Totenkopf Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 What's actually perplexing, but obviously VERY convenient, is the notion that one has to be politically powerful somehow to even qualify as racist. Still, I've met minorities that admit their own group is every bit as, or even more so, racist than the majority. I guess some people need a crutch to explain away many of their own personal failings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mur'phon Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 What's actually perplexing, but obviously VERY convenient, is the notion that one has to be politically powerful somehow to even qualify as racist. Still, I've met minorities that admit their own group is every bit as, or even more so, racist than the majority. The reason might be that it's far easier for someone politically powerfull to harm others by being racist. So equally racist: yes, equally harmed by racism: no. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarthJebus05 Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 That is disgusting. I'm white and I'm no racist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
millinniummany3 Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 Facing race issues all the time where I live, in as few words as possible my feelings are I don't want to be racist, I try not to be racist but when you look at the anti white sentiment from ethnic groups, whether it be the Delaware college putting it onto white people that they are racist or in my case being made responsible for ethnic victimization, it can be hard not to hold bad or even racist views and feelings towards them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Web Rider Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 Facing race issues all the time where I live, in as few words as possible my feelings are I don't want to be racist, I try not to be racist but when you look at the anti white sentiment from ethnic groups, whether it be the Delaware college putting it onto white people that they are racist or in my case being made responsible for ethnic victimization, it can be hard not to hold bad or even racist views and feelings towards them. So, it's OK for them to be racist at us, but it's not OK for us to be racist at them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patient_zero Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 I think it's fair to say that there probably have always been and will always be some sort of predjudice present. The ideal "equality utopia" people dream of is, well, a dream. Though personally my problem would be more with a "culture" being predjudice rather than people not liking each other. I mean, if you look at it everyone in this culture is stereotyped in some manner, whether they're male or female, black, white, asian or hispanic. So I think their attitude is wrong in that if they really want to do something about prejudice they should lean more on a "We all need to work together" approach, as even if it's basically the same thing under a different banner people will feel more inclined to think "Yes, we all should work together" instead of the current reaction of "But we're not all racist". Wording has a big impact on these sorts of campaigns, and in targeting a specific group as the problem they've already alienated that group from helping them achieve their goal. Rather counter-productive, no? I guess I could say I'm for the idea of anti-discrimination policies and education, but think they're going about it an a bad, bad way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
millinniummany3 Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 @ Web Rider: That seems to be how they think, though I don't want to try and second guess the enraged outlook. I will however give my perspective. A month ago we celebrated our national holiday and the indiginous community held a protest where they burned the flag. The common thinking is that were the same thing done to them it would trigger violence and allegations of racism. All the time white people are compared to Nazis invading other countries, and every white person is made out to be responsible for the government policy of removing indiginous children from poor living conditions. We are seeing something of a reenactment of this where police action is interveening in child abuse within the native settlements, a policy that is heavily criticized. It would seem that criticism of white people is allowed more readily than criticism of indiginous people, the thinking being fear of reprocussions both through physical confrontation and throuh calls of racism, but to be fair it could just as easily be trying to keep either side from going too far. Such fear of retalliation also shows in reaction to crimes committed by indiginous people, keeping in mind we do not have something like the LAPD's CRASH task force. Much like the African American and Latin communities where law enforcement are to tread carefully there are places here where it has been known for police to be called out to be ambushed, victims of crime do not report what's happened to them out of fear of reprisal and those who are arrested fuel the race issue with comments such as 'you hate me and are doing this because I'm black.' