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You know what my experience is? It's that people generally get what they expect in others. In other words, if you expect racism, you'll find it. If you expect generosity, you'll find it. If you expect courtesy, you'll find it.
I also believe that we get back what we put forth in relationships, even casual ones. So if you're running into problems with white people you meet up with, then may I suggest you turn your focus inward and look closely at what you're bringing to the table yourself?
This is a very ignorant, blanket statement.How many White people do you know or interact with on a daily basis? I live in a state that is 92% White and people here are absolutely nothing like what you describe.
How do you know that they are not as I describe? Note that I have never said "all whites are racist," or "all whites discriminate against blacks." What I have said is that "all whites in the area in question (in this case Appalachian Kentucky) have been conditioned to believe in black inferiority and white superiority." And that I will stick to.
Quote:
This thread really makes me ashamed of being a "minority"- a large percentage
of minorities in this country are extremely ignorant and
uneducated.
I could debate with you until the cows come home - you being from Iowa, there are most likely many of them there - but the point is an area such as the Kentucky Appalachians is very, very hostile to African Americans. I think the real question you should ask yourself is how many actual black people do you know, and what do you know about their experience in this country?
You would really have to reach very, very far to brand me as ignorant and uneducated. And you would really come off as an idiot if you continued to try to do that.
In addition, I have traveled all over Iowa, you can find towns here with only 25 people deep in the country and I have never felt unwelcome anywhere I have been here.
I would say there is a huge number of Whites who live in small towns here in Iowa who are morbidly obese, have serious health problems, many do not have a college education, work some really crappy manufacturing/farming jobs and many have never even left the Midwest.
Because I have traveled through this country extensively, and have been to many places that most people don't go to like Northwestern Nebraska, I would say White privilege is a myth, there are lots of White people in this country living some really ****ty lives.
None of that is the point. The point would be whether these Whites living ****ty lives feel superior to Blacks, or whether they have been socialized to think so, or whether a scientific analysis would show that their lives still stand to be a bit more safe, or healthy, or prosperous compared to African Americans.
The wife and I lived in rural Eastern Kentucky for 3 years when we worked at a small University.
99% white and most of them were on welfare and they still "tried" to look down on us.
I also find it funny how many people in here choose to identify as white (for obvious reasons of course). No one wants to be at the bottom of the totem pole in the USA.
The wife and I lived in rural Eastern Kentucky for 3 years when we worked at a small University.
99% white and most of them were on welfare and they still "tried" to look down on us.
I also find it funny how many people in here choose to identify as white (for obvious reasons of course). No one wants to be at the bottom of the totem pole in the USA.
I hope it's okay for me to ask this question, because I don't want to be offensive or anything, but in your encounters with white people, do they generally treat you with respect, or are they typically rude to you and racist. I'm wondering about this because when I interact with the general public, I try to treat everyone, regardless of their race or ethnicity, with professionalism and courteousness, but I was wondering if minorities find this shocking or unusual.
Again, I hope I'm not being offensive, I just am genuinely curious about your experiences in the world, i.e. is racism constant and typical, or is it not typical but it's shocking and painful when it happens?
I actually find that I get along with the new white people I meet better than I do the new black people that I meet . If I need something, the whites I know are the first to step up to the plate. I remember when my late brother was in an auto accident and knocked out and his car caught alight.....a white guy pulled him out while black folks stood around.
I post a lot of things concerning race and racism, but it mostly has to do with the long term impact that past racism has had on black people. One does not have to be currently being beaten to be suffering from a beating and hence when people, like myself, talk about racism as a cause of current conditions, that does not mean that its the racism taking place right NOW.
That having been said, the racism that I see from whites and which I thing a significant percentage, if not a majority of whites posses, is the white supremacy over blacks in terms of intellectual capacity, capacity for hard work, capacity for love, capacity for personal responsibility and the like. I do not think by any means that whites today hate blacks....but I do glean from the collection of arguments that I read from whites that they subconsciously, if not consciously see blacks are inferior to whites in those things that I mention, and they discount past oppression as being responsible for these skews between blacks and whites behavior and actions.
So I do not see whites as being mean or rude....but when I listen to their politics.....especially from the right......I see all sorts of racism....but not the racism of hate....but rather....the racism of supremacy.
Most people are kind to me and treat me with respect, it is never shocking when a white person or any person treats me the same way I treat them. The times where I've noticed negative interactions with whites, it has honestly only happened amongst the white women in my age range(27-30) I've always figured it was competition thing--women that are attractive might be cattier toward other attractive women--and I say this because I've noticed only certain white women treat me that way and it tends to be the attractive ones, and honestly I can say that same about other black women. It's probably more of a woman thing than a race thing. Interestingly I've had some of the best interactions with white men, even white men in upper-management. They tend to like me as a person and treat me very kind. Overall I have positive experiences with white people and can say that I don't ever *feel* like threatened or awkward when interacting with white people. I've grown up in mostly white suburbia and honestly I'm actually accustomed to being in a mostly white environment, even one where the majority happens to be conservative. Then again, I'll never forget earlier this year when a black girl told me that the reason I get along great with white people is because I don't act like a typical black girl--whites can tell that I come from an upper middle class background so they don't feel threatened by your presence". I don't know if that has anything to do with it. My ex-fiance, grew up in a working middle class environment and it'd be very easy to associate him in with some of the more unfavorable stereotypes thrown out by conservatives about black men-based on his appearance, vernacular, demeanor, the fact that at one point he did live in the hood. Yet he mainly has only ever had positive experiences with whites too--in fact to this day, he's the only person I know that literally can walk into a room and talk to anybody for a long time, and at the end of conversation get invited to do a job interview or asked to hang out. He recently moved to North Dakota and went to a church and he was the only black guy there. What happened? The pastor greeted him with open arms, and he met a member that same day and he went home with that church member and they watched football all day, drank beers, etc he met the man's wife and kids, had dinner with them, spent all day with them. I could go on and on but he has these experiences often. I found it bizarre when we dated, because it happened so often. His cousin said that, it's because he's a light skinned pretty boy and that he doesn't look threatening. So I guess my point through this ramble lol, is that I think overall the interactions between whites and blacks are positive, and this is especially the case when neither group feels threatened by one another. Still, I know that my dad has had more negative experiences with whites than positive(according to him), and my grandmother as well. So who knows.
I appreciate your post particularly because I have been white for 63 years, lived in seven different states, had five different careers, various hobbies and community work. Most of my interactions for 63 years have been with white people in many different corners of this country, and I have only experienced racial animosity from a white person three times in 63 years. One was when I was young and a neighbor hated Japanese from their experience in WWII. The other two were Hispanic related. If whites spent inordinate amount of time dissing blacks or being racist wouldn't I have picked it up by now?
Most white people go out of their way to respond respectfully to blacks and other races.
I think the media and both political parties have done an injustice in keeping us hyped and alarmed that there is all this racial tension, when there really isn't. Two of my best friends are Hispanic, but I am totally against illegal immigration - that does not make me a racist. But if you follow some political and media persuasions that means I hate and am abusive to Hispanics.
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. If I need something, the whites I know are the first to step up to the plate. I remember when my late brother was in an auto accident and knocked out and his car caught alight.....a white guy pulled him out while black folks stood around. 
