Racism endures
By Steve Benen Thursday Jun 28, 2007 8:23amAs Rick Perlstein noted, "The 'racism isn't a problem any more' trope is a perennial in America. Next time you hear it, send them the news from Jena, Louisiana."
In September 2006, a group of African American high school students in Jena, Louisiana, asked the school for permission to sit beneath a "whites only" shade tree. There was an unwritten rule that blacks couldn't sit beneath the tree. The school said they didn't care where students sat. The next day, students arrived at school to see three nooses (in school colors) hanging from the tree....
The boys who hung the nooses were suspended from school for a few days. The school administration chalked it up as a harmless prank, but Jena's black population didn't take it so lightly. Fights and unrest started breaking out at school. The District Attorney, Reed Walters, was called in to directly address black students at the school and told them all he could "end their life with a stroke of the pen."
Black students were assaulted at white parties. A white man drew a loaded rifle on three black teens at a local convenience store. (They wrestled it from him and ran away.) Someone tried to burn down the school, and on December 4th, a fight broke out that led to six black students being charged with attempted murder. To his word, the D.A. pushed for maximum charges, which carry sentences of eighty years. Four of the six are being tried as adults (ages 17 & 18) and two are juveniles....
The mind reels.
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My mother's family is from a small town in Georgia, and every time I go back there I never fail to be stunned by the overt prejudice that's a part of daily life. For example, a child was excluded from a summer bible school for kids because he was black. Un-fucking-believable.
America, love it or leave it?
I'm fuckin outta here.
Thank the maker that I'm not black.
For this DA, one gets the stereotypical Hollywood image of a southern white lawyer parading around a warm court room dabbing his forehead with a kerchief and uttering things like, "...What we have heah is a failyah to communicate..." and as it's Louisiana with an "I garontee" thrown in for measure. Yeah that image is really clear, and with this story now reinforced.
Affirmative action is racism.
Affirmative action is racism.
Affirmative action is racism.
That's all we heard yesterday from the lily white talking heads.
Affirmative action is racism.
There was a programme about this on the BBC in the UK back in May. I can't find it on YT but here's a link with a bit more info. Not much more but you might find it interesting.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/this_world/6685441.stm
Andy
London, UK
Affirmative action is racism.
Deal with it. Blacks in this country have been given "reparations" in the form of special treatment for decades now. It has worked and has opened opportunities that wouldn't otherwise have existed. At a certain point, though, you have to cut the cord.
That point is now. Many Blacks don't like this because it's kind of scary, but they'll be thankful 10 years from now when no one can say "you were an affirmative action hire." People will succeed because of their own abilities, work ethic, toughness and determination, period, as it should be. The opportunities are there if you want to work hard enough.
We had the same debate about workfare/welfare and workfare was the right choice. Time for affirmative action to end.
Hmm, speaking as a white dude, I found it truly pathetic that shit like this is still happening. Thank the Republican party for making whites comfortable with their racism.
My advice to my racist white brothers down south... you know, nobody said you have to love other races, just fucking tolerate 'em, OK? Is that too much to ask? Or, do you truly consider yourself superior because of the color of your skin? Please tell me you aren't that stupid.
oh, and that's not to say racism isn't a problem. it is, but life's full of problems. and government will never end racism. nothing will.
government can simply punish those who commit crimes, including race-based crimes, as is always the job of government.
Simon White-Thatch Potentloins @ 8:
I think you got your answer yesterday.
Unfortunetly, we will always have racism in this country. Black americans claim to be different than white americans on a cultural level. No one ignores an interracial couple. They always stare. I dated interracially in North Carolina when I was younger and seen racism from both sides. It was horrible and Black men were the most hateful about it.The most vocal. Whites just would not serve us in most restuarants until I said we were ready to order about 5 times. Every waitress asked if the bill was seperate or together and that never happened when I dated a white women. It was always assumed I was paying. Long story short, there always will be racism.
"Affirmative action is racism."
I teach a diverse population of at-risk children in Michigan. They are in the 8th grade, but due to their, eh, "extra-curricular activities" (drugs, gangs, prostitution, armed robbery, skipping school to do drugs with their mothers . . .etc) they tend to be one or two years behind in their studies. I am a Liberal, no doubt about it, but when it comes to affirmative action I am at a loss. Often my students do not understand what it is, so imagine trying to explain to a group of man-sized 8th graders, of many different skin colors, who all come from the same neighborhoods and the same socio-economic conditions, that affirmative action is a good thing because at least those with darker skin will get an extra helping hand when they apply for college or a job.
Something about this has never quite squared with me.
That being said, what these brats did in Louisiana is sick, and I am glad to see that they are having the book thrown at them. Still, fighting racism with racism will never solve the problem.
Racism endures. True. Some whites continue to mistreat blacks. Some blacks continue to mistreat whites. Mexicans and blacks fight it out in L.A. EVERYBODY has an issue with SOMEBODY.
It's more accurate to say, "Discrimation endures." Christians routinely fight to block Pagans and others from having equal access and speech.
More than anything, the POOR are discriminated against in this country, regardless of their color. I live in a very poor neighborhood in central Arkansas where, as a white man, I frequently am ignored and even openly insulted by black people (such as the Kroger clerk who routinely ignores my "How are ya?" while she chats away with the black folks in front of me and behind me in line).
BTW, if you want to see a great example of discrimation, go to your local library and open any book of scholarships/financial aid for colleges. You will find dozens of pages for "African-Americans" but not a single entry for whites. It's okay to provide special aid to poor blacks, but poor whites get screwed.
And, of course, just imagine white trying to create a cable channel specifically for/of/about whites only. Could never get away with that, or with a national association of whites only...but we have BET and the NAACP.
Our entire mindset about race is screwed up in this country. We see problems where there are none, and we deny the disasters that are happening all around. This isn't a white-vs-black problem; it's an "everybody for their own kind" problem, and that's the opposite of what America's "melting pot" was supposed to be about.
"That point is now."
Hand in two resumes into a company, one with a white sounding name and the other with a black sounding name. The white one will get a call back 50% more often.
Until that changes, Affirmative action is needed just to level the playing field somewhat.
I reread the sentence about the tree about three times because I couldn't believe there could be such a thing in "2006" Wouldn't that be against the law or something?
Yes, Le Roi et Mort, we were damned lucky. I was born a WASP into a life of relatively-high privilege and comfort in the United States, but I can't see how I can take credit for the good roll I had in the genetic crapshoot of life.
It seems to me that as progressives we can and should investigate how we could buy up municipal bonds floated by the community of Jena, Louisiana, and figure out a way to make them pay through the nose.
Well, I think you have to look at it from Massa's point of view. I don't believe most rich people would have a problem with Tiger Woods applying for membership to their country club. He has adequate money and deferential good manners to burn. So there really _isn't_ racism among the rich. It's just an issue of qualifying the "right" people.
The rest of us are on our own. Remember, a lot of y'all who are older believed in Ronald Reagan's vision of returning us to the 19th century.
Frankly, I think the "rest of us" would be a lot better off if we emulated the color-blindness of the rich. It seems like most of the people who are actually _doing_ something to oppose Bush, like John Conyers, are black. Working people should all band together behind the most effective leaders of whatever appearance and understand that the _real_ qualifier in America is wealth. Then we can get our heads on straight to rise up to feed upon the rich like they have fed upon us "free Americans" for decades. And get back some democratic equality.
