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Apart from all the statistics and rationalizing, how about some personal experience.
I got to this country 24 years ago. Black people haven't been in my life at all up to that point, so my feeling about blacks was entirely neutral. Having been in The US, I've certainly encountred into a black people - in school, at work, and other public places. My opinion started to form after those encounters. The overall impression about american blacks is clearly not as good as is my feeling about american whites or Asians.
Why do you, pirate_lafitte, think, my impression about american blacks is not good? Some kind of rasist gene got awoken in me? Or do you think, those blacks I have encountered somehow earned what I think of them?
Apart from all the statistics and rationalizing, how about some personal experience.
I got to this country 24 years ago. Black people haven't been in my life at all up to that point, so my feeling about blacks was entirely neutral. Having been in The US, I've certainly encountred into a black people - in school, at work, and other public places. My opinion started to form after those encounters. The overall impression about american blacks is clearly not as good as is my feeling about american whites or Asians. Why do you, pirate_lafitte, think, my impression about american blacks is not good? Some kind of rasist gene got awoken in me? Or do you think, those blacks I have encountered somehow earned what I think of them?
Probably because you haven't been around me. I met a Romanian kid. He tried to cheat me out of something. Did this mean I thought of all Romanian people as bad? No way. I knew better than to think something like that, and I wouldn't like it if someone thought of me as "troublemaker" based on the actions of a few people. Something else. I have been mistreated by many Southern White persons. Does this mean I should hate on all White people from the South? No, and I don't. I don't identify as a Southerner, but I don't hate all Southerners. I keep remembering each person is different. By the way, what kind of work do you do? I am in college and I am around Black people who don't fit all of the bad stereotypes. I had the misfortune of having Black roommates who fit alot of the bad stereotypes, but it hasn't given me a bad impression of Black people. I was just around a few bad persons. So what? I have worked my share of low wage jobs while in college and I did run into a few African-Americans who fit some of the bad stereotypes. Perhaps it was that work environment versus the college environment I am in. I have basically learned to take persons as individuals dealing with them. I hope that you would do the same. You had a few bad personal experiences. Maybe you need to look harder, for those who don't fit all of the bad stereotypes. Here is a question: How does it help me for you to view all Black people in a bad light? How does it help you if I were to view all people of your ethnicity in a bad light just because of a few people?
Probably because you haven't been around me. I met a Romanian kid. He tried to cheat me out of something. Did this mean I thought of all Romanian people as bad? No way. I knew better than to think something like that, and I wouldn't like it if someone thought of me as "troublemaker" based on the actions of a few people. Something else. I have been mistreated by many Southern White persons. Does this mean I should hate on all White people from the South? No, and I don't. I don't identify as a Southerner, but I don't hate all Southerners. I keep remembering each person is different. By the way, what kind of work do you do? I am in college and I am around Black people who don't fit all of the bad stereotypes. I had the misfortune of having Black roommates who fit alot of the bad stereotypes, but it hasn't given me a bad impression of Black people. I was just around a few bad persons. So what? I have worked my share of low wage jobs while in college and I did run into a few African-Americans who fit some of the bad stereotypes. Perhaps it was that work environment versus the college environment I am in. I have basically learned to take persons as individuals dealing with them. I hope that you would do the same. You had a few bad personal experiences. Maybe you need to look harder, for those who don't fit all of the bad stereotypes. Here is a question: How does it help me for you to view all Black people in a bad light? How does it help you if I were to view all people of your ethnicity in a bad light just because of a few people?
Your logic and reasoning is flawed by your inability to see the facts. He said he dealt with black people, not a black person, and that is where he garnered his opinion. You are trying to make it seem that he became jaded by ONE, which is not what he said.
Everybody indeed is a separate person, but when I see a black young man on tv arrested for a crime, and he's wearing baggy pants and a shirt that falls to his knees, to cover the fact that he wears his pants there, my opinion is set that I'd better be more aware of young black men that appear that way.
Your logic and reasoning is flawed by your inability to see the facts. He said he dealt with black people, not a black person, and that is where he garnered his opinion. You are trying to make it seem that he became jaded by ONE, which is not what he said.
Everybody indeed is a separate person, but when I see a black young man on tv arrested for a crime, and he's wearing baggy pants and a shirt that falls to his knees, to cover the fact that he wears his pants there, my opinion is set that I'd better be more aware of young black men that appear that way.
