Racism Rears Its Ugly Head

[Cricket]

Are we seeing a return of racism or has it always been there simmering somewhere under the surface? With the exception of a few pockets in the south, I honestly thought we were nearly past this social issue. Maybe I have simply had my head buried in the sand and it has always been there, but it feels like we are taking a giant step backwards.

While reading the news lately, I have been shocked and deeply saddened by all the racist comments I have seen – hateful comments based on race. Seriously? This has to be more than the Trayvon case in the news. Why is hate still alive and well in our country? What are we teaching our children?

Admin Note: Although I want us to truly discuss this social issue openly and honestly, please note that hate filled responses will not be tolerated.

[Muddy]

Ah reckon all them galldurned green fingernail folks need to go back wheres they come from.

[Sprinkler Buddy]

That's just it, many parents are teaching racism behind closed doors. Some are even doing it unknowingly. We are far from being a non racist nation, at-least the places I have visited here at home and over seas in the military. I have seen more hate in unlikely places, it is sad!

[Lauren at LucasWorks]

I think that bigotry is brought to the surface when opportunists fan the flames of a current event.

I also think that these days, laws and regulations that started out as ways to bring about equality have been turned upside down, causing not only INequality, but also resentment towards others if you're the one being passed over, not hired, etc.

And I can understand that, having watched my son's frustration as he was told he couldn't apply for various college scholarships and grants because his skin was the wrong color or he wasn't 'ethnic' enough.

But I DON'T think that prejudice is limited by race, color, religion, or country.
Sadly, intolerance and bigotry offer 'equal opportunity' for hatred and resentment...

[kanemochi]

I think you have a couple of factors going on here.

1.) The Liberal Elite years ago redefined the term "racist" so that it ONLY means a White Anglo-Saxon Protestant Male who hates another person NOT in that category...so that any person from any minority group was free to hate whomever they wanted...because no matter what they said, did or thought it could no longer be considered racist....that gave the perception that racism was going down in this country....because that particular category of racism truly was on the decline. Most of us look down our noses and laugh at neo-Nazis and skinheads and other white racists....it's not accepted in our society the way it is accepted for minorities to hate all whites.

2.) Because this kind of hatred was not only acceptable...but actually fostered in certain minority communities...the actual overall level of racism has been on the rise for decades. Here in Tucson they had special classes that specifically taught Hispanic superiority in the schools until a Judge ruled them illegal.

3.) Now, after years of being kicked around and being treated as inferior because of the color of their skin, some white people are starting to resent it...and that form of racism is beginning to come back as well.

4.) Lastly....before anyone says that this is what happens when you elect a President based on nothing other than the color of his skin....I would say that this issue has been brewing since long before anyone ever heard of Barrack Obama...and I believe that people voting for him for no reason other than his skin color is a symptom of this problem...NOT a cause of it.

[ScriptMan]

Like Cricket I thought this ugly beast was buried. By listening more than I talk I have learned that while great strides have occurred in my lifetime the beast is not yet dead. Most folks, of all races, are just more sneaky about what they think and say.

kanemochi you made an interesting post parts of which I may reply to tomorrow. Tonight I am too whupped to think well.

[stephen.king]

Hell, no, it hasn't been buried for a long time. Part of the issue is human nature, frankly, and I doubt we'll ever put it to bed.

Dunno about any Liberal Elite redefining anything; that sounds a bit like tin foil hattery to me. My copy of Merriam Webster is still pretty clear on how racism is defined. Certainly the issue goes beyond race, though, into ethnicism and national originism and religionism all the way to He's-just-different-from-us-ism.

I grew up, ferinstance, in north Mississippi in the 70's. There was only one high school in town, and us white kids went to class every day with the black kids without ever realizing that we should treat them differently. I'll never forget the day a Hispanic kid moved in from out West, though. He was different, and according to my peers that was bad.

Up in Alaska there were three distinct groups, and thus three different axes of -ism. There was distrust/dislike between Indian and Caucasian, between Eskimo and Caucasian, and believe it or not, between Indian and Eskimo. I'll never forget reading the paper a few months after I set foot up there, seeing that the Governor was reaching out to "bridge the cultural divide"--by sending helicopters full of black suit wearing men to the villages. Yeah, that was a good idea. Some months after that, I read the unrelated news of a murder in downtown Anchorage; an Athabascan (Indian) young man had gotten a few sheets to the wind which had whipped up his anger toward the white people who were putting his folks down. He went out looking for a fight, apparently, and found one, stabbing an older white guy to death. Only, ironically, the older guy wasn't actually Caucasian; he was also full-blooded Athabascan. See, their skin is fairly white also, which belies a lot of the differences in attitudes and culture.

