look at that face...would anyone vote for THAT?", there was a lot of people criticizing him. I know what Paladino meant when he said that about M. Obama. He meant that she is ugly, which plenty of people (including myself) agree with. But he could have just said that without the racial element of the gorilla and there wouldn't be much of an issue. And don't forget that people (including white people) said as much about George Bush during his presidency. They called him a monkey and made photos of him eating bananas. They burned him in effigy. No President escapes it.
I know this is not the theme of the thread, but I would like to ask about visiting the Apollo Theather.
Is it commom and safe for nonblack visitors to go by their own, by subway for exemple, to the Theather?
How are nonblack visitors received in the sorroundings and in the Theather itself?
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Excellent post.
