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There has been a lot of discussion of race in the United States, hasn't there? I posted on another site (I won't link to it, of course) a question of what was missing in the national discussion of race. Honestly I was thinking I might get Ta Nehisi Coates fans telling me 'America is a racist country! White people are just racist!'
Maybe it's the digital divide, but I mostly got white guys saying Blacks (note 'Blacks' not African-Americans) are just violent and they commit all the crimes. Blacks are 'just like that'. They complain that's never talked about because they get labeled racist.
The one where some people get all pissy because whitey ruined their little cheating test? Whitey always ****ing up the black people's lives. That's the moral of that story you white you got half of life's answers already.
Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
So you learned nothing. "Whitey" actually ruined it for the other whites.
Look, I've been judged for all kinds of reasons. Does it feel good when people think poorly of you without good reason? Obviously it does not. But it is something which will ALWAYS happen, and for the most part, it is a good thing.
As Hegel said, "An idea is always a generalization, and generalization is a property of thinking. To generalize means to think."
The root of racism is fundamentally human-nature. Racism is in effect, self-preservation. You look for patterns within people, things, groups, etc, and you seek to protect yourself from them.
When people don't want to hire the Muhammad's, or Jose's, or Jamal's who applied for a job. They aren't sitting around thinking to themselves that they aren't going to hire them on the basis that they want to keep blacks and Hispanics and Arabs poor and unemployed. If anything, racists would much rather that these people had jobs.
The reason they don't want to hire them is pretty simple. They are looking for the best employee, and from their experiences, the statistics, and the experiences of others, its a safer bet to hire the white guy rather than the black guy. It isn't based on hatred for black people, it is based on self-preservation and self-interest.
Now, this isn't always the case, in some jobs, people would rather hire a Mexican than a white guy. In other jobs, they would rather hire an Asian than a white guy. In some jobs, you would rather hire a man, in other jobs, you would rather hire a woman.
When Jesse Jackson said... “There is nothing more painful to me at this stage in my life than to walk down the street and hear footsteps... then turn around and see somebody white and feel relieved.”
He didn't say it out of hatred. He was talking about self-preservation.
That is what racism is, self-preservation or self-interest. For that matter, so is sexism(in both directions), xenophobia, ageism, etc. I mean, when you refuse to hire someone without a high school diploma, that is discrimination. But so what?
My only point is, I never understood why black people thought the best way forward, was to try to force white people to like them. Trying to force someone to like you doesn't actually work. At best, you just force them to pretend to like you in public, but behind your back they still hate you, and they might even hate/resent you even more.
If I had been black, I would have just went around town flipping everyone off, and declaring independence from the United States. I'm not even black, and that is what I want to do. I hate the vast majority of Americans, and so do you.
Everyone is a racist and prefers being around people of their own race. There have been studies done on young children (too young to know about anything truly racist). They always sit near children of their same race.
I have nothing against people of other races, but I prefer living in a neighborhood with people from my same race. It's simply because I have more in common with them.
Redshadowz IMO is typical of the majority of white men in this country. He holds his views which were passed down to him from his parents and grandparents and other ancestors. He adheres to the concept that blacks are inferior to him no matter what. He also feels that females are inferior to him.
As stated earlier, as a black person, there is nothing I can do to change that view from him or from other whites. I don't want to live in a seperate society though, because this is my country as much as it is anyone else's but I do expect for people, when they ask me about my thoughts/ideas on race to not get defensive about the fact that they adhere to the system of white supremacy and black inferiority. I don't adhere to such beliefs.
As stated earlier, many blacks themselves (see Jesse Jackson quote) also view blacks as inferior to whites based on being reared with their parents/grandparents and ancestors who pressed upon them that they are "less than" whites.
People like Redshadowz see nothing wrong with their adherence to these social constructs. As a result, they are not willing to think about where those views come from or why they still maintain those views of groups of people. That is why we are still talking about race and gender issues, since he brought those into the mix.
Due to a large percentage of the American populace, both liberal and conservative adhering to these same social ideologies, it is guaranteed that racism as we know it will never go away in our lifetime, neither will gender discrimination issues. I'm a married woman and my own husband IMO feels that women are inferior to him as a man just because he has a penis. He is stronger than I, but IMO, I am MUCH smarter than he is . Everyone has their strengths and weakneses and IMO, those strengths and weaknesses can be affected by gender based upon the physical makeup of the sexes but intellectually and socially we are all the same unless there are some sort of underlying psychological or other medical conditions at play.
ETA: I agree with Redshadowz that blacks should not try to force white people to like them. I personally don't care if white people like me or not. But I do care that my rights as an American citizen are respected and on that, I will do my best to ensure that they are. But people like Jesse Jackson and the majority of those involved in the Civil Rights Movement IMO were trying to prove they were "just as good" as white people and IMO that is a symptom that they suffered from a black inferiority complex. Today, more and more black people are becoming like myself and like Ta-Nahesi Coates and we don't care if you like us or not because we know the issues you have with us are your internal issues and not ours. There is nothing black people can do to prove that we are not inferior, just like there is nothing that any woman can do to prove to a man that they are not inferior to a man based on gender.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Redshadowz
First, everyone is racist. I was watching this video earlier. And its always refreshing to see a black person who is honest and just says it how it really is. Instead of running around with this obnoxious faux outrage, and holier-than-thou attitude every time anything happens.
