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Here's another bit of crazy "logic" that's usually a dead giveaway concerning a person's mentality and motives: When an individual of perceived "good" ethnicity commits a crime or behave stupidly, his behavior is usually attributed to his lack of scruples and/or intelligence, not his ethnicity. But, when someone who is a member of a marginalized ethnicity behaves in a similar manner, his behavior is attributed to his ethnicity. This is the type of selective reasoning that allows people to perpetuate their own prejudices. It also shows that holding racist views tends to diminish one's capacity for reason & logic.
A few years ago, I lived in an apt. building where one of the tenants had a drug-addicted girlfriend. After breaking up with her, she started loitering around the building, sleeping on his doorstep, all sorts of of craziness. Anyway, she was a skinny blue-eyed blonde. The following year, a young alcoholic couple moved in right next door to me. They would come home from late night binges, hold late-night binges, then get into "wrestling matches" where they would slam each other against our shared wall. He had light brown hair & she was a blonde. Not a single person I spoke to about these situations ever mentioned race or attributed these people's behavior to color, her ethnicity, etc.
But, I suppose as someone with reddish-colored hair, I could have said something brilliant like" How come you don't see this kind of thing happening when redheads like me move into a neighborhood?" ;-)
If you lived in a community that was 99% black and there weren't any robberies, rapes or the like, that community was either very, very rural or it existed in La La land.
No one here is saying that all white people are good or all black people are bad. Heck, in my own little microcosm of life, my neighbors two doors down are a black family that are great, community oriented folks while my neighbors right next door are disgusting white trash with holes in their roof (to which animals can regularly be seen crawling in and out of) etc. Furthermore, no one is saying that productive integration isn't a possibility.
What I am saying is that I can absolutely, positively understand why people who lived in predominantly white, blue collar communities left when blacks moved in, because there are huge social considerations that occur whenever that happens.
Furthermore, I don't play pretend about the severe disparities that exist between the races regarding crime, and it seems to me that said disparities are usually the motivations that cause white people to leave when blacks move in.
The people who furiously try to distract away from these dynamics are usually intellectually dishonest- people who view the truth as secondary to their own "feelings" about life.
That's odd, because where I grew up, 99% black community, trash was always in the trash can, no one was robbed, no rapes occured, no one was mugged, there sure was no graffiti, and the air smelled nicely.
Now I live in a community which is a mix of people (black, white, hispanic, asian, indian) however when I ride through my community, I see recent additions to the neighborhood (namely white folks) who have brought nothing but problems. Beer bottles, boxes, trash in yard, on corner, in driveway. Hanging out on corner harrassing homeowners, even knocking one poor guy off his motorcycle. In public drug use. The list goes on and on, so I fail to see your point.
Same here. In the 21 years I grew up in an all-black community, I never heard gunshots. It was clean. People took care of their homes and lawns. Police sirens were rarely heard. Even now, that has changed very little.
On the contrary, when I lived in an all-white small town (except for my husband and I) there was loud music blasted from cars, welfare mothers, minor drug busts, break-ins, etc. And, surprisingly, none of it was done by the town's only two black residents!
Skye there is no doubt that there are plenty of safe, healthy, and good communities of color...unfortunately the ones that make the headlines are the not so good ones! No need to justify yourself or black communities to anyone here....any reasonable person understands the real issues here.
Blue Pekoe...I agree with what you are saying...when people of color do something dumb/silly/or wrong...it is immediately due to their race/ethnicity...the same does not apply to the non-marginalized/dominant groups. That double standard is very prevalent and common to huge numbers of people unfortunately. These perceptions and reactions to people of color fuel the continued isolation and segregation..maintianing the status quo of ghettofication and the many social ills that plague these communities....
I suppose as someone with reddish-colored hair, I could have said something brilliant like" How come you don't see this kind of thing happening when redheads like me move into a neighborhood?" ;-)
Ha! That's funny. It brings to mind a news report I watched a couple of months ago where red heads were being discriminated against in Britain. I think they were called Ginger Heads and the practice was called gingerism.