I got back to Mississippi years later and I worked for a year running a college. Heard rumors that a colored instructor was racist, so I did a numeric analysis of her grade distributions and found no correlation between race and grade in her students. Later on, we talked, and it turned out she did in fact harbor some pretty serious heart-felt racist attitudes. She didn't work for me for long after that. There's no doubt in my mind that black people can be as racist as white people can be.

Even today, for the past couple of years I've been running the college here in Richmond. It's not uncommon at all to walk by a classroom and see all the white people sitting together and all the black people sitting together. It drives me nuts, but not so much that I'm gonna force seating charts on college students.

Even my own mother, toward the end of her life, got that way. She became a disciple of Sheriff Joe in Phoenix, and when I'd fly down to bake myself and spend time with her I was shocked at some of the mean things I heard coming out of her mouth, pointed at the Hispanics. This was, I point out, the woman who many years ago taught me how important it was to respect everyone regardless of skin color.

But yeah, it still exists, and probably always will, and it's there just waiting for those on both sides of the political aisle to fan the flames in the name of power. I've seen both sides do it, most recently in the Trayvon Martin case. I mean, at first it wasn't about whether the kid was black, white, purple, or green. It was about a guy who reportedly chased a skittles-bearing kid down in his neighborhood and filled him with lead and then went free as a bluebird. Then the Black Panthers got involved on one side showing their racist beliefs, and then all the right wingers I talk to started making it about race in the opposite way: "where was the outrage when so and so black people killed so and so white people, hmm?" No, it's not about that; in that case the three black guys were convicted, one to a death sentence and two to life in prison. And so on it went. But...yeah, sure, make it all about race, why don't you?

Lookit all the vandalism and occasional arson with respect to Muslim holy spaces if you need another example. People get power out of flaming the innate hatred some people have of others who are different. And--it's going to get worse, I believe.

Jefferson, despite his own racist leanings, had it right when he mentioned the importance of education. The only way we'll ever get out of our -ism-based society is to educate people into open-mindedness and willingness to accept others for what they are rather than their skin color or national origin or whatever. Fat chance of that happening, though.

[happy_man]

Originally Posted by stephen.king

The only way we'll ever get out of our -ism-based society is to educate people into open-mindedness and willingness to accept others for what they are...

That's right, many parts of society need to change if we want to get rid of racism because there are so many causes. Simply making a law to ban racism does not work. You need to change the causes of inequality, its too easy for racism to grow when perceptions exist that one group has it better than another.

[Breeze Wood]

stephen.king: But yeah, it still exists, and probably always will, and it's there just waiting for those on both sides of the political aisle to fan the flames in the name of power.

.... and probably always will


The Seedlings have taken root and are now young trees - once established is the best way to change the old ways forever.

There was only one high school in town, and us white kids went to class every day with the black kids without ever realizing that we should treat them differently.

how unusual to hear from Mississippi "without ever realizing that we should treat them differently" - In Crown Point Ind. there was one high school and no black kids at all, we were just south of Garry Ind (90% Black). There are different types of Racism and in some respects the Northern type seems crueler than the Southern version.

[robjones]

Originally Posted by Breeze

The Seedlings have taken root and are now young trees - once established is the best way to change the old ways forever.

Aaaaand mark. Eight posts in, we're back in The Garden.

[stephen.king]

Originally Posted by Breeze Wood

how unusual to hear from Mississippi "without ever realizing that we should treat them differently" - In Crown Point Ind. there was one high school and no black kids at all, we were just south of Garry Ind (90% Black). There are different types of Racism and in some respects the Northern type seems crueler than the Southern version.

Keep in mind that during the 50's and 60's the South went through a painful (for some) process in which they held the pimple that was racism that everyone knew existed right up to the light and let it be examined right on the front page. People acknowledged it. I know that today we scornfully talk about "political correctness" but I really think that the political correctness, forced though it was, of my parents' generation created the egalitarian feelings that we kids felt. Towards black people. Note that the Mexican didn't fare as well, I believe because there hadn't been any anti-Mexican riots at Ole Miss. No, I'm serious.