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcesious Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 I believe I may see what part of the problem is... Most of the black population now are Mexicans or of mexican decent. Many of these Mexicans and/or decendents of mexicans have come to the U.S via illegal immigration, and throughout their lives have known only hardship. If you've ever watched the world's most amazing police videos, you might notice that about 70% of the videos aired on the show, on Spike TV, include black skinned people being arrested for various crimes. Since many mexicans face hardships in the United States if they are illegal immigrants or dencendents of illegal immigrants, some of them, as seen in the police videos, do crazy crimes. However, this is not the real image of the black population in the United States, which is likely just as successful as the white population, and also to note, white people do all that crazy stuff too. It's just that when a black person will watch a show with police videos like that, it often gives them the wrong idea about the racial status of black skinned people. Also to note, as you may have noticed, many black people are rappers, and due to that, many black people are unfairly discriminated as being mostly gangsters and criminals. The problem simply is the way the media and entertainment buisnesses portray the black population often leads to them thinking that white skinned people are being racist towards them. And in order to solve that problem, it would help if the media and entertainment people would air shows showing many blacks being just like the white people they show on TV as being really nice, non-gangster like people and such. For example, movies, such as: City of Men, First Sunday, We own the night, American Gangster, and many more movies portray black people badly. I'm no racist, and I am white, but I completely understand why this university mentioned got so upset about racism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corinthian Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 Yeah, and Star Wars depicted Lando Calrissian as being a Lady's Man, thus enforcing stereotypes. You know, Big Trouble in Little China depicted Asians as being Magic-Wielding, further enforcing a stereotype of Asians as being occultists. Furthermore, Lo Pan was Asian. Good grief. If every race was as sensitive as the Vocal Black Community (Read: Al Sharpton) then nobody could say or do anything for five minutes without someone accusing them of being racists. Also, American Gangster is based on a true story. Most of it actually happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcesious Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 Still, even though that movie is based on a true story, many people think that is how all black people are in American Gangster, the way it depicts the black people as being gangsters just gives people the wrong idea... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Web Rider Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 I believe I may see what part of the problem is... Most of the black population now are Mexicans or of mexican decent. The US census actually includes most hispanics as "white" which is technically correct since most latin americans are more directly related to Spanish or Portuguese Europeans than to the indigenous tribes or africans. Which is not really my point, as the US census does not include hispanics, ie: mexicans and other latin countrymen below the border, with black. "Black" is almost purely for people who are distintly of african descent, some Jamacian, and anyone else who's not hispanic, asian, or white. However, I do agree in general with the rest of your statement, that the portrayal of blacks(and most minorities) in the media is not positive. But this is not merely a white-media problem, for examples: The George Lopez show is pretty much the same sort of family-sitcom you get with people of any race. The characters are the same molds, just not white. Ever watched BET(Black Entertainment Television)? They're not helping themselves, it presents a terribly stereotyped portrayal of blacks. There's no stuff about blacks acheiving high in education, politics, or anything outside hip-hop, rap, or sports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totenkopf Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 No doubt they would all say.."don't shoot the messenger". Perhaps, though, they should send a different message altogether. I always find it interesting that there is this knee jerk reaction that violence in the media is corrupting, but the glamorization of sex, drugs, misogyny, etc.. are merely realistic portrayals of people's behaviors that don't have an impact on that behavior. Perhaps if the media and pop culture made greater efforts to portray positive achievements by minorities, it might eventually take root. Not a panacea, mind you, but a definite step in the right direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
millinniummany3 Posted March 1, 2008 Share Posted March 1, 2008 I think it is sad that we have the racial stereotypes of rappers, gangsters, criminals who either through their own actions or through the media are representated of all black people, all people of a particular race or color. Not all African Americans are pimp drug suppliers but the media image is this is something of a stereotype. And what makes things worse is that some do nothing to help bring a positive image. The same as race gangs seem content to continue to push the stereotype of the people their skin color represents a number of those who are meant to be pushing for equality wear their racism (say a black man's racism against white people) on their sleeve, which harms their cause rather than helps it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weiser_Cain Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 Hi, I'm black. Gangs are about power and money. Race isn't really a factor either way. Why is this topic back? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totenkopf Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 Interesting. Just saw a documentary where they were talking about how hispanics could be part of black gangs till fairly recently. I think that race is part of of the equation b/c it adds an element of shared identity. Btw, not saying they said the exclusion was universal, but at least relevant to things like crips and bloods. How many African Americans are part of MS13? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamqd Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 Why is this topic back? Because it needs to be discussed. I'm white, and being branded a racist pisses me off, does that in fact make me a racist for not excepting my role as a racist? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