I live in Pittsburgh and a report came out this week about race in this part of the state on PA. On average blacks, Asians and Latinos make $10,000 less than their white counterparts. The unemployment rate for black women and Asian women is higher that the national average. I have been called a "token baby" by a supervisor who we all called our vestigial boss. Hell, a couple of years ago I was at a suburban diner with co-workers and the death stares that I got from fellow patrons was unbelievable. I checked my food to make sure that it hadn't been spit in the hostility was so intense in there. Racism is still alive and well in this country, and anyone who says it isn't is a liar or a fool or both.
Crime, in general, endures.
Despite all the laws against it.
Yay!,
Given yesterday's SCOTUS decision, I find myself wishing affirmative action had not been in place when Clarence Thomas availed himself of its benefits. What a hypocritical puke.
Like many on the right, you mistake affirmative action for special consideration (reparations? really? Jesus, dude--do you actually think access to education and decent jobs makes up for hundreds of years of slavery?) instead of acknowledging that the playing field has been woefully unbalanced for years--case in point, the LA story above. Affirmative action is an attempt to level the playing field. It's obvious from this LA case that this "cord" is still necessary. Clearly, many of our upstanding white citizens, when left to their own devices, behave like ignoramuses.
Granted, affirmative action is not perfect and there have been abuses. I also agree with the poster who pointed out that the government won't be able to end racism. However, government represents ALL its citizens--not just those with white skin. If it can't change people's racist mentality, it can at least prevent that mentality from denying minority citizens access to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Not only is this an appropriate role for government--it is a constitutionally mandated one. The argument that government will never completely eradicate racism, therefore they should stop trying, is a little like saying that government will never be completely able to prevent contaminates from getting into our food and medicine supply, so they should just not bother trying to protect that food supply.
Paul @ 13:
HAHAHAHAHHAHA! That's every cable channel other than BET.
yes let Freedom ring Jena Louisianna is just one of the many instances that was lucky to be reported. In the minds of the CHRISTIAN RIGHT and this is a CHRISTIAN RIGHT CHOICE as they are the ones that beat the DRUMS of HATRED INTOLERANCE and IGNORANCE ar responsible then is the RACIST NAZIS COMMITTEE (RNC) and the GOOFY OPPOSITION PARTY (GOP). I know this for a fact as I was told at the time of appointment and committee of confirmation by the SENIOR SENATOR of TEXAS I VOTE the PARTY line, I hear your concerns but I WILL NOT deviate from the party line the junior senator as usual and to this day is totally unavialale. Katrina was the door opener NO ACCOUNTABILIUTY to this day and 2 years after the HURRICANE still nothing is being done other then to make the lives of thiose still there as miserable as possible since the Emminet Domain was squashed (corporate america showed its hand to soon so now its in it for the long run) yes FORCE the people to sell hold back the aid.
Now everyone is surprised about the courts decision,WOW! like the hand writing wasn't on the wall. This is a ADMINISTRATION of HATE and INTOLERANCE and IGNORANCE. Yet the PARTY in POWER refuses to take the necessary and appropriate steps to start Impeachment and Imprisonment and Hopefully the Death penalty for these TRAITORS.
Remember MISDIRECTION, nail the GUTLESS,SPINELESS,COWARD and TRAITOR cheney this first class piece of FECES is the nr one problem cut him off at the knees and the party goes down because within 3 months they can go after the TALKING MONKEY and the Drug addicted Alcoholic will FOLD.
"Clarence Thomas availed himself of its benefits. What a hypocritical puke."
But hypocrisy is what endears him to the GOP and the right wing.
unfettered @ 23:
The existence of BET means there's no racism.
C'mon, get with the Program.
Yay! @ 7:
Really. That's how George Bush got into Yale? That's how George Bush, a failure at every business he ever tried, got elected first as governor and then as President? That's how John Kerry, not exactly a stellar student himself, also rose to power?
Give me a break. Is it any coincidence that we have so many representatives and senators who are multi-millionaires? How many of them are self-made?
Horatio Alger is pure fiction.
On MSNBC today.
Worst 3 months for U.S. in Iraq since war began
5 GIs killed in latest attack, bringing U.S. toll to 329 for the past 3 months
...and the band played onnnnn.
Just a reminder that there's a war on.
Paul @ 13:
In most schools, those scholarships aren't a reward for being African American. They are meant as an incentive to create a more diverse student body, which benefits the [gasp!] white students as much as anyone else. I've served on scholarship selection committees, and our #1 goal was always to get a specific student to come to our school.
Then there's the "potentially viable explosive device" found in London today. Lots of qualifiers in the quote, aren't there?
I guess as far as races go I am pretty lucky. I live in a very mixed neighborhood and everyone is very friendly with everyone else. I truly believe we see each other as individuals more than as races. Because of that I forget that other parts of the country are still living in the 50's. It's so much easier to greet and accept one another than to fight. It really is and it's much more peaceful too.
Paul being bitter, ignorant and white is no way to go through life, son.
C.S.Strowbridge @ 14:
Exactly. Slavery existed for 300 years or so in North America. It ended about 150 years ago in the US, but racism and the disadvantages heaped upon an entire population as a result of slavery and racism endured over that period. Affirmative action policies have been around "for decades." I say, let affirmative action policies continue for 300 years, then we can talk about ending them. It's better than enslaving white people for 300 years, don't you agree?
Poor whites aren't screwed by racism. Poor blacks are. You are unclear on the concept of affirmative action, Paul.
There's only one race... human. All those asshats down south are still apes waiting for their turn to evolve.
Paul @ 13:
When you feel the need to make the topic all about you, rest assured that you have a problem. When your comments sound like a bad Archie Bunker re-run, rest assured that you have a problem.
I'm originally from close to the the Louisiana-Arkansas border, and police brutality against black people is a way of life there. I'm gay, and I was threatened, handcuffed and brought up on false charges because the sheriff and his son had a boner for me. Wanna see a trulyl terrifying true Deliverance-style town? Try going to Dierks, Arkansas, a true epicenter of racism and ignorance. In Dierks it's an unwritten law that any black person in town after sundown is murdered, plain and simple. You don't wanna know how they handle gays...
JR, the people and town you described are part of George Bush's "base"...you know...the haves, the have mores...and of course...the HALF WITS.
Why don't we separate South ( Virginia, Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas) from USA (all blue states) declare them as Jesus land or Confederate land, then see how these bigots cross our border to come to work here. These bigots will never elect anyone from the north see our last 20 years (Regan, Bush, Clinton and Bush again).
They still live in the 16th century so let them live there!!
Also move Fox news folks to Alabama as well. they love these idiots so much so make them live with em. Kick them out of NYC a liberal city.
To the people who claim that racism is just a part of life and it will never go away, while at the same time claiming that because the 'other races' have a minstrel-show television station and sub-par education opportunities that any 'debt' owed has been paid...
Have you ever experienced racism? A glare or being ignored or followed in a shop or passed over? How about excessive police action? Does the fact that the US as we know it will be 'brown' in 20 years? All this ignorant talk will get you living in an ignorant community of blank minds, ready to be manipulated by the next bill or politician that needs small minds to get passed.
