When you "fit" the description

[decocker 7,198]

I realize not everyone does. I live in the south, and there are people here who still harbor (hate? I think not. I think it's just stupidity, cuz how can you hate a person because of their skin color, whom you have never even met?) bad will towards blacks. The N word is common here. When. I hear it, I tell the user that it is unacceptable language, then remove myself from their presence. Will I change them? Maybe not, but I tried, and I stay away from that type of person because I don't tolerate such actions/words.

So what else can we do as individuals? There are enough smart people here that we should be able to brainstorm some good ideas.

i live in the south. there are people who harbor hatred and bad will towards black people (and hispanic people, because they are all illegal) because they are stupid.

if you live in the south and deny there are plenty of racists among us (mostly old white AND old black people, but some youngins too) then you're not being honest. or you need to get out more.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

It's not on either of us to do anything more than keep an open mind.

For example:

1. not trying to distort debates about race politics by making out that the white man now is just as oppressed as the black man then.
2. not assuming that the use of the N word is universal or isn't controversial among black Americans.

We're not about to save the world on an internet message board.

[DavenRoxy 1,073]

If you're asking so we can have a go-around about whether or not it is the things I've said it is, I have to say I'm really not interested in that. I have read arguments like this before many, many times and I know very well what is going on behind them.

Here you go

Thanks, wasn't sure what you were referring to.

I agree to a degree with what (I think) he meant. Not that whites today are repressed or suffer as black slaves did in the '20s. Rather, it seems as though anything a white person says that doesn't agree with a black person's agenda gets said white labeled a racist.

A good example is how Janelle2002 has accused me of such here. She thinks I am racist because of the things I have posted. Sure, it's hard to judge the true nature of a person solely from a forum, so I try to remember that and not go cut her like she deserves (thanks for the idea, Marvin). I know she is bitter for the hand life has dealt her and her family. I might be too, if I had to walk a mile in her moccasins. I also think if we were neighbors, she would never think that about me.

Slavery goes on today, and it's sad. Thankfully, the US has abolished it for the most part. And yes, it will take time to build bridges between families who were affected by that slavery and those of us who never had to live like that. You mentioned 7 short generations ago. But look how Japan rebuilt their war ravaged country. Or South Korea. It can be done. We have the smarts, we just need to eradicate the prejudices on BOTH sides.

I wish I could snap my fingers and make it all better. But all I can do is live my life and try to treat everyone as they deserve to be treated. I think racism will be here for quite a while yet. On all sides.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

i live in the south. there are people who harbor hatred and bad will towards black people (and hispanic people, because they are all illegal) because they are stupid.

if you live in the south and deny there are plenty of racists among us (mostly old white AND old black people, but some youngins too) then you're not being honest. or you need to get out more.

Way to go. You called black and Hispanics stupid and implied all people from the south are racist.

The Racist stuff that is posted here

SMH

[decocker 7,198]

Way to go. You called black and Hispanics stupid and implied all people from the south are racist.

The Racist stuff that is posted here

SMH

i can't help your comprehension issues. i assure you, not all people in the south are racist. racists, however, are stupid by default.

TRY HARDER.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

i can't help your comprehension issues. i assure you, not all people in the south are racist. racists, however, are stupid by default.

TRY HARDER.

But calling those racial groups stupid. Really Val ?

[DavenRoxy 1,073]

i live in the south. there are people who harbor hatred and bad will towards black people (and hispanic people, because they are all illegal) because they are stupid.

if you live in the south and deny there are plenty of racists among us (mostly old white AND old black people, but some youngins too) then you're not being honest. or you need to get out more.

Sweetie, I don't deny that racism still exists. Obviously it does. But my life is such that I am blessed to not live in a "suburb of sometown, USA" that has rampant hate, mistrust, or high crime happening. But sure there's racism. Will be for years. But that doesn't mean every time a black is arrested it's automatically racism or police brutality. Unfair treatment, even by officers of the law, exists all around, against all races. Even in foreign countries.

And aren't you in VA? That ain't the south...

ETA: As I sat here in the doctor's office typing, I was surrounded by mostly black folk. Talked to some. Didn't feel threatened at all. They were all nice, young and old alike. Go figure, no one tried to cut me.

Edited August 27, 2014 by DavenRoxy

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

But calling those racial groups stupid. Really Val ?

It's interesting that you're going down this route now after what you posted yesterday. Racism is OK if you make out that everyone is a racist. Brilliant

Seriously? No shame about writing that?

Sweetie, I don't deny that racism still exists. Obviously it does. But my life is such that I am blessed to not live in a "suburb of sometown, USA" that has rampant hate, mistrust, or high crime happening. But sure there's racism. Will be for years. But that doesn't mean every time a black is arrested it's automatically racism or police brutality. Unfair treatment, even by officers of the law, exists all around, against all races. Even in foreign countries.

And aren't you in VA? That ain't the south...

