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You are clearly an intelligent person, who appears to be able to see things as they are w/ respect to race, which is often difficult for many white americans.
This is off the topic, but it's interesting that people often discuss Muslims as though they are a separate culture, when in fact, any race can be Muslim (since it's a religion). Islam is actually the fastest growing religion in the world. Also, although Arabs are often viewed as the dominate Muslim group, the actual numbers indicate that Asians make up the largest number of Muslims, followed by Africans/Black people. There is also a substantial number of European Muslims as well.
I am not sure why so many people tend to view Islam as a race/culture and not a religion.. but don't apply the same line of thinking to Christianity. My guess is, the media plays a huge role in propagating the notion that all Muslims are of the Arab culture. As an aside, there are a number of Arabs who are Orthodox Christian or Jews, but this is rarely if ever discussed.
The media perpetuates this by using the term "Islamophobia" instead of terms such as anti-muslim bias or muslimophobia - or some other accurate term which denotes the bigotry towards the person.
While Islam is in fact just a voluntary ideology (a religious one) - and as an ideology will naturally contain precepts and beliefs others find distasteful if not downright repugnant - the idea that it is beyond criticism (Islamophobia) is just preposterous. I disagree with your ideology's sexism, its homophobia, its castigation of apostates, its different treatment or taxing of other religions etc etc. Now I'm islamophobic? I'm bigoted? Get outta here. And putting the ideology above criticism or reproach is exactly what happens in fascist countries and authoritarian theocracies.
The notion commonly peddled nowadays that being against a voluntarily held ideology is somehow equivalent to being bigoted against something that is inherent to a person and genetically determined (like race, sex, sexuality) is just laughable. If a person is black or a woman it tells you nothing about the person, what they believe or what they do, it only tells you that they are black or a woman. If a person has an ideology - they believe in Islam, they believe in veganism, they believe in capitalism - then it tells you what that persons thoughts are and what their likely actions are since they come from thoughts. There is no equivalency whatsoever.
To OP. Racism will never end..everyone faces racism even Caucasians. .. Deal with it and grow a pair. Its not the end of the world.
Colin Flaherty on YouTube exposes black on white racism
To OP. Racism will never end..everyone faces racism even Caucasians. .. Deal with it and grow a pair. Its not the end of the world.
Colin Flaherty on YouTube exposes black on white racism
Thank you! At the end of the day, racism is having an opinion or preference in which, all else being equal, one person views another (for better or worse) a bit differently based on their race. If those biases lead one to criminal activity, that's another story.
You're right that racism will never end. It was present before those of us on this forum were born and will continue to be present after we're all dead.
The part about a civil society (laws/rights/[usually] civilized people) is spot on. If people act on their racism in criminal ways, the victim has legal recourse. If the racists just continues to have a bias in favor or against others based on their race, so be it.
Speaking of, you know who I gained a lot of respect for recently? A rapper named Lil Wayne. Not a fan of his music personally (More of an old school Hip Hop fan myself) but he went against the grain recently and admitted basically that he has NEVER encountered racism and that he feels blessed.
He basically thinks that from his personal opinion it really doesn't exist from what he has experienced.
Sadly other blacks are coming down on him hard and calling him an uncle tom for saying what he said. Why? You tell me! god forbid a black person have a different opinion on the matter (or anyone else for that matter)
I urge folks to watch this interview, he is a very smart man and deep independent thinker it seems without taking in too much outside influence on "How he should think just because he is black". I admire that.
P.S. Just LOOK how hard those reporters are getting him to change his opinion and admit something something exists that he clearly believes doesn't. It's like they couldn't believe someone went against what they were SUPPOSED to think. They tried hitting him from all angles!
You outlined the problem there when you said supposedly "Blacks" are coming down on little Wayne. If you rewatch that video, you see two different Black men with very different experiences and outlooks on life.
Along those lines, different Black people of course would have different reactions to what little Wayne said, and that would be based on their different perspectives and experiences.
I am glad lil Wayne did say he is blessed, not just because of the way police said he was shot, but most Americans regardless of race do not get to become millionaire entertainers. He acknowledge his good fortune. The Black reporter who mentioned being called ****** and other racist things, though of course it is not good to be on the receiving end of those things, is still in a place far beyond the average person.
But back to even asking lil Wayne those questions, the man is an entertainer and I'm not even sure if he should have been put on the spot. He was not attempting to speak for all Black people, he was speaking from his personal experience, and nor did he say that hateful things never happened. He said they never happened to him.