What's being done to the country is being done to ALL of us. If you think what's being done to one group doesn't affect you, you're dead wrong. As sure as they do it to the Iraqi, the Mexican, the Black, the Jew today, SO WILL THEY DO IT TO YOU TOMORROW.
COUNT ON IT.
When there's no one left the entertain and feed their beasts, they'll return to their trained slaves, who just bend over and ask for another. Look around you and know it's true. I feel sad for Whites sometimes. They're just as trapped as the rest of us, and they seem to be the ones who don't know the most.
"Kick them out of NYC a liberal city."
I'll drive the bus! LOLOL!
the current atmosphere that permeates our country today and is given its lead by those who occupy the white house allows for tacit approval of what has happened in louisiana. those of color in this country have known all along that great strides against racism have been made since the civil rights acts of the '60's. but make no mistakke, there were never any misgivings about the still extant racism. there was always the knowledge that beneath the hope and the great strides made, racism always lurked beneath that surface. there was a division and people really have to search their hearts to see where they really stand. in a case such as that in louisiana, it's not hard for good liberals to take the stance that this is a southern problem and the confederacy is alive and well and still wrong. This overt racism is a southern problem, not america's problem. I guess that would be true if we believe New Orleans and the rebuilding of that city is New Orleans' problem and not America's. However, ask yourself, where you stand on the immigration issue. are you in the pack that blames america's ills on the illegal hordes that break our country's barriers each day, to steal our jobs and deplete our country's resouces. ask yourself where you stand on that issue. are you shoulder to shoulder with the minute men? are you for a 20 foot wall to keep these dirty mezkins on their side. are you of the mind that they come here to have their babies and utilize our schools and social services. Don't they all need to be shipped back. where do you stand on this issue. I've said many times there is no easy answer to this very complex issue. but please search your heart and search for the truth and see what is there. you may not like what you find but then again da nile is more than a river in egypt. these are the issues we really need to attack and overcome as soon as we can rid ourselves of the cancerous element that occupies the oval office. once they are ousted we can begin to look at the real ills of our society and once again become the country that the rest of the world has looked to for leadership for all these many years. today, we are the country that tolerates torture, trods on our own constitution and will not offer assistance to the African nations in peril today. this is what we are viewed as today by the world community. i bow my head in shame.
I live in metropolitan Texas, and I've found it to be more open minded than a lot of so called Liberal cities. It's never gonna be as easy as succeeding a couple of states.
However, this racism thing DOES go both ways. I agree with Paul@13 in the sense that racism can go both ways. Many black people are very wary of white people and take friendly greetings as duplicitous and sinister. They were taught by their parents that white people are not to be trusted. I've been close personal friends with people from many races, and it has helped me to see that we're all basically the same in many ways. Bashing ALL Southerners is ignorant, and from the sound of the comments left by Ashton@36 and Stonicus@34, they'd be the first to leave a noose in a tree for the Southerners. Point is: Two wrongs don't make a right. We should all exercise a little common sense and tact in our comments; if not, we're no better than O'Reilly, Limbaugh or Coulter!
J R @ 44:
Please be so kind as to point out where I mentioned Southerners. Be specific in your response. It helps to show how much credibility your comments actually have.
Liberal AND Proud @ 38:
Liberalandproud, it's not as "black and white" as all that. (No pun intended...) Dierks has a few intelligent informed people, and the ignorant ones need to be informed, not bashed. You're slinging hatred, just like Ann Coulter. STOP IT! I don't want to have such nasty ignorant comments attached to it, it makes us all look like idiots. Take the moral high road!
J R @ 46:
I'm sorry, but I just couldn't let this one slide. Your point is well taken, but not helped by attaching GOP manufactured catch phrases like 'moral high road' to it. Please, just don't.
If I were that DA I'd watch my back. I mean I would be always looking over my shoulder.
Behavior like his could get someone to want to kill him.
J R @ 44:
Maybe if your cultural history was dominated by slavery and racism directed against you based on the color of your skin, which included lynchings, police brutality, and other injustices at the hands of white people, you'd understand. Alas . . . you have no clue what racism is.
In "many ways"? Gee, how white of you. The concept of "race" is itself racist. We are, in fact, all the same, except for superficial differences.
I know of no instance where someone was hung because of being a Southerner (unless of course a black Southerner). I agree that it is stupid to paint all Southerners with the same brush. While there are extreme racists in the south (see the KKK), there are clearly many, many others who are not, and there are examples of extreme racists from the south who later grew to realize how wrong they were and renounced their former racism. But let's not cast the white Southerner as some oppressed, misunderstood race of people in the same position as that of blacks who were enslaved and brutalized at the hands of whites for hundreds of years. Okay?
Thanks for your "concern."
JR said
"However, this racism thing DOES go both ways. I agree with Paul@13 in the sense that racism can go both ways. Many black people are very wary of white people and take friendly greetings as duplicitous and sinister. They were taught by their parents that white people are not to be trusted."
This comment really pisses me off. The reason many black people are wary of white people is EXPERIENCE. There is a subtle racism that follows black people wherever they go. I graduated from an ivy league school with a 3.5 gpa, am currently in law school at a Big 10 school, and everyday I have to answer questions from people who believe I am only where I am at because I'm black. EVERY FRIGGIN DAY! And I'm sick of it. It doesn't matter that I'm in the top 20% of my class, it doesn't matter that I'm working my way through school, all they can see is a black person who is successful and they assume he must have gotten some special benefit.
Don't blame affirmative action programs for your ignorance. The true affects of affirmative action programs have never been studied, but since the day they were passed in the late 70's, mostly Republicans, have been claiming they provide an unfair advantage. Affirmative Action doesn't affect most private employers. And in the 90's Clinton and the Republican Congress gutted affirmative action. So the "benefit" accrued over a 15 year period. Thanks America.
By the way, Clarence Thomas is 60 years old. The first affirmative action programs really started in earnest when he was 30. The man did not get where he was through affirmative action. That claim, is why he probably despises the program so much. I despise Clarence Thomas for a lot of reasons, and I don't believe he should be on the court, but nothing in his life was handed to him. Dammit, you people are making me defend Clarence Thomas!
I'm not surprised that this had to be reported by BBC. Faux Noise can report about the injustice of the Duke Lacrosse men being falsely charged with rape, but do we hear anything about 6 black teenagers being falsely accused about attempted murder. Just reading the posts on this thread makes it obvious that racism is alive and flourishing in the U.S. I'm white, but I try to show respect for all.
Ronin Tetsuro, Bully for you you live in a Texas city more open minded than cities in the north. Then why don't you and your open minded red state brethren get the hell out of this union we call the United States of America. Because we are not United. We don't like you or your self perceived open mindedness. We wont stop you from forming a more perfect union of open minded bigots apart from us. Go live on your own and don't bother us anymore. We are sick to death of you.
Anyone who thinks racism is a thing of that past and that the deck isn't heavily stacked against blacks needs to come on down to Memphis. I won't say a word - I'll just drive you around in my car for ten minutes. That'll end your misconception.
Christ, was that fiction??
"They were taught by their parents that white people are not to be trusted.”
Gee, just how many generations does one need to go back in a family to have a family member who was a slave? To have a family member who was terrorized by racists? To have a family member subjected to Jim Crow laws? To have a family member unable to be hired or promoted because of the color of his skin?