millinniummany3 Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 Why's this topic back? Because as uncomfortable as it may be the issue of white racism, black people being racist against white people, must be addressed if we are to work towards equality and reconciliation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Totenkopf Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 It's back b/c, like abortion/religion/politics/etc.. people never truly tire of these issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilentScope001 Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 Why's this topic back? Because as uncomfortable as it may be the issue of white racism, black people being racist against white people, must be addressed if we are to work towards equality and reconciliation. Or, maybe, we shouldn't bother about equality and reconciliation and just bury the hatchet? There is no reason to break open old wounds in order to try to 'heal' them, it just doesn't work. If we 'forget' the issues for the time being, and redirect our resources to more fruitful adventures, the world would be a better place. We got better things to worry about than try and heal centuries of racial tensions. Like the rise of enemy world powers, global warming, the resurgence of slavery, the national debt... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
millinniummany3 Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 I would love that, I would love for us to leave the past in the past. Sadly people on both sides of the conflict raise the issue, it is very much something that is always in our face in my country because indiginous people are given compensation for white settlement, for feeling they are victimized by policy of removing children from poor conditions. We as a country give land back, we make white people to blame for what is done to black people and pass on the sins of the father from generation to generation. White people living today are made responsible for crimes indiginous people lay at them, they are made to apologize and yet they still demand more land, more compensation, that what has been done for them is not enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth InSidious Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 We can't leave the past alone - it isn't a sequence of static, immutable past actions - it is an ongoing causative chain with effects here and now - from Qadesh to First Crusade to Stalingrad, all still have there effects today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JediMaster12 Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 Actually, Poiuy, Arabs are a race, and so are Jews. Not every Jew follows Judaism, and not everyone following Judaism is a Jew. Let me correct that: Arabs are an ethnicity, the general categorization based on similar cultural traditions. A Jew is a religious member, not a race. Judaism is a religious belief. A person coul be an Arab and a Jew but not all Jews are Arab. That is a common misconception of people when they classify Jews as a race. Technically within social science they are not. They are a religious group. The same thing happened with Hitler and his "master Aryan race." Aryan is actually a language, not the name of a group of people. See how easy it is to get misconceptions? The issue of racism cannot be put to rest because it is something that has existed for a long time and will not die out within our lifetime. Sure we have made great strides in terms of equality and justice but the fact is there are still those who cling to those ideals. Funny thing is that while it is a hatred of a particular group, it is based in fear. People are always afraid of what is different or the unknown. There is reluctance to downright hatred. I could liken it to the example of Green Eggs and Ham but people are not really that simple. We are complex beings capable of rational thought and reasoning, the distinguishment between us and animals. Sometimes it is irrational but that is due to ignorance, stupidity, lack of common sense, you name it. We keep this topic up because whether we like to admit it or not, it is still out there. Old hatreds die hard and it is hard to change hundreds of years worth of habit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilentScope001 Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 I would love that, I would love for us to leave the past in the past. We can't leave the past alone - it isn't a sequence of static, immutable past actions - it is an ongoing causative chain with effects here and now - from Qadesh to First Crusade to Stalingrad, all still have there effects today. Leave the past alone? That's not what I am advocating. I am advocating that we have done enough so that the crisis is already solved, and therefore, if we all agree that it's over and focus on more important events in the past, then we will be fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth InSidious Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 Leave the past alone? That's not what I am advocating. I am advocating that we have done enough so that the crisis is already solved, and therefore, if we all agree that it's over and focus on more important events in the past, then we will be fine. Actually, it was more in answer to millinniummany3, who seemed to be advocating just that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corinthian Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 Actually, Aryans are both a linguistic sub-branch, as well as referring to Indo-Iranians. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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