[Muddy]

Originally Posted by Breeze Wood

The Seedlings have taken root and are now young trees - once established is the best way to change the old ways forever.

[Cricket]

I wonder why so many people are so afraid to openly discuss this topic. Isn't that how we learn? Through communication?

[Cricket]

I keep hearing about "reverse racism". There is no such thing as REVERSE racism. Racism is racism regardless of your race or color.

Definitions of RACISM:

- "a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race." http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/racism

- "a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule others." http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/racism

[Lauren at LucasWorks]

I suspect that the reason people are afraid to openly discuss this topic is because too many times we've watched others be taken to task for something they've said that came out wrong.

This is a very sensitive subject, no matter what one believes. I'm tired of seeing my kid and others passed over for jobs because of Affirmative Action laws, but I know that by saying that, there will be those who think I'm racist.

I have a black friend married to an Iranian. Her sister accuses her husband of racism when they sent their kids to a private school that was mostly white. It wasn't about 'white', it was about a better education, but my friend still had to explain to her sister that it wasn't about her husband wanting to raise the kids 'white'.

And I'll NEVER forget the day my then 7 year old son came home from school with his 2 best friends, and they all explained to me that their teacher had told them that my son was white, one friend was black, and the other one was NOT black, even though he was darker than the 'black' friend (the 'non-black' one had a very dark skinned Indian father.)

It did nothing but confuse these innocent kids, and it infuriated me. Until that day, they were just 3 best friends. But thanks to 'enlightened education', after that they were divided into color coded nonsense.

We need to re-learn the messages of Dr. Martin Luther King, and truly understand that it's about INDIVIDUAL CONTENT OF CHARACTER and nothing else. (Well, maybe a little bit about having a good hair day, but THEN nothing else! )

And P.S., if you REALLY want to see folks who don't tolerate any of this nonsense, spend some time with severely disabled people. They are blessed to see others as simply fellow human beings, and have no issues with skin color, religion, gender, etc.

[Cricket]

At times I have wondered if Affirmative Action laws have actually helped increase racist beliefs and actions.

If we are to truly eliminate racism then employment, scholarships, and even laws should NEVER be based on race.

It is that simple.

We are of one race.

Human.

[Cricket]

Y'all have seen me post this video a number of times and have seen me post this quote even more often.

Yeah, I am posting it again.

+ YouTube Video

“Be the change you want to see in the world.” Mahatma Gandi

[G10]

I understand why folk find it tough commenting on this subject, and Lauren is right people worrying that their comments might be misconstrued.

In my experience, I see the racism festering up within the next generation of children as my friends wife is a primary school teacher and teaches a lot of Asian children and she is truly shocked at some of the comments these children come to school and say, obviously repeated from their parents - (we are talking about anti-white comments, comments on how white british people should be treated and how it is them-and-us)

The problem is that society has somehow done a complete u-turn and racism has gotten to the point where if a black person makes a comment about a white person, then ok, not a biggie, now turn this the other way around and the white person will be destroyed by the media.

It is the new "politically correct brigade" that sit there and find ways of improving society when all they are doing is reminding people of how we are different with their "can't say this" and "certain number of black people need to be let into colleges or work" just so that stat figures look good.

This will always cause an us-and-them attitude and people need to start putting more trust in their fellow man instead of telling them what they can and can't say.

Classic example: When I was in school, the teacher wrote on the blackboard, but you can't say that nowadays as it is wrong and not PC, one must say chalkboard. I could carry on with these examples and it is things like this that just keep reminding people of differences and so not a good thing, especially when teaching young children.

[ScriptMan]

Originally Posted by Cricket

At times I have wondered if Affirmative Action laws have actually helped increase racist beliefs and actions.

If we are to truly eliminate racism then employment, scholarships, and even laws should NEVER be based on race.

It is that simple.

We are of one race.

Human.

Great post and yes I think they may have. I know I have said more than once 'all equal' under the law. No 'specials'. Creating a special class tends to tick me off.

[Muddy]

While we're at it, another slice of ridiculous pie is the term "African American".