Yeah, it's the black parents' fault for racism. Good thing white parents don't perpetuate racism that way.
yeranalyst @ 50:
You are sick to death of an entire State or a person that you never met who posted on this thread? I simply can't decide which would be more idiotic.
If your goal was to sound like a fool, allow me to be the first to congratulate you.
ndifference @ 51:
Absolutely. And that experience could be repeated in city after city throughout the country.
yeranalyst @ 50:
Huh? I'll agree with Ashton on this one. Congrats.
And our brilliant conservative Supreme Court just invalidated school integration programs that attempted to maintain racial diversity. "The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race,” the brilliant Chief Justice John Roberts said. Riiiiiight. People will just stop of their own accord, with no laws to prod them to do the right thing. Sure. And I have a bridge I can sell you, Justice Roberts.
"There is a subtle racism that follows black people wherever they go."
Now that's the God's honest truth. I remember walking into a bar in a part of my city called "Little Missouri" (because so many southerners moved there during the 50's and 60's to work in the auto industry). I was with a black friend and a mexican friend and man the place just shut down as soon as we came into everyone's field of view. The music stopped, every eye was upon us. We had to turn and split before the place got bloody. I know racism is real. I know that my experiences of white on black or white on mexican racism are very limited compared with what my friends and neighbors of color have experienced. Nevertheless, racism is a two-way street. I have had three occasions when I have had to call the parents of black studetns who insisted that it is acceptable for them to use racial slurs against Arabs and Jews. Further, there was an incident a few years back where some white kids from the suburbs jumped a train and found themselves right in the heart of the ghetto. A group of black teenagers found them. They rapped and shot a girl, killed one boy and badly injured another. They singled these kids out because they were weak and white, but they were not charge with hate crimes, and what is worse, the girl (who survived) called her attackers
n***ers and the media and the black community were pissed at her!
Racism is ugly, and it is the biggest problem facing our nation, but it is by no means a "white only" phenomenon. Further, I am strill trying to understand how the SCOTUS saying a mother doesn't have to send her children on a bus across town to go to school = racism. I also do not understand how we can tell black and white kids from poor, disadvantaged neighborhoods that only the black kids deserve a helping hand getting into college. How about a socio-economic basis for affirmative action? Would that work, if we tried to get away from Government Programs based on race would that be so wrong?
[Deleted. Take your racism elsewhere]
disgusted @ 23:
I said it all here many times before.
Paul @ 13:
Are you channelling judge roberts or judge scalito or judge thomas?
I recommend that all of you check out a DVD just released, (Shooter). There is more truth than fiction in the movie. Reality.
I notice the article only talks about violence where white people are to blame.
I have a feeling white racists started this who thing and then a cycle started.
whe're only being told about half the cycle though.
Wazpi @ 59:
That, like any racist generalization, is a total lie!
Racism endures. And will, always. Just as other forms of 'prejudice' do.
Trying to repress people's thoughts doesn't work. And legislating for PC, or anti-prejudice, is counter-productive, since legislation against prejudice is a severe form of repression.
We have enough laws to punish any form of prejudicial practices that might get out of hand, without trying to resort to 'anti-hate', or 'anti-prejudice' laws.
What should be done is to rid ourselves of the stupid attempts to legislate against thought, and expressions of thought. We should go back to free speech. Free discourse, that's what will result in education of the people.
Think of the absurdity of blacks shouting 'n*gger' at each other, while laws prevent others from uttering the word, for example. If I were black, I'd sure prefer knowing that some people thought of me as a 'n*gger', than not knowing who thought what, and therefore suspecting that all were thinking of me that way.
And for those of you who fantasize that blacks (some) are not prejudiced against ofays (and others), or that jews are not prejudiced against goys (all), etc., etc., or, if they are, they can be 'corrected' by changing their public speech, get real.
Go read your version of the bible (or quran, or torah, or whatever, which is, of course, the ONLY true word of your 'GOD', who is the ONLY true 'god', have pity and despise those other poor misguided, blaspheming, 'god'-forsaken heathens) and take 'pride' that ONLY YOU, and those like YOU, 'know' THE truth.
That's prejudice.
[Edited-Sitemonitor]
Please have a look at anais @ 57
DL @ 48:
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Ron @ 62:
great movie!
"some white kids from the suburbs jumped a train and found themselves right in the heart of the ghetto."
Unspoken assumption until the N bomb, the ghetto was populated by black people. Hmm, I wonder why? And the result of the encounter was "black racism"? Interesting. Yes, a "two way street" that.
DL @ 48:
Are you kidding? Why do you think they CHOSE him to be a supreme court (dubious distinction) justice... because of his brilliant career? They chose him because he's BLACK (to 'replace' Thurgood Marshall). Why do you think he was picked to be assistant secretary for civil rights at the Department of Education and the Chairperson of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) under Reagan? Because he's a BLACK conservative and perverting the goals of EEOC is acceptable to non-black people when its a Black person doing it!! Get a grip!
"Racism is ugly, and it is the biggest problem facing our nation, but it is by no means a “white only” phenomenon. Further, I am strill trying to understand how the SCOTUS saying a mother doesn’t have to send her children on a bus across town to go to school = racism. I also do not understand how we can tell black and white kids from poor, disadvantaged neighborhoods that only the black kids deserve a helping hand getting into college. How about a socio-economic basis for affirmative action? Would that work, if we tried to get away from Government Programs based on race would that be so wrong?"
Oh my god!!! Did you idiots even read the decision?!? Do you even know what the case is about?!? EVERY STUDENT in Seattle had the opportunity to pick their high school. Poor or rich, white or black. When the racial imbalance at a school became to out of whack, the students were forced to pick another school. Not a school in a poor neighborhood mind you, just another frigging school. That means poor white kids were taking spots from rich white kids at the rich Seattle high schools. That means some black students (at an even higher rate than their white counterparts mind you) were being bussed to white high schools even if they wanted to go to their local high school.
Mr. O - do you believe diversity is beneficial to the country or not? Its a simple question. If you think its important than how do you achieve it? If we are segregated in where we live and where we go to school, how will we ever learn to interact? The ignorance on these websites, liberal/conservative/neutral is really breath taking. This country is going backwards fast. I pity my children... I love America but I wish there was somewhere else I go. Alas, this is a worldwide problem, America is not alone.
hunter s.t. @ 63:
Just what do you think is missing?
Wazpi @ 59:
You're a liar.
[Deleted. Off topic, stupid and racist]
Wazpi @ 59:
What-if scenarios always make such excellent points.
[Edited quote-Sitemonitor]
Eric @ 37:
there is a movie out by the british called, "confederate states of america". there are an amazing number of similarities to what america is (and is not) today.
Cantor de Mambo @ 71:
Mention of black retaliation.
One hallmark of a right winger is the elevation of a concept over reality. Freedom, democracy, equality, are all just propaganda tools, but the last thing that a right winger actually wants to see exist in reality. It's just like the tactic of the "concern troll" that we see, where the troll says, "if you believe in equality, then you can't support affirmative action." Nonesense.
Liberals, on the other hand, actually believe in the ideals espoused by the US and want to see them realized. Liberals understand that maintaining the status quo doesn't get us there. Affirmative action is a means of ultimately achieving equality where none exists and never will exist if the status quo is allowed to continue.