It just makes you wonder. It seems people will always try to discriminate against someone for some reason. Crazy.
That's right, Guy, it does lead to more marginalization, but it also makes us less safe a s a society. For example, a few months ago, there was a strange rash of daytime burglaries where one man (who was seen on camera) would wander into various office buildings and steal purses, wallets from unattended cubicles. He did it numerous times in the same vicinity over th e course of a few months. I still don't know if he was ever caught. But, when people encountered him, no one gave a second thought to who he was and whether or not he was authorized to be in specific offices. He happened to be part of an "accepted" ethnic group. Because of on his appearance, people assumed he was kosher. I've noticed many such incidents on the news about people passing off fake credit cards, committing other similar types of crimes and getting away with it repeatedly at the same locations because no one suspects them--because they don't fit the preconception of who is/isn't a criminal.
Last edited by blue pekoe; 11-30-2007 at 03:22 PM..
Reason: grammar
There is a segment to every population that you wouldn’t want for a neighbor and they come in all shapes, sizes and shades. That segment gains entry and is allowed to stay based on:
Affordability
The lower the price the more likely anyone can afford to stay there. If you cast a wide enough net you will come up with less than desirables. (We’ve explained how/why neighborhood values drop in price. Some folks try to run away from the undesirables but the reaction of the new communities ensure that the undesirables can afford to catch up with those who left.)
Denial
There is nothing wrong here. Boys will be boys. Look the other way, we can’t have people talking.
Fear
They aren’t kicking my a@@. I have a family to think about. You know they have guns right?
Blessing from on high
Fix it daddy!
And they too come in all shapes, sizes and shades. No one disputes that undesirables exist but based on your posts, they only seem to come in one shade.
Blue Pekoe...I agree with what you are saying...when people of color do something dumb/silly/or wrong...it is immediately due to their race/ethnicity...the same does not apply to the non-marginalized/dominant groups. That double standard is very prevalent and common to huge numbers of people unfortunately. These perceptions and reactions to people of color fuel the continued isolation and segregation..maintianing the status quo of ghettofication and the many social ills that plague these communities....
This does happen, but so does its polar opposite, at LEAST as often. I'm referring to when "non-marginalized/dominant groups" do something dumb/silly/or wrong, and THAT is blamed on THEIR race/ethnicity....and then, when "people of color" do something dumb/wrong/ silly, and it's blamed NOT on their race/ethnicity... Nor is it blamed on THEM at ALL, it's blamed on the oppression they seem to feel from the "non-marginalized/dominant groups".
By the way, if I may ask, just how many "non-marginalized/dominant groups" do we have here, anyway? Do they have a name?....And I'm curious also about "persons of color". My wife is a "person of color"--just how many colors are you including in this category? Seems like an AWFULLY broad classification to me. It's a little like blaming most of the world's crime and religious violence on "non-Norwegians"...true enough, but altogether too broad a class of people to be relevant in any serious discussion. There are an AWFUL lot of people of an AWFUL lot of colors. Please be more specific.
I cannot tell you the real reason why....besides the fact that many if not most are white skinned, what I can say is that people of color (black especially) had a long, tumultuous, repressive history in this country, and that black disdain, negativity, and perceived inferiority to Whites is DEEPLY ingrained in this society (and others too). So when blacks and other people of color enter areas, that 500 years of negative perception is powerful, palpable, and a strong motivator to take action (to leave, subjugate the population further etc), whereas the limited interaction with asians, and the lack of hundreds of years of torment/exclusion/isolation means that they did not suffer or become cut off from the rest of society the way that people of color were and are.
As a result, when Asians move in, they are not bringing with them the host of problems associated with a population that has spent hundreds of years isolated, segregated, tortured, and violently repressed.
Explain East Indians please-----they tend to be highly successful.
Many of them are as dark skinned as most Blacks.
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