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LMAO... Your comments are quite "bold" too. I'd say they are refreshing. Good to see some honesty around here instead of the same old boring topics being discussed and everyone being so "politically correct". Makes me want to barf. In response to your comment, I think that's an interesting assessment and it would be interesting to hear what blacks have to say. I think some blacks feel as if they are tired of the "establishment" and thus become angry and hostile over the simplest of things.
Any oppressed group will grow hostile to the "establishment" whatever that is supposed to mean. So that has nothing to do with race.
Or perhaps it doesn't seem to bother you that slavery existed in a country where men were said to be equal, in an age of "liberty".
So I'm white and I'm riding the Staten Island ferry to St. George on the 11:00. I'm reading a book. An African American man sits down two seats away and proceeds to begin playing some game on his tablet involving a great deal of bell, whistle and zinging sounds. You can hear it a good ten feet away. A few passengers kind of roll their eyes.
I consider it a universal rule in polite society, no matter how unheeded it may be in this city, that you do not invade anyone else's sensory space with your device. (There are posters on the ferry with messages to this effect.)
So I say verbatim in the most neutral tone possible: "Sir, could you please turn down your sound?"
Silence/ignoring me.
I repeat: "Sir, could you please turn down your sound."
I am eyed over his sunglasses. "What?"
"Could you please turn down your volume?"
"You want me to what? Nobody is bothered but you. What is this? A concert? A club? This thing making you go deaf?"
He was big. I am not. He was black. I am white. And like so many daily incidents of intolerance in this city and in this country, we left it right there, with a massive moment of intolerance as lethal as any act of actual violence. I put my book away and walked off to another part of the boat.
I'm not going to say I was the loser here because that's not the point. We're all losers when something like this happens. What kind of monstrous place have we created where two humans of different races living in the same country cannot even agree on the basics of public decorum?
I'm from southern Virginia by the way. I have seen racism that puts the Eric Garner incident to freaking shame, yet I am appalled, after not having lived in New York for that long, at how little contact there is between whites and blacks in this city, how little communication. In the absence of real dialogue, the slightest interactions take on the aspect of a premeditated insult.
This is an awful, awful state of affairs and we are all diminished because of it.
Was there some other way I could have approached this situation? Something else I could have said?
No. You asked him politely and in a civilized world most people would've done as you asked. But sometimes we have to deal with an ignorant group known as the black undertow. Because they have so little in their life, and because the media has convinced them that they are forevermore victims of racism, they love nothing more than to be a nuisance to "white society" (yes, that's how they view you) and to get on your nerves over the littlest things such as blaring their loud hip-hop music or walking slow as molasses across the street during rush hour. It's called microaggressive racism. He knows he's powerless so he thinks he's getting one over on "the man" (that would be you, because you're white and a man, therefore you represent the invisible oppressor in his life) by being obnoxious and refusing to play by "your rules" (i.e. the white man's rules, because apparently civility is a white thing).
I've had to deal with this kind of anti-social behavior too. We all have. My advice- don't take their pathology personally. They have deep problems that nobody can help them with. Putting your book away and finding another part of the boat to sit is the best you can do in these situations. Don't let them sink you down to their level. Always be the better person.
You should read "The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews." The fact is the Jews dominated the Atlantic Slave Trade, and were far more likely to own slaves than white gentiles, and not just for financial reasons.
Blacks are whites are not necessarily enemies. Each group should make themselves aware of Jewish power, then misunderstandings will be less likely to occur.
White gentiles don't run this country. It's run by you-know-who.
Ok...sure. So Jews are your scapegoat. sounds familiar doesn't it.
No. You asked him politely and in a civilized world most people would've done as you asked. But sometimes we have to deal with an ignorant group known as the black undertow. Because they have so little in their life, and because the media has convinced them that they are forevermore victims of racism, they love nothing more than to be a nuisance to "white society" (yes, that's how they view you) and to get on your nerves over the littlest things such as blaring their loud hip-hop music or walking slow as molasses across the street during rush hour. It's called microaggressive racism. He knows he's powerless so he thinks he's getting one over on "the man" (that would be you, because you're white and a man, therefore you represent the invisible oppressor in his life) by being obnoxious and refusing to play by "your rules" (i.e. the white man's rules, because apparently civility is a white thing).
I've had to deal with this kind of anti-social behavior too. We all have. My advice- don't take their pathology personally. They have deep problems that nobody can help them with. Putting your book away and finding another part of the boat to sit is the best you can do in these situations. Don't let them sink you down to their level. Always be the better person.