I'm prejudice insofar as I see patterns of behavior, and I tend to assume the worst from anyone who isn't like me, and isn't from where I'm from(which includes far more than just race, though race is the easier thing to spot from a distance). In fact, I would say I'm more of a sexist than I am a racist. Insofar as I trust the judgement of men of all colors, more than I trust the judgement of women(on average). In fact, black men were given a right to vote in the 1860's, they didn't mess anything up. Women were given a right to vote in 1920, they've done nothing but screw everything up ever since. The feminists are far more dangerous to civilization than any black man.
In fact, we wouldn't even be having all the problems we are having today if we had never given women a right to vote. Without the female vote, there wouldn't be welfare and this glorification of the single-mother. Without the female vote, black men would have been raised by their fathers, and would be much better off than they are today. In fact, it is the feminists who are behind the recent upsurge in the obsession with racism. They sit around all day complaining about the "CIS white male patriarchy", while bandying about for any allies they can get(including blacks, Hispanics, and Muslims, all of which hate feminists more than do white males).
With that said, it doesn't hurt my feelings when people don't like me. In my mind, I'm better than everyone else, and I definitely do not need you. If you don't like me, then **** you.
What irritates me about these black people, is that so few of them advocate for independence. I always respect black nationalists, because at least they have a plan for dealing with racists, that isn't based around having the government force white people to pretend to like them(as to not get fired or assaulted).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Redshadowz
Look, I've been judged for all kinds of reasons. Does it feel good when people think poorly of you without good reason? Obviously it does not. But it is something which will ALWAYS happen, and for the most part, it is a good thing.
As Hegel said, "An idea is always a generalization, and generalization is a property of thinking. To generalize means to think."
The root of racism is fundamentally human-nature. Racism is in effect, self-preservation. You look for patterns within people, things, groups, etc, and you seek to protect yourself from them.
When people don't want to hire the Muhammad's, or Jose's, or Jamal's who applied for a job. They aren't sitting around thinking to themselves that they aren't going to hire them on the basis that they want to keep blacks and Hispanics and Arabs poor and unemployed. If anything, racists would much rather that these people had jobs.
The reason they don't want to hire them is pretty simple. They are looking for the best employee, and from their experiences, the statistics, and the experiences of others, its a safer bet to hire the white guy rather than the black guy. It isn't based on hatred for black people, it is based on self-preservation and self-interest.
Now, this isn't always the case, in some jobs, people would rather hire a Mexican than a white guy. In other jobs, they would rather hire an Asian than a white guy. In some jobs, you would rather hire a man, in other jobs, you would rather hire a woman.
When Jesse Jackson said... “There is nothing more painful to me at this stage in my life than to walk down the street and hear footsteps... then turn around and see somebody white and feel relieved.”
He didn't say it out of hatred. He was talking about self-preservation.
That is what racism is, self-preservation or self-interest. For that matter, so is sexism(in both directions), xenophobia, ageism, etc. I mean, when you refuse to hire someone without a high school diploma, that is discrimination. But so what?
My only point is, I never understood why black people thought the best way forward, was to try to force white people to like them. Trying to force someone to like you doesn't actually work. At best, you just force them to pretend to like you in public, but behind your back they still hate you, and they might even hate/resent you even more.
If I had been black, I would have just went around town flipping everyone off, and declaring independence from the United States. I'm not even black, and that is what I want to do. I hate the vast majority of Americans, and so do you.
Yes, basically what Elliott does is berate people for two hours. She insults them; makes them angry, hurt and defensive, then tells them that's how black people feel all the time because of white racism. She doesn't bother making arguments to support her claim that blacks are actually treated this way in real life, but just states it as fact. Then she gets participants to identify their own hurt feelings with blacks, and redirect the anger she has created in them toward the racists. I guess it's an effective strategy. It certainly seems to have worked well on you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Three Wolves In Snow
So yeah, I see a LOT of value in what Elliott teaches. Of course a white person will never know what it's like to live like that every single day, but to even have a tiny glimpse in to it will begin to help someone understand. What people miss is that it's not to say, "You are a racist pos" it's to say, 'Do you even realize that some people go through what you're going through in this two hour exercise, every. single. day? Do you GET that yet?'
There is nothing black people can do to prove that we are not inferior,
huh, stay in school, quit having babies, at least cut down on the crime, maybe get an education. at least learn something new every day. read a book. turn the boom box down at red light. i know personal responsibility . or if you dont want to do either just tell your running buddy to stop that.
its all in the black mans hands because you sure dont listen to white people thats trying to help
Bolded: Very true. I am white. That is exactly how it is. I do not see whites as a collective group, but you are right that I have seen blacks as a "group", and so do many, many, many white people, no matter how much they deny it. The proof of that is right here on CD. "When are the blacks going to....." "Why do black people....." I never see whites say, "When are whites going to..." "Why do white people..." except liberals who pretend that all white people are old, rich, non caring Conservatives, (even though many of those who say that idiotic stuff are white themselves). That's it.
You see black people as a "group?" Have you never been around many black people, perhaps, and that is why you feel that way?
And you'd better believe that there are black people who say things like "why do white people do so-and-so...?" Haven't you ever seen a black stand-up comedian before?
This Jane Elliott was from a town in Iowa that is 98% white. And she's qualified to teach me something about race relations? No way, no day.
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. Everyone has their strengths and weakneses and IMO, those strengths and weaknesses can be affected by gender based upon the physical makeup of the sexes but intellectually and socially we are all the same unless there are some sort of underlying psychological or other medical conditions at play.