What problem is that? Considering that you are the one who concluded that the people who stabbed him were black, something that the article never states, I can only imagine what problem you are discussing.
ashton @ 54:
Yes I have never met him nor have I met Scalia, Alito, Thomas, or Kennedy, nor have I met George Bush or the state of Texas. I do know however what each has produced, and I am sick to death of them. So, stuff your sensitive Liberal big tent crap.
Isome @ 69:
It wasn't affirmative action. Selection of Thomas for the SCt was a calculated right wing political decision. You need to get a grip.
ashton @ 74:
Yes, they do sometimes so what is your point?
[Edited quote 59-Sitemonitor]
Cantor de Mambo @ 80:
First off, Wazpi@59 is probably the most racist person on here. Wow, I didn't even see that coming.
That said, I will talk for a minute. I'm a half-black male in my mid-20's. Now, I have a degree and I have spent most of my life in California, the bay area specificially, so I have not dealt with much overt racism in my life.
But it is there. I've been attacked, name called, followed. I've had cops following me for blocks or miles, pulled over for no reason, demanded information from. I've gone for job interviews where the interviewer, upon finding that i"m black (my name is not "black," but it is true that black names are 50% less likely to get call backs for identical resumes as white names), gets nervous and doesn't want to deal with me.
Racism exists today. Now, I'll be frank - black people can be racist, too. But at the same time, most of their racism is what I call "reactive" racism. It's in response to racism faced by then. Someone else complained about black parents telling their kids not to trust white people - this comes because they were fucked by white people and they've experienced that racism and warned their children. My dad used to tell me about being chased by white boys in pickup trucks after sundown. I've been chased by the KKK. I will tell my children to watch out for white people as well, because I have had the experiences necessary to want to warn my children not to be hurt by someone.
As for affirmative action, let me explain something. When slavery first ended, the land for this country had pretty much all already been owned. Major businesses had already been built on the backs of slaves, and wealth distribution for this country had already been set. Black people did not enter a level playing field, there never was one. After slavery ended, black people started with nothing. Zero. Scratch. They were ignorant, upset, confused, and had a lack of opportunities. They immediately and significantly increased the size of the legitimate workforce, which meant they were now competing for jobs with whites, and whites did not appreciate that.
Blacks asked for reparations then, asked for help to level the playing field, to try to make up for hundreds of years of slavery. And white people put it off, said that they didn't need it because they were "free" now. Given a couple of generations and enough time, and now reparations are considered absurd because of so much time that's passed.
Black people were never compensated for slavery, never given shit to work with after slavery ended instead being told to start from scratch in a country that resented them for suddenly competing with them, and still are shit upon today. And now today, black people are overly prosecuted, one in three black males is either in jail or has been to jail or prison, and the amount of blacks pursuing higher education is dwindling. People say that in a few more generations, whites will be the minority, "brown" will be the majority, but unfortunately black americans will have become extinct by then.
Black America has never recovered fully from slavery, does not "believe" it has equal opportunities, and that belief is reinforced by racism today, stories like this, and white people's racism-justifying hatred of affirmative action. It's a sad story.
Wazpi @ 73:
selective linking and selective examples to reinforce lying generalization simply reinforce my point!
get us gov't stats before boosh and you'll find that interracial crime was much lower than mono-racial crime
whites on whites
blacks on blacks
family squabbles
adjacent neighbors
those were the majority of violent crimes(>80%)
white on black was prevalent over black on white (in this country at least)
your racist generalizations supported by pathetically singular examples don't even come close to my own personal experience in this country.
please be factual and thorough. It will serve you, and the rest of us, better.
The arrogance here is really amazing. The funny thing is, those that defend Aff. Action HERE are practicing the very same racism they so vehemntly want to pin on every American that finds themselves living South of the Mason/Dixon line. Generalizations about a cultural group just make you look arrogant and stupid. Not every black American wants everything handed to them, and not every Southern white American is a racist cracker, hell bent on klan meetings and cornbread.
As for Aff. Action, one of the very first posts here said it best I think. It did it's job, now get rid of it so 10 years from now, a black American entering the workforce will never have to be told they got the job/position because of the color of their skin.
Clarence Thomas
In 1981, he began his rise through the Reagan administration. From 1981 to 1982, he served as Assistant Secretary of Education for the Office of Civil Rights in the US Department of Education ("DOE"), and as Chairman of the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") from 1982 to 1990.
To DL:
Clarence Thomas most certainly benefited from affirmative action. Learn your facts first.
Mind you, JasonB's comments are from someone who says "I have not dealt with much overt racism in my life." Would you like to hear the unspeakable horrors of someone who has? Do you still think there's no racism?
Isome @ 69:
affirmative action dates back to the sixties.
Isome,
You are missing my point. No doubt Justice Thomas was chosen to replace Thurgood Marshall because he was black, and no doubt that conservatives like African-Americans who rail against Affirmative Action and claim there is no racism. But you are confusing nepotism, the practice of giving your friends and family members cushy jobs, with Affirmative Action. Thomas didn't benefit from any programs, he benefited from kissing the right people's ass at the right time. If he wasn't conservative, he wouldn't be where he is at today. So how does his nepotism benefit me, a black law student, in any way? How is he a product of affirmative action? George Bush and about 1,000 of his appointees (US Attorney's, FEMA, etc.) benefited from the same system that brought Thomas to the Supreme Court. Harriet Miers was on the same tract. So how is that affirmative action? Please, tell me, because I want to know.
Again, I don't want to defend Thomas, but to say the man is simply a product of Affirmative Action is an insult. He did plenty of work and butt kissing to get where he is today. Affirmative Action had nothing to do with it.
So it's ok to commit a hate crime in buttfuck tardland as long as you're white. But get in a fight and go to jail forever if you happen to be black.
It is advantageous to those seeking power and control to keep the masses at odds with one another. If anyone who reads this truly hates or even dislikes another person because of their skin color or facial features, then you have succumbed. You cannot have hateful feelings about someone based on that. What it is; is taught by people who want to "preserve" their race. If you keep people at odds for one reason or another then you separate them and they won't learn to act together with unity. If all the small fish in America decided in unison that these clowns running the show right now were of no use, then they would be dispatched and another fish would try to convince the little fish that they are truly concerned with their welfare. This is what a free election is. I wandered to another topic, my apologies.
My point is this: If you keep people from thinking together en masse, you can achieve a certain level of control. It seems to me (I could not be whiter) that seeking divisions among tthe masses is an ongoing campaign that is considered fairly important. Whether it is race, sex, religion, or occupation.
This thing in La. should NEVER have happened because that tree sits on the earth of which we all cohabitate together!!! There are fundamental differences between races, even stereotypes that are true BUT, they should be celebrated as diversity and not viewed as detrimental or a reason to hate. I find it hard to believe that the most advanced species on this planet is capable of this inane judgment without coercion or suggestion.
It is not about whites on blacks or jews on koreans!!!! It is about making people act the way you want en masse!!! I went to a predominantly black school and I was the victim of racism and even some attempted violence. I don't blame black people for this, I blame the idiots with black skin who judged me because I am caucasian. It is irrelevant who hates who more or who does more injustice to the other. A creep is a creep regardless. These divisive lines are there on purpose. Do you think that anyone is born with hate for others? No! Hate is either the result of personal real-life experience or it is taught.