I have dealt with Black people as well. And what have I learned? Not all of them are thugs or criminals, or even appear as such. Some may act like "wannabe thugs". I also mentioned that I have dealt with Black people. I go to college with otherwise educated men who dress like that sometimes. To them, it is a fashion statement. I am not saying I like that fashion statement. because I don't. I am just saying that is just a fashion statement. I wouldn't advise that teenagers and young men wear such clothing, mainly for this reason: Alot of people believe everything they hear on the news and will make quick judgments based on what you wear. Personally, I don't like that kind of fashion.
As much as I am annoyed by the particular fashion trend you mentioned, most people who wear those kinds of clothes aren't criminals, but people who mimic the hip-hop artists they see on BET. And for what it's worth, I don't watch the news much anymore because images like what you described are all you see. I don't believe everything I see on the news because how does it help me? How does it make me more aware of persons dressing a certain way? It isn't helping me because alot of people will actually listen to that garbage and then people will make very quick judgments on me(and other people who look like me) based on what they hear on the news? We are all individuals, but it doesn't mean that all people will think with that perspective as I have learned. This is why watching the local news isn't always a good idea. People who look like me are more likely to be portrayed in the media as criminals. Statistically, the number of murders committed by both Blacks and Whites are very close in number and yet I see Blacks portrayed in the media as criminals in disproportionate numbers.
Last edited by green_mariner; 01-21-2010 at 08:44 AM..
ok, you just made the entire point of this thread, while trying to disprove it.
"the number of murders committed by both blacks and whites are very close in number and yet i see blacks portrayed in the media as criminals in disproportionate numbers"
so you are saying, if there are 10,000 white men in a town, and 4,000 black men in that town, and 500 white men are murderers and 450 black men are criminals, the minority commits a very HIGH number of crimes, per person
ok, you just made the entire point of this thread, while trying to disprove it.
"the number of murders committed by both blacks and whites are very close in number and yet i see blacks portrayed in the media as criminals in disproportionate numbers"
so you are saying, if there are 10,000 white men in a town, and 4,000 black men in that town, and 500 white men are murderers and 450 black men are criminals, the minority commits a very HIGH number of crimes, per person
That is per person. The media is still distorting things.
That is per person. The media is still distorting things.
It really does. Look at that show Jersey Shore. Now, I'm sure there are plenty of numb nuts out there taking this segment of Italian Americans, and assuming it's an appropriate stereotype to apply the broad brush willy nilly.
It really does. Look at that show Jersey Shore. Now, I'm sure there are plenty of numb nuts out there taking this segment of Italian Americans, and assuming it's an appropriate stereotype to apply the broad brush willy nilly.
why is it on real shows on TV--The First 48, Cops, etc----------you can almost always expect to see minorities getting arrested?
It really does. Look at that show Jersey Shore. Now, I'm sure there are plenty of numb nuts out there taking this segment of Italian Americans, and assuming it's an appropriate stereotype to apply the broad brush willy nilly.
The media will do stuff like that. This is part of why I am gravitating more to documentaries and independent media. The media I am seeing out there is starting to depress me.
This is my outlook: I see the stats, but this is how I take them. I don't use them as a reason to be scared of other people. Unfortunately, I am seeing more people using the stats as an excuse to paint everyone with the same broad paintbrush. What about those who don't fit that stereotype? In many ways, it can be damaging. Some people will believe stereotypes so easily that results can be disturbing. There are people who will flat out leave a neighborhood if even one Black family decides to move in, regardless of whether or not that family is good or bad. No chances, just a knee-jerk response. Or even worse, some people will use stereotypes as a reason to not hire someone of a certain race or ethnicity, pretty much ruining a job opportunity for someone who might actually be a hard worker. It can, and in some cases, does go that far. Stereotypes and prejudice can do more than just hurt someone with name calling. Treating people unfairly based on the actions on a few people that look like them, even to the point of some people not having jobs or someone being harrassed in a store. Some people try to rationalize this with stats. What about the persons who aren't part of those stats or aren't doing bad things? Should they suffer for the stereotypes of someone else?
why is it on real shows on TV--The First 48, Cops, etc----------you can almost always expect to see minorities getting arrested?
because the media man is keeping them down
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