My Right To Racism

I am starting to resent my heritage, please stop

 

Oh, finally... we've been trying so hard

 

To the OP I must say I'm impressed. When I first read the headline I figured it'd be just another ignorant jones rant, but you did make some valid points. But the whole thing about if they can be well why can't I? that is just sad. Thats the kind of arguement a 9 year old would make to validate their actions man. "But mommy if he can ride the horsey then why can't I?" or "Mommy if he can shoot cans off my head with the bb gun then why can't I?" I hear it all the time from my wife's baby bro and sis man. Bottom line racism is wrong. We shouldn't hate a people for their skin or for what a few ignorant bastards do or say. We should find ways to embrace them for who and what they are. Humanity is like a collidascope you just gotta look at it through an artists eyes.

Peace n' love
Indy

 

You’re right you white guys do tend to go over the top when it comes to being heard.


Hotwater

 

If I could, I would beat you with a leak right now

 

NOT TRUE!

arty:


ib

 

I'm racist against the middle east.

 

At we have thistles, they hurt. All you can do is make soup

 

There's honesty for you

 

At least I can construct a sentence

 

I had wine with lunch

I think it's you! I was fine before I started talking to you so much. Your poor grammar has rubbed off on me :tongue:

 

no need to be racist

 

There's racism on both sides-- I think white racism is usually thought of as more taboo because they were the 'oppressors', and black racism is usually thought of as more 'justified' because they were the 'victims'... but black racism definitely isn't helping anyone, especially their own communities.

And really, I don't think either racism is as huge as some people seem to want, or believe it to be... most people are racist against huge groups of people as opposed to individuals... because big groups of people who are different from you while you're alone is kind of a scary thing. So the trick is to always see groups as made up of individuals who each have different ideas and who follow different leaders and who might not really believe what their group wants them to.

Overall, the best way to deal with this crap is to be a better, smarter, less racist person... and when someone starts hurling racist comments at you, just see them for what they are: angry, unhappy, unreasonable and stupid. Treat them like the slow, dull children they are-- patiently, and with confidence.

Also, I hope this thread doesn't turn into a discussion of generalizations, stereotypes, prejudices... because even discussing them ironically usually ends up being real shitty.

 

I agree overt racism is virtually nonexistent in our everyday life and if that was issue there would be no problem; I’m referring to a more subtle form of racism that’s endemic throughout our society.

You see it on TV, billboards, newspapers, advertisements, magazine covers, and periodicals whose message states quite clearly that white people are good, and black people are bad, or at the very least; not as smart or as attractive as whites

The message is subtle but clear and is repeated over and over again until it codifies into the mind or both the perpetrator and the victim

Hotwater

 

Examples?

I really don't notice that-- but I'm willing to discuss it if you provide some examples. If you ask me, a lot of it has gone the other way-- women and minorities are now being portrayed as the competent, intelligent, capable ones while white males are shown as being stupid/ridiculous... out of fear of being sued, probably, and also because a lot of white males truly believe that they deserve to be portrayed as ridiculous and idiotic... you can actually see the same attitude throughout this thread-- bash the white people, prop up the black people.

Advertisers are more anxious than ever to appeal to minorities, because thanks to equal opportunity, now they have money too... the media goes where the money is, unless of course they're afraid of being sued or accused of being racist/sexist. So the big compromise is portray as fools the guilty white men who 'invented' racism, slavery and choosing your own race over other races (everyone all around the world does this-- it's not new and I'd say that white people are probably the only ones who have even attempted to do something about changing it)... and make everyone else seem more reasonable. The white men will accept it, because they feel so guilty (even if they've never owned slaves or discriminated against a minority in their lives), and the minorities/women will feel empowered-- so everyone wins.

But like it or not, white people are a majority (for the time being), and a wealthy one too, so if you were an advertiser, who would you want to target 9 times out of 10?

It's not an intentional plot to destroy black people, it's more about an attempt to show your target market/audience doing something that they can relate to. In another ten or fifteen years when Euro-white people are a minority in every country all over the world except maybe some European ones excluding Britain, then you'll probably see even more ads/stories with Latinos/Blacks/Asians on them, depending on who has the most money.

I'm not saying that racism doesn't exist, it's just that all of the equal rights policies, particularly in the US, have probably made the US/Canada the least racist countries in the world, culturally speaking.

Just blaming 'the media' as if it were one single oppressive power united in its goal to suppress anyone and everyone associated with equal rights doesn't make very much sense. Individuals come up with the stories, ads, billboards, etc... based on objective research about who has the most money, or who is the most likely to buy their product.

It's not some supreme racist power attempting to turn all hearts and minds into servants of the white order, and it's not some conspiracy to keep the black people down-- there's no real thinking involved. It's objective research, followed by the obvious course of action-- and whatever effect this has on minorities is more about their being minorities than about the majority being racist. Being a minority in any country can screw with your head and make you feel out of place-- trust me, I've done it. And you do end up thinking that the world around you is totally racist... but it's actually just you, and not being able to identify with the messages around you.

Again, it's about money and who has it, pure and simple... if you don't have money, you're not a target.

But for the large part, I think that most advertisers/media people want to avoid racist depictions like the plague... nobody wants to be accused of being a racist-- it's like a death sentence for your company/product/service...

 

If put in my situations, my expereinces, my life, wouldn't you be weary of black people too?

All I'm saying that if we are all equal then I should be able to be as racist as them as I have freedom of speech too. I am not being a child, I'm making a valid point.

You try being mugged, grabbed, sexually harrassed, and almost raped (I left that one out) by several different black guys in your life and you tell me that you want to immediately run out and hug them.

 

I understand your point, but you shouldn't be racist toward all for the idiocy of a few. I've known plenty of black cats who are groovy people to hang with. Besides by bein' racist toward them you're just stoopin' to their level man

 

I've met lots of black people too, and pretty much all of them were the same as white people. I think they were aware of the whole 'black' thing but they didn't let it get in the way of them being approachable by people of a different race.

I don't know where you live, but that can be a big part of it... actually, it sounds like that's probably it. There's a huge difference between black people (and people in general, when it comes to race issues) in South Africa, or the deep southern US and black people in New York or Toronto... it's a cultural thing, not a racial thing.

 

I live in Shaker Heights, a suburb of Cleveland. The thing I don't get is I grew up in an upperclass neighborhood, with black kids of MY same age, I went to the same schools, and yet they still act like ignorant trash. Um okay, you grew up in a nicer house than me, but you act like you came from the ghetto. What's the appeal?

 

I'd be interested to know, have you never had similar negative experiences with whites ?