What's with the 'sweetie' stuff?

[decocker 7,198]

Sweetie, I don't deny that racism still exists. Obviously it does. But my life is such that I am blessed to not live in a "suburb of sometown, USA" that has rampant hate, mistrust, or high crime happening. But sure there's racism. Will be for years. But that doesn't mean every time a black is arrested it's automatically racism or police brutality. Unfair treatment, even by officers of the law, exists all around, against all races. Even in foreign countries.

And aren't you in VA? That ain't the south...

this is what i took issue with, specifically:

I live in the south, and there are people here who still harbor (hate? I think not. I think it's just stupidity, cuz how can you hate a person because of their skin color, whom you have never even met?) bad will towards blacks.

denying that there are people who habor hatred toward a specific racial demographic? but you don't deny racism exists?

i've never - actually no one here - has said that when a black person is arrested it's automatically because of racism or police brutality. and yet i keep reading that this is the general consensus of vj. why keep repeating something that's completely false?

i'm in northern virginia. i'm in a little armpit of a valley that taught me everything i'd ever need to know about racism, how it survives and how people facilitate it's well being - mostly without even being aware of it's existence.

and if you don't think virginia is the south, come on up here and say it. i'll have a couple good ol boys waiting on ya to splain it.

[DavenRoxy 1,073]

What's with the 'sweetie' stuff?

I'm trying to get tight with val like NB and Smoke (or was it Spooky?).

Actually it's how folks talk here in southern AL. Everyone is sweetie, honey, darling, sugar, etc.

Please don't be jealous, hon.

[decocker 7,198]

ETA: As I sat here in the doctor's office typing, I was surrounded by mostly black folk. Talked to some. Didn't feel threatened at all. They were all nice, young and old alike. Go figure, no one tried to cut me.

sounds like a fear you need to overcome. i wouldn't expect to feel threatened or expect to get cut when "surrounded" by black people. go figure.

[SMOKE 1,426]

What's with the 'sweetie' stuff?

its a term of endearment cuddle muffin.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I'm trying to get tight with val like NB and Smoke (or was it Spooky?).

Actually it's how folks talk here in southern AL. Everyone is sweetie, honey, darling, sugar, etc.

Please don't be jealous, hon.

In my experience if it's directed mostly at women, especially women you disagree with about issues you feel passionately about, it might be seen as an attempt to talk down to them.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Thanks, wasn't sure what you were referring to.

I agree to a degree with what (I think) he meant. Not that whites today are repressed or suffer as black slaves did in the '20s. Rather, it seems as though anything a white person says that doesn't agree with a black person's agenda gets said white labeled a racist.

A good example is how Janelle2002 has accused me of such here. She thinks I am racist because of the things I have posted. Sure, it's hard to judge the true nature of a person solely from a forum, so I try to remember that and not go cut her like she deserves (thanks for the idea, Marvin). I know she is bitter for the hand life has dealt her and her family. I might be too, if I had to walk a mile in her moccasins. I also think if we were neighbors, she would never think that about me.

Slavery goes on today, and it's sad. Thankfully, the US has abolished it for the most part. And yes, it will take time to build bridges between families who were affected by that slavery and those of us who never had to live like that. You mentioned 7 short generations ago. But look how Japan rebuilt their war ravaged country. Or South Korea. It can be done. We have the smarts, we just need to eradicate the prejudices on BOTH sides.

I wish I could snap my fingers and make it all better. But all I can do is live my life and try to treat everyone as they deserve to be treated. I think racism will be here for quite a while yet. On all sides.

I would say that there is indeed racism, but where there isn't there is an expectation of it because that's what people have come to expect. What I mean by that is that it isn't difficult to understand why many black Americans resent the government - after all, it's the same institutions of government that kept them as second class citizens in their own country.

Again it's worth pointing out that slavery formally ended about seven generations ago. Black social mobility only began around 1965 - that is still in living memory. When people have been kept from resources and the pursuit of happiness for about 200 years, the idea that they are going to magically overcome it in 50 years is fanciful to say the least.

The problem with me (or anyone) making this point is that you get called an apologist for violent black offenders - that because I think there is a connection between the past and the present that this somehow means i think that if a black guys murders someone I think he should somehow be excused for committing the crime. The Term 'White Guilt' was created for just this purpose - it isn't about trying to understand the issues, it's about further politicising them because the people doing it have an agenda, and that agenda is about pushing the narrative that black people are lazy and incompetent and can't run a piss-up in a brewery.

Whatever you feel about this issue, it is fundamentally wrong to attempt to deny black Americans their own history and the legacy arising from it. It might be inconvenient to have to deal with those issues when you hear about rioting in a poor black urban community, but there's a difference between understanding why it happens and making excuses for it.

Edited August 27, 2014 by Hail Ming!

[decocker 7,198]

its a term of endearment cuddle muffin.

and i thought we had something special.