Stop the hate and you stop the power-elite.
Hafdan
Jay @ 85:
Yes, you are quite arrogant. Not too well acquainted, however, with reality.
dude YOU are missing the point. actually you made 2 and dismissed them. but the those offices themselves were created out of affrimative action. as a matter of fact every EOO used to be called AA/EOO. that's Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Office. So Clarence Thomas wouldn't even have had that job if it weren't for affirmative action black or not. but the fact he was black makes him a double benefiter. Then replacing a Black Man on the bench....well, dude if you can't see by now you never will.
Cantor de Mambo @ 92:
WHy, because I ask that people stand on their own two feet, or that I pointed out the obvious when it comes to ridiculous pigeonholing of all Southerners. Please feel free to enlighten me.
DL @ 89:
Nothing insulting in saying that Thomas benefitted from affirmative action. He may have, and that's a good thing. However, his rise in right wing politics was not affirmative action, though it may have been made possible by affirmative action. His rise was calculated politics.
Jay
you are arrogant and ignorant (not in an insulting sense but in definition). Aff. Act. isn't about HANDING out stuff to people. you have and never will see affirmative action ever enforced in any institution that wasn't proven to be racist and discriminatory. Even the the recent case in arkansas. Those schools were shown to be segregated already. the board was trying to make a 15% 85% balance in white schools. meaning those schools didn't even have 15% integration.
john x @ 86
"wrote: In 1981, he began his rise through the Reagan administration. From 1981 to 1982, he served as Assistant Secretary of Education for the Office of Civil Rights in the US Department of Education (”DOE”), and as Chairman of the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (”EEOC”) from 1982 to 1990.
To DL:
Clarence Thomas most certainly benefited from affirmative action. Learn your facts first."
So the fact that he was promoted, somehow proves that he benefited from Affirmative Action... okay. I can search Wikipedia too dude, you didn't supply any fact I wasn't aware of. I guess if there was no affirmative action, Thomas would be picking cotton back in Alabama. I mean, that Yale law degree is worthless. Oops, he got that because of affirmative action too! You just changed my mind Jon. I mean who can argue with these FACTS. They are so overwhelming.
You just proved my point without even realizing. :)
sorry i meant Kentucky. NOT ARKANSAS
Jay @ 94:
Yes, because you "ask that people stand on their own two feet." That is an example of your arrogance and your failure to grasp reality. I agree that no one should pigeonhole Southerners. That was rather obvious, I agree. It's the subtleties that you fail to grasp.
The attack was a hate crime. Why was the black kid not charged with a hate crime??
DL how did i prove your point? if anything i proved how Thomas BENEFITED from affirmative action. No one said that affirmative action defined the man. but clearly if there was no affirmative action he wouldn't have had the government jobs he was appointed to cause they wouldn't have existed in the first place. those jobs helped give him a role on the highest court in the land. so yes, aff action benefited Thomas. How can you argue that? or do you just hate to lose an argument so much you can't be wrong?
I think this whole debate about Clarence Thomas benefitting from AA just shows the racist mindset behind people who accuse blacks of getting promotions through AA. AA is just an excuse for racism, and this is that racism in action. Why is it racism? Because when you accuse a black man of only getting somewhere because of AA, it says that you don't believe s/he has the faculties to achieve on their own.
joe Says:
i guess you missed the point where the white kids weren't charged at all. not for the fights, the nooses, the fires (although they never said who did that), nothing that they participated in.
If you want to end racism, make a "color blind" society. This court decision is the FIRST thing anyone appointed by Bush has ever done that actually makes sense. Ask yourself what's LESS racist:
1. a policy that says school X must have exactly 50% caucausian students, and 50% non-caucasian students
or
2. a policy that says people go to school where it's geographically closest to their home, regardless of skin color or skin tone.
I vote for #2.
Jason B Says:
i'd rather be a black man with a job accused of getting it by affirmative action than jobless because of racism. think about that one.
Paul @ 13:
I'm no expert, but it sounded like the white boy was the one that got "mistreated". He got beat so bad the state wanted to put murder cases on the blacks.
that is some screwy logic your using @93 jon x. but whatever we could argue this all day. And i agree with your response at 96, so we are probably arguing from the same side of the coin anyway. (although your response at 93 contradicts your response at 96). And like i've said many times before, i actually despise clarence thomas, because i think his jurisprudence is ideology based and not reality based (as another poster pointed out about conservatives). but i should work so ... adios for now.
King of Mean Says:
Maybe you slept in history class. There was a small segment on Brown vs the Board of Education that proved that in a racist society seperate but equal DOES NOT work.
joe Says:
actually he got beat so bad it was later seen hanging out with friends that night laughing. get your facts right. you are truely missing the whole point of this story. the DA himself is racist. that's why he only acted when the white boy only was assaulted. when the white AND blacks were fighting the night before. NOTHING happened.
Jay @ 17:
are you saying the attackers should not have been charged at all? Are you mad that a violent criminal was put behind bars? Are in favor of one racial group solving their problems with their fists?
DL
you make no sense. my 96 response was about kentucky (arkansas by mistake). it was to state the purpose of affirmative action. my 93 was showing that clarence thomas benefited from it. Those don't contract. they aren't even in direct relation to each other except that for the issue of aff. act.
King of Mean@104: Your post is almost idealistic, except for the fact that it does not address reality, not the future.
In order to defeat racism, people need to realise that there is no difference between races except skin colour. If white kids, living in white neighbourhoods, go to white schools and black kids, in black neighbourhoods, go to black schools, then there will not be inter-mingling.
The kids that are products of integrated school have grown up to blur the lines between race more than ever before Civil Rights. Tolerance is growing, and incidents like the LA have become an aberration instead of the norm. This is promising, because it works towards a future of tolerance.
It is a fact that blacks generally live in poorer, black-centric neighbourhoods (Now, if you want to get into it, these blacks moved to these communities after slavery ended because they were not accepted into white neighborhoods and could not afford the costs of nicer housing because racism in the workplace prevented them from earning enough money to move to integrated neighborhoods - ghettoes and poor black neighbourhoods BEGAN with racism generations ago and that continues today, but I diogress), and busing the students to schools gives them access to a more integrated, future-oriented school.
However, now... If you want to celebrate "idealism" and "color blind society" by saying kids should go to the school closest to their geographic location, then the only answer to this is that every school gets the exact same amount of money, regardless of the students or the school's location, so that the schools in the poor neighborhoods get the exact same amount of money as the schools in the rich neighbourhoods. That would be more fair.
It will be interesting to see the fallout from this, especially in the south where neighbourhoods are far more racially separate and apart. Black and white students are far less likely to come into contact with each other, which is going to start killing the tolerance our children are growing up with.
joe Says:
actually those "violent criminals" were school kids involved in a school fight. no i don't think that warrants being put behind bars. actually if it did. as a teacher and former student i would have seen 10%-25% of every school i went to before college in jail.
However, if you believe they should be put in jail then why not avocate the white students who were involved in the fight the day before be put in jail? or the kids who put the noose under the tree?