Black and Hispanics commit 90% of the violent crime in NYC. Given the statistics, people are going to be guarded towards strangers with a high probability of committing a crime towards them.
Although I find this thread about purse clutching and other petty nothings kind of silly and would normally avoid posting within, I have to note that I always find it ironic how you "statisticians" frequently make such claims as above, then are the very individuals whining about being wrongly accused of or suspected of racism. If you rationalize behavior toward a group due to crude statistical occurrences, take care not to yourself whine about being suspected of something your own identified group has a deep historical and current incidence of.
Although I find this thread about purse clutching and other petty nothings kind of silly and would normally avoid posting within, I have to note that I always find it ironic how you "statisticians" frequently make such claims as above, then are the very individuals whining about being wrongly accused of or suspected of racism. If you rationalize behavior toward a group due to crude statistical occurrences, take care not to yourself whine about being suspected of something your own identified group has a deep historical and current incidence of.
I was merely pointing out the end result. African Americans have legit claim to reparations for what America's past has done to them. The endless cycles of poverty, denial of education, housing, and economic opportunities can lead someone to a life of crime. The OP question was why people are guarded towards black people in NYC and the way the system is built there is a high likelihood that if someone going to commit a violent crime that person will be Black or Hispanic.
In addition, I say this as a Hispanic person who struggles with the merits of capitalism and the inequality it generates. While I enjoy the fruit of my labor and being able to earn more than others through my hard work, I also feel the discontent on how stacked the deck is against a poor person in moving up the economic ladder. In NYC, you have plenty of limousine liberals who considers themselves a champion of the poor, but would never give up the privileges they have (see school segregation).
I was merely pointing out the end result. African Americans have legit claim to reparations for what America's past has done to them. The endless cycles of poverty, denial of education, housing, and economic opportunities can lead someone to a life of crime. The OP question was why people are guarded towards black people in NYC and the way the system is built there is a high likelihood that if someone going to commit a violent crime that person will be Black or Hispanic.
In addition, I say this as a Hispanic person who struggles with the merits of capitalism and the inequality it generates. While I enjoy the fruit of my labor and being able to earn more than others through my hard work, I also feel the discontent on how stacked the deck is against a poor person in moving up the economic ladder. In NYC, you have plenty of limousine liberals who considers themselves a champion of the poor, but would never give up the privileges they have (see school segregation).
These days, we don't really have capitalism in the US as the government has grown so much (those that are in bed with then government are much more likely to succeed than those who aren't government-connected). That said, capitalism is what allows for income mobility and what allows for those born into difficult circumstances to accumulate wealth (as you have) -- accumulate wealth just means working/being productive and growing one's assets (not necessarily becoming the next Bill Gates).
Inequality in and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing. We don't all add the same amount of value to the economy, so there is no reason for us to all have the same income/wealth. While I'd gladly take Mark Zuckerberg's wealth, it would be hard for me to make the case that I've added as much to the economy as he has. Inequality is certainly a better system than one in which all are allocated the same wealth, thereby eliminating peoples' incentive to achieve.
These days, we don't really have capitalism in the US as the government has grown so much (those that are in bed with then government are much more likely to succeed than those who aren't government-connected). That said, capitalism is what allows for income mobility and what allows for those born into difficult circumstances to accumulate wealth (as you have) -- accumulate wealth just means working/being productive and growing one's assets (not necessarily becoming the next Bill Gates).
Inequality in and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing. We don't all add the same amount of value to the economy, so there is no reason for us to all have the same income/wealth. While I'd gladly take Mark Zuckerberg's wealth, it would be hard for me to make the case that I've added as much to the economy as he has. Inequality is certainly a better system than one in which all are allocated the same wealth, thereby eliminating peoples' incentive to achieve.
The problem is we all don't start and travel the same path. Mark Zuckerberg/Bill Gates being born to wealthy families can afford them to receive outstanding private school education that merely going to Harvard is a trivial matter to them as they already had exposure to the curriculum and expectation at a young age allowing both of them to dropout of Harvard. Biggest indicator of child future success is based on parent's education level and economic standing.
Being born into poverty has many obstacles such as positive role model, lack of mobility and resources to go to a decent public school. It takes money to make money in a capitalist society, it is far easier to accumulating wealth when you already have wealth (tax code, compound interest, and inflation makes it an uphill battle).
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