If this was a white person playing a loud video game the reaction and perception wouldn't be the same.
So I'm white and I'm riding the Staten Island ferry to St. George on the 11:00. I'm reading a book. An African American man sits down two seats away and proceeds to begin playing some game on his tablet involving a great deal of bell, whistle and zinging sounds. You can hear it a good ten feet away. A few passengers kind of roll their eyes.
I consider it a universal rule in polite society, no matter how unheeded it may be in this city, that you do not invade anyone else's sensory space with your device. (There are posters on the ferry with messages to this effect.)
So I say verbatim in the most neutral tone possible: "Sir, could you please turn down your sound?"
Silence/ignoring me.
I repeat: "Sir, could you please turn down your sound."
I am eyed over his sunglasses. "What?"
"Could you please turn down your volume?"
"You want me to what? Nobody is bothered but you. What is this? A concert? A club? This thing making you go deaf?"
He was big. I am not. He was black. I am white. And like so many daily incidents of intolerance in this city and in this country, we left it right there, with a massive moment of intolerance as lethal as any act of actual violence. I put my book away and walked off to another part of the boat.
I'm not going to say I was the loser here because that's not the point. We're all losers when something like this happens. What kind of monstrous place have we created where two humans of different races living in the same country cannot even agree on the basics of public decorum?
I'm from southern Virginia by the way. I have seen racism that puts the Eric Garner incident to freaking shame, yet I am appalled, after not having lived in New York for that long, at how little contact there is between whites and blacks in this city, how little communication. In the absence of real dialogue, the slightest interactions take on the aspect of a premeditated insult.
This is an awful, awful state of affairs and we are all diminished because of it.
Was there some other way I could have approached this situation? Something else I could have said?
I don't really see how racism has anything to do with it. The guy was a douche point blank but he is one person and is not indicative of every black male in this city.
I don't really see how racism has anything to do with it. The guy was a douche point blank but he is one person and is not indicative of every black male in this city.
I don't either.
but you have people with the belief that anything that involves a black person, and especially if its likely to be negative, is applied to the entire black race.
If this was a white person playing loud the reaction and perception wouldn't be the same.
If it were a white person playing loud music on a train or boat I'm fairly certain that a few folks other than the OP would've spoken up and asked him to turn it down. If he had refused then somebody would've reported him. Unfortunately, the racial composition of the people involved in such everyday interactions suddenly becomes laced with racist intent whether it was there or not. I'm not saying this is right, I'm just saying that's how it seems to be (not with everybody but with a lot of people).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Relaxx
Any oppressed group will grow hostile to the "establishment" whatever that is supposed to mean. So that has nothing to do with race.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hhp3333
I think some blacks feel as if they are tired of the "establishment" and thus become angry and hostile over the simplest of things.
Just because he didn't do what you wanted and he happened to be a different race doesn't mean he was a racist. Do you get everything you want from white people?
If it were a white person playing loud music on a train or boat I'm fairly certain that a few folks other than the OP would've spoken up and asked him to turn it down. If he had refused then somebody would've reported him. Unfortunately, the racial composition of the people involved in such everyday interactions suddenly becomes laced with racist intent whether it was there or not. I'm not saying this is right, I'm just saying that's how it seems to be (not with everybody but with a lot of people).
Then saying its laced with racist intent is for the most part TRUE. as far as general reaction and perception.
Oh give me a break. The guy was a douchebag plain and simple and probably knew it. What does race have to do with it? Are you implying that white people are a bunch of weenies who just take it in the name of being civilized? I've seen whites be equally confrontational with other whites, especially in cattle car environments like public transit. Something about being in close quarters gets people chippy. Since we're supposedly being refreshingly real here, let's see situations for what they are on a basic human level here..an azzhole was being an azzhole and you decided to speak up. He didn't agree. You chose to leave it alone, which is what many would do regardless of the race involved because confrontations aren't usually the best way to go. This is just another exercise in stereotyping races..big black hyper aggressive black guy, the milder mannered white guy, yada yada.
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I'd say they are refreshing. Good to see some honesty around here instead of the same old boring topics being discussed and everyone being so "politically correct". Makes me want to barf. In response to your comment, I think that's an interesting assessment and it would be interesting to hear what blacks have to say. I think some blacks feel as if they are tired of the "establishment" and thus become angry and hostile over the simplest of things.