You completely ignored my point, congratulations. My point is that racists will assume I get my job because of affirmative action. AA has never affected me in my life as every place I've ever worked has never needed to resort to it, but people like you will continue to accuse it every chance you get.
if AA wasn't around, you'd just say blacks weren't getting jobs because they're stupid and lazy. You just use AA to justify your racist ignorance.
john x @ 105:
My apologies, I read that wrong. Sorry John x
Jason B Says:
actually i've found most black neighborhoods (even in the south) are neighborhoods that USED to be white. meaning that black people moved there and white people moved out. as opposed to black people just moving to black neighborhoods cause they couldn't go anywhere else.
ashton @ 54:
Actually I had the whole south in mind not just Texas and the fools who live there. Since you are the sensitive big tent Liberal who needs to judge each person as an individual before you can generalize. Just remember where George Bush and Tom Delay and their base of electors harken from. I never said that people who shared the sensibilities of of the north couldn't opt to live here. I just don't want the sensibilities of the south determining my fate. I don't like their world view, who they elect, their religious views, their educational system, or much else about them. I don't like the flow of money from here to there so that they can turn around and f**k me. It is not perfect in the north, but a lot of the imperfection is a result of southern politicians and attitudes dragging us down. I would prefer they go their own way, and you with them.
john x @ 101:
God, Jon X. I was trying to make peace with you and than you write this... What program was he involved in that led to his promotion? Was the stated reason he was promoted AA? Who says, other than you, that he was promoted because of AA? All you wrote was that Clarence Thomas from 1981 to 1990 rose through the Reagan Administration. The fact that there is an EEOC doesn't prove that he benefited from AA. I mean, by that logic, everyone who works there has benefited from AA. By your logic anyone who works at the EEOC, white, black, hispanic, gay or straight, male or female, benefits from AA. I mean, huh?!? And the EEOC wasn't created because of AA, it was created as a response to racism. I mean, c'mon, this is simple stuff! And that really isn't what we are arguing.
You didn't say why Clarence Thomas rose through the Reagan administration, you just attributed it to AA. Maybe it was AA. Maybe it was because Reagan like the cut of his jib. Or maybe, just maybe, it was because he was the most qualified conservative to run the EEOC. The fact that you attribute his rise solely to AA, proves my point. Because from the article you quoted, there is no mention of Clarence Thomas ever benefiting from AA. There are quite a few mentions of him using connections to get jobs, but that is not AA. You can say he got into Yale because of AA, but then I would point out he graduated from college Sigma Cum Laude (or something).
AA is a program, it is not a job. I would say your comment at 93 totally contradicts all your previous points. Really, its like arguing with a brick wall.
yeranalyst Says:
perhaps you missed the police shootings/murders or 2 unarmed black men last year in NY. or maybe you missed the fact that NYC the city AND the state are both run by conservative republicans (at least up to the last election). Racism isn't just a southern thing. they used to have plantations in the north to bro.
King of Mean @ 104:
There was nothing color blind in the Supreme court decision, and I think you know that. You do however make a good point. I agree with you, more blacks should be living in your neighborhood and more whites should be living in black neighborhoods. Then kids wouldn't have to be shipped all over town to integrate the schools. This isn't really a solution for you though is it? You couldn't be a racist and colorblind at the same time could you?
jon x, at 96 you say "affirmative action isn't about handing stuff out to people." but in you arguments with me you claim Clarence Thomas benefited from affirmative action because someone handed him his job. That is my point. Those two statements contradict themselves. When speaking of clarence thomas you don't cite any program he benefited from, you just claim that he benefited from AA just because he happened to work at the EEOC. That is like saying I benefit from the Clean Air Act because I work for the EPA. It is really faulty logic. I would attribute his rise to politics, butt-kissing, and yes some general hard-work and intelligence. But enough of this, you bore me.
"by that logic, everyone who works there has benefited from AA. By your logic anyone who works at the EEOC, white, black, hispanic, gay or straight, male or female, benefits from AA. I mean, huh?!?"
Dude that's EXACTLY what i'm saying. did you not understand that that is an office created out of affirmative action? there was no office of that nature before the Civil Rights Act. affirmative action doesn't just benefit black people. it benefits all who have been discrimated against. white women statitically were the largest benefactors of it. and YES anyone who worked in that office BENEFITED from affirmative action. is it getting through to you now? If there was an Office of the Handicap and i got a high positioned job there. Then I would benefit from whatever movement created that office.
This was posted on another website and I thought it was a really great way to describe my issue with the ruling and racism today:
"In any case, to say that the government should be color-blind, and thus ignore the legacy of hundreds of years of state terrorism and slavery, seems to be particularly unfair. It is as if we were all playing a poker game where all the people in red shirts were cheating, dishonestly and immorally taking the green players' chips. Upon being caught, the Red shirts decide to play strictly by the rules, but keep their winnings, giving them tremendous advantage over the Greens. This doesn't seem fair to me, but I do think it is roughly analgous to what you are speaking about."
This is exactly it. When slavery ended, the wealth distribution was set. The people who benefitted from racism and slavery already had all the money, the good jobs and the education. Just saying "We should be a colour blind society!" is great and all, but does nothing to address the past injustices committed in the name of racism. And just saying "We should all start from here on out and be good" doesn't cut it, because we're not all starting from the same point.
Also, I always find it kind of hilarious when white people complain about affirmative action, because after hundreds of years of slavery, years of jim crow laws, lynching, vote caging, black voter disenfranchisement and institutionalized racism, somebody says "Well we should give this guy a shot because he's black and see if he can do better," and then white people get all up in arms about being colour blind.
Where the fuck was this colour blindness 200 years ago? 150 years ago? 100? Hell, 50 years ago when black people had to fight for civil rights?
BaScOmBe @ 75:
I'll check that movie. thx
Jay @ 94:
nobody has to pidgeon hole you its just one big hole.
john x @ 103:
joe misses a lot, actually.
The attempted murder charge against the black teens (some charged as adults, no less) is what jumps out at me.
This is where the federal Justice Department should step in. Back in the 60s and 70s, the intervention of the FBI, federal civil rights investigators and the federal courts prevented the worst excesses of southern anti-black racism committed by local authorities. Local law enforcement, DAs and judges could no longer do whatever they wanted to black people, because an activist federal government decided to enforce civil rights laws and the US constitution at the state level.
I don't know as much of the history of this as I'm sure many of you do, but it seems to me that this sort of racist behavior in a southern school 30 or 40 years ago, followed by a doubtful charge of a capital crime by minors, would have been investigated by the FBI.
My question is, where is the federal government?
Has the enforcement of federal civil rights laws and the US constitution been abandoned? When did this happen?
Is the South returning to the days of lynchings and Mississippi Burning?
Is this what the soldiers in Iraq, many of them black, are fighting and dying for?
Geez, my comment, #65, at 8:08AM, is still 'awaiting moderation'?
Guess I'll have to do it myself.
Remove the faintly, vaguely implied 'F******' between 'the' and 'bible' (it's not there, it's only implied, but some readers might be sensitive enough to pick up on it).
Substitute 'sweet jesus'' for the 'the' before 'bible', so the sentence now reads:
'... sweet jesus' bible.....'
How's that for 'moderation'?
/s/ wannabe site monitor
It's interesting how the right wing concern trolls focus so much on the supposed injustice of affirmative action and totally ignore the extreme and unjustified benefits that are inherent in being white in the US, and the vast and unjustified barriers that are inherent in being black in the US, isn't it? Or maybe I should say "predictable" instead of "interesting."
DL
"And the EEOC wasn’t created because of AA, it was created as a response to racism. "
I can't believe you understand this but don't understand that Affirmative Action was too. I also can't believe that you don't understand that the EEOC office is the office that was designed to promote Affirmative Action. Why do you think i went on to point out that most offices (until the 90s) were called Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action? you do realize that don't you? a simple google goes along way
http://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3A...
Oh yeah! Well, what do you think of the NAACP issuing a 'White Paper' to explain it's position on 'Affirmative Action'?
This damned racism is ingrained in our souls.
(I'm semi-white, am I allowed to say 'souls'?)
I remember singing Little Black Sambo with other kids, not sure where I learned it. I didn't see my first black 'till I was 12 and that was only due to desegregation in the Texas schools that involved bussing. This was a controversy almost for the rest of my schooling. There was even trouble with certain neighborhoods (usually poor and minority) getting even the smallest bank loans due to what was called red lining. So racism is not as far back as one might think.
Even today our schools (who no longer practice bussing) base their school budgeting on property taxes, so those who live in the poorer neighborhoods have the poorest schools. That doesn't necessarily equate to poorer performance, but it is most assuradly an additional hurdle.
Think of it this way. Could boosh get anything other than a low level flunky job without his money and connections?
Jason B Says:
I like that poker analogy. however, i would ad that the red shirt are still cheating whenever they can get away with it. Then when they are called out they say the green shirts are playing "The Cheat Card".
Also, i would add that in this case particularly it would be like the Red Shirts punishing the green shirts to the maximum when the green shirts finally get fed up and decide to cheat themselves, while completely ignoring all the times they were cheating even if it was just a moment before.
joe @ 106:
No, you're not. You are an offensive and ignorant ass. You remind me of a racist "joke" that I heard as a child and always found quite telling about the mind of the racist. It reveals the self-awareness of racists and their ability to dismiss their own evil deeds. It involved sherrifs in the south having found a dead black person at the bottom of a lake with chains wrapped around him, and the sherrif saying something about how it's just like a stupid n*** to try to swim with chains wrapped around himself. Sorry for repeating that, but your comment is in such poor taste and expresses such abject indifference to the abuse inflicted on the black children that I was reminded of that tastless, yet telling "joke."
Cantor de Mambo @ 128:
That comment is racist in itself.
Or is it just sour grapes?
Only the truly moronic try to asuage their "Liberal guilt" by shouting to everyone that can hear them how unracist they are, and how everyone is oppressed except "Whitey". Whine much? I'll use the oldest argument in the book. Slavery happened 100 years before my family came to this country (legally I might add). I have no reason WHATSOEVER to feel guilty about racism, reparations, or any of the other nonsense that passes for intellectual discourse among the left today. Talk like that is exactly what starts crap like the Duke rape cae, Tawana Brawley...hell the list goes on and on.
You want to feel guilty and think you can pass that off as liberal thought? Be my guest. But leave the rest of us out of your self flagellating indulgence so we can get down to doing real work for those that need it other than pay lip service to it. I know I do as part of my life. Get out there and do something and stop bitching about it.
I don't get the anger about affirmative action on this thread. It just shows how people still don't get that the worst excesses of racism cannot be tolerated.
Affirmative action is beside the point. For Chissake, read the story. We are talking about a school where black kids are not allowed to sit under the "white" tree. When they did sit under the tree, the white kids hung nooses from the tree's limbs. And the situation in the town got worse after that.
What the FUCK does this vile, shameful episode have to do with affirmative action??
Or are these black kids somehow being encouraged to be uppity (by, uh, sitting under the wrong tree . . ? ) by equal opportunity laws and a few small business programs for minorities?
Annoyed Canuck @ 135:
No. The purpose should be that there are still a handful of smallminded idiots in this country that think that kind of behavior is OK. The problem is those hanging out with the Al Sharptons of the world think it's the norm in this country, which it most certainly is not.
I'm not quite sure how AA came into this.
Jay @ 134:
Sour grapes? Racist? Please explain.
Wow. When did I say I was guilty? For someone not guilty you sure are defensive about not wanting to feel guilty.
Let me see, other than making false accusations and hystrionics, do you deny "the extreme and unjustified benefits that are inherent in being white in the US, and the vast and unjustified barriers that are inherent in being black in the US"? Please explain.
134
Jay Says:
how long was your family here before the Civil Rights Act? (both of them for that matter)
Hey way to go bringing up Tawana Brawley and ignoring the case in LA (which so happens to be the topic). Btw, oh persecuted one. Both of those cases you mentioned were dismissed without even going to court. So much for the mistreated white man. This case (the one in the topic) has 16 year old boys facing life sentences for a school fight. even the case in GA has a 18 who was 16 at the time boy facing 20 years (for admitted consentual oral sex).
Continue what you were saying about though.....(even if not on topic)
100% I do. You just cant stop putting the whole of society in one big bucket, can you? I was poor, I didnt have health insurance or a working car. I pulled myself up and EARNED everything I have. No one gave me a dime. I'm white, mid 30's, and sucessful becasue of my efforts. If you think my being where i'm at is unjsutified, well....the ignorance is with you my friend.
john x @ 119:
I agree with you it is not just a southern thing. I seriously doubt however that you will find a white only shade tree anywhere in the north. That is why I generalize, Racism metastasizes, The Presidency, the Supreme court and Congress are now racist institutions mostly because of Southern Democrats and Reagan Republicans. The electors that have made it so are from the South. Their decisions effect me and impact my life. Social progress would move much faster without the South, indeed, with the latest Supreme Court decisions it seems as though social progress has been stopped and is reversing. I attribute this to the red states in aggregate, who by the way, are over represented in the senate.
Jay @ 136:
The purpose of what?
The "problem" actually seems to be people like you. Al Shaprton would be irrelevant without you.
I'm not sure how affirmaitve action came into the discussion either, but it did. So what? Deal with it.
actually, if you think that this case of racism is an exception. then i guess you are on the people that believe that 60% of all criminals are black (because that's approximatly the percentage of who's in prison) even though 70% of all arrests are white.
this type of racial injustice is norm. this is an example of how black people are treated at criminals while the actions of white people are ignored or dismissed in the legal system. Heck point out to me 1 police shooting of an unarmed white man and i would point out about 5-10 more for black people.
Who cares? If you must know, they moved here in 1970.
Cantor de Mambo @ 140:
I wasnt responding to you. Read the top. LOL
Jay @ 134:
Oldest argument in the book for what? Being a stupid argument? Okay, fine. What's your point, Jay? That you don't have any original arguments and that the old ones you rely on are stupid? Congrats.
Really? I make sure he's on TV for every controversy that comes down the pike? Laughable. The guy's a pinhead who lovesthe sound of his own voice. (On a positive note, he does do a mean James Brown imitation. That in itself should get him the nomination....) :-)
i'm so glad there are good hardworking white people like jay around to tell black people how racism doesn't exist. if only all black people just stopped complaining and went to work the world would be a better place.
Cantor de Mambo @ 143:
Geez, try to keep up.....
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